(y/n pov)
"She's asleep," Gray said, passing her over to e/w. She sighed, taking the toddler from him.
"Okay, I'll just change her outfit while she sleeps-- less fuss." You smiled, nodding. "You wanna come?" she asked you. You smiled.
"Sure."
"Lisa's in the living room," she saidout to Gray. He smiled, heading in as you headed up with her. "How was it?" E/W asked you as you dropped into the rocking chair in Elle's room. She laid Elle down on her bed as she headed to the closet to retrieve her birthday outfit.
"Shopping?" you asked. E/W nodded. "It was okay, we got some groceries first; we just went to target."
"Groceries." You sighed.
"Yeah, Gray went yesterday but only picked up almond milk?" you asked, quickly realizing how stupid that sounded. You were mad over almost nothing. "So we got some stuff today." She laughed.
"Oh, E does that all the time," she sighed, shaking her head, pulling a dress over Elle's head as she tried to turn away. "He'll be late to get home, but think it's so smart to go all the way to the store to just pick up one thing." You looked down.
"Yeah."
"And then he has to go back anyway the next day, or I have to go," she laughed softly, shaking her head. "Idiots."
"Yeah," you said quietly. She looked over.
"You okay?" You looked up and nodded quickly, pointing at Elle, who was now waking up. "Oh hello," e/w cooed.
"Mama?"
"Hey there," she whispered. "You wanna stand so I can get your dress on?" she asked her daugter.
"Bir-day?" she asked, standing, a hand on e/w's shoulder as she raised a leg. "Dress?"
"Mhm, you look so pretty," you said. She looked up at you with tired eyes. You smiled. "Wow, Elle."
"Y/NN pretty too," she whispered. You smiled.
"Thank you, sweetheart."
"Daddy?" Elle asked. E/W laughed as she pulled the leggings up completely.
"Why do you always need him, huh?" she asked. "He's getting everything set up for you downstairs." She frowned as e/w began combing through her hair. She pushed her arm away.
"Mama," she whined. E/W sighed.
"Come on, don't you wanna look pretty?" Elle frowned trying to get off of her bed. E/W sighed as she ran to you, reaching for you. You pulled her into your lap. "Elle."
"Stop it, mama." You smiled.
"Can I do it?" you asked the toddler. She turned to look up at you. She frowned. "You can brush my hair after," you said with a smile.
"Y/NN?"
"Mhm, you can do my hair-- it'll be like dress up."
"'Kay," she said. E/W's jaw dropped.
"That's all I have to do?" she asked, handing you the comb. You laughed. "I just have to offer to let her do my hair?" You began to comb through Elle's hair-- though she did whine quite a bit.
"Apparently so." E/W shook her head as she tossed you a bow. Elle kept it in her lap as you pulled a little bit of her hair up into a ponytail. You smiled as she held it back for you. "Thank you," you said.
"Welcome!" You smiled as you tied her hair, failing and having to reattempt.
E/W watched you for a moment before turning to put Elle's clothes away. "Hey, y/n?" she asked, clearing her throat a little. You looked up as you tried to tie her hair up.
"Yeah?"
You kissed Elle on the head and she turned, standing up on your thighs as she played with your hair. You gave her the comb and she stuck it in, messing it up. You smiled, holding her up carefully.
"Are you and Gray trying or anything?" You looked away from Elle and looked up at e/w, who was still messing with Elle's closet.
"What?"
"You know-- I was just curious." You didn't say anything. "I was talking about it with E and he says Gray didn't say anything about anything so I just thou--"
"No, no, uh--"
"--ght maybe like, fertility issues or something?" She finally turned to face you. You flushed red. "Have you tried seeing if everything's alright?" You swallowed.
"Uh-- actually," you paused as you watched someone-- one of the twins' friends, run past the room. People were starting to arrive. "We haven't-- like, yeah, we're not trying."
"Oh," she said quickly. "Oh, I just thought-- with Gray wanting to-- right okay," she said quickly. "Sorry, sor--"
"No, no, it's okay." Elle patted your head, finally finished. You put her down.
"All done!" she cheered. You gave her a smile.
"Why, thank you," you said, standing. She giggled. "I'm gonna go check it out in the bathroom, okay?" She nodded, hands on her hips. You smiled and walked out, giving e/w another small smile.
---
The party was amazing.
Elle looked like she was having the absolute time of her life. All of her favourite people were there, you too, this year. Though it wasn't like she could remember her first birthday regardless.
And in the end? It didn't even matter that your present was late. She didn't care. She had you and Gray and her grandmother and her parents. So what had you been so upset with Gray over?
"What do we do with these?" he asked in a whisper as he set the two little shakers on the kitchen island. You spooned some late-night cereal into your mouth as you turned, holding the bowl up.
"I don't know." You stared at them for a second. They were really cute. "I want to use them." He chuckled as he looked up at you.
"I do too." He poured some salt pepper in the respective shakers and smiled, screwing them closed. "There."
"Hm." You finished up with your cereal as he sat on a barstool, forearms on the counter as he tipped back and forth on his seat. "You're gonna fall." He smiled.
"Nah." You washed your bowl.
"What's the time?" you asked. He cleared his throat a little.
"Ten." You hummed as you finished with your bowl and moved on to grab a sip of water. You turned to face him and he gave you a small smile. You raised your eyebrows. "I'm sorry for not ordering the present when you asked me to." You shrugged.
"It's okay-- I'm sorry for getting upset with you over nothing." He shook his head.
"I should've done it when you asked." You shrugged again and he spread his arms. You set your glass down and walked around the island to reach him.
Stepping between his parted legs, you let him wrap his arms around your waist as you leaned into him. Arms around his neck you stood like that for a moment. "That was a stupid fight," you whispered. He chuckled, squeezing.
"I guess this is what marriage is." You hummed and started to pull away though he didn't let you. So you just stood, waiting for him to let go at some point. "I'm still sorry though."
"That's okay." He finally let go, letting his arms drop and you stepped back, letting go of him as well. He looked up at you and you smiled. "Let's go to bed, Gray."
"Yeah." He stood and you headed up and heard him grunt as he stretched, following you up. You headed up to your room and pointed to the bathroom.
"I'm gonna go first." He nodded and plopped down onto the bed as you headed in. He leaned back, falling to his back as he waited. He shut his eyes momentarily, thinking about your hug from just moments ago.
It'd been so nice.
He wanted to hug you again, like that-- so warm and comforting.
"You okay?" you asked. He sat up, eyes opening. You'd changed already, now brushing out your hair. He nodded, rubbing his face as if that would get rid of the pink tint in his cheeks. "Tired?"
He nodded, walking into the bathroom to do his business and get changed. You were fanning your t-shirt against your body as he walked back in. "Hot?" You nodded. "Is the air conditioning on?"
"I think so." He smiled and gestured to his tank top, indicating he felt the same.
"Um-- I just wanted to let you know that me and E have a lot of late meetings in the next few weeks," he said. You raised an eyebrow.
"Later?"
"Mhm, just because we're having meetings with people over in different time zones, so I won't be home 'till late?" You nodded. "Yeah, I just thought I'd let you know."
"Yeah, that's cool."
And after a quick good night, you were both in bed, lying on your respective sides.
---
"Gray," you sighed, shoving him a little. You tugged on his arm, pulling the t-shirt that was sticking to your body away from you, only for it to stick back. "Grayson."
"Hm--" he mumbled, turning onto his stomach, facing you as his arm fell over your lap. You pushed it away, still poking and tugging at him. "Hm?"
"Gray, wake up."
"What--" he mumbled, eyes finally opening. He blinked a few times, pushing himself up on his forearms. You pushed the covers away from his body, his tank top also sticking to his body. He sat up on his knees, pushing the hair sticking to his face away from his forehead.
"You're drenched in sweat-- did you not feel hot?" He looked down at himself before realizing how hot he was before looking up at you. "I think the air conditioning's broken or something." He sighed, rubbing his face.
"It's only March," he grumbled. You sighed as he stood, pulling his shirt off, too hot for it. He pointed down. "I'll go check?" You got out of bed.
"I'll come too." He watched as you got out of bed, You followed him down as he headed to the basement.
He checked around where the furnace was and shrugged, shaking his head. "I don't know." You crossed your arms, watching as he sat down. He let out a sigh.
"What?"
"It's cold," he whispered, palm down on the floor. You sat down as well and smiled. "It's nice." He leaned against the wall, head back, eyes closed. You smiled as he raised a hand to scratch his growing beard before stretching his arms.
You crawled over to him and sat next to him. He smiled a little as you let your head tip onto his shoulder, also pressing your back against the cool wall.
"Are we staying here?" you asked. He hummed.
"If you want to," he whispered. You closed your eyes, starting to fall asleep.
"Yes, please." His arm draped over your shoulders.
"Sounds like a plan."