(no subject)

[dickbiscuit]

The first thing Jay registers is that the blankets are moving.

It's a subtle thing, something that she catches out of the corner of her eye when they slit open. Rhys is out cold next to her, dead to the world and it doesn't matter how many mornings she wakes up and sees the very same thing - it's always going to make her heart jump the slightest bit knowing that it's real.

Her focus flips back to the matter at hand - those moving blankets, of course - and decides to duck beneath them, peeking into the darkness ..

And sees a very small lump huddled at the foot of the bed. A lump with messy auburn hair, bright blue-green eyes and looks as though she's just been caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Jay just grins. "Where's your sister, Sydnee?"

The lump squeaks defiantly. "I'm Savannah!"

"You know that doesn't work with me or your father. Try again."

".. she's waiting for me to tell her the coast is clear."

"For what?"

The lump fidgets just the slightest bit, teeth digging into the inside of her bottom lip - just like her mother - as she works on coming up with a response. Jay isn't sure whether she's trying to think up a good excuse or if she's working out how to tell the truth, but either way .. you're definitely my kid.

"We .. were gonna sneak in here and watch cartoons."

"You can't watch them in the living room?"

Again, the lump fidgets, reaching to chew idly on the ends of her hair, and Jay thinks that that has to be something on Rhys' side of the family, because she's never so much as even chewed on her nails. ".. We wanted to watch in here with you."

Just gotta go for the heartstrings, don'tcha kiddo?

Jay hums a soft noise, and next to her, Rhys shifts the smallest bit in his sleep, unconsciously angling toward her as though he's aware that she's moved away from him. "Tell you what .. if you and 'Vannah can wake your papa up, we'll all watch some together. How's that?"

This time, when the lump squeaks, it's a much happier noise. She doesn't say a word before she's back out from under the blanket, whispering for her sister - who is apparently hiding out in the hallway - and all Jay hears is a muffled three, two, one! before both of her girls are flying over the foot of the bed and landing right on top of their father's sleeping form.

The sound he makes is very undignified - something between a squeak and an oooff! as the air is pushed out of his lungs, and when he picks his head up to stare at the two inquiring pairs of eyes now trained on him, Jay can't help but to chuckle at the fact that his hair is standing up all over the place and he looks about as confused as he's ever been in his entire life.

He cracks a yawn. Blinks. "Good morning, ladies."

It's Savannah that pipes up first. "Mama said we could watch cartoons in here with you if we woke you up! You're up, right?"

Rhys turns his head, except Jay has very conveniently burrowed back under the blankets, so she doesn't see the wry little smile that curves his lips upward as "she did, did she?" rolls off his tongue in such a poorly executed accusing tone that she'll be surprised if the girls don't call him out on it.

Except both girls reply in unison: "She did!"

"Well .. if she said you could, I guess there's no saying no, huh?" He pauses, and another huge yawn has his mouth opening so wide that his jaw cracks. "But she has to watch with us, so we need to get her out of her hiding place. Ready?"

"Ready!"

And then there were four hands poking at her through the safety of her blanket.

It's Jay's turn to squeak as they work on bringing her out from beneath her cover, four tiny hands poking at her ribs and her legs and anywhere they can reach - and she's just about to surface when she sees Rhys has ducked under there with her, eyes still bleary with sleep but with that small smile on his mouth that's only ever been meant for her. "C'mon, Mama .." he murmurs, sliding his arms around her in what little space they have. "Cartoons are waiting."

He kisses her, and it's much too short, but it has that same something fluttering in her chest as before, and she thinks that she loves him so much that she can't even begin to know how to tell him. Even if she has a sneaking suspicion he already knows.

Rhys pulls away and she finally pokes her head back out, reaching behind her for the remote sitting on the bedside table. Before she even has a chance to turn the television on, there's an auburn-haired lump nuzzling under her chin - of course it's Sydnee - while her sister curls up on her father's chest with a happy little noise that sounds like it's coming from the very bottom of her own. Jay curls in close, leaning up to press a small kiss to the underside of Rhys' chin and nosing at Savannah's temple, and when she settles, she's almost positive there's no better way in the world to spend a lazy Saturday morning.

Why does she need to get up when she has everything she wants right there, anyway?