Lindsey bolted awake, sitting straight up in bed, taking around his surroundings before fixing his eyes back on his wife who was curled up next to him in bed, apparently unaffected by the loud boom of thunder that the storm outside had produced. He chuckled to himself, settling back into the white sheets and wrapping his arms around her, enjoying the sound of the rain falling hard against the sliding glass door that led to their private balcony. His peaceful thoughts were interrupted moments later by a tiny voice coming from behind their slightly open bedroom door.
“Daddy?”
He sat up again, holding out his arms for the little girl to run into. He lifted her onto the bed and into his lap, his blue eyes reflected in her own as he brushed her long, soft brown hair out of her face, admiring how much she looked just like her mother. “Hey munchkin, what are you doing out of bed?”
“The thunder scared me, daddy. Can I stay with you and mommy?” The little girl’s arms encircled his neck as she snuggled against his chest, not even giving him an option to say no, not that he’d ever be able to.
He kissed her head. “Of course princess, but mommy’s still sleeping so we’ll have to be quiet.”
The little girl pulled back, arms still around his neck, and smiled up at him. “No she’s not!”
Lindsey’s head turned toward his wife again to find her eyes were half-open, her hand reaching out to run her fingers through their daughter’s hair. “Hey beautiful,” he smiled, leaning down to kiss her.
“Mmm hey,” she smiled sleepily. “Didn’t know we were having a slumber party.”
“The storm woke me up, mommy!” Lily exclaimed, pointing at the rain soaked window.
Stevie turned her head briefly to look outside, “I guess I didn’t know it was storming either.”
“Sometimes I think that you could sleep through a nuclear war,” Lindsey joked, earning himself a playful slap on the arm from Stevie. Lily had squirmed out of her father’s lap and settled between them. Lindsey turned on his side to face his girls and pulled the blankets up over their daughter’s shoulders, watching as Stevie absentmindedly played with Lily’s hair.
He sat up again, suddenly flipping the covers off of himself, trying not to disturb Lily. “I’ll be right back,” he mumbled, more so to himself than anyone else.
“Where are you going?!” Stevie’s eyes grew wide with concern, but Lindsey had already made his way out of the bedroom.
Lily’s blue eyes popped open with the sudden movement, and she too sat up. “Where’d daddy go?”
“I’m not sure, honey, but he’ll be back. Why don’t you lie down and try to go back to sleep?”
A mischievous grin spread across the five year old’s face as she moved slightly away from Stevie, stretching out and successfully taking up as much room on the bed as she could. “I’m gonna take daddy’s spot and pretend to be asleep, but don’t tell!” She giggled, holding a finger up to her lips to silence her mother.
Stevie grinned right back, resting her forehead against her daughter’s before kissing her nose, “I don’t think daddy will like that very much…”
They both heard the bedroom door swing back open as soon as the words left her mouth. Stevie chuckled as she watched Lily’s eyes widened in shock before quickly closing tight, pretending to be asleep. She looked up to see Lindsey walk back into the room carrying their three year old son, Adam, in his arms. Her heart melted at the sight of the full head of brown curls, identical to Lindsey’s, resting against his bare shoulder. The boy’s arms were wrapped around his father’s neck, gripping his security blanket in one of his small hands.
“Bring that sleepy head over here,” she said, reaching her arms out. Lindsey made his way over to Stevie’s side of the bed and gently lowered Adam down to her, careful not to wake him. She pulled the boy to her chest and held him close, gently kissing his forehead.
“He’s definitely your son. I went into his room and he was completely passed out. I don’t think the storm woke him up either.” Lindsey smiled down at his wife and son while reaching out to mess up his son’s curls with his fingers.
Stevie shot him a look and gestured over to their daughter. Lindsey glanced over at Lily, whose face was scrunched up trying hard to make it look like she was sleeping. He flashed Stevie a knowing grin before making his way back to his side of the bed, letting out an exaggerated gasp of surprise.
“Hey! Where am I supposed to sleep?” He whined playfully. “It looks like there’s a giant snuggle bug in my spot!” He heard a small giggle escape from Lily and leaned down, hovering over her. “I’m just gonna have to squash this giant snuggle bug” he whispered in Lily’s ear, eyes locking with his wife’s as he waited for their daughter’s reaction.
“NO!” She squealed, eyes flying open with panic, causing a snort to escape from Stevie. Lindsey wrestled the girl into his arms, holding her close as he tickled her until she was breathless. “DADDY!”
Adam stirred in Stevie’s arms, his brown eyes opening slightly. “Okay you two, that’s enough,” she reprimanded, wanting to try to sneak in a few more hours of sleep herself before the littlest Buckingham woke up. Lindsey settled Lily between him and Stevie, laying on his side with his arms around her. He watched lovingly as Stevie ran her hand up and down Adam’s back, trying to soothe him back asleep.
“We did a good job with these two,” Lindsey beamed proudly.
“We sure did. I never could have imagined in a million years that you’d be this great of a dad.”
“It helps that they have such a hot momma,” he returned the compliment, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
She rolled her eyes and a contented sigh escaped her lips. “Go to bed, Linds.”
“Love you,” he murmured, reaching over their daughter to place a kiss on his wife’s cheek.
“Love you, too.”
