The salt of our mingled tears coated our lips as Zee and I shared a frantic kiss. It was time for her and Hollie to head back to the campus, and neither of us wanted to say goodbye, though we knew we needed to. We hadn't jumped back into bed for the rest of break, though we did spend several nights snuggling while Zee rubbed my belly to make my cramps more bearable as mother nature decided to pay me a visit. Honestly, that was wonderful, as nobody had ever done anything so sweet for me during that time of the month, and it truly helped.

"Three weeks," I murmured as we finally broke apart. "We can make it, okay? You're going to kick ass in school, and then you and Hollie will be back, and we can keep taking our steps."

"I hate baby steps," Zee admitted. "I just want to race ahead and see our future." She gave me an adorable pout that was completely at odds with the persona that she'd tried with me months ago in the hotel, and I gave her a little kiss to make that pout go away.

"I do too, believe me. But we made excellent progress this week, and we're learning more every day." Indeed, our snuggles had turned into nightly talks about music and movies and hypothetical travel destinations that let us both learn some of the little things that we would need to keep going forward. It also gave me some good Christmas present ideas, in addition to the clothing money I was planning on getting her to round out a business wardrobe. I would want to spoil my baby after all. Plus, doing shopping like that would make me feel better while I was missing her.

Because, if I was being honest with myself, I was going to miss her more than I'd ever missed anyone. I wasn't going to say I was in love with Zee, but if I was making a little list of things that needed to happen before I did, then that list was almost all checked off. We'd met in a hotel for an amazing night, then had Halloween weekend with a great lunch interview before she saved me from Elliot, and finally an entire week at Thanksgiving where we started to make progress on a lot of the non-physical elements of a relationship.

So, I could safely say that I loved the way our bodies reacted to each other. I loved the way her voice sounded, be it low and sleepy or happy and giggling. I loved the way she looked, who wouldn't? I loved all of the little things that I'd found out about her. But most of all I loved the way she made me feel, because having a partner who made me as effervescently happy as she did, had never been a part of my life before. When you add all that up, there wasn't much left for me to need checked off before I could look her in the eye and tell her what I wanted and what I felt. Maybe I'd be able to by Christmas. It wouldn't shock me, and we would still have another two weeks to spend together by then.

Fuck, I was acting like I was in high school again and it scared me. I never thought it was possible to fall this fast and hard, but here I was! Obviously, I knew it was crazy to offer her a room in my house, fully decorated, before we were truly official, but that was also me being nice and knowing she was in a rough place, as well as trying to be a caring boss. Visiting her for snuggles was a great bonus though.

I really needed to get some HR forms filled out too, because I wanted to make sure that it was all above board, and I didn't want anyone treating Zee like she was sleeping her way to the top. Honestly, I would have given her the internship with that interview, even without the night at the hotel or the prospect of more. But I might not lick her quite as much without those!

"Tell me we have a chance," she whispered as we stood in my bedroom wrapped in each other's arms. "I really need that to look forward to."

"Zee, we do. Believe me, this is going really well so far. I think this past week showed we had a lot more in common than our physical attraction, and that helps. I like you so much, and I can feel you like me too. If we keep this up, and both keep liking what we find, then I think we have a real chance. But like I said, even if we don't, you have a home here, okay? I'm not going to kick you out if we decide not to pursue the relationship."

"But wouldn't that be awkward?" she asked, looking up at me worriedly.

I nodded slowly, knowing she was right. If we didn't work out, but still saw each other daily, that could make things very difficult. But that was thinking negatively, and I had no plans to do that. "Don't think that, okay? We want to keep being positive, and then none of that will matter."

"Right. I'm sorry, I can't help it sometimes."

"We both have that problem. But I think the more time we're able to spend together, the more secure we'll feel."

"And in three weeks we can do that a lot," she said with a happy sigh. "Are we still going to go slow?"

"Let's play it by ear. I would still like to go a little slow, but I love holding you all night too. I think we're going to be in great shape soon though."

"Just holding me?" she asked with a little pout. "Don't you want a lot more than that? I know I do!"

I reached down and gave her plump little butt a quick slap, making her jump a bit in my arms. "You know very well I want a lot more than that, sweet girl. Trust me, there are going to be a lot of nights that we spend together where we'll be naked and moaning all night. I don't think I could ever stay away from you."

"I really can't wait for all of that." Her body was soft against mine, and I just wanted to sink onto the bed for more snuggles and kisses. But of course, that wasn't possible. "You've got me going crazy here, and I can't believe I have to go."

"But you're going to kick ass in your finals, and maybe kick Hollie a little in the butt when she needs it, then come here and I'll give you a nice graduation present."

"You're the only present I'll ever need."

"Ha!" I snorted. "Very smooth, baby. But I'm going to spoil you a little, and you can't stop me."

Her face fell for a moment before she smiled back at me. "I guess I better find a way to spoil you too."

"Don't worry about that, baby. If you show up on my front step, that will spoil me more than enough."

She frowned, and then shook her head. "Nope. I can't do that, Demi. It isn't fair. I can't be the only one being spoiled or this won't work. I need to be able to make sure I can keep you happy too, even if it is just in a little way. That is what we're worried about, right? I want to make sure it is somewhat even."

I couldn't argue with her about that, since one of the things we'd both mentioned was a financial power imbalance, and me spoiling her too much could make that worse. But at the same time, she deserved to be spoiled, and her family hadn't done shit for her. How could I not want to make sure that she had all she needed? Damn, every time we made progress, little things like that kept popping up.

"Okay, I won't go crazy. I promise." Yeah, maybe only a little. Ugh! No, I wanted to do this right, so I would keep it simple, and maybe get her some winter gear for Norway, plus a gift card. And maybe some handcuffs, though that would be a gift for both of us. And lingerie. And... damn it was going to be hard to not buy thousands of dollars' worth of things for her! She deserved a graduation present though, plus Christmas.

But I really would do my best to use restraint.

"Good, I'll do the same." She gave me one more kiss, and then sauntered off to load the car up. I didn't have to worry about her going overboard for Christmas, since she was on a shoestring budget at the moment, but it was still nice that she would still want to get me something.

I walked out to the living room, finding Hollie giving hugs to Jashanna and Gracie, and I joined them for a quick family hug. Just what I needed, my three daughters, to make me happy. I really couldn't ask for better girls, and I wanted to make sure they remembered that forever.

"I love you all so much," I reminded them while squeezing them all tight. "I can't wait to see you at Christmas."

"I know, I'm already missing the food and we haven't even left," Hollie whined.

"I thought you said the food there was good?" Gracie was looking at her with suspicion now.

"No, it is! But there is no way it is as good as we get here. You know what I mean?"

Jashanna was nodding quickly. "I know! I always hated going home because I love all the yummy stuff here. And Nana makes more good stuff when she visits too, and when you marry Zee, we'll have those plantains all the time!" Zee had just walked in when Jashanna blurted all that, and we just stared at each other with wide eyes.

"Maybe we'll have the plantains regardless, okay?" I looked Zee in the eyes and gave her a wide smile. "I think Zee will be here for a long time, and I bet we can persuade her to cook more." I paused to scan the other girls though. "But I expect all of you to learn to cook more dishes too! You'll be out on your own at some point, and I want to make sure you can take care of yourselves."

"We will," Gracie promised. I wasn't so sure, since Hollie had never been great at that, but maybe the younger pair would want to be able to cook together, since they were so good at doing everything else together.

"I'll teach you both how to make the plantains," Zee promised. "They're easy and tasty if you keep ripe ones around."

"Yes!" called out Gracie. "I might buy every plantain in the store!"

"Zee, Hollie, these next three weeks are going to be tough. I know you both have finals, and the lure of a long break is easy to fixate on. I hope you can help each other and can call us if you need anything beyond what the university has. I really would love to see the both of you coming home here with smiles on your faces after kicking ass. Hollie, this is your first time going through college finals, so please don't try to do it all on your own. If you need help, get it. Zee, this is your last time, so don't let up now. I'm already proud of you both, and I can't wait to see you all again."

That little speech brought everyone into another group hug, this time with Zee included, and it was nice having everyone there. We'd be together again soon, and then we would see what life brought us next. I was truly hoping for a very merry Christmas.