Apartment living meant Maris had never really been able to decorate past a wreath or festive doormat before. For the most part, she hadn't. Apartments also meant no trick or treaters, so she'd never seen the point of wasting too much time and money on decorating when no one would really see it, but things were different this year.

Maybe impending motherhood had her thinking about her inner child (and children in general). It seemed as good a time as any to go all out.

She'd managed to find a non sexy version of Winnie's green dress. The fact that it was hard to find a dress that went past her thighs and didn't dip down to show too much cleavage was baffling to her considering the actual characters had been dressed pretty practically, but she stopped complaining once she found something that met her standards. The cheap red wig she was sporting was another story. It was itchy and Maris wasn't entirely sure it would last the whole night. Besides, it wasn't really her color.

Even if she had pulled off a soft strawberry blonde for a month or two and only stopped because the upkeep was annoying and she was more than a little tired of Eli calling her "Red".

"I bought some extra candy, just in case," Maris said, bringing in the bag and holding it up for Rory's approval. A pack of fun sized Kit Kats wasn't quite as good as the full sized candy bars they were handing out, but Maris was a little worried about running out of candy. The last trick or treaters might end up getting slightly less candy, but Maris wasn't about to have anyone leaving without something.

Surprising nobody, Rory loved to decorate for a theme. She was a bit nuts for Christmas thanks to her mother and going all out for most of her life, but had thoroughly enjoyed melding Christmas and Hanukkah since she'd been with Maris. To be fair, she'd even taken note of the holy nights during the dark years. Rory even loved a dinner party or something of the like here and there, though they didn't quite have many friends in London yet to really cultivate a good group for dinner and good conversation, but soon.

Now, her entire focus was on their front yard and making it the best one of their entire neighborhood. People didn't seem to get as into Halloween here, but she still had a bit of an ego about it.

"Should we be concerned that we dressed up as sisters?" Rory said as a bit of a dawning afterthought, looking down at her orange and red costume that went with Mary's motif. No disrespect to Sarah of course, but she went with the hair color, and the humor of it all. Down to the drawn on mole above her lip and hair fashioned into a sort of witch-hat-like shape. She was actually pretty pleased with herself, to boot.

Peering into the bag Maris offered her, she smiled and plucked out one of the fun sized bars for herself. "Good thinking. And oh nooo if we have extras..." She smirked, taking a bite off of one that she'd snapped, and handing the other to her wife. "I think we're pretty safe from our house getting egged, so that's a big bonus."

"You know, the thought had occurred to me," Maris admitted, pulling her wife in for a kiss. "Right about the time you got ready. What can I say? Moles really do it for me," she teased.

She probably would have been tempted to kiss Rory if she was dressed up like the creature from the black lagoon, but she wasn't about to let semantics stop her from having a fun Halloween with her wife. Especially if it was their last one as a pair.

She ate her mini kit kat in two bites then pulled Rory to her again. "I thought about playing Bette's I Put A Spell on You on a loop so the kids could hear it when we open the door but I figured we'd get tired of it about the fifth time." She opened up another Kit Kat, pausing when the piece she broke off was halfway to her lips. "Wait, egging is a real thing? We never did it, then again all my friends were nerds."

"Ooh yeah? Next year I'll be Marilyn, or just keep it drawn on year round." Rory grinned into her wife's lips, punctuating her words with a few quick kisses.

Rory loved Halloween, but really hadn't ever had the chance to go all out like this. The whole thing made her giddy, but that tipped over because she was doing it with her wife. It felt like they were just growing into all these traditions they'd carry on for years. It made her emotional even just to think that next year, they might have a little person to dress up.

She laughed softly as she circled her arms around her wife, giving a tendril of the wig a little tug with her fingertips. "Okay that's a good point. Maybe we should make a full spooky playlist while we've got some time? Toss in some Witchy Woman and Season of the Witch?" Damn, music really hadn't had a good witch vibe song like that in a while. "I never did it, I was too afraid that was more permanent damage... but I did TP a few times. There was some saran wrapping of cars, forking lawns, you married a real rebel."

"Forking!?," Maris repeated. She'd never heard the term before, then again, if lawns were involved, that made sense. Growing up in NYC meant lawns, or even patches of grass were in short supply. "What the hell is forking?"

Maris was curious, but having Rory in such close proximity and playing with her hair (even if it wasn't technically hers) had given her a one track mind.

She lifted her wife onto the nearest kitchen counter and pushing Rory's dress up. "I kinda want to fork too," she teased, sliding her hand along her now exposed thigh, encouraging her wife to spread her legs.

It was a terrible pun. If Rory & Maris did have a baby this time next year, Maris would apparently have the dad jokes covered, but the way she was touching her proved that she was anything but playing around.

She pulled off her wig. It was uncomfortable. Hot, itchy and not very well secured because Maris knew she wanted to be able to get it off easily. Once it was on the counter next to them, she grabbed Rory's chin to pull her in for a deep kiss, her other hand already working to push her panties to the side.

Their Halloweens did have a tendency to get a little hedonistic and since it wasn't even dark yet, she knew they had more than a little time to play around.

She let out a little sigh once she was greeted with warm wetness rather than fabric, resting their foreheads together as she started to touch her wife in earnest.

Maris would have been lying if she said her treatments hadn't put a slight damper on her sex life. Even when she didn't feel ill, she usually felt vaguely off not quite herself now that she had hormones and god knows what else coursing through her. Her feeling crappy hadn't really stopped her from pleasing Rory. Not wanting to be touched or fussed with had never stopped her from touching or pleasing her wife in recent weeks but feeling poorly and slightly unsexy had kind of caused desire to wane there too.

But things had leveled out for the most part and feeling like herself meant falling back into old habits.

And making up for everything that she'd missed.

Rory laughed at Maris' repeating of the word, the baffled response earning a genuine reaction from her. "Well it's when you--" She paused as a little sigh came out of her, her lips pressing together as her thighs settled apart, giving her wife more access under her skirts.

"There's a package of forks and you just... you stick them in the grass." Her words were rushed and distracted, and she kissed her wife in between them. "Bitch to get out." She grinned, nipping at her wife's lower lip before kissing her again.

Rory's fingers were immediately into her wife's short hair as she pulled off her wig, her fingers raking against her head as she leaned in to steal another deep kiss. She knew her wife would be met with wet warmth already -- her wife just had to look at her a certain way and a throb of desire would settle in between her thighs. That only seemed to get stronger over the years.

Her fingers clasped together at the base of Maris' head, brushing her thumbs along the sides of her wife's neck. Truth be told, Rory missed touching her wife like they usually did. Of course, she was ridiculously excited for the why things had slowed a bit in that department, obviously understanding and feeling grateful that her wife put herself through all of this for the future of their family. But at the same time, she missed the way it felt to give into their desires with the way they raged on. As much as she loved Maris for always being so on it to please her, she missed being able to do the same. Rory could never be accused of being a pillow princess.

"Fuck," She breathed against her lips, her hands making their way down her wife's body and cursing at the damn costume for not really letting her touch her wife, but cupping her hands over her breasts anyway.

Maris relaxed ever so slightly when Rory returned the kiss. Sure, she was nothing if not confident and she had a feeling her wife had been missing their intimacy just as much as she did, but it was Halloween and there was a little more left to be done.

They'd worked hard on their witchy yard and were excited about the big reveal, not to mention seeing trick or treaters in their costumes, but nothing could get in the way of this.

The world had always come to a standstill when Rory & Maris were in it. Even work had a way of being put on hold when they wanted each other.

Luckily the switch to turn off the porch light was on a nearby wall so Maris leaned over ever so slightly to slap it down one handed.

It still wasn't dark yet, but Maris didn't want to take any chances. As much as she wanted a good look at Rory's face the first time they had been together in what seemed like ages, she hit the kitchen light too. A dark house would further the illusion no one was home.

She never stopped touching her wife.

She let out a needy little noise as her breasts were cupped, taking her hand off the wall to unzip the back of her dress.

Not exactly historically accurate, but Maris was pretty glad the corset at the front of her Winnie dress was all for show.

Since it had been ordered online, it wasn't quite the right size for Maris. It was a little big, which meant it fell down easily before promptly being kicked off to the side.

There was a hastiness to all of this, not just because trick or treaters would show up eventually, but because Maris was suddenly very aware of how much she missed this and that she really was feeling like her old self again.

And as much as she liked being in control, it felt entirely to good to be touched again.

She may have taken her dress off, but she didn't let Rory do the same. Something about making Rory keep hers on was really doing it for her. Besides, she didn't exactly want to waste any more time. She did however, drag her wife's panties down her thighs and toss them behind her into the darkened kitchen before sliding two fingers inside her to start fucking her in earnest.

There wasn't much of a preamble. Maris' thrusts were pretty much immediately steady and deep, their mouths never quite straying from one another as every bit of them stayed as close as humanly possible, Maris' tongue stroking her wife's as her fingers sought out and stroked the little ridge inside her she knew would make her moan.

It wasn’t even Halloween or the costumes that did it for Rory. It was just her wife. She really had missed this energy that they shared more often than not, where just a sigh or a look or a touch could be a green light that set them to hit the ground running. Their desire overflowing with nowhere to go but each other. Rory felt it so urgently, she was almost alarmed she didn’t start to shake the second her wife touched her in earnest.

“Good thinking,” She husked in a low voice as the lights flicked off around them, the faint glow of the late afternoon light enough to keep them well lit enough that she wasn’t worried about fumbling in the dark. Then again, they were damn good at that by now.

Her hips began to rock in earnest against Maris’ hand, soft sounds escaping her lips every time Maris’ fingers moved just so. When Maris dropped her dress, Rory grinned into her lips and moved her hands back where they belonged, squeezing her breasts and teasing her nipples until she felt them go hard beneath her thumbs.

Rory sighed as she rocked a little more urgently into her wife’s hand, her pussy throbbing with what could only be desperate need for more. Rory gasped softly as her lips tore away from Maris’, but she wasn’t gone for long as she kissed along her throat, sucking at her neck and down along her shoulder. Anywhere she could reach, she wanted to touch. One hand slid down Maris’ side, gripping her ass and digging her fingers in to draw her even closer.

“Fuck me.” She nearly growled as she caught Maris’ gaze, her own dark with want. She kissed her deeply, her tongue immediately finding hers like they were meant to. Rory’s breath became increasingly ragged, her body entirely at the mercy of her wife — and glad to be. She knew it wouldn’t take her long, not with the way Maris touched her, and how good it felt to be back in this hedonistic space with her wife. It made Rory crave her even more, even if she knew they had limited time, the night really was young, and trick or treaters wouldn’t be there forever.

Maris didn't need to be told twice. "You think you can handle three? I think you can handle three," she purred in Rory's ear before slipping another finger inside her.

She moaned a little at how easily she slipped inside Rory, her wife already warm and ready for her. They fell into sync seamlessly once more, Maris thrusts starting to go for roughness and depth rather than speed.

Her lungs burned almost as much as her arm. Breaking the kiss was the last thing she wanted to do, but air was important and as she heard and felt the signs her wife was getting closer, she started to ease up a bit, knowing it was probably even more needed on Rory's end.

"I love you..."

It was something Maris didn't say often, especially when they were intimate. She didn't often fall into a saccharine mood and the current one was anything but it was clear Maris meant it even it didn't exactly sound like a declaration of love (even if sure, she meant it as one too). It was an almost apology. Reassurance she was still in it, very much in love even though stupid shots had kind of fucked with everything and caused her to pull back a bit.

It was a reminder that she was back to her old self again, at least for now. She had a feeling her next round of shots might through everything off kilter again, but there was nothing but sincerity, determination and want in Maris' eyes as she rested her forehead against Rory's, determined to watch her wife fall apart for the first time in what felt like ages.

Rory's moan was confirmation enough of her wife's coaxing, her whole body sort of jolting with pleasure before she relaxed into her wife's hand. She moved the grip of one hand to her wife's shoulder, squeezing hard as though to give herself some balance.

She had never been the slightest bit embarrassed by how wet and ready she always was for Maris. Even their first time, when desire seemed to be the only thing she was capable of feeling. There was no point in playing even a little bit coy to showing Maris exactly the affect she had on her. Always had, and Rory was positive -- always would.

The soft remark from her wife earned a smile, a thrill racing through her heart at the sound of it. She knew Maris loved her more than she ever had hoped to be loved by someone, but they didn't often say it in the middle of their feverish sex. It made her feel gentle in the midst of the depth of her lust for her wife.

Rory kissed Maris, unable to form words that weren't just breathy moans and increasingly feverish sounds. "There," She gasped, arching her back as her hips jutted towards her wife's hand. The way Maris fucked her and knew exactly what she needed. Her forehead pressed to Maris', her nails dug into her skin, managing to move her other hand to her wife's side so she wasn't about to squeeze her breast so hard she'd actually hurt her.

She came tumbling over the edge with a cry louder than she usually did, her orgasm spiraling through her veins and making her dizzy. "Fuck, I love you." She gasped, her voice guttural and low as the shockwaves rolled through her. She felt her eyes water, it felt so incredible, which she chalked up to how incredible it was to be touched by her wife.

Rory was kissing her as soon as her lungs allowed, deep but short ones as she breathed between them. "I want to touch you." She purred against Maris' lips, moving her hands down over Maris' breasts again. She knew her wife hadn't been in the mood, and she respected that, but fuck if she didn't hope this was turning a corner for them.

The hormones had freaked her out in more ways than one. Apart from her ever persistent allergies, Maris had always been a pretty healthy person. She loathed being sick because she loathed feeling weak or having to slow down in any capacity, but the blow to her sex drive felt even more alarming, especially now that she was with Rory again. She knew things would level out. Her doctor had warned her the process would be a roller coaster, a string of highs and lows that would only continue if she actually got pregnant, but some uncharacteristically illogical part of her wondered if the side effects would somehow be permanent and that this was how the inevitable slow death of two parents' sex life began.

Her lips twitched into her signature self satisfied smirk when she felt Rory clamp onto her fingers then fall apart.

"Then touch me," she purred back, a slight challenge in her voice.

Maris reached behind her to unhook her bra, but thought better of taking it off or undressing herself any further. Not wanting to be touched meant that was something Rory hadn't been able to do for a while and she wanted to let her have that privilege again.

While she knew she was feeling better, Maris hadn't been expecting anything to happen tonight, so her underthings were mismatched, a white bra to go under the slightly thin white button up she'd worn to work that morning and some polka dotted boy shorts. She felt the tiniest bit because if she had known tonight was going to be what felt like a pretty momentous occasion, she probably would have prepared a little better.

After getting through the initial stick of the needle (and being the one to administer it), Rory felt a bit like a pro when it came down to it. Of course, her wife had been fucking incredible that first night especially, making it feel, well, like they were in every step of this together just as passionately as they shared the rest of their lives. But she knew, practically, there were things that Maris was experiencing that she wasn't. She just hoped to be there for her wife, to support and love her and be patient when the hormones of the therapy did a number on her.

That being said, for two women who near constantly desired each other, the cooling off was palpable. Understandable, but still a bit hard to come to terms with.

So this felt like being back to themselves tenfold. Rory's body still buzzed from the strength of her orgasm, but it only made her want her wife more. She grinned at her wife, ridding her of her bra with expert precision and then sliding her fingers over her breasts and teased her nipples with light touches. She huffed a little sound as she felt them harden beneath her touch. Her pussy throbbed both from being so perfectly fucked and with want, but she had other plans for her wife.

"Get on the floor, Maris." Her voice purred its demand, low and steady as her dark gaze held her wife's. Her hands were on the move before the rest of her, sliding over hips and dipping into the fabric of her underwear, digging her fingers into the flesh of her wife's ass. She kissed her deeply as she slid off the counter, somewhat gracefully but somewhat not. She lowered them both down atop Maris' costume, some makeshift cushioning that... probably wasn't going to do all that much.

But Rory was a woman on a mission, her mouth practically salivating as her lips dragged heated kisses down from Maris' mouth and her throat, sucking and scraping her teeth here and there until her tongue lashed over one of her nipples. All the while, she made quick work of pulling her underwear off, tossing it wherever as she moved her mouth down her wife's body, just as her fingers slowly began to rub against her wife's pussy.

Even if (or maybe because) Maris liked to be the one calling all the shots, Rory's demand sent a tightening sensation between her legs.

She complied almost immediately, without her usual teasing in an effort to stall for time so Rory didn't think she was some sap who gave in too easily. Her dress may not have provided much in the way of cushion, but Maris did find herself grateful it was there when her ankles hit the cool, newly laid, tile floor.

"Ooh, the floor's cold," she murmured against her wife's lips before Rory pulled away and started kissing down her body. She didn't feel the chill for long.

She let out a loud, uncharacteristically girlish whine as Rory's tongue grazed her nipple, the result of about the only good side effect of her hormones.

They made her breasts really sensitive, something she hadn't really noticed until this moment because Rory hadn't been touching them.

She knew Rory could tell. If the needy noise she'd just made wasn't an indication of how much it was getting to her, the fresh wave of warm, wet slickness against her fingers definitely would. She made a similarly desperate sound, albeit slightly lower in tone as Rory started to touch her, eyes shining with awe even in the dim room as she started to rock her hips in time, palms making a slow descent down her wife's sides to cup her ass.

Rory knew the ways to get to her wife, even if they weren't conscious or pointed moments, they were as ingrained into her mind as making coffee the way she liked it, blinking, breathing. She knew the reaction she could garner when her needier, greedier moods came out.

She merely flashed a wolfish grin at Maris' comment, letting the weight of her body lean into her wife's a little more like she would get her to warm up that way. Rory was just a woman on a mission, her mouth hot to each new patch of skin she discovered.

Eyes cast upwards in a flare of excitement when Maris reacted like that her tongue dragging over her nipple again, slower this time, savoring the reaction she got. Rory had plans, but not before she pulled her mouth away with a soft pop sound. She let her breath ghost over the wet nipple before she did the same thing to the other - equal opportunity for both.

She couldn't help but moan as her fingers were greeted with how wet her wife was, the ease with which she rolled her fingers into Maris' rocking of her hips, a moan of her own sounding as her own hips responded to her wife's hands on her ass.

"Hold that thought." She said with a wicked grin, sliding her middle finger inside of her wife as she lowered herself quicker than before. She began a slow pace to pump inside of her, teasing as her teeth nipped at her thigh. Everything was slightly rushed until the finally moved her mouth to join her hand at her wife's pussy, her tongue slowly dragging over her clit with a moan.

Her breathing quickened as her wife leaned into her and made her way down her body. The kitchen was slightly chilly. In their rush to get ready for Halloween, Maris hadn't cranked up the thermostat a few degrees like she normally did to try and warm the house up when they got home from work.

Her slightly wet nipples stung when Rory's mouth left them, her head falling back in complete bliss when her tongue and fingers started working her pussy in tandem.

"Feels so good," she gasped. She'd never doubt her wife's ability to please her. But it had been a while. Maybe Maris had, at least slightly, forgotten what she was missing. Her first instinct was to reach down and stroke Rory's hair, both to encourage her wife and keep her exactly where she was, but her reaction to her breasts being toyed with had been a shock to her too. The laundry list of side effects her shot might cause had been running on a loop in her head even before she had gotten her first one. It seemed important to keep track in case one threw up warning signs.

She vaguely remembered reading something about breast sensitivity, but brushed it off. It seemed minor compared to much concerns, but at the moment she was kinda stoked that something about this whole hormone thing might actually be working out in her favor.

She cupped, then toyed with her breasts almost tentatively, eyes widening ever so slightly as she realized her theory was right and the reaction Rory had garnered hadn't been some kind of fluke or the result of going without her for so long.

It did feel different.

More intense.

She moaned as they both found a rhythm, writhing on the floor as she began to rock her hips in time.

"Fuck, you're gonna make me ruin this dress," she said breathlessly.

She wasn't just talking about wrinkling it now that it was bunched up underneath her.

A few days without having her wife would be hard enough, but Rory was struck with just how long it had been since she’d been able to fully please Maris. She reveled in this feeling; still sated from her own orgasm and now doing everything in her power to give her wife one just as strong. Every sound Maris made just made Rory want to get more, and more from her.

She moaned her agreement to Maris, the sound of her wife’s gasp sending a spike of heat through her whole body. She was a woman possessed with pleasing Maris. Her finger curled inside of her wife, seeking out the space just inside of her that she knew would drive her wild. Her tongue began to lap quickly at her clit, moving in fast flicks and breathing against her wife’s pussy so she didn’t have to break away in the slightest.

“Fuck, you taste so good.” She moaned as she took a breath, using the opportunity to slide a second finger inside of her wife. Dark eyes watched Maris as she slowly eased both fingers inside of her. She began to pump a little faster, her fingers angling upwards to hit the spot she knew would give her wife the most pleasure.

Rory’s gaze never left Maris, soaking in the sight of her, wild and at the mercy of her pleasure. Rory felt this heady, desperate feeling of needing her wife all the more. “I’ll buy you a new one.” Rory said with a cocky grin, her mouth returning to where it had been.

She moved her fingers and tongue in tandem with each other, finding a rhythm that was faster now, stronger as she thrust her fingers deep inside of her, then to curl them again in that familiar fashion. She moaned a how wet her fingers were, coupled with the taste of her wife on her tongue. Deep gaze cast up to look at Maris’ beautiful face, she started to suck on her clit in earnest, meeting every rock of Maris’ hips and thrust of her own fingers to savor every second of it.

"Oh yeah, because every woman needs a...a... Winnie Sanderson dress in her closet."

Maris started to laugh, but the sound was cut short by a moan. No one could ever accuse her of being shy, especially in the bedroom (or on the kitchen floor as the case may be) but there was no denying she was louder than usual, clearly enjoying every second of being fucked after weeks of insisting she be the one to fuck her wife without any reciprocation.

If they were even intimate at all.

When Rory started to suck, one of her hands fell off her breasts and smacked against the floor, pleasure causing her head to spin. She quickly slid it down to grip her wife's hair, soft whining sounds spilling from her lips in wordless pleas for more as her thighs began to shake.

There was a certain, needy, emotional, awestruck tone in her voice that was rare. In fact, Rory had heard it only once before the previous Christmas.

"Rory, Rory, oh fuck, baby, I think I'm gonna...."

Squirt. Or she would have if an insistent knock at the door hadn't starlted Maris so badly that she momentarily stopped moving her hips and immediately tensed up.

But her body couldn't take anymore. She bit down on her knuckles because she was suddenly very aware of someone being at the door. She came hard enough to feel a faint trickle down her thighs and (just as she feared) onto the bunched up dress below her.

There was another knock as she swiftly pulled her wife upward to share her taste. Maris was slightly spent, but not so drained that she couldn't roll around a bit to kiss and rock with Rory while her fingers were still inside her.

Eventually the knocking stopped and Maris broke the kiss. "Put the candy bowl outside the door," she murmured.

It was more of an order than a request. There was a familiar gleam in her eye, one that told her wife that she wasn't done with her yet and a hint of annoyance in her furrowed brows. They both knew that the interruption had ruined something they'd talked about wanting to experience again and Maris never could abide failure.

Maris sat up a bit as she watched her wife cross the room. Once Rory had shut the front door again, she came up behind her, kissing the back of her neck as she pushed her dress the rest of the way off, whispering in her ear as she pulled her back toward the kitchen, "I think I'm all better, don't you?"

Rory admired her wife's determination to even attempt to speak while she was currently in the throes of pleasure, but it just served to give her the mission to fuck her even better.

There was something in the air tonight, something about being apart from each other, for all that they were trying to do with each other and their family. She felt like a woman possessed both by the pleasure Maris had given her, and the deep desire to give it back to her.

She moaned again as she lapped her tongue faster, her jaw aching just slightly as she continued, her fingers thrusting harder, never faltering from their angle where she kept hitting the spot she knew would give her wife the most pleasure.

Yes, she thought to herself, but just moaned into her wife's pussy. She could feel it, what Maris meant. Her fingers didn't falter, her determination doubled as her eyes darkened. The way Maris looked, the way her fingers tangled in her hair, the feeling of wanting so desperately to make her wife come so hard she'd squirt for her gave her this heady feeling she could barely keep from overwhelming her. This is what I want her gaze alone seemed to demand, but then too suddenly there was a knock that was jarring for the both of them.

"Fuck," She growled, her lips pulling away just slightly. But her fingers didn't stop, not until she felt her wife spill over her hand. Not exactly as spectacular as she could have given Maris, all things considered, but there was still an air of delight to the whole moment. She kissed her stomach, moaning again as Maris bucked into her hand.

There was no hesitation as she crawled up her wife and kissed her deeply, humming a low sound into her lips. "Yes, wife." Rory finally said with a cheeky grin, punctuating her comment with another lingering kiss as she slipped her fingers (albeit reluctantly) from her wife and stood on shaky legs.

Thankfully, nobody was out there just now, so she out out the bowl with most of the candies they'd bought. No sooner had she shut the door than she felt Maris' arms around her. She sighed softly, leaning forward against the door with a smile.

"I would say much, much better." Rory grinned, allowing herself to be guided into the kitchen. Only once there, did she turn around to face her wife. Her hands cupped her face and pulled her in for a deep, heated kiss. Her tongue immediately found her wife's, as her hands moved down her body and squeezed her hips, then around to her ass. "That was a very unfair interruption."

"It was," Maris agreed with a bit of a pout. "But we've got all night."

Maybe not all night. She wasn't about to let their work go to waste or their first real Halloween in the new house to pass them by, but she wasn't about to let this moment go either. She really was feeling better and she could tell Rory could sense the change in the air too. She was going to grab this moment while she still could, because she was pretty sure her next round of shots would send her to rock bottom again.

She grinned, taking her wife's hand (no matter how much she liked feeling it on her body again) to tug her into their bedroom. Their dresses could stay where they were until they pulled themselves out of bed to hand out candy.

If there was any left by then. Maris didn't foresee many kids following the honor's system when full size candy bars were being left unattended.

But chocolate was the last thing on her mind as she and her wife fell into their bed.

Hearing Rory agree with her about putting the candy outside, punctuating her statement with that word had done something to her.

"Say it again," she coaxed, resting their foreheads together a moment before starting to kiss her way down to her lips, jaw and collarbone. Her tone was firm rather than playful, despite a cheeky little gleam in her eye as she grabbed hold of Rory's hand to kiss along her palm, then up to her fingertips. As she took Rory's wedding ring finger into her mouth to lightly suck, it was very clear what word she meant. Her free hand slid down Rory's stomach, slowly parting her thighs to start stroking her once more.

Her wife had a way of making her whole body shiver with just her words, and those five that promised a night ahead did the trick -- and then some.

Of course, they would want to actually enjoy a bit of the holiday, but that was far from her mind at present. Rory was not about to waste a single second of her wife's libido being at full tilt yet again. There was a selfish joy in it, sure, but far more than that, Rory was relieved that Maris was feeling more of herself. She was relieved that her wife wasn't so miserable thanks to the round of hormones.

Rory eagerly followed Maris to their bedroom, never letting much space at all between them as she stole touches and the occasional kiss on the way.

Her gaze darkened as she looked at her wife, her heartbeat pounding a little faster as she took her finger into her mouth. Her own lips parted, a soft sound coming from her lips as she leaned in closer. Her hips angled towards Maris' hand, her own hand gripping Maris' ass as she held her close. "Yes, wife." She half gasped, half growled at her, a bit different inflection than the way she'd said it moments before. Even if she didn't have much of an upper hand, it didn't take her long to slip her own fingers between Maris' thighs and stroke her to match Maris' pace. "I'm going to make you come again. No interruptions this time."

For someone as anti marriage as Maris had been for so many years, it was ridiculous how much the word wife, both being able to use it for Rory and in regards to herself, got to her.

She understood now, how it could have a different, more sacred meaning and given how their relationship had begun the second time around, it only made sense that she liked the occasional reminder that Rory was hers and only hers, that neither of them would belong to or touch anyone else ever again.

It provided a different kind of reminder tonight. That a wife was precisely what they were to each other. They were together, in it for the long haul, through nights like this and the more difficult, uncharacteristically sexless ones when Maris wasn't feeling quite herself. Especially when she had a feeling there were more to come. Leveling out meant the treatments were beginning to wear off and with a new month just around the corner, a new round was on it's way.

But that was pushed to the back of Maris' mind, especially when Rory began to touch her. Still slick and sensitive from her orgasm, she let out a breathy, slightly needy sound as she was stroked, not holding anything back when they knew how aroused she had been and still was. They both knew how close she had been to doing something that required the loss of every last one of her inhibitions and she wanted to get to that point again. She wanted to get Rory there too. They deserved that kind of intense pleasure out of being in a rut for so long. On some level Maris wanted to show Rory what she could do to her, what she still did to her, even if she was feeling poorly.

Her kisses were as passionate and deep as her thrusts once she slowly, but steadily slid two fingers inside her. Maris kissed Rory like it had been years since she kissed her rather than a few seconds. She had never really stopped kissing her like she had in those few weeks after they'd finally reconnected again. She probably never really would.

There was a hushed, breathy conversation being had between them, little sobs of pleasure, hisses and breathy yeahs of encouragement as Maris rested their heads together and murmured, "Neither of us is getting up until we both soak the sheets. Come on, darling... fuck, you know we've got this."

There was another rap at the door. It was a faint, a slightly far off sound muffled more by their closed bedroom door. It earned a throaty chuckle from Maris, not to mention a slight smirk that her wife knew all too well. It was the same expression she wore when they were fooling around at work. Maris had always gotten a thrill out of doing something she wasn't supposed to. Sure, no one had to hand out candy. It was their house which meant Maris didn't have to open the door for any reason if she didn't want to, but the idea that they were technically supposed to be doing something else when they had gotten caught up in each other only caused her pulse to quicken.

And was further proof of just how into each other they had always been and still were.

Maris had no intention of hurrying to go out there even if she and Rory accomplished what they had set out to do. Feeling uncomfortable, sweaty and just off meant that cuddling or even just laying around together had been slightly off limits lately, but the idea that someone was outside, maybe even impatient caused Maris to work her fingers a little faster, out of spite and some weird, phantom sense of urgency she was in no way going to give into.

Rory was so wildly in love with Maris, it was sometimes hard to remember a time when she wasn't able to call her wife, a time before they gave each other a life that was built on the years of love and trust they had built with one another. Even those old "dark years" that did not have any business being even mentioned, Rory counted those as part of it all. Their journey to the here and now.

She loved the word too, like every time they referred to each other as wife just gave them that little extra super boost of what they truly meant to each other. They didn't need a reminder, but the affirmation of how much they loved each other and the vows they had made to each other did something to Rory just as much. She belonged not just with, but to Maris. She'd never even thought she'd love that idea so much, but being with someone who was a true partner changed everything.

Rory beamed a wicked grin at her wife as she began to touch her, her body heat rising all the more as she soaked in Maris' response. The sounds she made only egged her on, that symphonic melody that made her feel needed, wanted, almost to dire levels by her wife. Rory was a woman on a mission here, touching Maris, putting more pressure on a spot when she felt her react.

All the while, her own pleasure mounted with every thrust of her wife's fingers. She was audibly wet, soaking her wife's hand as her own fingers slipped back inside of her. She moaned into her lips, her own breathy, needy sound as she nodded her agreement. The way her wife's dirty talk made another fresh wave of heat surround her fingers was something she felt all the way up her spine. "We do baby." She moaned, licking her wife's lips and sucking on her lower one. "I want you to come all over me." She growled her words, darker with every syllable she managed to utter.

Somewhere in the back of Rory's mind, it registered that someone was knocking, but it didn't register enough to actually matter. No, she needed Maris, she needed her wife in a way that entirely overwhelmed her, and that was before the pleasure did the same. They had an entire plan for today, and yet that plan had gone by the wayside in favor of fucking her wife until neither had anything left in them. Sorry Halloween, you're on the backburner.

"Baby, holy fuck." She whined, her back arching, her hips bucking harder into her wife's hand as her own quickened its pace, fucking her with shallow thrusts that hit against that ridge just inside of her she knew was going to drive her insane. Her breath was ragged, pressure of her orgasm building by the second. Her own arm ached, but that just made her go harder. She kissed Maris, her tongue flicking over hers. "You're going to come for me." She demanded, her voice dark, commanding in a way that even in the depths of their pleasure it rarely got. Her demand was punctuated with a slap against Maris' thigh. "But don't think that's all I have planned for you."

Rory's command, coupled with the sting of her hand made Maris groan and her eyes darken. She swallowed hard, trying to catch her breath and ask Rory what exactly she was going to do to her, but it was no use. Her teeth sank into her lower lip as pressure began to build between her legs, an intense sort she would have almost shied away from if not for her wife's encouragement and a desire to give her what they both wanted.

Her vision blurred as the room began to spin. She heard herself begging and cursing, sobbing like her body couldn't take anymore even though all she wanted was exactly that.

More.

To never have to stop and feel anything but this.

Short nails pressed into her wife's lower back because Maris was desperate to have something to cling to as she completely fell apart, her body trembling hard enough for her teeth to chatter as she felt more than a rush of warmth between her legs. She felt a spurt , the result of such intense pleasure that tears were trickling down her cheeks. Even her hands were shaking, but that didn't stop her fingers from continuing their work. She twisted them roughly inside Rory with an almost frustrated sound, determined to send her over the edge too, but it tapered off into a whimper as she, through her blurred vision, saw just how much she'd coated Rory's hand, her cheeks starting to burn.

That look, Rory knew that look so intimately, so well, that it sent another flood of warmth between her thighs over her wife's fingers. Watching Maris come undone for her, lose her control, completely give into the feeling Rory could draw out of her. It made Rory feel as powerful as she was turned on, her whole body entirely attuned to her wife.

Rory's hand didn't stop, instead thrusting in shorter, faster thrusts to pick up the pace and force the kind of pleasure she knew her wife could take. Every sound that fell from Maris' lips only encouraged her more, the sobs and cries sending thrill after thrill through Rory's body.

Her teeth flashed in a wide grin as she felt that spurt against her hand, but her eyes never tore away from her wife's face. Her heart ached in the best kind of way seeing her wife's tears, watching her cheeks grow pinker, the way her body trembled for her. "That's my girl." She purred her words, her fingers slowing some, but not stopping just yet. She coaxed every last moment of her wife's orgasm, curling her fingers and stroking against her pussy walls. The wet sound against her palm as she flattened it and rubbed her wife's pussy made her grin only widen, as she let out a breath that blew hair out of her face. "You're so fucking good baby." She murmured, entirely done in with how enamored and hot she was for her wife. She closed the space between their lips, but only kissed her quickly so as not to steal more breath from her than she already had.

Maris was spent. A flushed, shaky, sticky mess who just wanted to fall back and catch her breath when her heart fell like it was going to explode, but her hand never stopped moving even when she felt like her body was on autopilot, a sort of hazy overdrive as she shook and gave Rory every drop of come she had left.

"You have to come too," she said, brow set with a sternness her voice couldn't convey at the moment. Maris was hoarse, her naturally low tone just a few octaves deeper.

She rested their foreheads together as she kept working her fingers inside her. Each thrust was a little deeper, harder and faster than the last with Maris using up her strength as quickly as it was returned to her. She missed giving her all to fucking Rory as much as she missed being fucked and a little voice in the back of her mind kept screaming that she needed to make things up to her.

Even if her dip in libido and general disinterest in closeness really hadn't been her fault.

Her free hand reached up and plucked the hair tie from Rory's hair. Her carefully styled Mary updo came undone and sent her hair falling to her shoulders as Maris dropped the rubber band on the side of the bed.

It was a silent signal that they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. Things were back to normal and that meant Maris wanted to fuck her wife the way she was used to. She wound her hand in Rory's hair, letting out a soft sigh of pleasure as the long strands slid through her fingers as they moved with Maris hips starting to push against her own hand to send it in a little further. Maris could feel her lungs burning, she could hear a faint uncharacteristic wheeze as they tried to get more air, but she could hear Rory's breath quickening too. She wasn't going to stop until pants turned into screams.

Awe was the word that came to mind as Rory watched Maris come undone for her, the way she shook and breathed sending another shiver up her spine. She was always awestruck by Maris, but when it was like this, it was an entirely unique feeling. She loved her, but she wanted her just as much. All of that was complimentary to the pleasure her wife was somehow still able to give her as she experienced her orgasm. Rory could have understood if she stopped altogether, but oh no, not Maris.

Rory couldn’t even help the moan that fell from her lips as Maris’ demand came, the tone with which she spoke striking her right to her core as another wave of pleasure took over. Rory was ever focused on Maris’ pleasure, it took her a moment to give into her own.

She was panting in time with Maris as her hips began to rock in earnest, slowly at first, but eventually bucking into Maris’ hand in a more desperate, fervent pace.

Rory had missed this. She didn’t even think it on a daily basis, particularly because they were still plenty affectionate and she knew the reason for the dip in her wife’s libido was going to be so worth it when they had a child for all that she was putting herself through. Still, having her back and as sexy as ever made her realize how desperate she was for this closeness with her wife.

A soft laugh escaped her lips, rushed and low as it was, once her hair fell all over her shoulders. Understood, her nod said, as any words that weren’t her wife’s name and panted curses were impossible to get out. “Oh,” She gasped loudly, throwing her head back a little as she felt the pressure begin to build, her cheeks flushing all the more. She felt where Maris fucked her, where she found the spot that sent a violent shudder through her whole body. Her thighs tightened around Maris’ hips as she bucked into her hand harder, “There, fuck, baby right there.” She cried out, though she probably should have been more conscious of her volume, she couldn’t think to stop herself from moaning louder than before.

If there were more knocks (and there definitely were), Maris didn't hear them. The sounds of their moans and soft sighs, the smell of their arousal permeated the room while she developed a kind of tunnel vision for the woman above her.

Rory may have been on top, but it was clear Maris had all the control now. She slipped a third finger inside her wife with ease, letting out a soft groan at how easily Rory accepted it. They fell into an even more frantic rhythm.

"C'mon, Rory. C'mon," Maris said, her coaxing sounding like a chant. It didn't have her usual bossy edge. There was a hint of desperation in Maris' voice like she was pleading for Rory to come because she didn't just want her wife to feel good (even though that was obviously her #1 priority). She needed to know they really were back to normal. That she hadn't somehow lost her touch during the last few weeks when they had adopted their unofficial, unintentional hands off policy.

But Maris' arm was starting to burn and frustration was dripping into her voice. "C'mon," she repeated, this last one more of a growl than the others. She punctuated the statement by giving Rory's ass a firm slap, hard enough to sting and maybe even leave a mark come morning.

Silly as it might be to compare anything in this moment, but it felt just a bit like it had the first time they had been together after their years apart. Dramatic, perhaps, but the weeks that they hadn't truly touched each other like this felt longer because of how healthy and passionate their sex life was normally. Maris had already made her come in the kitchen, but Rory wasn't nearly close to being finished. She felt like they had some time to make up for.

Maris knew exactly how to touch her, the exact way that would make her body shake or her lungs want to burst. Or something burst, anyway. Rory cried out as Maris slipped a third finger into her, her hips sinking towards Maris' hand, willing her to give her more of the pleasure she already was. She knew what her wife was after, it was the same thing she had been just moments before.

The coaxing tone of her voice, how demanding it was, the growl quality struck something deep within her, her hips instinctively grinding herself into her wife's hand, fucking her hand as much as Maris was fucking her "That's it, right there." Her voice was raspy, rough with want as her whole body began to tremble. She gripped the sheets, somehow keeping herself upright as she felt that tight feeling building to a pressure point between her legs.

She didn't shy away from the feeling. There was no controlling this, or herself in these last pivotal moments. She felt dizzy, a guttural cry ripping from her throat at the sting she felt on her ass. It was just one more thing that sent her over the edge. Her head swam as she felt her own orgasm hit, that spurt of wet hot pleasure that sent her gushing over her wife's hand. "Fuck fuck fuck, Mari..." She cried out, her voice not even sounding like herself with how much of a growling, rasping mess she was. Her whole body shook, her thighs wouldn't stop trembling as she felt the wet burst of squirting over her wife's hand and down her thighs.

"That's it. That's my girl, fuck!

Maris had been aiming for total reciprocity. She wanted her wife to feel just as good if not better than she had moments before, but the gush of warm, wetness that spilled all over her was still a surprise. A thrill that she was still getting used (and secretly addicted ) to. Her kisses were almost soothing, her fingers still working her wife's audibly slick pussy until every little wave of her orgasm had subsided. She fell back hard once she was sure they were finished, all the air leaving her lungs with a shaky huff now that she could finally relax.

She was still blissfully calm and she gave into it, fingers dancing along her wife's skin as they fell into a contented silence and tried to catch their breath again.

"I can't do that again," she said once the room was silent and they were blissfully still.

She didn't mean the sex, even though she had come so hard she was left with nothing but a blissful ache.

She meant enduring weeks without exactly this.

The sheets rustled as Maris rolled on her side to face her wife. Her voice was slightly hoarse, but her brow was set and her tone conveyed she was serious.

"The hormones, I don't..."

Like them seemed like a childish statement. A useless one, really. She had no other choice if she wanted to get pregnant.

But that was just it. She wanted to get pregnant. Soon. And not just because feeling out of sorts and not being the sexual person she normally was was kind of driving her crazy. Maris didn't want to seem like a complainer, especially since going first was her idea. She'd go through as many rounds as this took, but...

She was ready. She'd been ready for a long while now. Before she'd even said as much to Rory even.

Still, her heart started to pound hard enough to for Maris to feel dizzy and slightly sick. She was nervous to ask for what she wanted next because there was kind of no taking it back. And every possibility Rory wasn't as ready just yet.

"Can we... you know, go? To see if it takes." Her fingers idly traced patterns on Rory's stomach. Maris was uncharacteristically shy, looking for excuses not to look at Rory in case she was already ready to shoot her down. "The doctor did say I could probably... you know, get pregnant pretty fast."

Pregnancy would only lead to more hormones, of course. Unpredictable chaos and all sorts of aches and pains but... she was sort of expecting that. Pregnancy was more natural than whatever the heck she was taking in hopes that it would stick.

Rory's face flashed a grin at her wife's encouragement, but it was brief, her pleasure entirely taking over every inch of her body. Perhaps part of why she gave in so easily was because she knew it was what Maris wanted, and that determination for equal pleasure was part of what made them, well, them. They were relentless in their desire for each other, and Rory had no doubt that would be as much a fixture in ten, twenty, fifty years from now. But the present was where her main concern was, and how incredible it felt to be back with her wife like this.

"Me neither." Rory panted, smiling as she brushed sweaty strands of hair away from her face just moments after she collapsed on top of her wife. She easily slid off of her, but still kept one leg wrapped around her wife's hip, unwilling to lose all contact even as her breath came in rough, ragged panting sounds.

Rory was quiet as she looked at her wife, the tone of the moment shifting as she took in the look on her face, the trepidation with which she spoke. It made Rory's heart pull in her chest, like it was trying to reach out and soothe Maris. Instead she reached over and brushed her fingers against her cheek.

It meant so much that Maris had wanted to endure this first. Nothing about pregnancy would be easy, even to the conception as they had no "traditional" avenue, or however the terminology went. Rory loved her wife more than anything, and seeing her have any sort of pain or grief felt like a part of herself was in that same pain. No, she didn't want this for her, either.

Rory felt the prick of tears behind her eyes, a swell of emotion in the pit of her stomach that rose up to her chest. One could say that her emotions were heightened thanks to the insanely overwhelming orgasm she'd just had, but she knew that wasn't the case. It was because until now, until posed with the very real and timely notion of starting their family, Rory hadn't allowed herself to feel how much she actually wanted it.

It was always the idea that things would take time. It was all part of a process. They had steps they had to take. While all true, those things had allowed her mind to take them one piece at a time. Maris said she wanted to go now, and Rory could just nod for the moment, completely speechless. A tear fell from her eyes and she laughed suddenly, a little bubble of joy that she hadn't been able to hold back.

"Yes. Of course. Yes." Her skin tingled from where Maris' fingers danced along her stomach, and she wondered how it would feel, to watch her wife grow big with their child, and then eventually how she would feel when she carried one for them later.

A second later, Rory was cupping her wife's face and sliding her body over hers again, kissing her deeply, but breaking their lips apart to kiss her several times. Noisy kisses, but no less passionate. "Yes, Maris." She murmured into her lips, lifting her head to gaze down at her wife. Everything in her was giddy, from her orgasm, from pleasing her wife, from how much she wanted her yet again, yes, but all coupled with this overwhelming joy of what their future was going to be. "I want our baby."

"Yeah?" The word was exhaled softly on a shaky breath that Maris didn't know she was holding. Part of her hadn't been expecting Rory to agree. The procedure was expensive. Going through a couple rounds of hormones to be sure her body was prepared to conceive was probably their best bet if they didn't want their money wasted. Or to not have to go through the crushing disappointment of having a pregnancy not take, but... Maris was unusually optimistic. She knew her cycles were regular and figured she wouldn't have much trouble even before a doctor told her as such. She was doing all the right things, things heterosexual women did to give themselves an extra chance of success like avoiding alcohol, taking vitamins and eating a little better. As far as she was concerned, she probably had an edge on women who were trying to get pregnant the old fashioned way. She was getting sperm sent right to the source.

Even if she really didn't want to think about that. The very idea of the procedure bothered Maris even more than the hormone shots. It was awkward. Dehumanizing. It wounded her pride in a way she couldn't quite describe. She resented needing doctors and a man for anything, but she knew she'd deal. Just like she'd deal with shots again if this didn't take.

If things didn't pan out, she'd never complain about the shots again, taking them without question, her very expensive lesson learned.

Her throat tightened as she saw the emotion on her wife's face and she reached up to stroke her cheek, her heart clenching as she heard Rory was ready for their baby.

"I want to give you one," she confessed softly, something she often thought, but never voiced aloud. Especially in those terms.

Her fingertips slid downward to trace her wife's lips. With Rory above her, naked with the pair of them still slick and sweaty she wanted to give her more than that. Spent as she was, she suddenly wanted to make love again, but she knew this conversation was important.

"We'll go and then we'll go to Berlin like we were going to. And if it doesn't... I'll go back on them, I promise. I just... feel like we should try? I think it'll be fine."

Perhaps it was fitting that this moment made Rory think back to the moment Maris had asked her to be her wife. Almost two years ago now, it was a perfect moment in their living room, a moment that felt as though the earth stopped for just a few moments so they could exist outside of time and space. It was a romantic notion, but one that Rory felt again. She already loved Maris more than anything, already would do absolutely anything for her, but knowing all she was going through to give them something so life changing and permanent still made that well run deeper. She could see it in her wife's face, how relieved she was, how hopeful she was. It made Rory's own heart soar to see that in her.

This was going to work. It might be tedious and it might be painful in some ways - physically as much as emotionally, but in the end they were taking their steps to build their family. Rory wasn't even fully aware how much she wanted this to work until they were in this moment. But she believed it. She believed it with every fiber of her being.

Emotion swelled in her all the more when Maris put her dreams into those words, a tear falling down her cheek as she smiled. "You will." She said softly, pressing her lips to kiss her wife's fingers when she felt them. Rory believed that fiercely. Everything they had been through, everything that they had endured and then built together, they were due some triumphs.

Rory was so filled with love for her wife, her desire yet again thrumming with every beat of her heart that somehow felt more than that. It was coming out of something that felt so rarely tapped into, the purest adoration she had for her wife, beyond what she felt on the daily.

"Berlin for your birthday." She nodded, smiling as she brushed her fingers along her wife's jaw line, tracing down her throat and over her collar bone. "I think it's going to be better than fine." She agreed, catching her wife's gaze with a gleam in her own. "I think this is a perfect plan, Maris. And you know how much I love a plan." Rory teased, giggling as she leaned in and kissed her again.