Little Things | An Original

36

Maeve

Maren drags me to the living room as soon as Dalton and I arrive at family dinner.

"I have to tell you something," she says. When we get to the living room, her good friend and fellow Olympian Elijah is waiting.

"Eli, I didn't know you were coming to dinner," I say, giving him a smile. He and Maren have been friends for a long time now, given that they met at her first Olympic run.

He smiles and puts his arm around my sister's shoulder. "I wanted to come visit my girlfriend's family."

I squeal before scolding my sister. "Maren Alexandria-Grace Dolan, you didn't tell me!"

Maren smiles. "I wanted to surprise you."

"How do you even have time for boys? Your schedule has been crazy."

She shrugs. "When there's a will there's a way."

"I know, I'm just messing with you, Mare," I say. "I'm happy for you two. I know it's been a long time coming."

Maren nudged Eli's elbow. "Yeah, it's about damn time he asked me to be his girlfriend. We've been friends for four years."

"Hey, the best relationships stem from friendships. Just ask Dalton."

"Ask me what?" Dalton says, entering the room.

I smile at my husband. "We're talking about how great relationships stem from being friends first."

Dalton wraps his arms around me. "That is a very true statement."

"I think all of us siblings were friends with our partners before we got into relationships," Maren says.

"Wait," Dalton says. "You two are dating now?"

Maren smiles. "Yes, sir."

"About damn time," Dalton says. We all laugh, because that's the consensus so far.

Family dinner is really nice tonight. It's a relaxed environment, and it ends with the entire family playing scattergories in teams. Taytum, Andrew, Dalton and I make up a team, with little Ellie giving us her best attempt at helping.

Somehow, we win.

Dalton and I go home later, changing into comfy clothes and lounging on the couch with Poppy nestling herself between us. She's so tiny that she fits right in without us having to sacrifice our own cuddling. I love her so much.

"We should get a baby carrier for Poppy," Dalton says, petting her little head."

I laugh. "Did you really just say that?"

"What? It would be cute. Poppy's our first born. And then when we have human kids, we can just reuse it."

"Oh, Poppy," I say, petting her. "I hope you know how spoiled you are."

"Look at her little face. How could we not spoil her?" Dalton asks.

"Are you gonna spoil our kids this much too?"

"Probably," Dalton says. "I can't help it. I spoil the people I love."

"The people plus our puppy."

"She's too cute to say no to," Dalton says. "Just like you."

I giggle, snuggling into his chest as he kisses the top of my head. "I love you, Maeve."

"I love you too, honey," I say, smiling up at him. Dalton presses a sweet kiss to my lips, and Poppy growls at us. She does that sometimes when she's jealous of us giving each other attention.

So, we pet her until she inevitably falls asleep on us.

-

At the bookstore, I just had to do some inventory before lunch came around, and now I'm free for the rest of the day. Sabrina and I are going to lunch, and then we're going to the nail salon to get mani pedis.

"I know what you're having," I sing as we sit down with our food. We're at a sandwich restaurant, because that's what sounded good to both of us.

"I'm so excited to just know," she says. "And Milo is getting so impatient. He just wants to know, so we can finish naming the baby. And so that he can paint the nursery for me."

"I'm so excited for the party on Saturday. I ordered the cake, and then Dalton and I went to the baby store to get some gifts. I think you're going to love them."

Sabrina smiles. "You've done so much for us, Maeve. We really appreciate it."

"You two are two of my favorite people. You deserve the best."

"Awww. Thank you, Maevey. I love you, sis."

"I love you too," I say. "I always say that Milo's lucky to have you, but I'm lucky to have you too."

"So, how have you and Dalton been doing lately?"

"We're good," I say. "We've been super busy lately, but most of the things we've been doing have been together, so it's been really nice. And now that we can both work from home when we want, it's been nice to be at home together during the day."

"Aww. Cute," Sabrina says. "I bet Poppy loves it that you're both home sometimes."

"Even when we're both working at our workplaces, Dalton usually goes to give her a walk, and then he drops her off with me. She's got a whole setup in my office, so she's comfy there."

"Does she like the car?" Sabrina asks. "Rory hates it. We can't figure out why."

"Poppy loves car rides. Mostly because she knows it'll probably result in seeing me or Dalton when it's over."

"One of the things I'm most excited for is to see how Rory will be with the baby. I always see those cute complication videos of babies being best friends with their dog. It made me cry a couple times because it was so cute."

"That's precious," I say. "So, Milo's been good to you through your pregnancy? If he's not, I'll kick his ass, you know."

Sabrina laughs. "No, he's been perfect. I barely lift a finger, and he tells me to sit back down, so he can do whatever I was just doing. And he's so good to Rory, that I know he'll be an amazing dad."

"I'm so excited for you," I say.

After we're done with lunch, we have a relaxing time at the nail salon. When I get home, Dalton is in our home office, finishing up his work for the day.

I wrap my arms around him and kiss his cheek.

"Hi, baby. How was lunch?" he asks, smiling at me. I press a short kiss to his mouth.

"It was fun. I always enjoy catching up with Sabrina."

Dalton swivels the chair to face me, and then he pulls me onto his lap. "I'm glad you had a good day. I missed you."

"I missed you too," I say.

"I'm just about done here. Do you wanna get dinner tonight? A little date?"

"Sure," I say. "I'll go get ready."

Dalton kisses me again, before I leave the room to let him finish his work day. So after, we're heading to one of the restaurants near our house. We didn't feel like going too far, and felt like going to one of our favorite reliable places.

I love our impromptu dates like these. They're simple, but still so important to me. Quality time is something I'll never take for granted. That doesn't just go for Dalton, but for my family too.

There's nothing better than spending time with the people I love most.