Approximately two hours and nine minutes later, my doorbell finally rings, ending my agonizingly long wait. I hop off of the armchair where I've been literally waiting on the edge of my seat since I walked in the door and pass by the twins who are glued to the television and answer the door.
What strikes me first is the over-sized bouqet of flowers in Jay's right hand. The red and pink roses, at least two dozen, look dazzling in the green cellophane wrapping currently holding them together. I'm not sure where one gets such fresh and beautiful roses at this late of an hour, but I'm definitely not complaining.
What strikes me second is what is behind that bouqet: Annalise. She's dressed in princess pajamas and her hair is wet presumably from a bedtime bath. In Jay's left hand is one blue and black gym bag and the other bag in his hand is a pink and purple backpack in the shape of a ladybug. Obviously, he's bringing his entire family like I always do.
An apologetic look graces his face as he begins to speak, "Sarah, I'm sorry, but I didn't have another choice. The nanny's off until Sunday I think, and my mom was nowhere to be found. I couldn't just leave her there by herself, and I didn't want to be there by myself with her, either. You understand, right?"
I step forward onto the porch and take the flowers and the bags from him. "Of course I understand, Jay. I'm in your current position 24 hours a day 7 days a week. I understand completely."
He leans in and pecks me on the cheek before adjusting his hold on Annalise and stepping into my home. I step in after him and close the door, setting down their bags by the stairs. He sets his sister down, but she doesn't go anywhere, just clutches Jay's pant leg with her small fist. She looks up at him with big eyes and asks, "Where am I going to sleep?"
Jay and I look at each both with perplexed looks. This unexpected surprise has screwed with our usual sleeping arrangements, which really weren't that complex to begin with. I would feel terrible if I made Annalise sleep on the couch, but I wouldn't feel so bad if the twins slept on the couch. They'd probably love it since they've always wanted to go camping.
"Annalise, do you like bunkbeds?"
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Just like her brother, Annalise hadn't ever had bunkbeds before and was as eager as Jay was when he got to sleep in them a few weeks back. She immediately climbed up the ladder to the top bunk the minute she set foot into their room, and she's obviously not as finnicky as she seems because she doesn't seem to mind sleeping in an icky, boy's bed in an icky, boy's room.
Maybe Jay's sudden interest in bonding with his little sister has him rubbing a bit of normalcy off on her.
"If you need anything, we're right through that door," I point to the bathroom door. Annalise peeks her head over the railing of the bunk and takes note of the door.
"Goodnight," she says as she leans back against the pillow and pulls the covers up to her chest.
"Goodnight, Annalise. See you in the morning," I reply. I flick off the lights as I exit the room into the hallway. I descend down the stairs and come upon the scene of a typical living room campsite. Jay and the twins have set up the twins' sleeping bags on the floor in front of the television, and they've also hung up some sheets in the form of a teepee across the living room. They even managed to find a battery-powered lantern and plunk it down on the coffee table.
"You guys having fun?" I ask even though I clearly know the answer. All three of them turn to look at me with huge grins. I notice a movie other than The Avengers is playing on the television, but I couldn't tell you the name of it to save my life.
I walk over and plop down on the couch. Jay and the twins are sitting on the ground just in front of the coffee table eating what looks to be untoasted s'mores, which, for the record, definitely don't look as appetizing as the real deal. "Finish those s'mores and then it's bedtime," I tell my three little happy campers.
A collective groan comes from the twins, while I get a suggestive wiggle of eyebrows from Jay. I roll my eyes at him, but inside the butterflies begin to come to life. As if to spite me, the twins begin slurping the marshmallow goo off of their fingers as loudly as humanly possible. I give them both disgusted look, which is met with mischevious smirks, and point upstairs, "Go brush those nasty little teeth of yours."
They scamper off and run up the stairs and out of sight. Jay pulls himself off the ground, and it's then do I notice he has changed into sweatpants and a t-shirt. I guess I didn't notice when he got here because of Annalise latched onto his hip, and I didn't give it much thought after that because I took Annalise upstairs to get her tucked in.
Jay appears to be uber comfortable, which is something that isn't being a accomplished on my end with this skirt and sweater. Not only does he look comfortable, the bags under his eyes suggest that he's tired as well. Join the club, I internally smirk.
He rounds the coffee table and sits on my lap, causing me to exhales sharply as his frame lands on the tops of my thighs. "God you're heavy," I weeze.
He leans into me, pining me against the back of the couch. Draping an arm around my shoulders, he kisses me slowly and sweetly, a trend we usually don't get to enjoy seeing as how we always run the risk of being caught by either two pesky ten-year-olds or a seven-year-old. Every move we've made in a our short relationship has seemed rushed. Hardly any moment we've had alone has been able to be savored properly.
As he pulls away, I hear the pitter patter of footsteps on stairs. Another Sarah and Jay moment ruined by those damn pesky ten-year-olds.
The twins run to their sleeping bags and shimmy inside, giggling like ten-year-old girls instead of the ten-year-old boys they really are. I'm glad they enjoy this type of camping because it's very unlikely that I will ever take them camping out in the woods. I'll do a lot of things for these two, but spending a night on the hard ground with animals lurking around isn't one of them.
I shove Jay off of me and he tumbles onto the floor, but he doesn't seem to mind. He just seems impressed that I was able to actually push him off. I'm by no means a weakling, but I am smaller and shorter than Jay is, and I definitely don't have the football player's body and muscles that he possesses.
"So rude," he mutters, but adds an amused smirk when he meets my eyes. I stand up from the couch and extend a hand to him. He latches on and practically pulls my shoulder out of its socket.
"Who's being rude now?" I grunt as I yank him up. We mutually roll our eyes at each other.
"Night guys," I lean over the coffee table and ruffle the hair on their heads.
"Night," they simultaneously and robotically repeat back to me. I pick up the remote and set the timer on the television, and then Jay grabs my hand, tugging me over to the stairs. I flick off the lights on our path and lock the door as well. I just hope Tony remembered his keys tonight for whenever he drags himself into this house at whatever ridiculous hour he chooses to come home tonight.
Jay and I trip up the stairs in a silent race to the bedroom. I harshly nudge him into the wall and blow by him, winning our unannounced competition by a metaphorical mile. I block the doorway with a winning smirk on my face when he finally hauls his sweet ass up the stairs while clutching the left side of his ribcage. "I don't have all night, Keely."
He glares at me and winces. It occurs to me that I may have hurt him. I suppose ribs aren't designed to take a blow from a thrown elbow without some pain. He leans over and takes a deep breath. I take a step toward him and crouch down in front of him. "Are you okay?"
He doesn't respond. Instead he bolts upright and runs by me into my bedroom, jumping on the bed and beginning to do what appears to be touchdown dance. After he does a rousing yet terrible attempt at The Dougie, he finally responds with, "Of course I'm fine. I just won."
I lean against the doorframe and cross my arms. I furrow my brow and mutter, "You're a terrible person."
"If by terrible you mean genius, then yes, yes I am," he smiles devilishly. He jumps one last time and lands on my mattress with a thud, most likely breaking it under his size. Jay sits up and spreads his arms out wide and beckons me, "Sarah, my dear, please forgive my testosterone-fueled ignorance and come over here."
I make no attempt at moving towards him. I just let him sit there and fester in his sorryness.
He stares longingly at me as if that will sway me in his direction. Then he takes an exaggeratedly long and loud sigh and says, "I already said I'm sorry, Sarah."
"Take your shirt off." It spills out of my mouth before I even had time to filter it. Well, I didn't really need to filter it. It's not like I just told my dad or one of my brother's to strip for me. I asked my boyfriend, my incredibly sweet and sexy boyfriend.
His head tilts slightly to the side, clearly confused. "Weird request," he grabs the hem of his shirt, "but your wish is my command."
When Jay's pulls the cotton tee over his hair, it's like when Apple unveils their new IPhone and the entire crowd goes crazy with a standing ovation. I find my hands beginning to come together in clap formation, but I freeze, wanting to stay stoic.
"Happy now?" he purposely flexes his pecks. He flips his hair to the side even though it wasn't in his eyes, or anywhere remotely near his eyes considering it's not that long. And I'm not sure if this was his doing or just by chance, but his sweatpants have miraculously began hugging just below his hips, allowing me the sight of the beginning of his "V" lines.
Merry Early Christmas to me.
"Definitely."