Letting out a laugh, she dodged the large ball of dough coming her way.  Her hands were gooey, eggs were on her elf costume, and flour on the tip of her nose, but she didn’t care.  She was too busy having fun.  Grabbing a nearby ingredient, she tossed it at him.  As the egg splattered on his chest, they both watched the yellow slide down. 

“Faith,” he mock growled, “you better run.”

She squeaked as he dived towards her.  Running around the island in the middle of his kitchen, she slipped and slide on the mess they had created.  It seemed like forever until she was finally at the opening.  As she went to enter his living room, she paused at the carpet floors.  Should she risk angering him and get the carpet dirty?

Her question was answered when he slammed into her back.  Flipping them to where he took the brunt of the force, they fell with a squish to the ground.  The arm that was wrapped around her tightened as he leaned up slightly.  She held her breath, waiting for what she had wanted since she first met the man, for him to kiss her.

His other hand came up, and she had just enough time to see the egg before he broke it against the top of her head.  Egg yolk ran down her face, the white of the egg leaving clear strings of goo everywhere.  Letting out a laugh, he gently rolled her to the ground before hopping to his feet.  “The last one kitchen is a rotten egg!” He paused in his movements.  “Well, you already look a little rotten as you are,” he said with a laugh, “and that egg does nothing to help.”

“Thanks,” she huffed, rising to her feet.  Her eyes narrowed and his widened as she pounced on him. 

Taking the brunt of her weight, he grunted as she fell into him.  Her legs wrapped around his waist, and his hands held her thighs as he settled back onto the wall.  “That was uncalled for.”

“No,” she mumbled, letting go of him with one hand to scoop egg off her face.  “This is uncalled for.” The egg in her hand smeared across his face, over his nose, cheeks, and his lips.  Everywhere on his face had egg on it.

Licking his lips, she watched the action in a slight awe.  “Yuck,” he said with a disgusted expression.  “How I used to drink raw eggs is a mystery.”

“What did you do, lift weights?” she asked, squeezing one of his arms.  The option was a big possibility.

He let out a laugh.  “Yes, when I was younger and more worried about how to impress women than anything else, I lifted weights.”

Her hand froze, and she unwrapped her legs from his body.  Easing to the ground, she glanced up at him.  “Was there a certain woman you wanted to impress?”

“To be honest,” he said with a shrug, “no.  I always liked the general idea of impressing women.”

“So, you were a bit of a player,” she guessed, and when he nodded, her heart sunk slightly.  Was he still like that?  Did he view her as just another woman to impress?

He took a step forwards and pushed her chin up with a finger.  “I said was, Faith.  I was a player.  I’m not anymore.”

“Why?”

She saw him hesitate before smiling.  “Are we playing the share game?”

“Seeing as I shared something with you earlier, I think it is your turn.”

“Deal,” he said with a smile, “as long as you promise to tell me something after we shower.”

Narrowing her eyes at him, she contemplated his bargain.  “You tell me something now, we shower,” she saw his grin, “separately,” she emphasized, making his grin drop slightly, “and then I tell you something else.”

He nodded.  “Exactly.”

“Then, it is your turn after that.”

“Yep.”

Her hand flew out between their bodies, but he had to step back to make room to shake.  His hand connected with hers, warmth traveled up her arm, but as he whispered, “Deal,” she knew she would have to let go before those showers weren’t as separate as she promised.

“Tell me,” she said, while clearing her throat and pulling her hand back.

His grin let her know that he didn’t miss the reaction she had to him.  Shrugging, he glanced away from her before looking in her eyes.  “A pregnancy scare cleaned me up.”

“Pregnancy scare,” she mumbled, feeling something heavy drop into her stomach.  “You don’t want children?”

“What?  Of course I do.  I just didn’t want children with her.  If she was pregnant, I would have married her. I was raised better than to abandon the mother of my child, but when I found out it was a false positive, my life went into prospective.”  He took a step towards her and grabbed her hand.  Squeezing it, he smiled.  “I realized that with the way I was acting, I was going to wind up being with a woman I didn’t love.  So, from that day, I promised myself that I would slow down, make sure that the woman who I wasn’t careful with was the last woman I would ever be with.”

“Oh,” she mumbled with relief.  “So, you definitely want children?”

He let out a laugh.  Pulling her into his arms, he whispered.  “Yes, with the right woman, I want children.”  He pulled away, their shirts sticking together in the process.  Keeping eye contact with her, he nodded.  “With the right woman, I want everything.” The double meaning in his words was hard to miss, but as the serious expression was overtaken by a smile, Faith knew the subject was being dropped.  “Up the stairs, third door on the right is the bathroom.  Take your time.  There should be towels and other things in the bathroom. I’ll leave you clothes outside the door.”

He walked past her, down another hall she had not been through yet.  “Wait!” she called out, causing him to turn. “Where are you going?”

Fake sadness crossed his face.  “Sadly, to the guest bathroom.”

Turning dramatically, he walked with slumped shoulders.  She just stood there, laughing as he went.  Not moving until he was out of sight, she let out a sigh and walked towards the stairs.  With the right man, maybe, just maybe, she could want the same.