Type of work: Chapters of Yesterday to Tomorrow
Genre: Romance, fan fiction
Title: Yesterday to Tomorrow: Chapter Seventy-seven, Breathless moments
Author: dreamsinfiction
Fandom: Chris Cornell of Audioslave
Rating: R/NC-17
Warning: violence, language, sexual nudity


Links to Previous Chapters:
Chapter One, Ice Cream
Chapter Two, Waves
Chapter Three, A Breath Away
Chapter Four, Completely platonically
Chapter Five, Don't leave bed
Chapter Six, Not a rebound
Chapter Seven, Kaleidoscope of feelings
Chapter Eight, Shadows of memories
Chapter Nine, Ripe circumstances
Chapter Ten, Domus
Chapter Eleven, Where it all began
Chapter Twelve, A blessing
Chapter Thirteen, Just a quick deposit
Chapter Fourteen, Precious
Chapter Fifteen, A Chest
Chapter Sixteen, Block the bullet
Chapter Seventeen, A test
Chapter Eighteen, Not a Girl's Best Friend
Chapter Nineteen, Nervous Twitch
Chapter Twenty, More every breath
Chapter Twenty-one, Fire in the sky
Chapter Twenty-two, Prickling revelations
Chapter Twenty-three, Baby steps
Chapter Twenty-four, Accidents happen
Chapter Twenty-five, Questions
Chapter Twenty-six, Je t'aime
Chapter Twenty-seven, Sommeil
Chapter Twenty-eight, Insta-family
Chapter Twenty-nine, Moving along
Chapter Thirty, Forever and a day
Chapter Thirty-one, Smiling down on you
Chapter Thirty-two, Always be here
Chapter Thirty-three, Music to the soul
Chapter Thirty-four, Surprise
Chapter Thirty-five, Kisses of passion
Chapter Thirty-six, Among the stars
Chapter Thirty-seven, A setback
Chapter Thirty-eight, Hold onto the moment
Chapter Thirty-nine, Paradise sunset
Chapter Forty, Sit with me
Chapter Forty-one, Lost like a prayer
Chapter Forty-two, 843
Chapter Forty-three, Out with the girls
Chapter Forty-four, Overwhelming
Chapter Forty-five, Mama Lyssa
Chapter Forty-six, Big sister
Chapter Forty-seven, Canned floor
Chapter Forty-eight, Given away to
Chapter Forty-nine, Set the scene
Chapter Fifty, Sticky fingers
Chapter Fifty-one, A little party
Chapter Fifty-two, Like red roses
Chapter Fifty-three, A long awaited release
Chapter Fifty-four, Cloud of inebriation
Chapter Fifty-five, Aftermath
Chapter Fifty-six, Protective
Chapter Fifty-seven, Family
Chapter Fifty-eight, Re-arrangements to be made
Chapter Fifty-nine, Bottle of happiness
Chapter SIXTY, Blood's thicker than juice
Chapter Sixty-one, Twelve Days
Chapter Sixty-two, Everything settled
Chapter Sixty-three, Every day is a dream
Chapter Sixty-four, Gifting
Chapter Sixty-five, It's wedding day
Chapter Sixty-six, Until death do part
Chapter Sixty-seven, Completed my heart
Chapter Sixty-eight, An all night thing
Chapter Sixty-nine, Let the game begin
Chapter Seventy, Against the passion
Chapter Seventy-one, Hands on skin
Chapter Seventy-two, Flushed out
Chapter Seventy-three, Sand ass
Chapter Seventy-four, Playing with euphoria
Chapter SEVENTY-FIVE, Shape of the anvil

Chapter Seventy-six, Little angels on earth



Laying on her back, Toni sleeping next to her, Nick asleep in the crib, Alyssa waited for Chris to return from all the promotional stops of the day. Their Central Park concert was the following night and Alyssa was hoping to get some rest before the hustle and bustle of getting ready for a concert. But she just couldn't sleep without him in the bed next to her. At all. Toni had resisted sleeping too, wanting to show her new dolly and book off to Chris. But soon her exhausation overcame her and she was off prancing in the land of dreams.

Slipping carefully off the bed, Alyssa tiptoed over to the door leading out to their balcony. Unlocking it, she stepped outside quickly so that the sounds of the busy streets below wouldn't wake the kids. Leaning on the railing she looked down, smiling crookedly. She had never cared much for New York, but she supposed it had it's charms. And if one couldn't find it in New York, it surely didn't exist.

Trying to decide if they should go to the zoo or the Children's Museum the next day, Alyssa didn't hear Chris slip into the hotel room. He kissed his sleeping children softly, before looking around in the darkness for his wife. Sneaking out onto the balcony, he approached her silently, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her neck. Alyssa jumped slightly, but grinned instantly.

"I was beginning to wonder about you, Mr. Cornell," she muttered, her arms folding over his.

"You know how Tom gets when he finally gets the ear of someone," he uttered, kissing her again. "Did you do anything interesting today?"

"We went to the toy and book stores," she answered. "Toni will have a lot to show you in the morning."

Chris chuckled, "Spend a lot of money?"

"No. Not really. But I think she should tell you what she did at the bookstore herself," Alyssa stated. "You'll be very proud of her."

"Yeah?"

"And then we came back and had ice cream for dinner," she claimed.

He laughed, "Baby, if that's all you keep feeding my kids they're going to be—"

"After which we had real food for dessert," she interrupted. "And I talked on the phone to Lily."

She felt his body tense against hers, "You did?"

"Susan didn't know. She was at work. I called to tell Lily that we were sending her a present. And to see how she's doing," she explained. "Chris, she's not happy. At all. I could tell in her voice."

"Did the lawyers call today?"

Alyssa's head shook slightly, "No. Were they supposed to?"

He shrugged, "They said they would if they gained any headway in this mess."

"Drop the suit against Susan," she instructed.

"But—"

"You don't need the money, Chris. Neither do the rest of Soundgarden. Drop the suit. And then we'll negotiate at getting shared custody of Lily and whatever it is you left in Susan's house when you guys split."

"But—"

"Drop the suit, Chris."

"So what are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked, shifting the conversation.

"Can't decide if I'm taking the kids to the zoo or the Children's Museum," she answered.

"Let's go to the zoo," Chris stated. "Toni loves monkeys."

"That's because she is one."

He laughed, "Sometimes, yes."

"But don't you have lots to do tomorrow?"

He shrugged, "Not really too much. We try to take it easy before a concert, you know that. Just a radio interview tomorrow."

"Ah. What time?"

"Nine."

"And what time is it now?" she asked.

"Little after eleven."

"Care to join me in the shower?"

Chris gasped slightly before grinning, "Absolutely."

Sitting on the counter in the bathroom, her legs wrapped around Chris, Alyssa's tongue danced with Chris's. He was supposed to be drying her off, but that clearly wasn't happening, unless he was intending to do so with his tongue. The mirror behind Alyssa remained steamy, encouraged by their activity as much as the very hot and quick shower they had just taken.

Wasting no time, especially with Alyssa's feet pressing him closer, Chris pushed into her again. Alyssa bit the inside of her cheek, stiffling her groan at his touches. He chuckled, covering her mouth with his own to swallow her moans.

Suddenly Chris froze. Alyssa's eyes flew open, trying to figure out why he had stopped.

And then she heard it too.

"Dada?" Toni's little voice called.

Chris quickly pulled away from Alyssa, jumping towards the bathroom door. His hand closed over the knob, just as it started to wiggle from a toddler trying to enter. Eyes wide, Alyssa wrapped a towel around herself, before reaching around Chris to do the same to him, tucking it around his waist. Turning the knob gently, Chris opened the door.

"What's up, butterfly?" he grinned down at her.

Toni's wide eyes looked beyond him, noticing Alyssa in the bathroom too, "You and Mommy naked?"

Alyssa turned bright red, taking a step out of the little girl's vision.

"What's up, butterfly?" he repeated, avoiding her question.

"I had bad dream. And I gotta potty," she declared.

Which meant Alyssa couldn't avoid her and therefore she replied, "Let her in, Chris."

The door swung open and Toni hurried in. Alyssa's hands went to the little girl's waist, helping her up onto the toilet. A moment later, she lifted the girl to the sink, helping her wash her hands while Chris scooped up their clothing and taking it out into the room to shove it in the dirty clothes bag. Making extra sure that Toni spent a few minutes on washing and drying her hands to allow Chris to pull some clothes on, Alyssa let her back down. The little girl hugged her and hurried out into the bedroom.

Watching her climb up onto the king-sized bed, her arms reaching for Chris as he approached it, Alyssa smiled. Sure she was still highly aroused, but seeing her husband embrace his daughter and assure her that he would be there all night to scare away the monsters, lightened her heart. Waiting until Toni laid down, with Chris sitting on the edge of the bed, telling her a story about a princess and butterflies, Alyssa flicked off the bathroom light and padded over to her suitcase. Pulling out a shirt and panties, she dressed in the darkness, before moving over to the bed.

Able to make out Chris sitting on the edge still and where Toni lay, Alyssa crawled into the centre of the bed. Toni instantly turned over, cuddling with Alyssa. Eyes already adjusted to the darkness, Chris smiled and moved around the bed to slip in on Alyssa's other side. For a moment it felt foreign, as they lay in the bed opposite than their bed at home. But his arm slipped over her stomach, just under Toni's, and Chris relaxed.

"Dada?"

"Yes, sweetie," he replied.

"Are you and Mommy going to do that thing on tv?"

"What thing on tv?" he asked, feeling Alyssa go tense under his arm.

"That we saw at home that one day," Toni answered.

Chris couldn't help his smirk upon realization of what she was talking about, "No, baby. We're not."

"Then why you naked in bafroom?"

"Because we took a shower," he answered.

"Together?" she asked, a hint of something in her voice.

"Yes."

"Ewwww."

"You take a bath with Nick sometimes," Chris pointed out.

"But that's different, Dada!" she exclaimed.

"How?"

"He's my brofer!"

Chris chuckled, "Don't worry about it, Toni."

"Haf you and Mommy ever done on tv?"

Alyssa who was starting to relax again, tensed, "Toni, why don't you tell Daddy about the bookstore?"

"Oh oh oh!" the little girl squealed, forgetting for the moment what she was asking. "I sended books to the House, Daddy."

"What house?" he asked.

"Stuart House, love," Alyssa answered.

"Ohhh," Chris smiled. "That was a very nice thing to do, Toni."

"And I got a book that moves! You read it to me?"

"In the morning. Before we go to the z—"

"So you should go to sleep so morning comes quicker," Alyssa interrupted, so as to not excite the girl about the zoo, letting her get some sleep.

"Okay," Toni agreed. "Mommy?"

"Yes?"

"You not let monsters get me, right?"

"Never, ever."



Toni wiggled in the chair, wanting so very badly to leave the radio studio. Not because she didn't like the buttons or even the nice man who gave her a sucker. But because her father had promised they would go to the zoo after they left. The zoo. Where the monkeys were.

The moment he uttered the word, Alyssa felt like jabbing him in the stomach with her elbow. Because she knew that Toni would be very excited about it and therefore very unlikely to sit still during the radio interview. Her point was proven halfway through the scheduled time when the girl started to squirm. Standing Alyssa held out her hand to Toni, intending to walk around the studio with her for a little bit, leaving Nick sleeping in Chris's arms.

Ducking out of the studio quietly, she couldn't help but smile when Toni broke contact with her hand and skipped off giggling.

"We go to zoo!" she exclaimed.

"Soon, baby," Alyssa answered.

"I want a monkey, Mommy."

"You are a monkey, Toni."

"Nuh uh."

"You aren't?" her eyebrow arched.

"I'm a gurl!" she declared, her little hands on her hips.

"Nuh uh," Alyssa argued. "Girls don't hang upside down."

"I not upside down."

"No?" she quickly picked up the girl, turning her upside down.

Toni erupted into giggles, wiggling as Alyssa lifted her higher to blow a raspberry on her exposed belly. Tickling her for a brief moment, she lowered the girl back down to the floor. Toni instantly embraced Alyssa, her arms going around her right leg.

"Je t'aime, Mommy."

"Moi aussi," Alyssa grinned. "You think you can sit through the rest of Daddy's interview now?"

"I be good."

"Promise?"

"Promise," she nodded, big eyes looking up at Alyssa's.



At that very moment, Alyssa was wishing for one of those child-leashes to attach to Toni. Or that Nick would sit in a stroller. It would make it easier to keep track of the kids that way. Even with Chris there to help watch them, Toni had a tendency to disappear for a few breathless moments, hurrying up to the next exhibit.

Pressing up on her toes, she tried to see into the polar bear exhibit. Chris moved behind her, scooping her up.

"Look, Dada! He eat ice cream!" she giggled, pointing at the bear playing with a snowball. "I want ice cream!"

Chris shook his head, "You had ice cream yesterday."

"So? Mommy lets me have ice cream," she declared, no longer caring about the large white bear on the other side of the glass.

Turning to Alyssa, his eyes asked her to verify the statement. Alyssa merely shrugged, a look on her face like it was his call.

"All right. We'll go get ice cream. Does Mommy want any?" he asked.

"Nah. Nickie likes the bear. We'll stay right here," she answered, shifting the boy on her hip so he could slap his hands on the glass.

Kissing her cheek, Chris nodded, "We'll be right back."

Toni bounced while they waited in line for Dippin' Dots. She babbled incoherantly about monkeys, bears, and birds. Chris merely smirked, shaking his head at her antics.

Turning to the man in line behind them, Toni grinned, "Daddy's getting me ice cream."

"You're a lucky little girl," the man dressed in khaki pants and a green jungle print shirt.

"Yep," she turned back to her father. "Your face get oily, Daddy?"

Chris looked down at her, his brows knitting, "Huh?"

"Mommy said yesterday that wet faces are oily."

He chuckled, "Sometimes they had sweat on them too."

"Oh yeah," she nodded, hopping up to the cart. "I want a big one."

"Let's start with a small one," Chris said. "And if you still want more, we can get more."

"But Daaaaaaddddy!" she pouted.

Remembering something Alyssa had once told him about giving her options to avoid a tantrum, he replied, "Do you want bubblegum, cookies and cream, cotton candy, or strawberry?"

"COOKIE!" she exclaimed.

"A small cookies and cream, please," Chris requested, pulling a bill out of his wallet. "And a small strawberry."

Holding the cup of ice cream dots down to Toni, he thanked the young woman at the stand and lead his daughter back towards the polar bear exhibit. Toni grinned, walking very carefully so as to not drop her ice cream. Setting it on a bench, she hurried to get Alyssa while Chris sat down.

"Daddy got you some too!" she exclaimed, pulling on the hem of Alyssa's shirt.

She smiled at Toni, "How lucky I am."

"Yep. Dada loves you," she declared, pulling Alyssa towards the bench.

Slipping onto the bench after handing off Nick to Chris, Alyssa kissed him briefly, "Trying to charm me with ice cream, huh?"

"Works with Toni," he declared, the little girl already on her third mouthful.

"Big girls usually need something different," she teased, before sharing a bite of her strawberry ice cream with him.

"Like?"

Alyssa shrugged, "I don't really like jewelry, cept my rings and pendant. You'll have to find something else."

"I know!" he grinned.

"Oh?"

"You want a stuffed monkey."

Luckily Alyssa turned her face away from him just in time, spraying her mouthful of ice cream towards the ground rather than her husband. Coughing as she wiped her mouth, she struggled to not laugh and inhale what was left in her mouth.

"That's totally it, Chris. Totally," she finally replied.