Work Text:
You stood in the kitchen, humming along to the song on the radio as you washed the dishes in your hand, keeping one of your ears out for any noise coming from the living room, the two voices loudly conversing over something as you turned off the tap, leaning against the kitchen counter to look at them hunched over the dining room table, giggling with glitter gel pens and safety scissors in their hands. "What are you two doing?" You asked, the both of them jumping in their seats as the dark-haired little girl turned to look at you with a deer-in-the-headlights kind of look.
"It's a ca-"
"Jason, it's supposed to be a surprise!" The older girl nudged her brother with her elbow, sighing dramatically. "It's a card."
"What kind of card?" You said, approaching the two, leaning over them to look at the lavender piece of cardstock, "Happy Father's Day!" written in black gel pen, four people drawn underneath it, a small chuckle leaving your lips as you ruffled both of their hair. "Was this your idea, Ellie?"
"It was." Eloise said with a proud smile, the grin showing off the fact that one of her front teeth had come off the day prior, the cuteness making you ruffle their curly heads of hair as you shook your head. "Look!" She exclaimed, opening the card, the inside of it saying "Father's Day is the fourth-largest card-sending holiday with 72-million cards given each year." in messy handwriting, two signatures underneath it, the other side was taken up by the outlines of two small hands.
"I love it." You said with a small chuckle, "Can I sign it too?"
The two nodded excitedly as you signed your name underneath theirs before kissing both of their heads, making your way back to the kitchen.
The rest of the evening went by in a blur of homework, laundry, and almost falling asleep as you watched the same children's movie for the fifth night in a row, Jason still clapping enthusiastically when his favorite character came on, and as you laid in bed with your laptop in your lap, working on your assignments while you waited for a reply to the text you'd sent three hours prior.
It was midnight when you finally sighed, placing your laptop back onto your desk as you settled down into bed, washing your sleeping pill down with water, and nestling into your blanket, and slowly falling asleep.
It wasn't hard to wake you up, so once you heard shuffling from downstairs, you were filled with a feeling of dread, still half-asleep as you reached under the bed, pulling out the baseball bat you never used as you turned on the nightlight next to your bed, standing up, the floor cold underneath your feet as you made your way to the closed door, holding up the bat and intently listening to the footsteps approaching your room.
When the doorknob was opened slowly, your heart was beating against your chest, preparing to swing when the door opened, revealing a confused Spencer standing there as he looked between you and the bat, a feeling of relief filling you as you loosened your grip on your weapon of choice, the man chuckling amusedly as he closed the door behind him. "Wait. What are you doing here?" You asked, furrowing your brows.
"I live here." He said amusedly as you put the bat back under the bed.
"I know, but you weren't supposed to be back until next week. I thought we were being robbed."
"We finished early." He sighed contently, "Were you planning on playing baseball with your robber?"
"You laugh now, but you haven't seen my base hit." You laughed, approaching him and wrapping your arms around his neck, gazing into his eyes as his hands now lay on your waist. "I missed you."
"I missed you too." He sighed, pressing a soft kiss onto your lips before he pulled you closer to his chest, his arms tightening around you as he nestled his head into your shoulder. "How are the kids?"
"They missed you too, but they're doing great. Ellie has a spelling bee on Monday, and Jason's already learning how to read."
"They're so bright." He said, smiling down at you as he slightly pulled away from the embrace, pressing another kiss onto your lips, this one lasting longer than the one before. "Let's go to sleep."
When you woke up, you could feel his arms wrapped around you, a special kind of warmth filling you that you missed every time Spencer was gone, your eyes slightly blurring as you let out a sniffle. "What's wrong?" He said with a husky voice as he pressed a soft kiss onto your shoulder.
You turned around to face him, Spencer's eyes only half-open as he looked at you with furrowed brows, clearly worried. "You're really home." You said softly, wiping away the beginning of tears in your eyes.
"Of course I am." He smiled that soft smile that melted you each time you saw it, "You saw me yesterday, remember?"
"Yeah, I just thought it was a dream." You chuckled, "A weird dream, but still a dream."
"I'm here." He said, pulling you closer and pressing a kiss onto your forehead, a chuckle leaving his lips when he heard the loud voices outside the closed doors, a knocking sound on the door. "Who is it?" He called out jokingly.
"It's us, who else would it be?" Eloise said, Spencer simply laughing in response as you called out for the two to come in, the older girl holding a tray in her hands as the two of you sat up in your bed.
"What's this?" Your husband asked.
"It's Father's Day." Ellie said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I saw your shoes."
"What are you two doing there? Come here." Spencer said, patting down the bed, Eloise soon helping her little brother get onto the bed as he handed Spencer the tray with two slightly burnt pieces of toast and a cup of coffee, and by the look on his face, you could see that it was bitter. "It's good."
"Don't you have something else?" You said, raising your brows as Spencer turned to look at you, the little girl soon handing him a present while the younger boy handed him the lavender card.
"Mom got the present, but we made the card. I think that the card is nicer than the present, though."
"Ellie!" You exclaimed with a laugh, watching as Spencer read out the card with a wide smile on his face.
"It's amazing." He said, handing you the tray to give each of them tight hugs, both of the kids now smiling widely.
"Open the gift!" Jason said loudly, intently watching as his father unwrapped his present, the man turning to look at you when he saw the framed picture of the four of you, Spencer holding Eloise on his shoulders while you held Jason in your arms. "Do you like it?" The boy asked excitedly.
"I love it." He said, pressing a kiss on the top of your head, and you'd never felt as happy as you did at that moment.