.O N E. S H O T.
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
"Who wants some hot chocolate? I made it all from scratch just for my two favorite girls."
"And by that you mean you followed the directions on the back of the cocoa box, right?" You smile, taking the cup from Alex's hand. He furrows his brows at you, shaking his head innocently. "Oh yes you did, mister. But that's okay, it's still delicious."
"All right, you caught me," he sticks his tongue out in your direction as he hands the small of the two cups to your daughter, Lily. "I did add in one special ingredient that wasn't on the box, though. Can you guess what that is?"
You brace yourself, knowing the girlish scream was about to echo through the room. If there was one thing your daughter loved, it was marshmallows, especially the pink and yellow pack that Alex so often bought for her. Lily stares into the cup, her eyes growing wide as her mouth falls open.
"Marshmallows!" She screams, running over to show you the cup. "Look, mommy!"
"I see. You better thank Daddy!"
"Thank you Daddy!"
Alex chuckles as the small girl runs back to the television screen, blowing roughly on her cup. He plops down beside you and wraps an arm around your shoulders, bringing his lips to your temple in a loving way. This wasn't exactly how you planned to spin Alex's vacation at home. Honestly, you wanted to take Lily to the park, or the zoo, so you could capture tons of memories of her with her father on film, but the weather just wasn't having that. For the third day in a row, rain was pouring from the sky, loud cracks of thunder following the lightning. You didn't think the days would be anything but struggle, because Lily was so afraid of the booming from the sky, but your husband had managed to squish another fear for her in his time at home. Thankful didn't even begin to describe how you felt.
"Let's play a game," Alex announced, making you raise an eyebrow. "Lily, what do you want to play?"
"Hide and seek!" She chirped, forcing a grin to come to your lips. "But you haveta count, daddy!"
You know hide and seek would turn into a full on battle between Lily and Alex, but since you'd spent two days scrubbing the house before Alex came home from tour, you didn't want it to look like a hurricane came through due to their game. Instead, you decided to bribe your daughter into something else.
"You won't be able to drink your hot chocolate if you play hide and seek, Lils," you smile at your daughter as she looks at you with sad eyes. "How about you and Daddy go pick a game from the closet, that way you can sit right here with us and still have your marshmallows!"
"Marshmallows!" Lily screams, running over to the table to set her cup down beside yours before she grabs Alex's hand. "Come on, Daddy!"
As the two of them race out of view, you laugh silently to yourself. One of the things that attracted you most to your husband was the fact that he would always love and express his inner child. Even on your worst days, you knew one grin or tickle fight with him would lift your spirit. Now that you have him and Lily, the fun never seems to stop, not even when he's away on tour.
A moment passes and Alex comes back into view, your daughter trailing behind him with a big red box. She'd chosen Operation. Mentally, you want to smack your husband. Your daughter's tiny hands make it hard for her to easily grab the pieces, so she gets discouraged and cranky when she plays this, but as you're about to protest to the game, Alex sends you a wink and you realize he has a trick up his sleeve.
You clear both cups of hot chocolate away from the center of the table just in time for Lily to drop the box, grinning at you with her small baby teeth. Giggling to yourself, you open the box and set the game up, offering Alex the chance to go first. He nods his head to you and takes the tweezers, picking up a game card. Your eyes flicker to Lily, who is waiting carefully to see if her daddy can get the piece.
"Ladies, I'm going in!"
Lily laughs with you, as you both watch Alex slowly bring the tweezers to the board. He glides them easily into the slot before he releases the sides, letting the buzz scare Lily. Alex grips his arm and lets out a child-like scream, falling over in the floor. You watch as your daughter crawls over to him, scared that the game had hurt her daddy. Alex waits until her body is right over top of him before he jumps up and grabs her, tickling her so much that tears are streaming down her face. You can't help but laugh along with your daughter, the two of them laughing together tickling your heart as hard as he was tickling her sides.
As Lily screams for him to stop between her snorts, Alex lets up, his head turning lightly to the side. He glances back at you with a grin on his lips.
"Do you hear that?" He asks, turning his attention back to your daughter. "The rain let up."
"Alex, don't you dare-"
"Too late," he shoots up with Lily in his arms. "Race you!"
Alex runs as fast as he can to the front door, you trailing close behind him in hopes to stop him from leaving the house, but you don't make it there in time. Your feet hit the porch the moment Alex jumps from the stairs, spinning Lily around in the rain. The sky had cleared up some, but in the new light, you could see all of the mud your husband was standing in with your daughter in his arms. Yeah, that's going to be a mess to clean.
"Alex, come back inside before you get her all dirty," you whine, your hands resting on your hips. "I don't want to spend the rest of the day cleaning."
"What was that?" Alex puts his hand to his ear, pretending to not have heard you. "You want Lily to get dirty? Well, okay then!"
"No, Alex!"
But you were too late. By the time your own feet his the wet ground, Alex had tossed Lily into the biggest puddle in the yard. She let out a soft shriek because of how cold it was, but a moment later, she was kicking her feet, making mud fly up everywhere.
"Alexander Gaskarth," you breathe, seeing the mud cake up in your daughter's hair. "I'm going to beat you!"
"Bring it on, missy," he winks, flying at you the same way he'd done with Lily earlier. You turn in attempt to run away, but lose your footing, causing your body to come crashing down in another puddle. "Mud fight!" Alex calls, making you gasp.
He and Lily both throw themselves on your body. Alex was splashing the cold water all over your body, while Lily was literally rubbing dirt and mud all over your hair and face, even your legs. You try to remember that you're upset with Alex, but the smile on Lily's mud-stained face warms your heart. Not to mention, the fact that your husband seems to be having more fun than she is can be pretty contagious.
"You love the mud!" Alex screams, throwing his arms in the air. "Admit that you love the mud!"
"I do not love the mud!"
"Admit it, mommy!" Lily mocks Alex, shoving a handful of mud on your forehead. "Mud is fun!"
"All right," you bat her hand away with a grin. "I love the mud, happy?"
"Almost," Alex shrugs, turning his attention to Lily. "Go grab the hose, Lils. We need to clean Mommy off."
Lily giggles, shaking her dark mop as she stands up to run and get the hose. She'd become quiet good at turning it on and carrying it from helping you plant flowers. When your daughters footsteps die down, Alex climbs on top of you in all of his muddy glory and pins your hands above your head. You raise an eyebrow, fearing that the clots of mud on his head could fall into your eyes. He simply smirks in return and leans down to kiss you, butterflies forming in your stomach. After six years with this man, you still get just as giddy as you did on your first date.
"I love you," Alex murmurs, pulling away from your lips. "You and Lily are my entire world."
"We love you more," you whisper back, not even minding the cold raindrops falling on your lips. "I'm so glad you're home."
"Me too," Alex grins, pulling himself off of your body. "Because I can do this!"
You sit up quickly, but Alex is faster than you. In one swift motion, he picks up your daughter and tells her to release the water, the two of them covering your from head to toe. The water is like ice, but you don't mind it because Lily and Alex are both having a blast.
Eventually, all three of you rid as much of the mud as possible before darting back into the house, racing up the stairs to grab dry towels and warm clothes. Alex offers to collect the dirty clothes and throw them in the washer while you go help Lily change herself, but by the time you've changed yourself, she's not in her room anymore. You follow Alex down the stairs. He goes right so he can clean the clothes and you go left, to the living room. Lily is sitting in front of the coffee table, sipping her hot chocolate and coloring in her princess book. You shake your head and smile, she always did have the attention span of a puppy.
"I dressed myself, mommy," she looks up at you, leaning back so your could see her pajama's, which are on backwards. "I'm a big girl."
"Yes you are, Lils," you giggle, taking a seat on the couch.
A few minutes later, Alex joins you, his hair is still a wet mess but his chest is warm and cozy as he pulls you into it. Even after all the adventures he'd managed to take you on in one rainy day, this was always your favorite part about Alex being home. Just enjoying each other and enjoying your daughter together.
"And by that you mean you followed the directions on the back of the cocoa box, right?" You smile, taking the cup from Alex's hand. He furrows his brows at you, shaking his head innocently. "Oh yes you did, mister. But that's okay, it's still delicious."
"All right, you caught me," he sticks his tongue out in your direction as he hands the small of the two cups to your daughter, Lily. "I did add in one special ingredient that wasn't on the box, though. Can you guess what that is?"
You brace yourself, knowing the girlish scream was about to echo through the room. If there was one thing your daughter loved, it was marshmallows, especially the pink and yellow pack that Alex so often bought for her. Lily stares into the cup, her eyes growing wide as her mouth falls open.
"Marshmallows!" She screams, running over to show you the cup. "Look, mommy!"
"I see. You better thank Daddy!"
"Thank you Daddy!"
Alex chuckles as the small girl runs back to the television screen, blowing roughly on her cup. He plops down beside you and wraps an arm around your shoulders, bringing his lips to your temple in a loving way. This wasn't exactly how you planned to spin Alex's vacation at home. Honestly, you wanted to take Lily to the park, or the zoo, so you could capture tons of memories of her with her father on film, but the weather just wasn't having that. For the third day in a row, rain was pouring from the sky, loud cracks of thunder following the lightning. You didn't think the days would be anything but struggle, because Lily was so afraid of the booming from the sky, but your husband had managed to squish another fear for her in his time at home. Thankful didn't even begin to describe how you felt.
"Let's play a game," Alex announced, making you raise an eyebrow. "Lily, what do you want to play?"
"Hide and seek!" She chirped, forcing a grin to come to your lips. "But you haveta count, daddy!"
You know hide and seek would turn into a full on battle between Lily and Alex, but since you'd spent two days scrubbing the house before Alex came home from tour, you didn't want it to look like a hurricane came through due to their game. Instead, you decided to bribe your daughter into something else.
"You won't be able to drink your hot chocolate if you play hide and seek, Lils," you smile at your daughter as she looks at you with sad eyes. "How about you and Daddy go pick a game from the closet, that way you can sit right here with us and still have your marshmallows!"
"Marshmallows!" Lily screams, running over to the table to set her cup down beside yours before she grabs Alex's hand. "Come on, Daddy!"
As the two of them race out of view, you laugh silently to yourself. One of the things that attracted you most to your husband was the fact that he would always love and express his inner child. Even on your worst days, you knew one grin or tickle fight with him would lift your spirit. Now that you have him and Lily, the fun never seems to stop, not even when he's away on tour.
A moment passes and Alex comes back into view, your daughter trailing behind him with a big red box. She'd chosen Operation. Mentally, you want to smack your husband. Your daughter's tiny hands make it hard for her to easily grab the pieces, so she gets discouraged and cranky when she plays this, but as you're about to protest to the game, Alex sends you a wink and you realize he has a trick up his sleeve.
You clear both cups of hot chocolate away from the center of the table just in time for Lily to drop the box, grinning at you with her small baby teeth. Giggling to yourself, you open the box and set the game up, offering Alex the chance to go first. He nods his head to you and takes the tweezers, picking up a game card. Your eyes flicker to Lily, who is waiting carefully to see if her daddy can get the piece.
"Ladies, I'm going in!"
Lily laughs with you, as you both watch Alex slowly bring the tweezers to the board. He glides them easily into the slot before he releases the sides, letting the buzz scare Lily. Alex grips his arm and lets out a child-like scream, falling over in the floor. You watch as your daughter crawls over to him, scared that the game had hurt her daddy. Alex waits until her body is right over top of him before he jumps up and grabs her, tickling her so much that tears are streaming down her face. You can't help but laugh along with your daughter, the two of them laughing together tickling your heart as hard as he was tickling her sides.
As Lily screams for him to stop between her snorts, Alex lets up, his head turning lightly to the side. He glances back at you with a grin on his lips.
"Do you hear that?" He asks, turning his attention back to your daughter. "The rain let up."
"Alex, don't you dare-"
"Too late," he shoots up with Lily in his arms. "Race you!"
Alex runs as fast as he can to the front door, you trailing close behind him in hopes to stop him from leaving the house, but you don't make it there in time. Your feet hit the porch the moment Alex jumps from the stairs, spinning Lily around in the rain. The sky had cleared up some, but in the new light, you could see all of the mud your husband was standing in with your daughter in his arms. Yeah, that's going to be a mess to clean.
"Alex, come back inside before you get her all dirty," you whine, your hands resting on your hips. "I don't want to spend the rest of the day cleaning."
"What was that?" Alex puts his hand to his ear, pretending to not have heard you. "You want Lily to get dirty? Well, okay then!"
"No, Alex!"
But you were too late. By the time your own feet his the wet ground, Alex had tossed Lily into the biggest puddle in the yard. She let out a soft shriek because of how cold it was, but a moment later, she was kicking her feet, making mud fly up everywhere.
"Alexander Gaskarth," you breathe, seeing the mud cake up in your daughter's hair. "I'm going to beat you!"
"Bring it on, missy," he winks, flying at you the same way he'd done with Lily earlier. You turn in attempt to run away, but lose your footing, causing your body to come crashing down in another puddle. "Mud fight!" Alex calls, making you gasp.
He and Lily both throw themselves on your body. Alex was splashing the cold water all over your body, while Lily was literally rubbing dirt and mud all over your hair and face, even your legs. You try to remember that you're upset with Alex, but the smile on Lily's mud-stained face warms your heart. Not to mention, the fact that your husband seems to be having more fun than she is can be pretty contagious.
"You love the mud!" Alex screams, throwing his arms in the air. "Admit that you love the mud!"
"I do not love the mud!"
"Admit it, mommy!" Lily mocks Alex, shoving a handful of mud on your forehead. "Mud is fun!"
"All right," you bat her hand away with a grin. "I love the mud, happy?"
"Almost," Alex shrugs, turning his attention to Lily. "Go grab the hose, Lils. We need to clean Mommy off."
Lily giggles, shaking her dark mop as she stands up to run and get the hose. She'd become quiet good at turning it on and carrying it from helping you plant flowers. When your daughters footsteps die down, Alex climbs on top of you in all of his muddy glory and pins your hands above your head. You raise an eyebrow, fearing that the clots of mud on his head could fall into your eyes. He simply smirks in return and leans down to kiss you, butterflies forming in your stomach. After six years with this man, you still get just as giddy as you did on your first date.
"I love you," Alex murmurs, pulling away from your lips. "You and Lily are my entire world."
"We love you more," you whisper back, not even minding the cold raindrops falling on your lips. "I'm so glad you're home."
"Me too," Alex grins, pulling himself off of your body. "Because I can do this!"
You sit up quickly, but Alex is faster than you. In one swift motion, he picks up your daughter and tells her to release the water, the two of them covering your from head to toe. The water is like ice, but you don't mind it because Lily and Alex are both having a blast.
Eventually, all three of you rid as much of the mud as possible before darting back into the house, racing up the stairs to grab dry towels and warm clothes. Alex offers to collect the dirty clothes and throw them in the washer while you go help Lily change herself, but by the time you've changed yourself, she's not in her room anymore. You follow Alex down the stairs. He goes right so he can clean the clothes and you go left, to the living room. Lily is sitting in front of the coffee table, sipping her hot chocolate and coloring in her princess book. You shake your head and smile, she always did have the attention span of a puppy.
"I dressed myself, mommy," she looks up at you, leaning back so your could see her pajama's, which are on backwards. "I'm a big girl."
"Yes you are, Lils," you giggle, taking a seat on the couch.
A few minutes later, Alex joins you, his hair is still a wet mess but his chest is warm and cozy as he pulls you into it. Even after all the adventures he'd managed to take you on in one rainy day, this was always your favorite part about Alex being home. Just enjoying each other and enjoying your daughter together.
Count me in!
12/2/13