Her

Chapter 2

I wake up to the sound of Marshall snoring beside me. It's loud especially after he's been touring and even though it's been a few weeks he's so tired. I glance at him and then smile a huge stupid smile. I love how his face gets squished against the pillow, he's a hard sleeper. I stare at him for a moment or two and before I can stop myself I move over to him, wanting to be a part of his perfection. His snores cease momentarily and he lifts his arm for me to move under. Once I'm in place his arm comes back down over me, squeezing me once lovingly against him. I lace our fingers together, reveling in the warmth he's giving off.

"I miss this." I say quietly. I really do miss him when he's away. It's hard to even go a day without him and now having to do it in three month periods is almost unbearable.

"Me too." He grumbles, waking up a little bit.

I turn around in his hold so that I'm facing him. He opens one eye to look at me then closes it again. I lean forward and push a kiss on his lips. He inhales and leans into me his arm simultaneously pulling me to his chest. My hand slowly comes up to his face, resting on his cheek. My thumb gently moves against his skin as I look at him. His big blues are open now, still jaded with sleep. His eyebrows fall into a low arch and I don't have to ask him what it's about. Things have been different between us since he got back. The busier he gets the harder it is for us to just be us. Most of his free time goes to Lola as it should, he's a great dad, but I still miss him even when he's here.

"What's on your mind baby?" He whispers to me, leaning his forehead on mine in our close proximity.

"You." I answer, brushing my nose on his.

"What about me?"

"I don't know." I say quietly, shutting my eyes.

"You're sad." He points out, his other arm wrapping around my shoulders. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." I tell him. "I miss you."

"I'm right here." He says quietly, kissing me gently. "I want to talk to you-"

He's cut off by Lola opening our bedroom door. Marshall and I sit up and she jumps up on the foot of the bed, crawling up in between us. She gets herself under the covers and then lays down against our pillows.

"What are you doing?" Marshall laughs rhetorically, and tickles her side a little.

Lola flips over and beams at him, showing all of her teeth. He makes the same face back at her and then she laughs. My heart aches at the sight of them. Marshall glances at me and he knows something's up, but he puts it aside for later and gets into somewhat of a makeshift tickle fight with Lola.

"Daddy stop!" She laughs, and he stops then pulling her into his lap and giving her butterfly kisses on the cheek.

"Alright I'll stop." He says, giving her a squeeze.

She leans back against his chest and stretches her legs out, her feet bumping my leg.

"Hi mama." She said, smiling at me.

"Hi baby." I say, smiling back at her for a second.

"Lala go get dressed for grandma's." He tells her shifting so she can hop down from the bed.

She almost falls down but regains her balance and skips out of the room. Marshall looks at me and tilts his head to the side. His eyebrows fall gently above his eyes causing them to have a slightly hooded effect.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask him quietly.

"I'm worried about you." He says, moving closer to me. "You've been different since I got back. I don't know if it's because we've been apart for a while or what, but are we...okay?"