Serendipitous (A Jensen Ackles FanFic)

20

"Sorry, we went longer today than expected." Jensen said as he slid into bed beside Brooke.

"That seems to be happening a lot lately." Brooke said dryly as she rolled over onto her side.

Ever since they had Elodie, it seemed that work would go on for several more hours than he expected which she tried to understand given his career. But when it's been six months of barely seeing your newborn child is when Brooke started to get annoyed. Luckily, the show was on summer hiatus when Elodie had been born so he was home for the first month and half of her life but once the show started filming again, he barely saw his daughter and his wife.

"Cmon, don't be like that." He said, placing a kiss on her bare shoulder and running his hand slowly down her torso.

"Like what?" She snapped, pushing his hand away from her.

"Like this! I get to see you for a few minutes a day and I don't want to spend them with you being mad at me." He replied going back over to his side of the bed.

She sat up and turned on the lamp that was on her nightstand. "Do you think I should be okay with only seeing you for a few minutes before passing out because I took care of our child the entire day?"

He let out a long sigh. They always fought before bed which he hated. They were both tired and irrational at this point of the day, it was not an ideal time to start an argument.

"Once the season is over I'll be home everyday but right now I can't help that I have to work and you know that."

"I just expected for you to change, to not repeat the mistakes you made with Danneel. I thought we would be different." Brooke's mouth fell open once the words left her mouth. She had not intended to say them even though she found herself thinking about it frequently.

He looked at her with hurt in his eyes, taken aback by her comment. He got out of bed and began to pace the room. 

"Is that how you really feel?" He asked, anger and sadness in his voice.

"I'm tired and I've been stuck at home all day with a baby who just eats and sleeps. I don't know what I'm saying."

Jensen met her gaze, not believing a word of what she said. She wouldn't of said it if she hadn't meant it. Silence grew between them, neither of them wanting to look the other in the eye.

"It's hard to have a healthy marriage when I never see you or let alone talk to you." Brooke finally said, breaking the silence.

"I know and I'm sorry but only a few more months and I'll be home so much that you'll be sick of me." He responded.

"I'm not sure that I can last a few months of this. I need support and communication from you right now, not in a few months."

Brooke felt tears stinging her eyes as she tried to hold them back. She hated crying, it made her feel worse and usually once she started crying, she found it hard to stop. She was one of those people who held everything in and then when she did cry, it was relieving months of pent up emotion.

"I'll try to do that." He said.

He came back over to the bed and moved close to her, placing his arm around her. She felt her throat clench tighter and she could no longer hold back her tears.  He pulled her close to him and ran his hand through her hair, whispering soft apologies to her. It hurt him when she cried, especially when he knew it was himself who caused her to cry. It felt like his heart was painfully heavy in his chest.

"She started to babble a little today." Brooke said quietly. "She kept repeating ba-ba-ba."

Jensen smiled, "What else did she do?"

"Ummm, she laughed every time her toy made this weird noise so then she would purposefully have the toy make the noise again. It made me laugh because her laugh is so funny." Brooke laughed slightly as she recalled the moment.

"I haven't seen her laugh in person, only in the videos you sent me." Jensen said quietly.

Brooke's smile faded from her and a new sadness settled inside of her. Jensen was so involved with JJ now but she wasn't sure how involved he was when she was baby, maybe he was like this back then as well. Brooke thought he would prioritize the family more than over the show but that seems to not be the case.

They both dazed off. She was still snuggled up against him and his arms were still wrapped around her. Brooke shook awake finding herself aroused by the loud cries from Elodie. She let out a sigh as she began to get up.

Jensen rubbed at his eyes as he  mumbled, "I'll get her."

"No it's fine. I'm already up." Brooke said groggily as she made her way for their bedroom door. "Besides, you have a long day of work tomorrow."