An evening meeting{abi/vilkas)

"Rules are made to be broken," Abi said, "and so are types." It made sense at the moment. She leaned in close and her voice was hardly audible above the crackle of the fire when she spoke again. "I've spent two years improving my potions," she admitted, then laughed at herself. She hadn't even considered him, really. She'd put a lot of attention into improving birth control, making the potion last longer, because it was something that needed done, not because she'd wanted another round with Vilkas. But she did want another round. She considered the wisdom of kissing him, then did it anyway.

Vilkas woke some hours later, sure that he had come to the beach with something around his legs. His head was fuzzy, but he soon understood a warm body against his lying next to smouldering coals. Memories from the hours before he had fallen asleep came back to him as he touched smooth skin and felt blonde curls. He found himself unwilling to pull away. Just for the moment, it didn't matter if anyone found them; it was more important that he was in her arms and she in his.

The temperature had dropped into the 50s and Abi was pressed into something warm and very, very nice. She didn't want to wake up, not when she was in that perfect haze just outside dreams, not when the soft blanket beneath her was secondary to the low hum of still-heated blood. Wait...

She kept her eyes closed as she got her bearings. Oops. She'd done it again.

Vilkas felt a shift in the body next to him and opened his eyes, just enough to look at her. He could say a hundred things, ask a thousand questions. But he settled on something he hoped would get at least a smile. "Good thing you've been working on your potions, eh?" he murmured with a little smirk. It had happened and there was no taking it back, so he might as well embrace it.

Abi surprised herself by laughing. She should have known she couldn't pretend she was still asleep. Not with Vilkas, whose senses were so fine-tuned. "Yes, it's a good thing," she replied. She opened her eyes, spring green meeting deep blue, and though it should have felt strange, it didn't. "We should do this more often." And she'd be sending the Blackwood-Hardts some fruit baskets as thanks for watching her brood.

Vilkas tightened his arms briefly and, after a moment, he kissed her. A little one, a short one. He loved how she smelled right now, their scents mingling together like that New Year's Eve night. "Maybe we should," he said. His brows came together and he broke their eye contact to let his roam over Abi as he thought. The women his age were interested in him, but once they discovered he had kids they stopped. For most of them, he was a 25 year old guy who'd slept around and ended up with kids too young. One corner of his mouth turned up and he dragged his eyes back to hers. "Think your dad would accept me better if we did?"

"He'll accept you if he wants to be part of the kids' lives," Abi said, "whatever our relationship is." She loved her father, but her own children were the most important thing, and she wouldn't have anyone around who belittled their father, not with how deeply he cared for them or how big a part of their lives he was. She was infinitely grateful that he wasn't an irresponsible kid, which he really could have been. He was older than his years.

"If you're worried about your lycanthropy, don't be," Abi advised. "My father was always a scholar. He knows better than to believe old wives' tales and factoids. Don't worry about your age, either. You're a good provider and an excellent father. Who you are is what matters."

"He doesn't need to know what I am yet," Vilkas said. "I need to know him first." While there were a handful of people who knew, Vilkas had only told one person so far who didn't need to know. Cat had reacted well, but Vilkas was still wary. "I guess I'm agreeing to meet him." It was about time he had a meet the father experience, anyway, since he had avoided them for so long.

Abi wanted to tell her father about the lycanthropy. She considered it an important part of things, but she'd respect Vilkas's wishes. "I've cancelled my Friday classes to meet with him myself. I was going to have him over to my house, but if you'd rather go somewhere else, that's no problem." The kids would already be taken care of for the day, and Abi assumed Vilkas would be able to miss a single day of class.

Classes were important, with how close to his masters he was, but Vilkas was willing to miss a day for this. "Your house would be good." It was home turf, and felt safer to meet there than try for some formal meeting at a restaurant. It was still dark, so he wasn't in any hurry to leave just yet. Rather, he held her for a while longer before they gave in and packed up to head home.