When Ben and I got home, we found our teenage son, Nathaniel, sprawled out on the sofa. The TV was blaring in the corner and the coffee table was covered in textbooks, paper, and pens from Nathaniel's attempts at study. I smiled to myself and crossed the room towards him, gently shaking him awake.
"Nathaniel. Nate, wake up." I whispered and he groaned a little before waking up. His eyes went wide when he saw me and sat up suddenly.
"Sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to fall asleep. Alexis is in her room, I think."
"It's okay. I just thought you might want to move from the sofa." I laughed and he nodded, leaning over to pack up his things.
"Thanks. Did you have fun tonight?"
"We did. Get some sleep, bud. You've got a big day tomorrow."
"Will do. 'Night dad. 'Night Ben." We'd adopted Nathaniel when he was ten and told him he could call us whatever he wanted. He'd quickly decided that he wanted to call me 'dad' but he'd admitted that he just wanted to call Ben by his name. At first Ben was upset but he soon realised it didn't make a difference what Nathaniel called him; he was still going to be Nathaniel's dad.
"Good night, Nate." Ben smiled at him.
"Let's go check on Alexis." I suggested. Ben nodded and followed me up the stairs to our daughter's room. Inside, the little girl was fast asleep, her golden curls splayed across the pillow like waves. She stirred when the door creaked and slowly woke up, rubbing at her eyes.
"Daddy Ben? Daddy Charlie?" Unlike Nathaniel, Alexis had chosen to call both Ben and I 'daddy' but added our names at the end. She was Nathaniel's biological sister, younger by almost five years. Their parents had died in a car accident, leaving them orphaned but Ben and I considered it fate meaning they could be our children and complete our family.
"Hey Lexi. I'm sorry we woke you up." Ben crossed the room to sit on the edge of her bed. She hugged him tightly and shook her head.
"It's okay. I don't think I was asleep for long. Nate was making a lot of noise."
"The TV?"
"Yeah. He was watching one of those movies with lots of shouting and guns."
"Okay. We'll talk to him. How about you get some more sleep, yeah?"
"Okay." Alexis let go of Ben and snuggled back into bed, allowing him to tuck her in. She'd always had a closer relationship with Ben than with me but I didn't mind, seeing as Nathaniel was closer to me than to Ben.
"Sweet dreams, Alexis." I called over.
"Goodnight, daddy Charlie." She replied. Ben came back into the hallway and closed the door softly.
"You ready for bed?" He asked me and I nodded.
"Definitely. I don't know why, but smiling and talking that much is exhausting."
"It's because you were using all your focus. Come on, you still have work in the morning."
"I know." I let him lead me to our room where I took my time getting ready for bed, meanwhile Ben was quick and sat in bed waiting for me.
"You still love me, right?" I frowned over at him.
"Of course I do. What kind of question is that?"
"Sorry. I just wanted to check."
"Ben, I love you so much. Never forget that." I promised, crawling onto the bed, and straddling his legs.
"Promise?"
"I promise. That's why I married you, remember?" I leaned forward to peck his nose and laughed. "Otherwise, I would never want to put up with your lazy ass."
