I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best
Saturday mornings were easy for Agatha and Nicky. He would wake up first and go to her bedroom and find his mother still asleep. He would get underneath her bed cover and sleep again, taking his mother’s arms and wrapping them around him as she still slept. Agatha loved waking up with her son in her arms. It felt reassuring and brought her back to the days when they still slept in the same room when Nicky was still using the crib.
This morning started out the same way it always does. Agatha woke up with hair tickling the front of her neck and his son’s orange-scented shampoo in the air. She took a deep breath and exhaled out, adjusting her hold on her son to make it tighter.
As she does this, she feels her son shuffle around. “Nicky? Are you awake?” Agatha whispers, being careful not to wake him if he was still sleeping.
Nicky reveals himself awake by turning towards her mother and kissing her on her nose. “Good morning Mama,” Nicky greeted.
“Good morning baby,” Agatha returned his energy. “Did you just wake up too?”
“No. I’ve been up for a while,” Nicky answers. “Are we going anywhere today?”
Agatha thinks about it. Weekends were always their chance to bond and she wasn’t planning on changing that anytime soon. However, Agatha started thinking about adding someone new to the roster. Before Agatha could answer, they both heard a loud thunder from outside her bedroom window.
“I think we’ll have to spend time inside today. I’m sorry baby.”
“That’s okay. Maybe I’ll finally be able to use my new guitar!” Nicky said excitedly.
Agatha chuckles at his enthusiasm. “Maybe,” she responded. “Do you want breakfast now or in a little bit?”
“It’s okay. I’m not hungry yet.”
“Okay,” Agatha adjusts her hold on her son so that she could hold him closer. Despite her efforts to go back to sleep, she hears a vibrate from her phone situated on her night stand. Agatha nearly dislocates an elbow trying to reach it behind her without turning.
The mother smiles as she reads Rio’s name on her phone.
Rio: Good morning. Hope you and Nicky are doing well. Let me know if you need anything- I know driving in the rain is not your thing.
Before Agatha could tease Rio about knowing too much about her again, she decides to ask her son a very important question.
“Nicky?” Agatha whispers.
“Hm?” her son stifles out a sound on the verge of falling back asleep.
“Do you remember Rio?”
“The one that plays the guitar?” Nicky’s eyes open, paying full attention to his mother.
“Do you want her to come over and teach you how to play today?” Agatha asks him, already knowing his answer.
“Yes! Should I go get dressed now?” Nicky said, sitting up from bed.
“Woah, wait a minute Nicky. I was thinking of telling her to come at around lunch time so that we could get ready,” Agatha said, emphasizing the ‘we.’
“Oh. Okay! Maybe I can show her my room!” Her son exited the room to leave Agatha with silence and an empty side of the bed. The mother unlocks her phone and begins typing her reply to Rio.
Agatha: Now that you mentioned it, Nicky does need something
Rio replies almost immediately like she was waiting for the three dots to show up, indicating Agatha was typing.
Rio: What does he need?
Agatha: You. He wants you to teach him guitar
Rio: Did you tell him about us?
Agatha: Not yet. I don’t want him to feel like he has to like you just because I do
Rio: You like me?
Agatha snorts. She couldn’t believe the luck she had with finding Rio. She knew that with her job, she was constantly meeting people but no one had ever shown as much interest in her as Rio does. She was attentive, considerate, and understanding of Agatha. Slowly, Agatha knew that Rio was winning her over.
?Agatha: We almost kissed the other day, didn’t we
Rio: Okay, but what if I dreamt it?
Agatha: You didn’t. Plus, when I try to kiss you later and you’ve met Nicky already, you better not have an excuse to dodge me this time
Rio: Noted. Can’t wait :)
Agatha blushed at the fact that their first kiss was officially scheduled for later. After Rio’s last message, Agatha got up from her bed and tidied up the house the entire morning, making it look presentable as Rio would be staying at their place for almost the whole day. She decides to cook spaghetti, remembering that Rio had a thing for pasta when they had their first date.
“Nicky!” Agatha calls out.
“Yeah?” Nicky responds as he comes into the kitchen.
“Taste this for me,” Agatha blew the spoon with sauce before feeding it towards her son’s mouth. He smacks his lips together repeatedly, making Agatha wait in anticipation as Rio would be arriving soon. “And?”
“It tastes good, Mama,” Nicky said with two thumbs up.
The mother turns the stove off and removes her apron before realising she was still in sweatpants. She quickly changed into a dress before Nicky opened her bedroom door to let her know that someone was at the door.
She smiled all the way to the door before opening it and seeing Rio standing outside with a guitar case on her back. Rio raised her eyebrows as her face lit up seeing Agatha. Rio extended her arms out for a hug which Agatha returned. Rio hugged Agatha tightly to the point that she almost lifted the older woman off the ground. Nicky stood aside and watched them embrace, furrowing his eyebrows at how close they already seemed.
“I missed you,” Rio mumbles as she nuzzles her face into Agatha’s neck during the hug.
Both of them pull away shortly after that, Rio looking at Agatha to see pink cheeks. Rio crouches down to Nicky’s eye level as she introduces herself. “Hi. Are you Nicky?”
“Yes, I am!” Nicky said, lunging towards Rio for a hug. Rio widened her eyes, surprised at the immediate physical affection Nicky was giving her. She wasted no time reciprocating his embrace, having a big grin as she held him.
Agatha’s face softened as she watched the two often hug each other like they’ve known each other before. If the mother was being honest with herself, she wouldn’t be letting Rio meet Nicky if she didn’t believe that Rio was capable of balancing her life with the two of them.
Ever since they met, Rio had always proven to Agatha that she was worth taking a risk for. Agatha wouldn’t risk Nicky getting attached if all Agatha saw from Rio was something casual. The relationship she now has with Rio felt different compared to the marriage that she had with Wanda. Agatha felt secure and validated with Rio. It felt better.
By connecting the dots, Agatha can only assume that that was where she and Rio were headed. And if she read between the lines? Rio would know better on how to make it last.
“I’m Rio, but I bet you know me already,” Rio teased. Agatha was reeled back from her thoughts and into the scene in front of her. “Where’s your guitar?” Rio asked Nicky.
“It’s in my room! Let’s go!” Nicky grabbed Rio’s left hand before Agatha grabbed her right.
“Nicky,” Agatha said sternly. “We’re going to let Rio eat first, okay? After we eat, then she can teach you how to play.”
“Mama, please?” Nicky flashed his mom with a pout and a pair of brown eyes.
“Actually Nicky,” Rio stepped in, still holding hands with the mother and the son. “I am kind of hungry. Eat with your mama and I first then we’ll play.”
Agatha’s breath hitched at Rio calling her what Nicky calls her. It had been a long time since there was a mediator between her and Nicky. Not that Wanda acted like one at all. It had just been a while since someone had felt like they were a part of her and Nicky’s small family.
“Ugh, fine. You win,” Nicky squinted his eyes at his mother. “But I get Rio after lunch,” Nicky said heading to the kitchen table, still not letting go of Rio’s hand.
Rio smiles as she shakes her head, already feeling familiar with their dynamic. Before Rio sits down, she takes the guitar case off her back and leans it against the wall beside her chair. Rio pulls a chair out for Nicky and another one for Agatha. Agatha made sure to mouth ‘thank you’ to Rio before sitting down.
For the first time all three of them ate together, Agatha was the most quiet. She allowed Rio and Nicky to get to know each other better as she watched them form a bond out of nowhere. Turns out, Rio and Nicky had a lot in common and were fascinated by the same things including guitars and fast cars. At some point during lunch, Rio had promised Nicky that she would drive him around in her Ferrari that was just collecting dust in her garage.
“You can afford one?” Nicky asked in disbelief.
“Yeah. And I’ll tell you what. When you grow up and I’m still not using it enough, it’s yours,” Rio stated.
For statements like those, Agatha would wince knowing how easily those types of promises break. In this case, she and Nicky had the same look in their eyes for Rio. The look of potential. Of what Rio could be to the both of them if she ends up as a new addition to their family.
To Nicky, all he wanted to do with Rio was play guitar and talk about cars. To Agatha, Rio had proved everything she needed to prove. Agatha had nothing left to test Rio with as she passed them all with no effort necessary.
As Rio and Nicky dove deeper into their conversation of cars, Agatha notices light coming from Rio’s phone that was beside her plate on the table. She watched the phone as it stayed on Rio’s lockscreen, notification after notification popping up. It may have been silent, but the fast-moving messages from all kinds of social media apps hypnotised Agatha.
At that moment, the mother got another sickening reminder of how much people demanded from Rio. It may be from fans, managers, or other sponsorships, but Agatha realises that whoever was spamming Rio was still going to put up a fight to get her attention from her and Nicky and it wasn’t just for today.
Agatha wondered if she’ll have to see this every time that she sees Rio’s phone. Thinking about it, it felt unsustainable for her and their relationship. The mother felt unsettled as she looked at how the most recent notification was being constantly pushed down the screen as more came in. She couldn’t look away even if she wanted to. And she really wanted to.
Rio had noticed Agatha being quiet and followed the direction of her eyes to her phone. Rio realises why and decides to power her phone off completely. By doing this, Agatha saw how attentive Rio was being and smiled softly at her, telling Rio with her eyes ‘it’s not your fault.’
Rio couldn’t help but feel bad, forgetting to keep it in her pocket or at least face the phone down. The younger woman feared that this would remind Agatha why she didn’t want to try with famous people in the first place. Rio tried her best to pay attention to what Nicky was saying but knew to glance at Agatha every once in a while, reading her face to make sure she stays okay.
“Mama, Rio is done eating now. Can we go to my room?” Nicky begged his mom, remembering their deal.
“Okay,” Agatha said as she got up from her chair and gave her son a kiss on the top of his head before he got up from his seat.
“Actually Nicky, I’m just going to use the bathroom. I’ll meet you in your room, okay?” Rio asked
Nicky nodded. “Make sure you bring your guitar!”
Rio and Agatha laughed at him as he skipped to his room. The mother swiftly tied her hair in a bun as she collected their used plates and placed them on the sink before running the water. Even if she didn’t want to think about it, her mind was still on the little things that reminded her that Rio wasn’t just a regular person walking down the street. From the signals coming from the singer’s phone and all the way down to the abundant stickers from different cities on the case of her guitar.
Rio wasn’t the kind of person that could just say ‘no’ when someone asks her for a photo. Rio wasn’t the kind of person that could call off work for being sick because she had 70 thousand people to put on a show for. Outside of Rio’s home, she always had to seem put together or else everything falls apart. Rio has no other choice but to look stoic all the time or else people start to analyze every little detail and assume she was going through something personal. Even if she was or wasn’t, people analyze her anyway.
Agatha’s mind was going a hundred miles per second as she washed dishes distractedly. That is, until she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist from behind and a jaw on her shoulder. She inhaled Rio scent deeply, smelling a familiar shampoo that she smelt this morning.
“Do you use a kid’s shampoo?” Agatha teased.
Rio looked towards her without removing her chin from Agatha’s shoulder. “Woah, how do you know that?” she says impressed.
Agatha inhaled once more, this time to calm her nervous system from the overstimulation she got from feeling Rio’s warm breath hitting her neck.
The mother chuckles. “I think Nicky uses the same one.”
“Like father like son, I guess,” Rio teased, adjusting her hold on Agatha's body without letting go.
Agatha snorted. “I thought you were going to go to the bathroom.”
“I lied. I just wanted to check in on you,” Rio sighed. “I’m sorry that my phone wasn’t off during our lunch.”
“It’s okay, Rio. It’s not like you were distracted,” Agatha brushed it off, keeping in mind how well she still paid attention to Nicky throughout their meal. Agatha assumed that it was the normal state of her phone and that’s why it didn’t phase the singer until she saw Agatha’s reaction to it.
“Still,” Rio said, not letting herself brush this off. Rio saw it as her job to clear up everything that fogged Agatha’s mind of their relationship. She knew that Agatha was only putting this conversation to the side so as to not make her feel bad. However, Rio didn’t want this on Agatha’s mind the whole day when the three of them were to be together.
“I should have realised that it shouldn’t be on the table in the first place,” Rio took accountability. Agatha admits that no one has apologised to her as much as Rio did. It’s not like the singer was insecure or a people-pleaser. One clear difference between Rio and Wanda was that when her ex-wife apologised, she made sure it was to justify herself.
If Wanda had done exactly what Rio did, she would say something like ‘I should have realised that it shouldn’t be on the table in the first place, but I don’t have any pockets to put it in.’ On the other hand, Rio apologised with full accountability and zero excuses. She takes the blame and doesn’t let Agatha feel like she owes her special considerations due to irrelevant excuses.
“Rio, it really is okay. If anything, it just showed me how capable you were of ignoring distractions when you’re talking to Nicky,” Agatha explained, turning the faucet off and turning around to face Rio.
She extended her arms over Rio, resting her elbows on her shoulders as she played with the back of Rio's neck. They look at each other, carefully treading the thin silence and space in between them. Agatha keeps her eyes on Rio’s gaze as the singer’s eyes dart down to Agatha’s lips and back to her eyes. Rio looked at Agatha for a signal. Any signal.
Agatha already saw how Nicky warmed up to Rio over lunch. Right now, the mother did not have any excuses left to deny Rio a kiss. Once Agatha’s lips curved upwards, Rio wastes no time.
Rio brings up her right hand holding Agatha’s face in place as she leans in to kiss her vehemently. As their lips touch one another’s, Agatha whimpers at Rio’s urgency as Rio gives her another feeling she hasn’t felt before. Despite having fallen in love and getting married, this was incomparable to another level.
This kiss was not a kiss. It was an act of love. Rio’s secured grip on Agatha’s face and waist along with the counter behind her allowed Agatha to stay upright even if what Rio was doing to her made her knees give in. All Agatha could do was respond to Rio’s determination. Her determination to make Agatha feel wanted. Agatha felt it and accepted it.
Rio felt shivers throughout her whole body as their tongues touched each other’s for the first time. Having tasted food around the world during her tours, Rio knew how to appreciate the difference in each culture’s flavor. Agatha’s culture tasted like no other and Rio was gluttonous for it.
As their cheeks grew sore from making out, they slowed down to catch their breath assuming that they still could. Their foreheads rest against each other’s, Rio’s thumb swiping gently across Agatha’s lower lip, wiping her saliva from Agatha's lip. The tender touch soothed Agatha from the fervent first kiss, altering her senses of how much Rio can make her feel within 2 minutes of being alone.
“There is no way that we made out like that and I still can’t call you my girlfriend,” Rio broke the silence.
Agatha laughed. “You winded me, Rio. Let me catch my breath.”
“A lot of words but I’m not hearing a 'yes,'” Rio teased.
Agatha holds Rio’s face as she leans in for a peck. “Yes. Happy?”
“Only because of you.”
Nicky breaks their moment as he comes into the kitchen, catching them holding each other. “Did you go to the bathroom yet?”
Rio chuckles. “Your mama distracted me. Blame her,” they younger girl said, shortly receiving a slap on her shoulder from his mother.
Nicky crosses his arms and huffs. “Mama, can I have Rio now?”
Agatha rolls her eyes playfully at her son. “She’s all yours.”
Nicky walks towards Rio and grabs her hand, making sure that she comes into his room this time. Rio gives Agatha one last quick kiss before Nicky pulls her away from her girlfriend.
-
Once Agatha finished cleaning the kitchen after their lunch, she sat down on the couch to wait for her son’s guitar lesson to end. Somehow, she found herself on Rio’s side of stan twitter.
Since Agatha stood outside of Rio’s studio a couple of days ago, there were photos of her circulating the app. Fans have speculated that there was something going on between the two ever since the Chicken Shop date. Even though she was a main topic in Rio’s fandom, all of the comments towards her have been respectful.
As the singer’s girlfriend scrolls deeper into her feed, her eye catches a post of an album release party for Rio’s new album. As she looks at the details of the tweet, she feels a pair of arms wrap around her as Rio leans over the back of the couch to give her girlfriend a kiss on the cheek.
“What’cha looking at?” Rio speaks, looking at Agatha’s phone.
Agatha blushes after the contact with Rio’s lips on her face. “Nothing,” Agatha answers, turning off her phone. “Where’s Nicky?” Agatha asks, looking for her son.
“He told me he wanted to take a nap,” Rio came around the couch, sitting next to Agatha as she put her arm around the mother. Rio takes Agatha’s hand and brings her up to her lips to kiss it.
“How was the guitar lesson?”
“Good. He was picking up on things quickly,” Rio gave feedback to Agatha about her son.
“That’s good,” Agatha leans her head on her shoulder. “How should I pay you?” the mother jokes.
“Be my date?”
Agatha looked at her puzzled. “For?”
Rio pointed at Agatha's phone by pursing her lips in the direction of it, “I saw you looking at my album release event. Did you want to go?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Doesn’t matter what I want. Do you want to?”
Agatha thinks about it. As her girlfriend, she should be there. She didn’t want to disappoint Rio on such a big day. Rio can sense Agatha’s discernment and tries to ease her mind.
“Baby, it’s okay,” Rio comforted Agatha, wrapping both arms around her and kissing her temple. “In all honesty, I wasn’t expecting you to want to come. I was thinking of going by myself for the party and then celebrating with you and Nicky the night after.”
Agatha gave her a soft kiss, their lips lingering for a second before Agatha pulled away. To her surprise, Rio stabilized Agatha’s head as she went in for another kiss, feeling short-changed from such a short kiss.
Ever since their kiss in the kitchen, Rio could not stop thinking about the feeling she had when their lips locked. A hundred song ideas had flashed in her mind while she played guitar with Nicky. It took all of her power to focus on him instead of creating a brand new song on the spot. Rio was in danger. She discovered a magnet out of Agatha’s lips and the only way Rio felt relief is if their lips touched.
Agatha holds Rio’s wrist, separating herself from Rio slowly, “are you sure?”
“I’m sure, my love,” Rio assured her. “I can call you that now, right?”
“Do you?”
“Do I?” Rio asked back.
“Love me?”
“Agatha Harkness, I love you with all of my heart and being,” Rio confessed. She did not want to make Agatha feel like she had to say anything back. Rio just wanted the woman in front of her to know how she truly feels.
Rio went home that day with more than what she left with. She laid down on her bed texting her girlfriend and a ring inside a small velvet box on her nightstand. Both of which Rio Vidal did not have when she left her house this morning.