Always Us

no boys

High-pitched giggles rang through the house, greeting Spencer as he walked into his home after a grueling morning workout. Dropping his bag by the door, he smiled as the bright sound echoed louder. His wife hadn't informed him of any plans, but it was a typical offseason Saturday, which usually meant family day in the James household.

In the living room, his grin grew wider. A tangle of short, medium, and long legs connected the three sources. All of his girls were cuddled up on the couch, and the theme seemed to be messy curls, snacks, and... Christmas pajamas.

Looking over her shoulder, Olivia smiled. Next to her, Gianna scrambled to turn around and perch her chin on the back of the couch. Sienna waved.

"Hey. It's mommy-daughter day. We're doing a movie marathon."

That explained the bowls of popcorn and candy scattered across the coffee table at 11am, but it didn't provide any insight on the Christmas onesies. In July.

"We wanted to do Christmas movies," she added, clearly predicting his next question.

"Where are the boys?"

"At my parents'."

"Bet. Mind if I join then?" He had nothing planned for the rest of the day, and he didn't see a problem with it becoming mommy-daddy-daughter day.

"Daddy!" the two year-old expressed her approval, her legs bouncing on the couch under her.

Sienna gave her mom a look. "But it's girls' day."

"Give us a minute," Olivia smiled, holding up a finger.

Spencer stood by as the three of them huddled together on the couch. Heated whispers fell through the cracks, and from his youngest's lack of whispering ability, he could tell she was fighting hard. Sienna made a quieter argument, but then visibly relaxed at whatever her mom suggested.

Finally, Olivia pulled away. "Okay, we have one condition."

Spencer arched an eyebrow. "Which is?"

"We want cupcakes," Sienna exclaimed.

"Aight." He clapped his hands together. "What kind?"

Olivia smiled sweetly. "One second."

The huddle closed up again, excluding him from whatever intense discussion had to be had on the topic.

"Chocolate cupcakes with pink frosting, please," Sienna smiled.

"And I want banilla wif... wif chocolate spwinkles and chocolate fwosting and... and rainbow spwinkles."

"I got you, lil mama," Spencer replied, leaning forward to give Gianna a peck on the forehead.

Excited to now be spending his last weekend before training camp at home with his favorite girls, Spencer turned towards the staircase.

"Thank you, baby," Olivia called out.

Spencer smiled as his hand landed on the railing.

It was going to be a good day.

_____

A little over an hour later, with his admission requirement in hand, he strolled back into the living room. "So what are we watching?"

"I wanna see," Gianna yelled, standing on the couch and walking over to where Spencer approached. A pit of dread formed in the bottom of his stomach when, in slow motion, his daughter's face fell. "I want blue fwosting."

"You said you wanted chocolate frosting," Spencer reminded her.

But his attempts to jog her memory failed, and the sobbing had already started. He looked over at his wife for help, but she just shrugged and reached for her and Sienna's cupcakes.