[h2]Esme Stirling[/h2]

Esme watched Duke’s face, watching his smile grow as she said he could carry her into the bedroom. Her smile grew as well. Then more when he said he thought he could handle it, which made her laugh a little. When he bent and wrapped an arm around her back, she placed her arm around his shoulders and held the towel in place with her other hand, just in case it came undone as he wrapped his around her thighs and lifted her from the floor with ease. Once cradled to his chest, she leaned her forehead against his neck. Her smile grew once again when he leaned his cheek against the top of her head. She couldn’t help but think back on times when he carried her like this from past cases they had been on. She mentally shook her head and laughed inwardly as she thought about it. It was almost as if she had walked right back into what she had left all those years ago. 

Duke pulled her from her thoughts at his comment, and she laughed softly. “I eat enough. I just have a high metabolism.” she laughed more. “And it’s very clear to see that you’re not the skinny little thing I once knew.” She playfully poked his muscled bicep as she spoke before he propped her legs over his thigh. She watched as he pulled down the blankets with his now free hand. When he lifted her back up and gently sat her on the bed and against the headboard, she let her arm slip from his shoulders as he practically tucked her in. Her thoughts went once again to a few times he had done this before for her. She let her arms rest on top of the blankets and her hands on her stomach, after he had tucked her in, then gave a nod in response to his words. “Very comfy.” she smiled warmly. “As of right now, nothing hurts too seriously, but I’ll let you know if anything changes. Pizza and a little TV sounds great.”

Esme watched Duke sit on the edge of the bed, her smile unfading as he placed his hand against her thigh and asked his question. She looked down at his hand for a moment, then ran a hand through her damp hair and brought her hair to lie over her uninjured shoulder. “Hmm, what do I want right now?” she repeated the question as she brought her index finger to her lips thoughtfully as she looked up. “A nap.” she joked with a laugh. She leaned her head back against the headboard, a look of thought overtaking her features. If she really thought about it, there was something she wanted or thought she wanted, but she couldn’t bring herself to voice it, so she pushed it back into the back of her mind. A smirk soon came to her lips and her finger dropped from her lips as she focused back on Duke, her hand coming to rest on her stomach once again. “You know, I’d kill to have at least one slice of cheesecake right now.” 

Her tone was serious, showing that she really wanted some cheesecake at that moment. When it came to cheesecake, she was like Dean when it came to pie, and she was sure Duke would remember that. When they were all together and Duke would offer to go out and pick things up and ask if they wanted anything, she and Dean would speak in unison. Him saying pie and her saying cheesecake, which would send them into a bit of laughter. She could still hear Duke’s response ringing in her mind as if he had said it yesterday, “Should have known you’d ask for that” before he would leave to get what they needed. Her gaze then met his after the words faded from her mind. “Though I’m not sure where you’d find it around here. You’d probably have better luck finding pie.” she laughed. “Which would work too.” She sighed, sinking more into the pillows and resting more against the headboard of the bed. 

Her hand slipped from her stomach and down to his hand and gave it a squeeze. “But I don’t expect you to go out and find it with all that’s going on right now. I can wait till everything settles and I’m able to move around a little better. So, until then, I’m perfectly content with pizza and your company.” She gave his hand another squeeze before a shiver overtook her. Keeping hold of his hand because she didn’t want to let it go just yet, she lifted the hand that was resting on her stomach, slid it under the blankets, then pulled them up to her neck and over one shoulder to fight off the chill she suddenly felt.