I woke to Ben trailing kisses down my neck and across my shoulder, his arm tight around me and his fingers lightly dancing over my stomach. I smiled and reached back to weave my hand into his hair.
"Hey." He whispered by my ear before catching my earlobe between his teeth and biting down gently.
"Ow! Bully." I teased, rolling over to face him with a smile.
"You ready for today?"
"Mm. I'm not sure. I'm excited. But nervous too." I admitted quietly and he nodded.
"Of course. But you'll be amazing. You're not the only new staff member, right? They said there's two others?" He laid a hand on my cheek and smiled.
"Yeah. A woman and another man. She's teaching French classes and he's in something else; I forget what."
"Well, obviously not music. That job went to you; my wonderful husband."
"It did. You proud of me?"
"Extremely. I couldn't be prouder of you if I tried." He kissed me softly and pulled back to look at me, rubbing his thumb gently over my cheek. "I love you, Charlie."
"Love you too, Ben." I whispered.
"Dad! Alexis stole my phone!" Nathaniel's voice was muffled as he called up from downstairs and I rolled my eyes.
"Never a dull moment in this house, is there?" I muttered, already throwing off the covers. Ben just laughed and followed me, pulling on his jumper as we made our way down to the living room where Alexis was dancing around the coffee table, waving Nathaniel's phone in the air. Nathaniel had clearly given up chasing her and was standing with his arms crossed, glaring at her.
"Alright, what's going on here, you two?" Ben asked and Nathaniel looked over.
"I was texting Micah and Alexis took my phone. Now she won't give it back."
"Okay. Lexi, give it back to Nate, please." Alexis pouted but handed over the phone.
"Weirdo." Nathaniel muttered, stalking off to the kitchen.
"Nathaniel..." I warned as he went past but he ignored me.
"Lexi, you can't take Nate's phone, okay? It's not nice." Ben was crouched down to Alexis' level, holding her hands. She had wide eyes as she nodded, playing innocent. I smirked and went into the kitchen where Nathaniel was still sulking.
"Nate, don't get so annoyed by it. She didn't mean any harm."
"But she always does it. It's so annoying."
"She's nine. She just wants your attention because you're her big brother."
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes. Sometimes it just wasn't worth arguing with Nathaniel.
"Remember, you're catching the bus to school today. I'll pick you up on my way home."
"Yeah. I know. Good luck today." He smiled over the counter at me and then disappeared upstairs to his room just as Ben and Alexis came into the room.
"Where's Nathaniel gone?" Ben asked.
"Upstairs. He's sulking."
"Okay. Lexi, go find him and tell him you're sorry, yeah?"
"Yes daddy Ben." Alexis skipped off to find Nathaniel, leaving Ben and I in the kitchen alone. He grinned and came closer to hug me tightly. I allowed myself to lean into him, feeling him rest his chin on my shoulder.
"Now that you've had a dose of reality, you think you're ready to face the day?"
"Actually, no. I'm even more nervous than when I woke up."
