this isn’t easy. i know how badly you want to be a part of my life again - of aleksei’s life - but i don’t know if i can do that. not yet. i want to start slow, to get to know you again. so much has changed and we have a lot to talk about. do you want to come over on thursday after aleksei’s gone to sleep? he goes to bed at 8, i’m sure you remember. i’m not ready to have you in his life just yet.
leo folded the worn parchment once more, setting it on the table before him. he’d been carrying it with him since the owl had brought it earlier that week, reading it during every free moment he had.
it felt strange, seeing her handwriting once again. the actual contents left him confused, struggling to determine what he wanted. as badly as he wanted to reconnect with anya, the idea of sneaking after her son - his son - had been put to bed didn’t quite align with what he had wanted.
looking at it from her perspective, it made complete sense. she’d raised aleksei on her own for the past four years. surely the decision couldn’t have been easy, but she had done a wonderful job. leo didn’t blame her a bit for being wary of going backwards in time to their dysfunctional relationship now that their child was involved.
tucking the parchment into his pocket, leo rubbed his the bridge of his nose between his fingers. blinking tiredly at the documents before him, he returned to work.
a quiet knock on the door roused anya from the couch, her heart grateful that leo had been wise enough to not use the doorbell. a smile spread over her lips as she pulled the door open, hurrying him inside before the heat from the house could escape.
“hey,” he murmured pleasantly as he started to remove his coat, pressing a kiss to her cheek when he moved past her to hang it on a hook.
she took his hand firmly as soon as his shoes were discarded, leading him to the living room. on the coffee table, there sat a bottle of wine and two glasses ready for an evening of conversation.
“did you work today?” she asked slowly as she poured one of the glasses, handing it to leo as he seated himself on the couch.
“yeah, i did.” leo nodded, his eyes following anya’s movements as she settled onto the cushion next to his. “it was... long and boring.”
anya smiled, pulling her legs up underneath her as her free hand toyed with the frayed hem of her leggings. “but here you are, with no briefcase in hand.”
“no briefcase,” he confirmed with a grin, staring into the contents of his glass. “those days are gone.”
her fingers shifted along the couch, resting on leo’s own hand gently. he responded immediately, interlacing their fingers tightly. “how was your day?”
she hummed, taking the moment to swallow a sip of wine. “it was nice. aleksei and i went into london where all of the shops are decorated with christmas lights. he loved it.”
his smile slipped sadly, his thumb swiping across her own fingers. “that sounds great.” when he looked at her she was nodding, her own eyes watching him carefully. he cleared his throat, raising the glass to his lips. “are you still modeling, then?”
it was her turn to lose composure. her smile tilted down, a piece of hair falling in front of her face as she shook her head. “no. it was really difficult after i had aleksei. and while i was pregnant with him, of course.” anya lifted their joined hands, pressing their palms flat against one another to compare the stark size differences of their hands. “i do stuff with design now.”
leo snatched her hand, bring it to his lips to kiss each of her knuckles. “that’s great. you definitely belong in fashion.”
anya giggled, leaning to the side to rest her wine glass on the coffee table. she took leo’s from him as well, watching with a smirk as his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “that’s kind of you to say,” she whispered into his ear as she straddled his thighs, making his lap her new seat.
“it’s the truth, is all.” leo’s lips attached to the side of her neck in understanding, his hand pushing the edge of her loose shirt off of one shoulder to expose more skin for him to explore.
“you need to grow your beard,” she whined as she tilted her neck back, missing the scratch of his stubble against her skin.
he pulled back momentarily, a laugh bubbling in his throat. “really?”
she pouted, annoyed that he didn’t take the request seriously. “yes. if you’re going down on me, you need to have a good beard.”
leo’s eyebrows raised, his hands sliding down the curves of her body to tease at the waistband of her leggings. “so i can’t do that tonight?”
she leaned forward, taking his bottom lip between her teeth and tugging until he grunted. “no. you have to earn it.”
“fair enough,” he mumbled in frustration, tugging down her bottoms until her underwear was exposed. “what can i do?”
anya whimpered as leo’s fingers slipped into her panties, resting her cheek against his own. “show me how much you missed me.”
leo laughed breathlessly against her ear, giving a nod.
“i need to get you a gag,” anya whispered, looking up at leo. they’d found their way onto the rug at some point during their session, and one of the couch cushions had been knocked askew in the process.
leo huffed, rubbing his index finger into the small of her back. “kinky.” he lifted the hand that had been resting on his stomach to show her his palm, where a set of bite marks was only just starting to fade. “maybe you need one too.”
anya giggled, nuzzling her nose against his chest happily. “are you into that?”
she felt his body shift as he shrugged, but his fingers slipped lower in response until he was squeezing her ass.
“wait, really?” she raised her eyebrows with a smirk, turning over until her chest was resting on his. “since when?”
leo shook his head, giving her ass a gentle slap teasingly.
“i don’t know. i dated a girl for a while who liked to experiment in the bedroom.”
anya laughed, folding her arms over his chest and resting her chin on top of them. “you dated a kinky girl.”
“i guess.” she could tell by the gruffness in the voice it wasn’t a topic he wanted to explore, despite her own curiosity.
“did you date anyone else?”
she smiled sadly, kissing the hand that he had just brushed across her cheek. “no.”
he hummed in response, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. “so you drink coffee now?”
anya made a face, laughing at the switch in conversation. “yeah. i don’t like it black like you do, though. i like sugar and cream. my heels collection has shrunk a lot because i don’t get to wear them a lot. i like my baths with vanilla scented bubbles now, not lavender.”
“that’s important to know,” leo remarked, a smirk on his lips as he heard anya squeal. one of his hands had slipped back down her backside, playing absentmindedly with her cheeks. “i drink tea at night to help me fall asleep, sometimes. my sister has twins and i really like taking them to candy shops and spoiling them with sweets. i learned i’m allergic to bananas, which isn’t too big of a loss.”
she had pulled herself up his body until their lips were level, pressing a lingering kiss to his mouth. “no banana pancakes then.” leo shook his head in agreement, chuckling softly. “your sister would have twins.”
“higgs are really good at multiples.”
“thank merlin it dodged me.”
leo laughed, even if the thought of anya having twins was really exciting to him. “yes. thank merlin.”
“do you want to go up to bed?” she asked a few moments later, another kiss pressed to his lips.
he nodded, giving a groan as soon as anya’s weight was off of him and he could sit up. he heard his lower back crack satisfyingly, much to anya’s own surprise. “my back isn’t keeping up with me,” he answered with a shrug, passing her panties over to her.
“i figured. your hair is greying as well.”
leo’s hands immediately shot up to clutch his hair as anya finished sliding into her panties and was walking backwards towards the stairs. “is it really?”
she only laughed as began to climb the stairs, calling back in a whisper, “clean up the room before you come to bed, please.”
