Morning Snow

Story by VTFur on SoFurry

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Follow up story to Snowed In. Carl and Vince wake up the next morning, and continue exploring their new feelings (and bodies) with each other. Hope you enjoy it, and for those who have read my other stories, hope you enjoy the very brief cameo of one of my other characters!


When I awoke and opened my eyes, I was momentarily confused. All I could feel was soft fur surrounding me, and all I could see was white. Something heavy and warm leaned heavily against the top of my head, and I also felt something damp on my forehead. Then the memories of the previous night rapidly returned and I sighed happily. I took a moment to run my hands through the polar bear’s soft luxurious chest fur, and breath in his strong musky odor. Then I reached up to figure out what was on my forehead. My fingers brushed across Vince’s moist tongue. It had flopped out of his muzzle in his sleep, and was draped across my forehead. A line of drool was running from it. Reaching further up I felt his snout leaning against the top of my head. I chuckled quietly and nuzzled my head against his neck, causing his snout to slide off the top of head, and land with a soft thump. His large arms were firmly wrapped around me, and tightened briefly, almost painfully so, then relaxed again. A quiet snore escaped from Vince’s muzzle. As much as I wanted to stay wrapped in those strong warm arms, my bladder was screaming at me to empty it. With a sigh, I carefully slid myself down Vince’s body as I gently disentangled myself from his arms, trying not to wake him. I couldn’t resist, and gave his sheath a gentle stroke and squeeze as I slipped by it. Vince mumbled something sleepily, but then resumed quietly snoring. No longer wrapped in those warm furry arms, the chill in the room gripped me. I rushed to the bathroom and returned quickly. I eagerly climbed back into bed next to Vince, noticing the tip of his cock was now peeking from his sheath as I crawled by. I carefully slid myself back between his arms, which slightly tightened around me once I was between them again. I snuggled back into his warm chest fur, still shivering slightly from my chilly trip to the bathroom. With a loud snort, Vince woke up. I glanced up to see him peering around, seeming to be as disoriented as I had been when I first woke up. Once he recognized the living area of the transmitter station, it sank into place for him, and he looked down to see me wrapped in his arms and grinned.

“Good morning!” I said cheerfully.

“Good morning to you too!” Vince replied, chuckling. “I wasn’t sure where the hell I was for a second when I woke up. Happens to me everytime when I have to stay up here.”

“Yea me too. Not to mention I’ve never woken up in the arms of a big sexy polar bear before!” I teased. Vince grinned again, and leaned down to press his soft lips against mine. We both sighed happily as we kissed, our tongues briefly brushing together before pulling apart.

“Last night was amazing” Vince whispered, hugging me tightly to his soft chest. “It’s too bad it took us so long to act on our feelings. Just think of all the fun we could have been having all those other times we’ve had to stay up here!” Vince sighed with disappointment.

“Guess we’ll just have to make up for lost time” I said with a grin, as I vigorously ruffled Vince’s chest fur.

“Definitely!” Vince agreed, lowering his lips eagerly to mine again. I curled my arms around his thick neck as we kissed, moaning quietly as he slid his large tongue into my mouth. It was only there briefly though, as Vince removed it almost as quickly as he had slipped it in. I didn’t have time to be disappointed though, as Vince started lapping firmly against my throat and down my chest. I groaned with pleasure at the feeling of his long wide tongue licking its way down my body. He slid his hand down my back, and gripped an ass cheek, effortlessly sliding me up, bringing my groin directly to his face. My arms curled around his head loosely and I rubbed his small ears, as he hungrily slurped at my genitals. Just as last night, he used his long tongue to pull my cock into his mouth, then brought his maw down to engulf my balls as well. I shuddered at the feeling of his long tongue winding around my cock, his hot breath blew from his nose across my stomach. His soft tongue squeezed my shaft tightly, well the tip slithered across my balls, causing me to grip his head tightly. I did my best to hold out, but then I felt one of his long fingers from the hand that still firmly gripped my ass cheek venture into the cleft between. The wide finger tip began slowly making circular motions against my asshole, and I was done. Based on how eagerly he had swallowed everything last night, I didn’t even warn him, but simply gritted my teeth as my load spilled into his hungry maw. As I came, he pressed the tip of his finger slightly into me, causing my orgasm to intensify. His tongue slithered across my groin, cleaning up everything it could find. Finally satisfied he hadn’t missed a drop, Vince pulled his mouth away, licking his chops and slowly slid his finger out of me that had slipped almost halfway in.

“That’s a hell of a way to start the day!” I gasped, my body dripping with sweat. “Only seems fair that I return the favor” I said, eyeing his cock that had fully emerged from its sheath. I was still slightly taken aback at its small size. I had fully expected Vince would have a monster cock based on his enormous body size, but last night I had learned apparently polar bear cocks were surprisingly average in size. Regardless, I eagerly took his slim tapered cock in hand, and gave it a long slow lick. Vince huffed with pleasure as I slipped the tip into my mouth, and greedily slurped my way down to its base, my lips pressed against the furry rim of his sheath. The pointed tip was just barely tickling my throat. I sucked firmly and ran my tongue along his slick cock as I began slowly bobbing my head up and down, as I gently squeezed and massaged his soft furry balls. Vince groaned loudly, placing his hand on the back of my head and began rubbing my head gently as I pleasured him. It wasn’t long before I could feel his cock beginning to twitch in my mouth.

“Carl, I can’t hold back much longer!” Vince panted in warning, as he continued slowly running his hand through my hair. I simply grinned and patted his belly to indicate I had heard him as I continued my oral assault. With a loud moan, Vince’s load flooded my mouth. I swallowed as much as I could, but started to gag since I couldn’t keep up. I had to pull my mouth away and coughed in my hand. Some of his semen ran down my chin.

“Damn, almost took my head off with that blast!” I sputtered, as I coughed into my hand again. Vince chuckled, and leaned forward, reaching for my hand that I had coughed some of his semen into. He guided it to his mouth, and licked across my palm, cleaning the sticky mess from it. Not satisfied with just that, he actually pulled my hand into his mouth, and ran his tongue across it, and in between my fingers. With a final lingering lick across my palm, he released my hand, now slick with saliva. He then pulled my face to his and licked my chin and face clean for me. I crawled back to lay against his warm side, nestled into the crook of his arm, and sighed contentedly. Vince nuzzled the side of my face and gave it another lick.

“Well, as much fun as that was, I suppose we should check on the equipment and head back down to the TV station” I said with disappointment.

“Nah, let’s just live in the transmitter station and have sex all day. Maybe we’ll consider fixing some equipment if it breaks down” Vince said dreamily.

“As awesome as that sounds, I don’t think they deliver pizza up here, and as much fun as it is having sex with you, I would really miss pizza” I joked.

“Oh, you’re saying you love pizza more than me?” Vince asked playfully, reaching over to rub my stomach.

“No, I definitely love you more than pizza, but pizza is a very close second. You wouldn’t want me to not have pizza would you?” I asked, making sad eyes at him. Vince laughed at my pleading look.

“Ok fine, but once we figure out how to get pizza up here, we’re coming back permanently!” Vince exclaimed, as he sat up and slid his legs over the side of the bed.

“Ok deal!” I agreed, climbing out of bed myself. Vince lumbered off to use the bathroom, well I quickly got dressed to fend off the cold. I had brought a fresh change with me, but was lazy and threw on my old clothes instead. Vince returned from the bathroom and hugged me from behind, giving my neck a lick.

“If it wasn’t the middle of winter, I’d say we should crack a window, the sex stank is strong in here!” Vince said, waving his hand dramatically in front of his nose as he chuckled.

“Is it really that bad?” I sniffed at the air, but could only really smell Vince’s musky odor, maybe a hint of my sweat.

“Oh yea it is! Good thing I’m the only anthro technician, otherwise they would smell this immediately if they came up here. Rumors would be flying!” Vince laughed.

“I always forget how good your noses are” I said.

“It’s ok, I like your stink!” Vince said, pushing his cold wet nose against my neck and taking an exaggerated sniff.

“Well I’m glad you like it, but if you’re done sniffing me, let’s check this equipment and get going!” I said laughing. Vince nodded his agreement, then went and pulled on his sweatpants and light jacket. I headed into the equipment room to check things over. The equipment we had fixed the night before was still working fine, so I grabbed the clipboard from the wall and started the weekly checkup since we were there. Vince joined me shortly afterwards, munching on a granola bar he had scrounged up from the kitchen. I called out the items on the checklist and we carried them out. We quickly made short work of the checklist together, then it was finally time to go. I pulled on my jacket as Vince opened the entrance door of the transmitter station to reveal the extent of snowfall from the night before. The snowmobile was completely buried, and was only a white hump.

“Damn, guess we got a little bit of snow last night” I commented. The sun glinted off of the fresh powder that covered everything. I turned and locked the door as Vince trudged through the deep snow over to the snowmobile. Fortunately he had put the cover on, and as he grabbed the edge and pulled it off, all the snow slid off with it as he removed it. He then quickly folded it up and stuck it in the storage bag on the back of the snowmobile. With a grunt, he settled onto the machine and started it up. The engine roared to life when he turned the key. Vince pulled his goggles out of his pocket and put them on, then looked at me expectantly.

“Ready Carl?” he called to me, patting the seat behind him.

“Ugh, I hate this ride in the winter!” I grumbled as I made my way through the deep snow to the snowmobile. Vince merely laughed at my complaining.

“Just need to grow some fur like mine, you won’t even notice the cold!” Vince teased as I climbed on behind him and leaned against his back and clutched his waist.

“If only it were that easy!” I shouted over the sound of the engine.

“Here we go!” Vince hollered as he drove the snowmobile through the deep snow to the access road. I shivered and leaned as tightly as I could against Vince’s back, which fortunately blocked the worst of the cold breeze. I distracted myself by thinking about the wonderful evening and morning I had spent with Vince. I could faintly hear Vince cheerfully humming as he drove the snowmobile down the road, maybe thinking about the same things I was. The trip down seemed to pass quicker than usual, and we arrived at the parking area at the start of the access road in what seemed like record time. As Vince loaded the snowmobile up on the trailer, I started up the TV station van and brushed the snow from it. Once done securing the snowmobile, Vince climbed into the passenger seat, and we headed back to the station. We chatted and listened to the radio as we rode back. I pulled the van up next to the garage and shut it off, and Vince hopped out to take care of the snowmobile trailer.

“I’ll take care of this and park the van back in the garage if you want to go fill out the maintenance log?” Vince offered.

“You the bear!” I said enthusiastically, giving him a salute as I turned to head inside. Vince grinned back, and got to work unhooking the trailer. When techs spent the night at the transmitter station, it was customary for them to have the next day off. As an added bonus, it was Friday, so that meant a three day weekend for Vince and I. I entered the main building, and headed to the engineering dept. I nodded to Murray as we passed in the hallway. He was a slim cheetah I had known for a long time, who worked in accounting. Murray nodded back, then abruptly stopped and turned back to look as I passed. I looked over my shoulder to see why he stopped, and saw his eyes had widened slightly as his nostrils flared and he sniffed the air. Murray grinned at me and dropped me a sly wink.

“Hey Carl! Did you and Vince have a good time up at the transmitter last night?” Murray asked coyly, still grinning at me. I knew we were busted.

“Ah yea, not bad” I said, slightly embarrassed. Murray laughed as he approached me.

“Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me” he assured me, practically purring as he gave me a friendly smack on the shoulder. “I’m just jealous I couldn’t be up there with you guys!” Murray whispered conspiratorially to me. “Anyway, have a good weekend!” Murray turned and continued on his way, his tail swaying behind him. I watched him go briefly, then continued on to engineering. I did a quick update in the maintenance log system detailing our repair and that we had done the weekly check up. With that done I headed out. As I came outside I saw Vince waiting for me, he smiled eagerly at me when he saw me come out of the building.

“Everything all set?” He asked. I nodded.

“I ran into Murray in there, he definitely knows what we were up to at the transmitter, but he claimed our secret is safe with him.” I told Vince.

“Uh oh” Vince said looking worried. “Would it… bother you if people knew we were together?” Vince asked timidly, rubbing his hands together nervously. I couldn’t help but feel terrible thinking that Vince might think I was embarrassed by our relationship.

“Absolutely not!” I exclaimed. I moved closer to Vince and took one of his large hands in mine, looking up at him. “Last night and this morning were some of the best moments of my life. I don’t care who knows about it!” I said passionately. Vince smiled down at me and I reached up and pulled him down into a firm kiss. As we pulled back from each other, some of our coworkers that had been coming and going from the building, they smiled at our passionate display of affection by the entrance.

“Now Murray doesn’t have to worry about keeping any secrets!” I said with a smile. Vince smiled back, and wrapped me in a firm hug.

“You’re still kinda stinky you know” Vince said quietly with a chuckle as he released me from his hug. “Maybe you would like to come back to my place? I have a huge shower, room for two in there. Plus…” Vince leaned down so that his lips were brushing my ear. “There’s a great pizza place nearby that delivers” he whispered seductively in my ear.

“Well, after I confessed my love for pizza to you this morning, how could I possibly say no?” I chuckled. “I’ll meet you at your place?” Vince nodded eagerly in agreement and headed to his truck. I headed to my hatchback, and speculated that since Vince and I were going to be spending more time together, I might need a bigger vehicle. I laughed quietly to myself as I got in, and set out to Vince’s apartment building.

The Heritage building where Vince lived was located in town. It had a healthy mix of both human and anthro tenants, and had a reputation of being an excellent place to live. I had been here many times before, but I knew this visit would be much different than my previous ones. My heart raced as I entered the lobby. Vince’s apartment was at the end of the hall on the first floor. I nodded to a large Doberman who passed, and he nodded back with a friendly grin. I had seen him before on other visits to Vince’s, but had never caught his name. He was nearly as big as Vince in size, maybe even surpassing him when it came to muscles. I couldn’t help but glance over my shoulder after he passed to admire him. The Doberman also glanced back, and when he saw me looking, grinned even wider and gave me a flirty wink, then continued out of the building. That wink caused a light sweat to break out on my forehead, and I wiped it away as I continued to Vince’s apartment. I lifted my hand to knock, but the door was pulled open before I could, and Vince beamed at me. He had already ditched his sweatpants and jacket and was wearing only shorts. I laughed and came in, kicking my boots off at the door, and pulling off my coat. I had brought my backpack with my fresh set of clothes I hadn’t used this morning, and dropped it next to my boots.

“What, were you waiting there staring out the peephole this whole time waiting for me?” I asked with a chuckle.

“Maybe for a little bit” Vince admitted, appearing to blush under his fur. I chuckled again and held my arms out, and was immediately pulled into a bone crushing hug. “I’m so happy you came” Vince said happily.

“Me too” I said, as I patted him on the back as he continued hugging me firmly. “So, shall we see if your shower is really big enough for the both of us?” I said with a sly grin. Vince quickly released me from our hug, and grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the bathroom. I had been in Vince’s bathroom many times on previous visits, so had seen his large shower before, and knew it should easily fit the two of us. It took up nearly half the bathroom and was separated by a frosted glass wall and door. I had never actually opened the door and peeked inside though. As soon as we entered, Vince quickly dropped his shorts and kicked them into the corner. Most anthros weren’t fans of underwear, and Vince was no exception. His anticipation was quite evident, his cock was already halfway out of its sheath. I chuckled seeing how aroused he already was, and started removing my clothes, taking my time and going slowly to tease him further.

“Curse you humans and your layers of clothes!” Vince said cried playfully as I slowly undid my pants and started pushing them down.

“Hmm, should I leave my belt in the loops, or take it out? What do you think Vince?” I asked him, pretending to seriously ponder the question tapping a finger on my chin and looking thoughtfully to the side. My pants were only halfway down my thighs.

“Gah! You’re killing me! Let me help!” Vince said with feigned impatience. I laughed as he grabbed my pants and slid them the rest of the way down, then lifted my legs out of the leg holes. He then peeled off my socks and tossed them to join my pants and his shorts in the corner. “Ugh, you humans and your underpants!” Vince muttered as he grabbed the waistband of my underpants and eagerly yanked them down.

“Hey! We can’t all be lucky enough to have sheaths to keep our dicks in like some guys!” I said laughing at Vince’s impatience as he wrestled my legs out of my underpants.

“You don’t know what you’re missing!” Vince replied as he finally got my underpants free and tossed them aside. With a lusty growl he grabbed the bottom of my shirt and quickly pulled it up and over my head.

“Maybe I could try yours sometime” I said with a grin. “I think the kids call it docking?”

“Docking?” Vince asked, pausing with a considering look on his face, then grinned and shook his head. “Maybe if you behave yourself we can give it a try” he teased me, then scooped me up and carried me into the shower as I laughed. He set me down on the floor of the shower, and I looked around in surprise at how big it actually was. The frosted glass door and wall concealed its actual size. It was the same width as his bathroom, at maybe 8ft, but then was about maybe 10ft deep. It was definitely huge. Room for two was an understatement. I noticed the giant jug of shampoo in the corner and started laughing.

“I guess you weren’t kidding about buying the shampoo by the gallon!” I said, continuing to laugh and pointing at the jug. Vince merely gave me an amused snort, as he turned the shower knobs and started the water flowing. In no time at all, the hot water began steaming up the shower.

“Before we get clean, are you sure we’re not done getting dirty?” I asked in a flirty voice. Vince smirked toothily down at me, then bent down to hoist me up, cupping my ass in his hands. He gently held me against the tiled wall and hungrily mashed his lips against mine, pushing his body against me. I moaned and rubbed the sides of his head as the water cascaded down on us. After just a moment of kissing, Vince began to lower me down, and I felt the tip of his cock poking near my asshole, trying to home in on it.

“Let me help” I said breathlessly, and reached under myself to grab his slick member. I quickly lined it up with my asshole, and Vince continued lowering me, sliding himself completely into me in one swift motion. I gripped the fur on his chest tightly as he started to slowly thrust into me, the tapered cock sliding deliciously against my prostate as I clenched tightly around it. Vince was so worked up, it only took half a dozen thrusts before he erupted inside me. He squeezed my ass tightly and groaned noisily gritting teeth as he came. Gently, he lifted me off his cock and placed me back on the floor.

“It only seems fair I return the favor” Vince said with a grin, as he turned towards the wall, reaching back to pull his asscheek aside. I feasted my eyes on the wrinkled black flesh of his asshole that he had revealed. It looked relatively small, nestled in the sea of white fur and the large asscheeks that surrounded it. I eagerly slid my hands across those massive asscheeks, then slid a hand between them, running my fingertips across his asshole. The velvety soft skin twitched at my touch. I had never eaten a guy out before, but I was willing to give it a shot. Sadly I wasn’t gifted with a long tongue like Vince’s, but I would have to do my best with what I had. I used my hands to gently pull his furry asscheeks further apart, and eagerly pressed my lips to his hole, giving it a gentle kiss. I felt Vince’s body shudder in anticipation. I gave it an exploratory lick, completely unsure of what it would taste like. To my surprise, it wasn't terrible like I had feared it might be. It was unique, a bit of a sweaty, salty taste, and a hint of earthiness. With my fears of it tasting unpleasant gone, I dug in with gusto. I licked firmly against his twitching flesh, and quickly began pushing my tongue through, and into him. Vince moaned loudly, resting his forehead against the wall. I could feel his body quivering. It pleased me immensely that I could get such a reaction out of him. Sadly I couldn’t get in as deeply as I would like, but what I lacked in tongue length, I made up for in enthusiasm. I twisted and thrusted my tongue against, and into him repeatedly, mixed with sucking firmly on his asshole, causing Vince to moan even louder.

“Shit, you’re going to make me cum again!” Vince panted between pleasured groans. Now that he was on the edge, I slid my tongue from him, and patted his thigh.

“Can you kneel down a little for me? Or maybe there’s a stepstool? I can’t reach!” I laughed. Vince chuckled weakly, and obliged me by squatting a bit lower. I took my cock in hand and pressed it up against his asshole, feeling it twitch, warm, and still slick from my saliva against me. I slowly pushed forward, sighing with pleasure as the tip sank in. Vince clenched his asshole tightly on me, almost dragging me the rest of the way in. I slowly slid the rest of my cock in, savoring the tightness, and grunted as my groin pressed against his backside. I began thrusting gently, clutching his hips as I did. I badly wished my arms were long enough to reach around Vince to stroke his cock as I thrust into him, but he had already taken matters into his own hand. I could hear the slick sounds as Vince jerked himself off as I thrust into him. We both panted as we approached our climaxes. My thrusting pace increased, and I could hear and feel the increase in speed of Vince stroking himself as well. Vince got there before I did, and groaned loudly as he came, squeezing even more tightly onto my cock with his asshole as he did, and causing my own orgasm to hit. I clutched his hips tightly as I spent my load in him, then slowly withdrew my cock with a wet slurping sound. Vince stood back up, and turned around, enveloping me in a wet hug.

“Thanks again for coming over” He said happily to me.

“It was my pleasure” I said as I hugged him back. “Well then, now that we’re done getting dirty, time to clean up!” I said, picking up the jug of shampoo. “You do your front, I’ll take care of the backside for you” I offered, as I poured some shampoo into my hand.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody wash my back before” Vince chuckled, taking the jug from me.

“It’s a lot of area to cover, must take you a while!” I exclaimed as I began working the shampoo into his back fur.

“You ain’t kidding, that’s why I only shower a few times a week!” Vince replied as he began rubbing shampoo into his chest. I made sure to pay extra attention to Vince’s ass, and got a foamy lather going between his cheeks. Mischievously, I slipped a finger up into his asshole, causing him to yelp in surprise.

“Hey! Careful back there!” Vince laughed.

“I’m just being thorough! You got some kind of sticky buildup in here, what could have caused that I wonder?” I teased him, as I gently slipped my finger into him again. He didn’t yelp this time, but I gasped as I felt his asshole clamp down tightly on my finger. “Ok, I think I got it all!” I said as I slid my finger out from his still clenching asshole. With no further shenanigans, I finished working the shampoo into his back and legs. Vince turned around to rinse it out, he had already rinsed his front side.

“Ok, now it’s your turn!” Vince said playfully, pouring more shampoo into his hand, then wiping it on my head. I laughed as he vigorously lathered the shampoo into my hair, then rubbed his hands down my body. Crouching in front of me, he reached behind me and ran his hands over my asscheeks.

“Hmm, funny, feels like you got some of that sticky build up back here yourself!” Vince mused, sliding a large furry finger between my cheeks.

“Careful back there, I can’t be held responsible for any lost fingers!” I warned jokingly, then gasped sharply as Vince slipped a finger inside me, gently rubbing against my insides. His finger was practically the same size as his cock, maybe even bigger. I groaned and my cock immediately began to grow hard again. I put my hands on his broad shoulders to support myself, my legs beginning to shake slightly.

“Yup, definitely some build up in here!” Vince remarked, as he continued slowly thrusting his finger even deeper into me. “Uh oh, looks like a leak forming up front now!” Vince exclaimed, as he noticed a bit of pre forming on the tip of my cock. Vince slowly began to gently piston his finger in my ass, as he leaned his head forward to take my cock in his mouth. I leaned heavily on his shoulders as he slurped noisily on me and simultaneously fingered my asshole. It only took him a moment to coax a second orgasm from me. Eagerly, he gulped down my load, then pulled his head from my groin, and withdrew his finger from me, resulting in a lewd slurping sound. He stood and lifted me up with him, I had been still partially slumped over his shoulders as I recovered from my intense orgasm.

“Ok, I think we’re clean enough. We’re probably just going to end up getting dirty again later anyway” Vince said cheerfully as he shut off the water, then carried me out of the shower. Vince set me down in front of the wall mounted dryer and flipped it on. He vigorously rubbed his fur as the hot air blew against him, and once I recovered from my post orgasm daze, I eagerly joined in rubbing his fur to assist him. Once dry, or mostly in Vince’s case, he fished his shorts from the pile of clothes in the corner and pulled them back on. I went and fetched my backpack and pulled on my clean change of clothes. We went into his living room and settled in together on his giant couch. Its size made the one back at the transmitter station look like children’s furniture. Vince draped his arm around me and flipped on the TV.

You know, there’s still something you’re forgetting that you promised me” I said turning to him with a sly smile. Vince gave me a puzzled look.

“Oh, the docking thing?” He asked with a chuckle.

“No! But yes, also that, I forgot about it too! I meant the pizza! I don’t know about you, but I’m starving!” I exclaimed and began laughing. Vince squeezed me against his side as he also started to laugh.

“You’re right, I’m sorry! I forgot I was involved in a love triangle with pizza! I’ll get my phone!” Vince heaved himself up from the couch to fetch it. I wiped a tear of laughter from my eye, and listened as Vince called in a pizza order. He returned shortly and rejoined me on the couch. I leaned against his side again and he curled his arm back around me. We watched TV and cuddled as we waited for our pizza. I hoped this would be the first of many evenings like this for us.