Always Us

bedtime routines

Sienna pushed herself up, rubbing a tiny fist into her eyes, a cry teetering on her lips. "Daddy read book."

"Mama can get a book."

"No! Daddy!" Sienna erupted.

"Okay okay," Olivia hushed, "let's get daddy."

Carrying her daughter to the banister, Olivia called downstairs. "Spencer?"

Animated yells echoed back to her, but she got no response. So she headed back down to the living room and tapped Spencer's back to get his attention. Mid-play, he snapped his head over his shoulder, and when they noticed his player fall back on the screen, everyone else did, too.

"What's wrong?" he asked, alert.

"Nothing," Olivia replied calmly. "She just won't go to sleep without you."

Without a second thought, he dropped his Xbox controller and hopped up, coming around the couch to take a bleary-eyed Sienna from her arms.

Jordan, used to his best friend's change in priorities, didn't react, but Darnell and Chris gaped with slack jaws. No one else in the group had children yet. Spencer was the first.

"Daddy's here," Spencer hushed, walking out of the room. And leaving the stunned men behind, Olivia followed.

Back in Sienna's room, Olivia curled up on the bed while her daughter hobbled back and forth in front of the shelf, sleepily analyzing each book like she didn't know them all by heart. Both parents waited patiently while the toddler picked up one book, just to put it back down and go for the neighboring one. This pattern repeated itself at least five times before Sienna settled on Goodnight Moon and pushed the book into Spencer's lap.

It took all of three pages for Spencer's soothing narration to knock Sienna out in his arms.

"Thank you," Olivia murmured as he slid their daughter under the covers.

_____

"We were wondering if you were coming back," Darnell teased when Spencer and Olivia reentered the living room.

"My baby needed me," Spencer said.

"The little tyrant runs this house."

Olivia kicked her brother's leg as she settled in between him and her husband. "Don't call my baby a tyrant."

"She's the cutest tyrant in the game," Jordan laughed, nudging her back.

"How do you have a two year-old running your house?" Chris asked before taking a swig from his beer.

"Talk to me when you have a daughter." Spencer shook his head. "You'll see."

Darnell shook his head back, unable to imagine himself reaching the level of softness he had witnessed from his friend that day. "If y'all ever catch me moving like this, call 911."

"Man shut up and hand me the controller."

A new match started up, and Olivia slid her legs into her husband's lap, slotting her calves between his spread out legs. While she watched the small figures run around the screen, she slipped a hand under the back of Spencer's shirt, lazily grazing her fingertips back and forth against his smooth skin. Every once in a while he'd peer over and press a kiss to her forehead. Occasionally, Chris would let out a quiet snort while Darnell shook his head to himself, but neither spoke up, letting Olivia get away with impeding on their guy time.

Several matches went by and Olivia removed her hand from under his shirt, murmuring through a yawn, "I think I'm going to head to bed. I have an early morning."