My Life's Playlist Ch. 04

He did manage to look me up and down and as he stood up, he leered at me and said "sexy".

"Comfy," I retorted. He walked into the bathroom and I sat cross-legged on the middle of bed to start working on my hair. I had just finished unbraiding it and was about to start brushing when Tor exited the bathroom, turning the light off behind him. He came and sat behind me, pulling me back on his lap, taking the brush from me, and brushing the plait lines out. I sighed and tried my best to stay awake. He was soon finished and handing me back my brush moved me back to the middle of the bed as he stood up. "Right or left side?" he asked.

"Pardon?"

"Do you sleep on the right or left side of the bed?"

"Oh, the left."

"Good, I like the right." I climbed off the bed on the left side and started to take off the throw pillows and pull the comforter down. Tor helped me from his side, and that's when I noticed he still had on his jeans and shirt.

"Do you usually sleep in all of your clothes?" I inquired.

"No, usually just my boxers," he replied. "Do you mind?"

"I'll try to bear up, if you'll pardon my pun," I laughed. I did turn my back to him and sat on my side of the bed. I took off my watch and glasses, turned off the lamp, and crawled under the covers. I rolled over to face his side of the bed just as he was getting ready to crawl in on his side. I'm as blind as a bat without my glasses, but I could tell he looked just as good barely dressed as he did dressed. That was something I would definitely try to confirm in the morning. My fantasy life was interrupted as I heard thunk, ouch, and what I think was a Swedish swear word from his side of the bed.

"Pippa sweetheart we have a small problem. How tall was your former fiancé?"

"5'10."

"Well that would explain why he fit in the bed, but I don't."

"It was my Great-Grammy's. I guess people in the late 1800's weren't normally 6'4". Can you try moving diagonally?" I asked, trying unsuccessfully to suppress my giggle.

"Ah, much better," he sighed gathering me up against him and tucking my head where his shoulder and chest met. It was my turn to sigh as he reached behind him to turn off the light on his side of the bed. He leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss.

"Tor, are you still awake?" I whispered.

"Barely."

"I just wanted to thank you for coming tonight, it meant a lot. I'm sure you would have much rather been asleep in your own bed by now."

"There is nowhere else I'd rather be right now. Ljuv drommar, min karlek."

"Tor?"

"Hmmm?"

"You never did translate my birthday flowers card, and I am curious about what you just said."

"Tomorrow," he yawned.

I snuggled in closer and my last coherent thought was I so need to get that dictionary!

Song 11

Cool sheets, real fine, lay me down in the hot July
I wish I may, I wish I might be next to you every night
No phone, no sir, don't wanna be disturbed
Just me, just her, speak without using words
Learning her every curve

There ain't nothing like sleepin late on a Saturday
Waking up to see my baby's face
You know I wouldn't wanna have it
Have it any other way
Cause it's my favorite, sleeping late on a Saturday

"Saturday" -- Marc Broussard

As we've already established, I am not, by any definition of the word, a morning person. I consider Annie the perfect roommate because she is either asleep or gone by the time I have to get up each morning. That means I don't have to be cheery and chatty first thing in the morning. The gods have also smiled on me, or maybe my kids because for my entire teaching career, my first period has been a planning period. That means I only have to be nice for the first fifteen minutes of the day, and then I have 50 minutes to drink my coffee and adjust my attitude. When I wake up, it usually takes me a good five minutes to establish where I am and what day it is. My father once said that morning definitely does not become Pippa.

The Saturday after my birthday was no exception, but as my brain started to function I became aware of a few things that were definitely outside the norm. First of all, I was sleeping on my side, but I was lying diagonally. Ok, weird, but not too disturbing. As that fact sunk in, I became aware that my back was up against something that was hard, warm, and rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. Once again, not a hundred percent disturbing, because it could just be Beau asleep against my back, but it sure felt longer, warmer, harder, and less fuzzy than him. Besides, Beau did not have strong hands with long fingers that could untangle themselves from the one I had lying on my stomach and trace their way up my arm to my shoulder. Clever animal that he was, he was definitely unable to brush my hair away from my shoulder and neck to clear a path for the trail of kisses that was moving from my shoulder blade, to the back of my neck, and along my jaw line. Nope, definitely not BK. He didn't have stubble, and he certainly would have no idea how sensitive the area right behind my earlobe was. The events from the night before clicked in about the time the gentle nips on my earlobe were accompanied by a quiet "god morgon".

Tor. I rolled over. "Ok, I know Swedish is your Mother tongue but..." I didn't get the rest out of my mouth because it was covered by his. The only thing that could be heard after that was the sound of kisses, and sighs, moans and the quite sound of fabric being pushed aside. The whispered bits of nonsense and encouragement in both Swedish and English. The gasp of a lover's name and a groan. A small creak of a bedspring as bodies are rearranged into spoons. A contented sigh. The quiet breathing pattern of sleep.

Coffee. I definitely smell coffee I thought as I stretched and yawned, trying once again to get my bearings. I stretched my arm out to snag my glasses so that I could actual think a coherent thought when I noticed something. I WAS FREAKIN NAKED UNDER THE COVERS! Think, think, think. I woke up earlier this morning, Tor was next to me, and oh yeah, I discovered that the man could do a lot of things like a demon besides just kissing. That thought had me blushing as I retrieved my pjs and pulled them back on. I opened the door to investigate where the coffee scent was coming from when Tor appeared at the top of the stairs carrying the tray to my butler's table. I stepped aside as he set it down on its base in front of the loveseat. I barely had time to register the toast, OJ, coffee, and eggs on the plates before I was being kissed good morning for the second time that day. "God morgon", he said as he pulled me beside him on the couch and handed me the coffee he poured from my French press.

"I don't mean to complain since you're being sensible enough to caffeinate and feed me, but we need to have a serious talk about your use of Swedish around me. It's starting to really piss me off when you do, because I can barely string a sentence together in the Queen's English and my only other languages are really bad French spoken with a southern accent and Pig Latin. Now, what the hell does god morgon and all of the other things you've said to me mean?" I tried to glare at him, but I ended up just staring at him in his jeans, t-shirt and bare feet. Damn, he even looked good with bed head and stubble. So not fair!

"Miguel is right, you are a big no fun when you're uncaffinated," he laughed. I was debating whether to throw my plate at him, but it seemed a pity to waste good eggs, and I'd be stuck cleaning up the mess. I smeared my toast with raspberry jam and took another bite of eggs. "Let's make a deal. How about you let me speak Swedish if and only if I teach you the meanings at the same time? Now repeat after me, god morgan."

"God morgan," I repeated. "Fair enough, now translation please."

"Good morning," he replied. There is one caveat, the deal is off when we are engaged as we were earlier this morning."

"Ok," I said taking another sip of coffee to hid the blush on my face. I reached over to pour more coffee in my cup when I noticed an envelope with my name on it. "Where did you find this?"

"It was on the kitchen counter when I went to make breakfast for us this morning. I assume it's from Annie. Is she on call today?"

"No, she and the other residents are asked to volunteer on the Children's Hospital Mobile Clinic bus one Saturday a month," I replied opening the envelope.

Pipster,

I saw you had company when I opened your door to let Beau out this morning. I want details! Ian and I are going to have a drink after we finish in the clinic today. We'll expect to see you at Murphy's around 4:00. Bring The Wall if you want.

XO,

Annie

"Was it from Annie?"

"Yes. She wants me to meet her and Ian for a drink around 4:00. You're invited if you want to join us, but I understand if you have other plans," I said casually, hoping that he didn't.

"I was going to ask you if you had plans today," he replied smiling. "The only thing I need to do is pick up Axel from doggie jail. I thought maybe after that we could go for a walk. He'll need a good one since he's been cooped up since Monday. Meeting Annie and Ian for a drink sounds like fun. Who is Ian, her boyfriend?"

"More like a friend with benefits," I replied smiling. I went on to explain that Ian had been two years ahead of us in high school, and he and Annie met again when she started volunteering at Children's Hospital between her junior and senior year of college. His specialty was pediatric orthopedics, and like all good orthopedist, he had played football and lacrosse in college. I often wondered how someone with so much strength and such big hands could operate on such little people, but Annie said I wouldn't recognize him in the OR.

"Friends with benefits? I don't know that term," puzzled Tor.

Hmm, how to explain this concept without sounding like I'm summarizing a porn film. "A friend with benefits is a friend of the opposite sex that if neither of you is seeing anyone else and you are feeling "uhm..." I groaned aloud, trying once again to phrase this politely without making either Annie or Ian look like a total slut.

"Amorous?" Tor snickered.

"I was going to say horny, but your way is nicer. Anyway if both parties are in agreement then you might sleep with each other with no strings attach and the friendship still intact." I was no longer looking at Tor, but I knew that at this point I was beet red.

"Ah, f --buddies. I've heard some of the other guys mentioned them in the locker room," he said, sounding pleased with himself.

"Geez, I thought middle school boys were bad in the locker room, but I guess you guys never outgrow it," I quipped, still not looking up. My mind was going a million miles a minute. I was trying not to panic, but what exactly did this morning mean to Tor. Hell, I hadn't even had a chance to process what it meant to me yet, but I was almost certain it was more than just a friends with benefits situation. If I was being honest with myself, I was beginning to really care for him. Not love yet, but it could go there fairly quickly. Stop being so analytical, I mentally kicked myself, it is what it is. Two fingers lifting my chin startled me out of my rambling thoughts, and I found myself looking into Tor's very blue eyes. He looked puzzled.

"What are you thinking min sot ringa en?" he asked.

"Translation for min sot ringa en please," I snapped.

"What are you thinking my lovely little one," he replied quietly.

"Oh," I replied sheepishly. Crap, any logical thoughts just flew out of my head after hearing he thought I was lovely. "Nothing, really."

"Do you think we are just friends with benefits?" he asked, leaning toward me.

"No," I replied as he pulled me up onto his lap and up against his chest.

"Good neither do I. I'm not sure exactly what we are, but we've got time to figure it out," he whispered against my lips. Several minutes later we broke apart, both breathing a little heavier. Tor looked at his watch.

"Damn, I need to go get Axel before the kennel closes at noon and it's already 11:30. Why don't he and I come by around 1:00 and we'll go for that walk."

"Sounds good," I replied, grateful I would get some alone time to try to start sorting everything that was flying around my brain.

"I'll take this stuff down to the kitchen for you and see myself out. Adjo, min sot ringa en," Tor said as he rose and brushed a kiss against my cheek. He grabbed the tray and started out the bedroom door, stopping to wink and say "It means goodbye, my lovely little one."

"Adjo, Tor," I replied to his back as he laughed and went down the stairs.

Promptly at 1:00 my doorbell rang. I had used the time since Tor had left to take a bath and dress in jeans, my school's sweatshirt, and my sneakers. I'd dealt with the breakfast dishes, changed the beds and started a load of sheets. Annie planned for Ian to eat with us tonight, so I went ahead and started the crock-pot of chili I'd already planned to serve for dinner. I moved the sheets to the dryer and grabbed my coat, hat, and gloves on my way to answer the door. I was greeted by man and dog. Both looked pleased to see me.

"God effermiddag Pippa," the man said. leaning down to give me a kiss. I glared at him, and he chuckled saying "Good afternoon. Are you ready to go?"

"God effermiddag. How do you say yes in Swedish?"

"Ja."

"Ja I am," I replied.

"Very good," he said taking my hand in his and leading me down the steps. We walked to a nearby park. Tor let Axel off his lead and produced an old tennis ball from his jacket pocket. He started a game of catch with Axel. Axel returned the ball to Tor, who handed it to me. My throw was not nearly as far as his, but Axel brought it back faithfully and laid it at my feet. I handed it back to Tor, and we continued playing until Axel was breathing heavily. Tor snapped the lead back on, and we walked to a near-by bench. We sat and talked of trivial things, and I taught Tor the fine art of people watching. When I glanced at my watch, I was surprised to see it was already 3:00.

"I guess we need to head back if we're going to meet Annie and Ian at 4:00. I know that Ian is eating with us tonight. Would you like to come too? We can drop Axel off at my house on our way to Murphy's."

"Ja, that sounds great," he said as we got up and headed to meet my friends.

When we got to Murphy's it wasn't hard to find Annie and Ian due to his height of 6'6 and her bright auburn hair. When we joined them at the table Ian stood up and enfolded me a large bear hug. "I'm so glad to see you Pipsqueak. Are your kids still taller than you again this year?" he laughed as I squirmed out of his arms.

"Whatever," I replied. I guess I should just be grateful that he hadn't picked me up and slung me over the shoulder as he sometimes did. "Ian, I'd like to introduce you to Tor Edvardson. Tor, this idiot is Dr. Ian McCourt, though to this day I'm not sure how he got his M.D." The two men shook hands, and I began to take off my hat, gloves, and coat. By the time I got my coat unbuttoned Tor reached behind me and helped me take it off, taking a moment to kiss the back of my neck. I shivered, but not from the cold. He quietly chuckled. The waitress came over and asked for our drink orders. I asked for a black and tan.

"What's that?" asked Tor.

"It's half Guinness and half Bass."

"I guess I'll try one."

As we waited for our drinks Ian inquired about my birthday party. He'd been on call, so wasn't able to attend. "Was it as wild as when you turned twenty-one?" he asked, knowing just how to pull my chain.

"Ha-Ha," I said. "At least I was able to get up after my twenty-first, even if it was 2:00 in the afternoon. Rumor has it that you didn't get up until the crack of midnight the next night."

"I was up, I just wasn't mobile," he replied, smacking me on my arm.

"Ow, that hurt!" I complained. Tor leaned over, kissed where Ian had just smacked and said, "hyra mig puss den det amt skapa det battre." It almost made it worth getting smacked.

"Translation?" I inquired.

"Let me kiss it and make it better," he replied, draping his arm over the back of my chair.

"Tor, let me warn you," Ian laughed, "these two may seem like mature, responsible adults, but I knew them when they were both wild party girls. We would go out and dance all night in some club and drink ourselves into a stupor. Whatever happened to those girls I used to know?" he pondered.

"Some of us got out of college and became residents whose idea of a great night is sleeping for 18 straight hours," snapped Annie.

"And some of us have a job that requires us to be out of the house by 7:00 AM every morning, and where a massive hangover is a definite deterrent to my goal of not killing the students." I chimed in. "Besides, supposedly when you are a school teacher that's what weekends and summers are for. Too bad my best friend is a resident, and I've been able to get museum internships each summer."

Ian gave a sigh of disappointment. "It sucks to be a grown up, but I guess that's what we are now."

"I'm sure your mom is quite relieved, as are the parents of your patients," Annie said, thumping him upside the head.

"Ow! Are you going to kiss it and make it better for me Annie?" Ian said with a leer.

"Maybe later," she replied blushing.

We drank our beer and made general conversation. Tor knew a little bit about the Children's Hospital from the charity appearances his team had made there. The conversation led to sports and the differences between University life in the U.S. and Sweden. We talked in general about the patients they had seen that day. Annie swore if she never gave another flu shot in her life she'd be a happy woman. The bar started to get crowded and we were getting hungry so we left and walked towards the house. Annie and Ian were ahead of us, and my short legs were having trouble keeping up with the long strides of the others. We were falling more and more behind when I suddenly found myself being picked up and placed on Tor's back. I hadn't ridden piggy back in more than 20 years, but I was certain that my last one had not made me want to nibble on the neck and ear of the person holding me. I smiled into Tor's shoulder as I heard him quietly groan. He grabbed my right palm from around his neck and pressed a kiss into it, moving up to kiss and nibble on my finger tips. It was my turn to groan.

"Careful karesto, don't start something you won't be able to finish," he laughed. "Karesto means sweetheart."

"Don't worry karesto, I very much intend to finish what I've started, just not right now," I whispered in his ear, pressing a gentle kiss in the sensitive area behind his ear.

And I did, after we finished dinner. Annie and Ian offered to do the dishes since I cooked, so once we had let Axel and Beau out for a final time I took Tor by the hand and led him to my room. He snapped his fingers and Axel followed us, with Beau bringing up the rear. I closed the door behind us, and when I turned around I was enveloped in Tor's embrace. Where our kisses before had been tender and gentle, this time it was all about heat and passion. Before I could take a breath, both our clothes had disappeared and I was in Tor's arms, my legs wrapped around his waist, my back against the wall. This morning had been making love, slow and gentle. This was sex plain and simple. Toe curling, sweaty, scream inducing, hot pleasure, and we both enjoyed every minute of it. We didn't do much sleeping, and even though a lot of Swedish was being spoken, I didn't learn a single new word. Tor did have enough sense left to remind me to set the alarm so he wouldn't miss his morning practice. It went off way too early for my taste and as he got dressed to leave, I made the decision to stay home and worship at Our Lady of the Comforter. I muttered to Tor that he was welcome to leave Axel with me, if he would just let him out to spend his penny before he left for practice. The next thing I remember was Tor kissing me on the forehead, saying "Adjo, min karlek, I'll be back after practice."