Birthday Gift

Writers: Heather, AL
Date Posted: 28th June 2015
Series: The Unwanted Sister

Characters: Relea, Coran
Description: Coran thinks back about the gift Relea gave him on his birthingday.
Location: Green Valley Hold
Date: month 13, day 9 of Turn 7

Relea

Relea arranged the ribbons around the flowers in a fashion she hoped
was pleasing to Coran. While he was a man and didn't generally note
such things, she wanted everything to be just right. Dark red was
stark in contrast with the silky white she'd threaded between the
stems and cascaded down the vase to drift to a stop just above the
table cloth. Moments before, a knock had been the arrival of a
special meal she'd requested and the hot items remained covered to
keep them from cooling off. Any moment now, he'd return and then they
could have their special birthday celebration.

What had started out as a great birthingday celebration with his
parents, siblings, and wife had gotten interrupted part of the way
through when Jakken had showed up breathless to inform Coran that one
of his regular patients was having her baby, NOW! If it had been
anything else, or possibly any_one_ else, Coran would have simply let
the other healers in the infirmary deal with the situation. But,
Rossalie was a young lady that he had been working with for a full
Turn now and he just didn't feel right leaving her to anyone else when
he'd promised to be the one to deliver her baby.

For a first time mother, the birth had gone smoothly, and Coran had
stopped by his desk at the infirmary to clean up a bit and toss his
supplies into a sterilization liquid before returning to the modest
quarters that he shared with Relea. He didn't know whether his wife
would still be up or not at this hour so he was surprised to find the
room still lit when he opened the door.

She smiled when he entered and turned from where she'd been fiddling
with the ribbon, despite the fact there wasn't anything she could do
differently to make it better. As he closed the door behind her,
Relea signed an explanation. "You missed dinner, so I thought we
could finish your celebration, if you like."

A tired smile graced Coran's lips as he looked over the emaculately
decorated table. Relea could make anything she touched beautiful.
"That sounds great." He signed back to her as he sat down heavily in
his chair, his eyes roving over the feast of food that had been moved
from his parents quarters down to theirs.

"Would you rather sleep?" There had been many nights when Coran
missed or was interrupted in the middle of dinner. Although she could
have gone to bed without him, she much preferred to be awake when he
arrived home. "I can have this put away for tomorrow if you prefer."

"Of course not." Coran shook his head. "I am starving." He'd barely
had much chance to put a single bite into his mouth before being
called away from his birthingday celebration.

"Please, eat." While Coran wasn't on call_all_ the time, his
emergencies and the need for him seemed to go through cycles. They
might have a few sevendays where he kept to the hours required of him
in the infirmary, only to be followed by several sevendays of constant
need for his help.

Coran didn't move his lips but merely signed with his hands, "Sit with me?"

He didn't need to ask twice. Without hesitation, Relea slid the chair
across from him out so that she could lower herself into it. She
refrained from 'talking' to him, which allowed him to keep his hands
free for the task of actually eating. As he devoured his food, she
studied him in her usual silence and wondered if the gift really was
something he'd like. It hardly seemed like a proper gift, but she
honestly couldn't come up with anything else.

The food was delicious and hit the spot, but even more than that just
the calming effect that came with Relea's presence was what Coran
needed. "I love you, you know." He said when he finished.

A soft smile slipped over her lips and she rose to reach over the
table and plant a kiss upon his head before signing. "I love you
too." She straightened, then added. "Wait here, let me get your
gift."

Gift? Coran perked up as he pushed his empty plate away. He hadn't
known if Relea would get him anything or not, after all, they didn't
have a luxurious income between the two of them.

Relea disappeared into their room and hurriedly pulled the small box
from beneath their bed. Stripping out of her clothes, she donned the
garment and smoothed out the fabric before inhaling deeply. Qorri had
certainly found something a bit more genteel than she had feared.
Although there was a see-through quality to the fabric, it was only
enough to offer teases of what lay below. Layers were gathered at her
breast and cascaded down in a waterfall around her, hinting at what
lay beneath without giving away too much. Thin straps were the only
thing really keeping the item upon her and Relea wondered if they
would snap sooner rather than later. Despite the fact that he was her
husband and they'd seen each other with far less, the garment still
made her feel awfully exposed and when she stepped back into the other
room, colour heightened her cheeks.

Coran nearly choked on his cup of wine when he looked up to see Relea
standing at the threshold of the bedroom and living quarters. The soft
light in the bedroom behind her gave the silky material a more
transparent quality, allowing him to better see the supple, curvy
silhouette of his beautiful wife. Despite the gulp of wine he'd just
taken, Coran's mouth felt impossibly dry as he looked at Relea.
**Sweet Faranth, I am a lucky man.** He thought as he pushed away from
the table and stood.

"Relea, you look....you look..." He was at a loss for words as he
walked slowly toward her.

Her fingers fiddled with each other, lacing and unlacing, her eyes
unable to meet her husband's in a sudden shyness. How did she look?
Odd? Exposed? That was how she felt. After she noted movement out
of the corner of her eye, she glanced up to watch him he closed the
distance between them. The gesture attracted more colour to her
cheeks and she quickly lowered her gaze to the floor.

"Beautiful. So beautiful." He finished. Coran had seen his wife naked
plenty of times, but there was something so achingly desirable about
seeing her packaged so nicely.

Hooking a finger beneath Relea's chin, Coran tilted her face so that
he could look down into her eyes, "This is, by far, the best
birthingday gift I have ever received." He spoke the words slowly so
that she could read every word from his lips. It wasn't just the
lingerie she wore, but it was that she had been willing to do it for
him, even though Coran knew how shy she was about such things.

Immediately, her expression brightened. Despite the level of
discomfort doing so had afforded, it was forgotten in the knowledge
that she had pleased him. After all, pleasing him was what she wanted
the most and to have achieved success made any embarrassment she'd
experienced more than worth it. She had to take a step away in order
to respond. "I want to make you happy." She admitted.

"You do." He assured her with a simple gesture of his hands. "Now,
come my dear, I would like to unwrap my present." Coran's eyes glowed
as he rubbed the silky material of her gown between his fingers.

She nodded, that same heat darting back to her cheeks, though she did
not resist his call - or his touch.

~*~

"Helllloooo, calling Coran!"

The voice jarred Coran from the lovely day dream he had been having.
Relea had not worn the slinky garment for him again since his
birthingday, but he thought enough about it to have memorized exactly
the way it had looked on her that night. Maybe he could convince her
to wear it again for him, perhaps if he brought her a gift. **Yes, a
little.. trade, of sorts.**

"Are you listening?" The apprentice asked again, impatiently.

"What? What is it?" Coran finally snapped, looking up from his desk.

"There's a pregnant woman here for you."

Coran looked down at his calendar and realized that it_was_ time for
his next appointment. "Alright, keep your shirt on. I'm coming." For
now he would have to cast aside the thoughts of his wife and the
lovely birthingday gift she had given him, but he would revisit them
later...

Last updated on the July 8th 2015

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