Sizzling sounds drifted in from the kitchen. Luca was grunting, banging things around. I stretched and sat up, my hair a tangled mess. We made love a few more times before falling asleep in the early morning hours. But wait..didn't Luca have to work? I panicked for a minute with thoughts that I could be the cause of him possibly getting into trouble, even as a senior ranking marine.

"Don't you have to be at work?" I called out loudly.

"No! I let em' know I'm taking a personal day!"

Flopping back onto the bed I smiled. A personal day. I took it to mean playing hookie, with me. It was such a small thing but meant a lot. When someone takes the time to care for you, you know you're important. I had wanted to feel that way since I was in college.

"Breakfast is ready.."

Luca came into the room and leaned down to kiss my arm, trailing his lips up the skin and ending with my mouth on his. He tasted like fresh brewed coffee.

"Mmmmm.." I moaned into his mouth.

"Like what you taste?" He laughed. "Come on, let's go eat. I made pancakes and coffee."

The last hot breakfast I had made in the house was weeks ago. It was nice to sit and enjoy the scents that filled the room. Luca was happy and relaxed.

"You can just call in that you are taking off the day? You don't need to put in leave for that?" I casually asked.

"Yep. I rarely do it so it's no big deal. Once you get to be my rank, there is a lot more grace given for things. Didn't your dad take days off?"

"He did I guess...but not very often. Usually he left most of that for block leave. My mom would plan our home life around dads vacations. The rest of the time, she just took care of everything on her own."

"Being a military spouse is hard." He said, watching me eat.

I could tell he was thinking. Contemplating things.

"It was. She never said it was easy. But she was so proud of my dad."

He nodded and drank some of his coffee, his eyes never leaving my face.

"How do you like the Exchange job?"

"It's good. I got called the day after you and I had that night...." I said, trailing off. "As you found out, I'm a cashier and stocker. Whatever they need me to be."

Swallowing his last bite, he leaned back in his chair and smiled.

"I'm glad you took it. I can visit you now whenever I want."

His eyes sparkled and his dimples showed. He was so damn cute.

"If you want, but don't distract me....I don't want to get fired." I teased.

"What do you want to do today? Care to go for a drive?" He asked.

A drive. That sounded perfect. But I did have to work after lunch. Unless I called in as well.

"I want to.....let me make a call first though."

If I told him I was going to play hookie as well, he might not want me to. Especially after I joked about being fired if he distracted me. I left the kitchen to grab my phone from the bedroom, then lightly shut the door. I dialed Tisha. She answered almost immediately.

"Girl....are you sore from making up?"

"Tisha!!" I exclaimed, quietly, so Luca couldn't hear.

"Well....are you?" She laughed. "You sound happy at least."

"We made up." I admitted in a hushed voice.

"I bet you did!"

I cleared my throat. "Can I call in sick today? To you? Or do I need to talk to..."

"You can be sick today. I won't rat you out." She interrupted. "But it'll go on your sick days and you don't want to use all of those. At least not all at once."

"Ok, thanks. I'm sorry to call and ask...it's just, I need today. He took it off too."

I could tell she was smirking even through the phone.

"Enjoy your time. Make the most of it."

As I hung up, I wondered why her response sounded as if this was a fleeting thing.

💋💋

"I don't want to be the reason why you use a sick day."

Luca had listened to my call. He wanted me to still go to work. I was slightly upset by it..he could take off but I couldn't?

"It's not a big deal, at all. I'm friends with my supervisor, and she gets it."

He ran his fingers through his hair, clearly thinking.

"Alright, I just don't want you to regret taking the day off or resent me later on."

What an odd thing to say.

"Why would you be worried about that?" I asked, sitting back down at the table.

"Ahh, it's just..." He sighed. "I've run in to that before. My schedule can be hectic at times. Especially if I deploy. It can create a barrier that the girlfriend has to overcome, and taking days off for me was a problem."

"Ok. I get it. But Luca, I'm not one of those girls. I'm different. And I don't need to work at all. I'm just doing it to be productive and have something to do honestly."

His eyes met mine in puzzlement. He didn't know about my financial situation, I hadn't told him.

"It's just...my grandad made some pretty smart decisions with his money. He left me a lot. And my parents did as well."

He studied my face for a beat and then nodded.

"That's good. I'm glad you have that then."

The air felt awkward and I didn't know why.

"Do you have any questions?" I asked, trying to lightened the mood.

"You're not some kind of millionaire are you?"

He cocked an eyebrow, a smirk forming on his face, dimples popping.

"Not yet...but if I sold everything..."

I threw my napkin at him, causing him to laugh. If I sold just my current house I'd be a millionaire. That didn't include stocks, other investments and my parents house and assets. I didn't need to worry about money, taxes maybe, but not money to live on.

"I've always wanted to date a sugar mama!" He exclaimed.

I shrieked as he attacked, hoisting me over his muscled shoulder.

"Let's shower...I think we can find a way to be creative in there. It looked pretty big!" He said.

My eyes widened at the thought. Luca was just what I needed alright.

💋💋

A few hours later, we were on the road in Luca's Jeep, top down and sun shining. The shower memories lingering on my skin still, I took his hand and nestled my fingers in between his. I was happy! So very happy.

"You're glowing.." He said, lifting my hand to his lips to kiss the skin.

I nodded and smiled, relishing the feeling. He was everything I had wanted.

"Do you think you'll ever want kids?"

What did he say?!

Blood whooshed in my ears and I suddenly felt faint. Time felt suspended. This couldn't be happening. Not so soon after we became a couple. I froze and couldn't find any words.

"Mila? You ok?" He squeezed my hand and kept glancing at me, worriedly. "I didn't mean now or anytime soon...I just loved the flush on your skin and it made me think of you pregnant."

Me. Pregnant. It could never be. I wasn't able to have children of my own due to my adolescent cancer. My ex had the same thoughts as Luca though. He pictured me pregnant and wanted a kid or two. That's what ultimately broke us up, my bodies curse. For a woman, it's the hardest thing to acknowledge, that you're never going to be a mom.

"Mila...are you ok? I shouldn't have asked about that."

I needed to say something.

"I'm ok. Just daydreaming, sorry."

I gave his hand a squeeze back, weakly. My half assed attempt at getting him to drop it. It worked too, he didn't say another word about kids, but instead remarked at the backed up Honolulu traffic. The Jeep slowed to a crawl as we bottlenecked with everyone else vying for their position on the highway.

"Ok, I get why you didn't want to drive here for work everyday. This is insane!" He lamented.

I swallowed my apprehension. That wasn't why I didn't want to work in Honolulu. Fear of getting in a wreck was...and slowing down in traffic didn't matter. It was the amount of cars that bothered me.

"Yeah, we have bad traffic. But it's just cause there aren't many good side roads connecting it all. Or alternative routes to take."

"Remember in San Diego when traffic was at its worst on I-15? The afternoons were brutal. If I ever got an afternoon off from drill instructing, it would take for fucking ever to get home."

"You took I-15? I lived closer to the water and used I-5. Much easier."

He teased me again with his lips on my hand, effectively taking the stress away in an instant.

"By the water huh? I always wanted to live by the ocean." He said.

"There's nothing else like.." I smiled.

"Ugh...my phone is vibrating. Can you check it please?"

He pulled the phone out of his side shorts pocket and handed it to me.

Leer.

**This story is only found on Wattpad. If found on another site, it was stolen. Thank you for reading.💋**