Oh Darling Don't You Ever Grow Up, Don't You Ever Grow Up, Just Stay Little
Mmkay. This one started off strong but then got real weak and I ended it saying fuck it. I don't care.
Brooke gets home from work at 7.
She toes off her heels by the front door, next to his Converse and their 5 year olds bright green sandals that have a white daisy stuck to the front of them, and loves the summertime because it will still be light out for about an hour.
She doesn't hear them, so she thinks that they're back in Holly's room, and she walks into the kitchen, puts her bag down on the counter and then she hears bare feet running down the hall.
Holly yells "Mommy" before she throws her arms around Brooke's legs and she leans down to run her fingers through her daughters brown hair and then looks up to see Lee coming down the hallway.
His hands are usually covered in something, some days it's ink from markers, other days he greets her with play-doh under his nails, today it's finger paint and as Holly unwraps her arms from her legs Brooke realizes her hands are covered with it as well because the back of her new skirt is now covered in blue paint.
Holly races back to Lee, grabs his hand and pulls him in the direction of the door and Lee ducks his head down to kiss Brooke as he walks by. But the touch is too short and he stops, Holly still tugging on his hand and he puts his other his hand on the side of her face, covering her cheek and the side of her neck with a blue handprint and Brooke giggles into his kiss. It's not as high pitched as Holly's but he thinks it's just as sweet.
He lets go of Brooke and lets Holly pull him down the hallway to the door.
"Put some shoes on." Brooke calls after them because they're both barefoot.
"Too restricting." Lee yells back and Holly pushes the door open and then squeals in delight when Lee picks her up and swings her around.
Brooke joins them a few minutes later after shes changed out of her work clothes and into shorts and a t-shirt.
They're sitting on the ground by the walk way, a can of red paint that was used to paint the shed in the backyard is between them.
Both of their hands are covered in the paint and they're pressing them down onto the walk way, leaving handprints behind when they lift them back up.
She sits down next to Holly and adds her handprint.
To Lee and Holly's surprise Brooke is the first one to put her foot in the paint.
Hollys mouth drops open because she never thought that her mother would be doing that and Brooke mirrors her look as she sets her foot down on the concrete and then pulls it back and Lee bends down, kisses the side of his wife's neck before he grabs a paint brush and paints the bottom of Holly's foot and all three of them laugh as Holly rolls back in the grass and kicks her foot because it tickles.
While she makes dinner Lee cleans off Hollys hands and feet and when they come out into the kitchen Holly helps Lee set the table and then they eat.
Holly tells Brooke about her day at school, how some girl named Ashley shared her snack with her and how a boy named Colin took her crayons and Brooke smiles over the table at Lee and Lee smiles back to her because he loves to see her like this, enthralled in the ramblings of a 5 year old instead of caught up in the worry and stress of adulthood.
When they tuck her into bed at night, Lee reads her a story because he's better at doing voices for the characters in the book and Brooke lies on the bad next to her and rubs her hand over her back because she's better at doing that and after Holly falls asleep and the house is silent, except for Lee's voice still reading from the book Brooke lets it all sink in.
Where she is now, what she has, all she has is all she ever wanted and she looks over at Lee, and he looks up at her, narrows his eyes playfully at her before he smiles and she suppresses a laugh because she doesn't want to wake Holly and he closes the book quietly, sets it down on the small book shelf next to the bed and reaches out his hand for Brooke to take and she gets off the bed and walks to his side and they both kiss Hollys forehead before they leave and close the door softly.
They both take a deep breath because it's another day done and then they take a deeper breath because it's another day done and how many to they have left.
How long is it until she doesn't need her daddy to read to her before she falls asleep and a boy named Colin changes to just Colin and she stops sharing anything about him to her mom?
But that won't happen tomorrow or the day after that or next week and they still have time with their little girl.
She takes longer to get ready for bed so when she comes out of the bathroom, her hair still wet from the shower she'll find him already in bed.
Sometimes he's watching TV, the remote in his hand, sometimes he's reading, sometimes he meets her halfway between the bathroom and the bed, his lips to hers and his hands already working under the shirt that she wears to bed and she'll kiss back, pull on his t-shirt and push him back to the bed.
Today she finds him with the TV off, lying back on the pillow, one arm tucked under his head and the other is draped across his stomach and his face is pulled down into a frown, like he's got something on his mind but when he sees her standing in the door way the frown gives way to a smile and he turns on his side and pulls back the covers next to him and she climbs in.
She lays on her side facing him and his hand sits on her hip and she tells him about her day, who she got mad at and how she wants to get mad at but can't because she has to be nice to them because they're higher up on the work chain than she is and he tells her that the two of them won't always have to work in a job that they hate.
"I'm thinking that we could win the lottery or rob a bank or something." He jokes and she laughs, his hand slipping off her hip and around to her back and he pulls her closer, her face nuzzled into his neck and her laugh tickles his skin.
She tells him that she loves him and he says it back and they fall asleep.
In the morning when they wake up they're always touching in some way.
They might be curled together the way that they were the night before or they might be spread out on the bed, on opposite sides but a hand or a foot will always be touching the other.
They always wake up before the alarm clock goes off.
But they don't get up. They lie in bed, her hand in his and they don't move until the door creaks open and Holly runs in, still in her pajamas, her hair messy from sleep and she goes to Lee's side of the bed and he runs his hand over her hair and lifts her up onto the bed and she lies on the bed between Lee and Brooke.
Holly falls back to sleep fast and Brooke reaches over the pillow, her arm above Holly's head and runs her hand through Lee's hair and he closes his eyes and they both fall asleep until the alarm finally rings and they have to get ready for the rest of the day.
Brooke gets home from work at 7.
She toes off her heels by the front door, next to his Converse and their 5 year olds bright green sandals that have a white daisy stuck to the front of them, and loves the summertime because it will still be light out for about an hour.
She doesn't hear them, so she thinks that they're back in Holly's room, and she walks into the kitchen, puts her bag down on the counter and then she hears bare feet running down the hall.
Holly yells "Mommy" before she throws her arms around Brooke's legs and she leans down to run her fingers through her daughters brown hair and then looks up to see Lee coming down the hallway.
His hands are usually covered in something, some days it's ink from markers, other days he greets her with play-doh under his nails, today it's finger paint and as Holly unwraps her arms from her legs Brooke realizes her hands are covered with it as well because the back of her new skirt is now covered in blue paint.
Holly races back to Lee, grabs his hand and pulls him in the direction of the door and Lee ducks his head down to kiss Brooke as he walks by. But the touch is too short and he stops, Holly still tugging on his hand and he puts his other his hand on the side of her face, covering her cheek and the side of her neck with a blue handprint and Brooke giggles into his kiss. It's not as high pitched as Holly's but he thinks it's just as sweet.
He lets go of Brooke and lets Holly pull him down the hallway to the door.
"Put some shoes on." Brooke calls after them because they're both barefoot.
"Too restricting." Lee yells back and Holly pushes the door open and then squeals in delight when Lee picks her up and swings her around.
Brooke joins them a few minutes later after shes changed out of her work clothes and into shorts and a t-shirt.
They're sitting on the ground by the walk way, a can of red paint that was used to paint the shed in the backyard is between them.
Both of their hands are covered in the paint and they're pressing them down onto the walk way, leaving handprints behind when they lift them back up.
She sits down next to Holly and adds her handprint.
To Lee and Holly's surprise Brooke is the first one to put her foot in the paint.
Hollys mouth drops open because she never thought that her mother would be doing that and Brooke mirrors her look as she sets her foot down on the concrete and then pulls it back and Lee bends down, kisses the side of his wife's neck before he grabs a paint brush and paints the bottom of Holly's foot and all three of them laugh as Holly rolls back in the grass and kicks her foot because it tickles.
While she makes dinner Lee cleans off Hollys hands and feet and when they come out into the kitchen Holly helps Lee set the table and then they eat.
Holly tells Brooke about her day at school, how some girl named Ashley shared her snack with her and how a boy named Colin took her crayons and Brooke smiles over the table at Lee and Lee smiles back to her because he loves to see her like this, enthralled in the ramblings of a 5 year old instead of caught up in the worry and stress of adulthood.
When they tuck her into bed at night, Lee reads her a story because he's better at doing voices for the characters in the book and Brooke lies on the bad next to her and rubs her hand over her back because she's better at doing that and after Holly falls asleep and the house is silent, except for Lee's voice still reading from the book Brooke lets it all sink in.
Where she is now, what she has, all she has is all she ever wanted and she looks over at Lee, and he looks up at her, narrows his eyes playfully at her before he smiles and she suppresses a laugh because she doesn't want to wake Holly and he closes the book quietly, sets it down on the small book shelf next to the bed and reaches out his hand for Brooke to take and she gets off the bed and walks to his side and they both kiss Hollys forehead before they leave and close the door softly.
They both take a deep breath because it's another day done and then they take a deeper breath because it's another day done and how many to they have left.
How long is it until she doesn't need her daddy to read to her before she falls asleep and a boy named Colin changes to just Colin and she stops sharing anything about him to her mom?
But that won't happen tomorrow or the day after that or next week and they still have time with their little girl.
She takes longer to get ready for bed so when she comes out of the bathroom, her hair still wet from the shower she'll find him already in bed.
Sometimes he's watching TV, the remote in his hand, sometimes he's reading, sometimes he meets her halfway between the bathroom and the bed, his lips to hers and his hands already working under the shirt that she wears to bed and she'll kiss back, pull on his t-shirt and push him back to the bed.
Today she finds him with the TV off, lying back on the pillow, one arm tucked under his head and the other is draped across his stomach and his face is pulled down into a frown, like he's got something on his mind but when he sees her standing in the door way the frown gives way to a smile and he turns on his side and pulls back the covers next to him and she climbs in.
She lays on her side facing him and his hand sits on her hip and she tells him about her day, who she got mad at and how she wants to get mad at but can't because she has to be nice to them because they're higher up on the work chain than she is and he tells her that the two of them won't always have to work in a job that they hate.
"I'm thinking that we could win the lottery or rob a bank or something." He jokes and she laughs, his hand slipping off her hip and around to her back and he pulls her closer, her face nuzzled into his neck and her laugh tickles his skin.
She tells him that she loves him and he says it back and they fall asleep.
In the morning when they wake up they're always touching in some way.
They might be curled together the way that they were the night before or they might be spread out on the bed, on opposite sides but a hand or a foot will always be touching the other.
They always wake up before the alarm clock goes off.
But they don't get up. They lie in bed, her hand in his and they don't move until the door creaks open and Holly runs in, still in her pajamas, her hair messy from sleep and she goes to Lee's side of the bed and he runs his hand over her hair and lifts her up onto the bed and she lies on the bed between Lee and Brooke.
Holly falls back to sleep fast and Brooke reaches over the pillow, her arm above Holly's head and runs her hand through Lee's hair and he closes his eyes and they both fall asleep until the alarm finally rings and they have to get ready for the rest of the day.