Betty loved the world like this. Jughead's arms around her, his lips and nose against the back of her neck, the arm under her neck reaching out its hand to play with her hair when he felt like it. Overall, it just traced small circles against her scalp as his other hand was doing on her waist. Cuddling like this never got old. Not ever.
They may have been in their early thirties, but this was always going to be their favorite position. Honestly, Betty was looking forward to being eighty, still cuddling him like this, still happy together.
They were talking about small things quietly, planning the dinner for the day, speaking about how one of them would have to go and take Bea outside to walk Bubbles. In the end, they decided they'd do it all together today, and that they could start cooking a bit later as well, since no one was going to be there before four, hopefully.
Sharing small kisses, the two were in their little bubble until the door opened and their seven-year-old daughter smiled, stepping inside with an excited look on her. The two grownups smiled. The girl let her dog inside who obviously ran to the bed and jumped in.
Betty and Jughead groaned together, moving away from their comfy position to stop Bubbles from licking their faces. "She's just saying good morning," the little girl protested when they pushed the dog off of their bodies.
"She's making my face covered in dog drool, Bea. I don't appreciate that very much," the guy spoke, getting the dog to settle down at the end of the bed where their feet were.
"Daddy's talking sophisticated again," the little girl said to Betty, stumbling a bit over the big word the woman had taught her.
"Daddy's trying to look smart while you're here," she mumbled back with a smirk, giving Jughead a teasing look when the girl giggled, climbing into the bed and right in between the two.
"Can daddy at least get a good morning kiss?" Jughead pouted, Bea still giggling.
"But you didn't like kisses Bubbles gave you."
"Yes, because Bubbles is a dog. You're my baby."
"Not a baby," she sang with a smile, her head resting on Betty's warm arm.
"Not a baby. Our baby," Betty said and covered her whole face in kisses, making the girl giggle, wiggling in between the two. Jughead smirked and moved to blow raspberries on the girl's stomach (a thing she loved and hated at the same time).
When Bea finally escaped it was thanks to Bubbles who had come to the rescue, licking the grownups' faces. Now, the dog was on the ground, having decided there wasn't enough room for her, and the little girl on her stomach, still giggling. She looked adorable with her two front teeth starting to come in, and two missing from the lower row as well.
When they were all smiling, Jughead's eyes closed again, the girl pulled herself upward and kissed his cheek with a smile, making the man smile as well as he opened his identical eyes. "I'm hungry," Bea said, looking in between the two parents.
Jughead turned her head to look at Betty, eyes pleading and big, but the blonde shook her head and pulled their daughter into her arms. "Daddy will go make us breakfast," she promised to the girl.
"Or mommy could do that," Jug mumbled.
"Daddy can do it," the little girl smiled, closing her eyes in Betty's arms, loving the warm cuddles she was giving her,
Jughead groaned and moved closer to the two of them, wrapping his arm around them both. "I wanna sleep, too."
And so, nobody got out of the bed for another half an hour when the girl couldn't stay still anymore.
Everyone loved the new house the small family was living in. They were still paying back the loan, obviously, and would be for another decade or so, but they were happy. Living in the state of New Jersey now, close to New York City, but in a small town like they had always dreamed of.
Their house wasn't big, but it had two floors and a huge garden, which was great. The neighbors were lovely, too, and Bea had made a few friends on her first day in the new school, and one of the best ones was living a few houses down the small road, which was good as well.
Betty taught in the local high school, and Jughead went to the big city a few days a week. Whenever they would need to travel somewhere for work, they always took Bea with them, so the girl had gone to multiple states and a few different countries already.
Now, on Thanksgiving, it was the first time their family came to visit. Everyone was going to be there for a few days, which was crazy, but also really cool. They still hadn't agreed on Christmas yet, but everyone was probably going to be with the families of their partners. Betty and Jughead wanted to stay home for the first-ever holidays at their new home, and they all respected that.
"Okay, now form it like this," Betty showed, the girl standing on a stool next to her, both of them holding some cookie dough and making it into the right little ball shapes.
"Like this?" the girl asked, very invested and proud of her job.
"Yeah. Now put it on the pan. And now press it down a bit." She did all that and afterward smiled at Betty proudly. "That's so good, baby." She gave Bea a kiss and another amount of the dough they had made together.
After about ten minutes, it was all done and while Betty was helping the little girl wash her hands, the first doorbell rang. Bea squealed, almost jumping in place, and Betty chuckled, helping her get the apron off to go greet whoever it was.
"Hey, dad," we heard Jughead saying, and just like that, Bea was out of the kitchen and running towards her favorite grandpa. Of course, she loved Betty's parents as well, but ever since they separated, she had mostly only seen her grandma, who was her favorite, too.
"Grandpaaaa!" Bea ran towards him, and even though the man was old already, he always seemed to have another set of energy around the little girl, which was why when she reached him, he picked her up as always.
"There's my girl." He kissed her cheek. "You've gotten taller again." The girl giggled and FP smiled. "Let's see your teeth." She proudly showed him the two teeth that had come off from the lower row, as he had already seen the two front ones.
"Whoa, there's a hole in your mouth. How much did you get from those?"
"Five bucks," she said proudly.
"Each?" She nodded with a big smile when he placed her back down. "Wow, the prices have gone up, haven't they?" He shared a look with Jughead just before Betty walked into the hall.
"Hey, FP," she greeted.
"Hi, honey," he smiled and gave her a tight hug. "Beautiful as always." Betty kissed his cheek with a smile as they pulled away.
"Mommy, can we eat the cookies now?"
"Aren't you full from the dough?"
"No," she giggled when the two men chuckled and Betty smirked.
"We still gotta wait until they're ready, and then you can get one."
"Just one?" she was giving her the big puppy dog eyes that looked so similar to Jughead's when he wanted something.
"There's a lot of food that isn't full of sugar waiting for you on the table."
"Pie?"
They laughed and Bea giggled while hugging Jughead's leg. "Yeah, you can get that too. Later. For dessert."
"Okay."
"So, have you talked to dad lately?" Hugo asked Betty while helping her put the dirty plates into the dishwasher.
"Yeah, have you?" Her youngest brother gave her a small smile and shook his head, making her sigh. "He's doing okay. He's taking the medicine and going to the appointments... And he sounds happy."
Shaking his head a bit, the nineteen-year-old pushed the dishwasher shut, letting Betty set it in the right mode. "He's so stupid," he mumbled, getting the woman's attention. "Why would he need more kids? And why now, after all these years? He's sick, he needs to take care of himself. We're gonna lose our dad soon, but it's fine cause we're grownup. That boy will literally grow up without one because it's not going to last long."
Betty leaned against the counter with a sigh. "Look... I get where you're coming from. And I know you're hurt, and confused and all, but I think that's why he's still alive. He and mom had nothing in common anymore. Just us. So, when you and Jimmy went to college, they didn't know what else to do and started fighting. Their whole lives were just raising kids."
"And? They chose that. They could have made it work."
"I know," Betty nodded, "but they didn't want to. And it's their choice. Dad cheated because he thought that was the only thing to do. Now, he has another kid. Good for him. He's so much lively again when he has kids around him."
"Then why not talk to you and Jug or just... I don't know, Betty, just it's really bothering me."
"Look, I understand," the blonde said with a sigh. "But when dad found out about the leukemia, at least he didn't hide his new relationship and was honest about everything. Mom's better off now too. Let her travel around and enjoy being free of chores and kids. And dad... He'll just raise another kid until it lasts, but he's still our dad."
Hugo nodded a little, deep in thought. When he was finally out of it, Betty was drying off her hands and he smirked. "You know you're like really old now, right?" He was wearing a smirk when she faced him, which made her do the same.
"Still beat you in everything."
"Not in everything." He flexed his muscles, and she hit his head, pushing him towards the living room.
"Let's go back to your boyfriend before he gets too lonely and runs off with Kevin and Nate."
"Ew, Betty," he laughed.
"Okay, got everything you need?" Betty asked, Jughead standing behind her, arms around her waist and chin over her shoulder.
"We have everything, sweetie. Don't worry that much," Kevin chuckled, sitting on their air mattress with Nate. Jimmy, Ricky, and Hugo did as well, most with their partners, loving the way they were supposed to share their room, or the living room, really.
"Sucks being the youngest, hm?" Jimmy smirked at them.
Kevin laughed at the boys nodding, as did the girls there. Betty just rolled her eyes, since they had given her mom her own room, FP sleeping in Bea's, and Chic and his family the second guest one.
"Don't forget your merch," Nate said, smiling at the little girl sleeping on their mattress.
Jughead picked her up carefully and waved them goodnight, the three of them disappearing upstairs. After tucking Bea in and saying goodnight to his dad, he moved to his bedroom where Betty was waiting already.
She was on his side of the bed, which made him smirk, knowing that whenever she did that, she was planning on cuddling the whole night which usually resulted in him without the duvet and almost falling off the bed.
"Okay, baby, I need a bit of room if I wanna sleep," he mumbled with a smile, making her scoot over a bit. After they were back in the best position of their lives, his lips planted soft kisses to the back of her neck.
"Betts?"
"Hm?"
"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you, too," she mumbled, turned her head a bit, and with a kiss to his lips, smiled and turned around again. He tightened his arm around the woman's waist, holding her close to his chest, a tired but happy smile on both of their faces as they wandered off to the dreamland.
The end.