Anubis' Family

"So what's Anu like in bed?"

Zoe was lying in bed, trying to sleep, but Amelia's question kept floating back into her brain. She sighed as she rolled over again, glancing at her clock as she did. 2 am. She'd be a wreck come morning, but she just couldn't sleep.

After blushing madly, Zoe had explained to Amelia that they hadn't gotten that far yet. Amelia had been surprised, assuming that as they'd been dating for so long, they would've slept together at least once.

The more Zoe thought about it, the more bothered she became. She was engaged to Anubis, but she'd never even seen him without a shirt on. Sure they'd made out, and that was fantastic, but nothing more. The one time it was going to develop into something more was when she'd given Anubis a birthday party, and that had been interrupted by her mother shouting up the stairs for her to help tidy up the house.

She turned over again, mind spinning and starting to play the late-night 'what if' game. What if... what if the only reason Anubis had actually proposed was so that he could get her into bed finally? Or what if the reason they hadn't gone very far was because he wasn't interested in the physical side of love? After all, he was a deity. What if he was as clueless about what sex meant as he was about the other aspects of human relationships?

Zoe started to cry softly. She tried to tell herself it was just lack of sleep that was making her emotional and irrational, but her heart was aching, wanting reassurance.

"Zoe? Love, what's wrong?"

Zoe started at the voice, and turned her head to look up at Anubis. He looked scared. Zoe thought back to the last time she'd seen him afraid. She'd been crying then, too, and it had led to their first kiss. Zoe worldlessly held her arms up, asking for a hug. Anubis sat on the edge of her bed and swept her into his lap, holding on tight. She nuzzled into his shoulder, a sense of peace washing over her.

After a minute, she thought of something. "Anubis, why are you in my room in the middle of the night?"

He looked shifty. "It's not the middle of the night. It's early in the morning."

He could tell Zoe wasn't buying it. She drummed her fingers against his chest until he gave in. "I overheard you talking with Amelia earlier. Then when I realised you weren't sleeping, I thought that maybe you'd like to talk about it."

"How did you know I couldn't sleep?"

"Because I love you. I always know when something's wrong."

At such an honest response, Zoe wrapped her arms around Anubis' neck and nuzzled against his shoulder, happy for now. She remembered what she'd been thinking earlier, and blushed. It was rubbish. He loved her, that was enough.

"What's bothering you, love?" Anubis spoke into her hair, then rested his cheek on the top of her head. He had a fair idea, but wanted to make sure she was comfortable talking about it.

"It's... it's nothing, really." She wasn't convincing anyone. "I'm just tired. I'll laugh about it when I've had some sleep."

"You won't if you can't get to sleep," Anubis reasoned. He smiled, then lay down, still holding Zoe so that she was using him as a matress/pillow, pulling the covers up as he did so. "There - see if you can sleep now."

After the initial shock, Zoe smiled and snuggled into her boyfriend. Next time she saw Amelia, she'd tell her exactly what she thought: Anubis was wonderful in bed.