A little parallel to an older one shot.
_____
Olivia ran her fingers across the smooth keys of her laptop as she reread the final paragraphs of her latest draft. Though the same couldn't be said about the far side of the house, from where she could faintly hear deep voices shouting over each other, her office was quiet. A peaceful hideaway after an afternoon of entertaining.
"You two good in here?" A hand gently cupped her shoulder, pulling her from her tunneled focus. Lost in her writing, she hadn't heard his footsteps approaching.
She looked down at her chest. Sienna was passed out, and a small pool of drool was spreading through her cotton t-shirt. "Yeah, we're good," she said, smiling softly.
He nodded, his hand lingering on her shoulder.
When he didn't offer anything more, she prodded. "Are you having fun with the guys?"
"Mhm."
She reached a hand to rub his knuckles. "I'm almost done."
He nodded again, and she could tell he was missing their usual nighttime routine. Just the three of them.
"They're only here for one night," Olivia laughed quietly as she watched him tour the room, stalling.
"I know," he mumbled, setting a framed family photo back down on her bookshelf.
His friends had arrived in the afternoon, bursting into their home, charged with energy and equipped with roasts. It had been almost a year since the guys had all been together in person. Now here they were, under their roof.
For hours that afternoon, Spencer, Jordan, Darnell, and Chris had sat in the backyard reconnecting while Sienna darted from person to person, basking in every bit of attention her enamored uncles were willing to dish out. Ill-accustomed to so much stimulation, the two year-old crashed by dinner time, and slowly, her parents followed.
To recharge, Olivia had broken away from the group with Sienna to get some work done. She thought she had given Spencer a chance to bond without their toddler running amuck, but his presence in her office indicated otherwise.
"Go. Have fun, baby," she encouraged, nodding towards the doorway. "I'll come sit with you guys once I finish up here."
He walked back over to her for kiss and then left, somewhat reluctantly.
Turning back to her laptop, she shifted her hips, adjusting Sienna's weight in her lap. Within the next thirty minutes, she knocked out the remainder of her tasks.
_____
Sienna's bedtime had long come and gone. So after closing out of her email, Olivia set off to get her baby tucked into bed. On her way upstairs, she peered into the living room and smiled when she saw Spencer's head fall back. The booming laughter filled her heart with an overwhelming warmth. It made her happy to see him happy.
When Olivia reached the second floor, she walked down the hall to Sienna's room. The two year-old stayed asleep while the mother carried her around the room, turning on the night light and pulling out a clean set of pajamas.
"C'mon mama," Olivia urged as she pulled Sienna's daytime dress over her head. They were skipping bath time for the night, but the mother at least wanted to get her in comfier clothing. Her daughter's limbs were deadweight, but she eventually got the toddler changed and lowered her into bed.
"Dada," Sienna mumbled, squirming closer to Olivia.
"It's just mama tonight," Olivia cooed, soothing her daughter with gentle circles to her back.
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."
Spencer paused the game.
"Hey, hey, hey! We're here for one night," Darnell cut in, catching the shift in his friend's focus.
"It's okay. Stay," she whispered to Spencer, sitting up and cupping his cheeks. "You'll come to bed later." She pressed her lips to his, and his tongue requested entrance. A small laugh caught in her throat as she let him in. He did this when he was trying to make a point.
He was lifting her leg over his lap when Jordan cleared his throat rather loudly. "Goodnight, Liv."
Now straddling her husband, she pulled away with swollen lips, grinning smugly. "Goodnight, Jordan."
_____
Thirty restless minutes later, Olivia was laying in the dark, phone in hand, texting her husband downstairs.
I miss you
Two seconds passed, and her phone dinged.
Miss you, too, baby.
Her fingers hovered over the keypad, contemplating, before she decided to shoot her shot.
I can't fall asleep
She held her breath while she waited, and when she didn't get a response she pouted at the bright screen. The goodnight kiss had left her with a problem she wanted him to fix.
She typed out another message then thought better of it and deleted it. He had friends over, who he hadn't seen in months. She'd have to take care of herself.
Sighing, she set her phone down on the nightstand and reached her hand into her shorts. Her eyes fell closed and her legs fell open, her fingers swirling along her folds. The slick wetness was starting to coat her fingers when Spencer came through their bedroom door.
"What took you so long?" she groaned as she yanked her hand back and crawled out from under the covers.
Closing the door behind him, Spencer flipped on the light switch and pulled his shirt over his head. He met her at the edge of the bed, where she shimmied out of her sleep shorts and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I had to come up with an excuse," he murmured into her neck as he slid his hands down the back of her thighs and pulled her onto his waist.
"Putting your wife to sleep wasn't good enough?" she asked between kisses.
His head fell back, and a throaty cackle erupted from him. "I thought I'd spare Jordan for one night," he grinned, carrying her to her side of the bed and laying her back.
"Well, I thought it was a good enough reason," she grinned up at him while her hand dipped into his sweats and began stroking.
He realized her fingers were already sticky and moaned. "Couldn't wait for me?"
"I didn't know if you were coming."
"I'll always come when you call," he said. And he meant it.
Her grin stretched up to the devilish glint in her eyes. "Always?"
He chuckled as he positioned himself over her. "Most of the time."
And then before the pout could fully form on her face, he pushed in.
_____
Shoving his hand through the arm hole of his shirt, Spencer jogged down the stairs. Slightly out of breath, he turned into the living room to where disappointed head shakes awaited him.
"Liv just needed help with something real—"
"I'm good." Jordan held up a hand.
"Man, we ain't stupid," Darnell cackled.
"Shirt's on inside out," Chris snickered.
Spencer looked down at his chest. "I—"
"We know, gotta take care of the lady," Darnell mocked lightheartedly. At this stage in life, they were all used to the married man's usual refrain.
"Now we get—"
A soft cry caught everyone's attention, and once again, Spencer's guests were left without a host.
"Dada!"
At the top of the stairs, Sienna stood behind the safety gate, her tiny fingers gripping onto the bars, curls gone wild atop her head.
"What's wrong, mama?" Spencer asked, sweeping her up over the barrier. Her legs immediately wrapped around his waist.
"Daddy hold me," she mumbled pleadingly, burrowing her head into the crook of his neck.
"Daddy's got you," he whispered, carrying her down the stairs.
Spencer made his way back to his friends. Guys night may have been interrupted a few times, but this was his life, and he wouldn't have it any other way.
"What's up, SiSi?" Chris tried to engage the sleepy toddler.
Sienna lifted her head to survey the room. No longer feeling social, she stared skeptically at the two strange men on the couch.
In a second attempt, Chris waved, but she ignored him and reached out to Jordan.
"These women really got you working overtime," Darnell said, watching Sienna crawl into her uncle's lap.
"It ain't work man," Spencer chuckled, reaching forward to the coffee table.
Sienna caught sight of the game controller and screamed. "No!"
"She hates this thing," Spencer laughed. He set the controller down and reached for his baby as she scrambled across the couch.
"I wonder where she got that from?" Chris teased.
Back in his lap, Sienna glared at the room, staking her claim. "My daddy."
"How about you tell that to your momma," Darnell challenged.
Furrowing her eyebrows, Sienna took another look at the tall man in front of her, and right then, she decided—not only did she dislike her daddy's video games, but she also disliked guests.