The Morning After...

[likely_evil]

ooc: follows after this

Feeling the warmth of the sun on his back, Sam made a happy noise in the back of his throat while he instinctively curled around the warmer body pressed against his chest. He didn't quite remember how they had moved from the rug in front of the fire to his room, but he remembered everything that happened in the hours that followed until they were exhausted and fell asleep in each others arms. He cracked his eyes open a bit to look at Heather as his leg wrapped around hers a bit more, pulling her closer.

Normally, Heather would be one of the first up in the house as she had to help make breakfast but after last night she was tired and frankly, she didn't want to get up at all. A bit of jostling from Sam got him a grumpy, groggy growl and then Heather snuggled into his warmth dozing.

During the night he had gotten in touch with his affectionate wolf side, and he responded to her growl with a soft whimper and pressed his cheek against the top of her head and welcoming her deeper into his arms as he closed his eyes again, more than happy to continue snuggling all day.

That was much better in Heather's opinion. She pressed a kiss against his shoulder to say she accepted his apology.

He knew he had fallen back asleep for a few minutes as his back was much warmer when he opened his eyes again and he couldn't stop the yawn and stretching his body did before curling back up around Heather's smaller frame. "What time is it?" he asked in a soft whisper, unable to see the alarm clock behind him.

Heather opened one eye and then had to push her hair back so she could actually see the alarm clock over his shoulder. She frowned at the time. "We might have missed breakfast."

He moaned a bit because he was slowly getting hungry and his body wanted to replace the calories they had spent the night burning. "Think we'll get in trouble for sleeping in?" He wasn't serious, and he hadn't been aware of the pack returning during the hours they had still been awake.

She shrugged. "Murphy will let it slide once if she's back from hunting. As long as Butters is looking after Anna, we'll be fine."

The mention of Butters had Sam giving another groan as he hid his face against her shoulder. "Then let's hope he is."

"What? Scared?" she teased, sliding a hand out to poke him.

"Of Murphy? A bit." He gave her a small smile. "My hunting lessons get a bit more strenuous every day. Though I'm thinking I'm developing muscles as a wolf that aren't really showing when I'm back to normal."

She chuckled. "Of course you are. Wolves have different muscles. You won't have them show when you go back. But it's not going to hurt anything. You're pretty muscled now."

"I like to keep in shape," he chuckled, kissing her neck a bit.

She hummed happily. "Oh, I noticed and I appreciate it."

"I think you just gave me my motivation to start working out in the evenings again," he kissed her a bit more, then leaned back to look at her eyes. "And we could always work on our cardio together when you feel like joining me," he hinted with a playful smirk.

"I work in a mountaineering store, I don't need any help working out." She stuck her tongue out at him.

He snorted and propped his head up on his hand, elbow on the pillow. "No, you don't." His hand ran down along her arm, taking in the firmness of the muscle there.

She was pretty pleased with his praise and didn't bother to hide it, beaming at him. "Damn right."

"Though I might just enjoy the benefits of your job on your body a bit too," he grinned as his hand left her arm and traced her hips. "I'd ask if they were hiring, but I do get distracted easy."

"You can enjoy all you like, Sam." She ran a finger down the center of his chest, "I plan to enjoy yours a lot."

"Maybe Murphy can hook me up with something in the park that will keep me walking trails all day. Saving tourists from their own stupidity."

"They do background checks in the Parks Department, you sure you want to do that?" Sam's past was a mystery to her and usually when people kept things to themselves, they had something they wanted to hide, something painful. She just wanted him to be sure.

He sighed. "Guess I'll look into a career in McDonalds then."

"Have you seen a McDonalds around here?" She countered. "Look, just hang around here. If you want a job, there's a local dinner that can always use a waitress."

"I would, but I do get bored sometimes out here on my own. Even the internet gets boring when you don't have anything left to look at."

She pushed his shoulder, laughing. "You better not need the internet anymore!"

"I might do a bit of research to inspire some creativity," Sam grinned, grabbing her pushing arm and pinning it on the bed next to her head, rolling her onto her back.

She giggled a bit, rolling with him. "Mmmm, I don't think you need any help in that."

"Glad to know you approve," he said, leaning down to kiss her, getting excited and the idea of breakfast was shoved to the back of his head again.

She made a noise of approval and agreement, then slid her free arm around his neck. She kissed him back like she had forgotten about breakfast too.

Sam kept kissing her, aiming to move further along that path when he thought he heard some noise coming from downstairs and lifted his head, trying to focus. Murphy had wanted Sam to start trying to sharpen his wolf senses in human form, and his hearing was slowly improving but he had a hard time making out what noises in the distance were. "You hear something?"

"Yup," she said and tried to get him focused on kissing again.

Sam was distracted by the noises downstairs, but Heather's kisses pulled at him and he figured that whatever was going to happen would happen with or without them continuing on, so as long as there wasn't a scream of panic from Butters or Anna, they didn't have to worry. He closed his eyes and kept kissing her, his hands starting to explore her body and move her into a more comfortable position to be able to start the first "round" of the morning.

After the first round, Heather stretched out, feeling rejuvenated and happy. She snuggled up to Sam again, playing her fingers over his chest a bit. "You do realize if Murphy and the rest are back, we're going to get teased."

"I've already been teased for being a klutz and being stuck in wolf form for almost a week. I'm getting used to it." Sam sighed. "Though... I'm a bit worried about how Butters will take it."

She reached up and cupped his cheek. "I'll deal with Butters. We're just good friends, he knows that."

"I know. I had hoped he and I could have been friends... but his crush on you kept him from even wanting to talk to me. I have a feeling it's now a lost cause." He pressed his cheek against her hand. "Not that I'll trade this for the world. I'm very happy right here like this with you."

"Butters... got some ideas after I came into the pack. He just forgets sometimes when he thinks I need to be protected," she smiled and brushed her thumb back and forth.

"Well, he doesn't need to protect you from me," Sam smiled. "Not in that kind of way..."

"He knows that. Well, he will when I'm done with him." She smiled back.

"Good. Because I will fight him for you," Sam stated, teasing but serious. "And I don't plan on losing."

"Be nice," she scolded, teasing. "We all have to live here and if you two spend all your time fighting over me, we'll never get a moment of peace and time alone."

"I'm very nice, I think," he said. "I'd much rather be friends with him than fight. But that's going to be up to him in the end."

"A pack works differently. You'll get used to it. Haven't you noticed Kirmani and Morgan don't really hang out? Well, that's because the two of them are competing for the same spot as Murphy's second, so they don't hang out." She shrugged. "Even if we live together, we don't always play together."

"I know I will. I just have too nice of a personality. Tends to get me trouble sometimes when I want everyone to just get along."

She chuckled and kissed him. "You're a nice guy, Sam. I like that."

"Well, I'm glad you do. Because I like you too, just the way you are." He kissed her back, smiling.

"Naked and in your bed?" she teased.

"Just one of many options I get?"

She laughed. "That's two options."

"Is there a menu I get to order off of, or is it one of those make my own desserts?" He chuckled.

"I don't see any whipped cream handy, so I don't think it's dessert yet."

"You're way too sweet to be any other meal. But I think I have a few dollars for supplies if you want to bring some home after work with you."

She chuckled, "I'll think about it. Whipped cream means we'll have to do the laundry after it."

"Might be worth it, but yeah. It's a way to draw unwanted attention from the others." He stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. "And now I'm hungry."

She sat up, holding the blankets to her chest. "We could go downstairs if you think your other hungers are satisfied."

"I think I'm sated for a few hours," he teased, leaning over to kiss her one final time before getting up to find some clothing. "Feel free to borrow the sheet to get back to your room. You can return it tonight." He was smirking now.

"Pft, a sheet. Who needs sheets around this place?" Heather snorted and got out of bed. She let it drop. Smirking at Sam she winked before concentrating and shifting into her wolf. She trotted over to the door with her tail high, waiting for him to open it so she could get to her room.

He walked over and scratched her a bit right behind her ear as a parting caress before opening the door to let her out. He watched her a moment, making sure she was able to get into her room first before he went to get changed, taking a very quick shower first to get the sweat off his body and hopefully lessen the scent of Heather that he could even smell all over him. He also opened his window a crack to vent the smell of sweat and sex out of the room before heading downstairs to get something to eat and face the firing squad that was probably waiting for him.

There was a small firing squad, just Butters and Anna in the living room. Anna was busy with her spelling homework and Butters was sort of glaring but not. He still remembered his place.

"Hi Sam!" Anna said when she noticed him. "There's left over breakfast for you and Heather when she gets downstairs."

"Thanks. I'll reheat it. Did you make it with Butters today?" he asked, ignoring Butter's glare and instead looking over at Anna's homework. He'd only help if she asked.

She nodded. "Yup. I'm going to be a good cook unlike my mom."

"Well, you've got a good teacher. You really don't want to see me cooking on my own. Unless you just want to eat spaghettios and soup from cans. That's my limit for solo cooking." He started to the kitchen where he'd still be able to talk to her but just raised his voice a bit when replying.

Murphy had taught Anna not to shout between rooms. She put her crayons away and got to her feet before rushing into the kitchen. She took a seat at the table to watch Sam while he went about whatever he was doing. "Heather's the better cook, but Butters is a really great teacher. He doesn't get frustrated when I'm slow."

"That's good. I'm better at teaching the school stuff anyway." The food was being reheated, so he turned to look at the young girl. "How is the homework going?"

"It's going okay," Anna sighed, "I got a B on my last spelling test so I'm studying extra hard this time."

"What words did you get wrong on the last test?" He sat across from her, turning to look over his shoulder at the food every few moments.

She shrugged. "They're not important."

"Anna?" Sam raised an eyebrow. He was a stern teacher.

Like any pup she looked down and gave him her puppy eyes, which were really good. "They aren't. I'll do better though. I will, promise."

"All words are important," Sam knew those eyes. He had a pair of his own, but she was little and cute and sometimes they won him over. "I know you'll do better, but I also want to make sure you're remembering to learn to spell the ones you miss sometimes."

"I will, I promise." She was big on keeping her promises.

He smiled and reached over to ruffle her hair a bit. "Good girl. Want to go upstairs and let Heather know breakfast is ready again?"

"Sam!" She pushed his hand away and smoothed her hair down before getting to her feet and racing upstairs to get Heather.

He chuckled as she took off, smiling to himself and going back to reheating breakfast for him and Heather. He reached into the fridge for the orange juice and turned to pour two glasses to go with the meal.

Anna got Heather and then came racing down the stairs, this time leaping at Butters while Heather made her way to the kitchen. She smiled at Sam. "Hey, I heard there's breakfast for me?"

"Yup, thanks to Anna with Butter's tutoring," He put a plate in front of her along with a fork, then sat across from her. "It smells good, that's for sure."

Heather was about to say something, but a loud rumble from her stomach interrupted. She blushed, "Yeah, it does."

"Then less talking and let's dig in." Putting his plate down, he took a quick drink of the juice, then picked up his fork and started to eat.

She made a noise of agreement before she dug in and ate like a starving person. She had burned a lot of calories last night and this morning.

Sam ate quickly, finishing up and then refilling his juice which he drank while waiting for Heather to finish. He wasn't hungry anymore, but he knew he'd be munching again in an hour or two. "Do you want more? I tried to leave enough in case Murphy, Kirmani and Morgan come in the door hungry."

Heather gave him a thumbs up as she finished her last mouthful. "I'm good for now."

"Do you have to go to work today?"

She nodded. "If I can get out of here, yeah."

"I'm good with a shovel. Want me to dig you out while you get ready?"

"Sure. Thanks." She smiled at him.

He smiled back and got up, leaning closer to give her a quick kiss as he grabbed her dishes to bring them to the sink. He then pulled on a jacket and his boots and went out to start shoveling a path from the front door to Heather's car, digging it out from the snowfall from the night and cleaning off the snow on top of the car as well. He would have warmed it up too but he didn't know where her keys were.

She was quick to follow after she got her winter clothes on. She first got in her car and turned it on so that it would warm up and the windows would defrost. Soon as that was done, she jumped out and started to help him dig the snow out. They were getting a lot more than normal this year.

After a few minutes he put the shovel over his shoulder and wiped his brow. "Alright, that should get you to the road. If they didn't pave the roads you'll have to rely on your four wheel drive. Call my cell if you get stuck and I'll come help dig you out."

"Hey, I've been driving around here longer than you. I can get through worse weather." She grinned, bouncing over to him and giving him a quick kiss before she hopped into her car and carefully made her way out to work.

Sam watched her go for a moment before heading back inside, whistling to himself softly. He took off his outside clothing before heading to the kitchen to clean the dishes. After that, he had nothing to do for the rest of the day.