Once Upon a Time Prompts Booklet

Operation "Birthday"

AN: This is a oneshot for the lovely @LesbianLovers3 who prompted a second episode for Henry and Sammy. I hope this fulfilled your expectations!

Enjoy~

A rapid line of ten or eleven foam Nerf bullets whiz through the air dangerously close to Samuel Swan-Mills's face. He slams his body against the carpet behind his couch barricade just in time, and the bullets hit the wall behind him in quick succession. The suction cups at the tips of the bullets connect with the plaster, but only a few stay erect on the wall while the others fall limply to the floor. He leaps up to face the proud twin sisters holding bulky Nerf guns nearly the size of themselves with a triumphant yell.

"HA! You missed--" he's cut off by a bullet he hadn't seen coming suctioning perfectly to his scratchy cheek. "--me," he finishes dejectedly, popping the foam cylinder off of his face and flicking it to the floor.

"We got you, Dadda!!" Ari exclaims excitedly, dropping her gun a mere inch away from her sister's toe. Mia doesn't seem to notice, as she's hopping around, celebrating their victory. Sam wipes his faux sour expression from his face and laughs.

"You sure did!" His excitement only adds to theirs, but it simmers down significantly when he continues solemnly, "..but there's a price to winning a Nerf War."

"W-what is it?" Mia asks nervously, jumping up and down all but forgotten.

"It means," he begins, menacingly stepping around the couch and towards them, "you get tickled!" Before the twins have a chance to react, he pins them on the opposite couch they're perched on and begins pinching their sides simultaneously. High-pitched squeals pierce the air, and Sam finds himself slipping farther and farther into the moment when he glances up at the clock. He stops abruptly, causing his daughters to shoot him identical quizzical looks.

"Uh oh--Daddy will be home any minute, and this living room is a train wreck." He surveys the damage with his hands on his hips, complete with the two little girls on the couch. Their clothes are wrinkled and their hair that his husband had so painstakingly combed and fixed that morning is completely mussed.

"And what about the--" Ari begins, then drops her voice to a dramatic whisper, "--surprise?"

And of course, there's that. Today is Sam's husband, Henry's birthday, and the twins had desperately wanted to surprise him. Their idea of that is really just balloons in the kitchen and a sad-looking chocolate cake, but Henry will love it for sure. The cake is really the best that any two five-year-olds can bake--with Sam's complete supervision of course. "Ah, yes." He acts as though he'd just remembered, much to his daughters' amusement, "Is everything for 'Operation: Birthday' ready?" As he says the name he can't help but grin--Henry still loves to name every special thing under an 'operation' name, but he would be ashamed of this one. "You know, you two, the point of a code name is so nobody knows what you're talking about. Maybe adding the actual word of what this operation is about isn't the best idea?" He tries for the umpteenth time to try and get his daughters to change the name of the mission.

Of course, it fails once more, and all he gets is a small chorus of "No!" before they scamper off to the kitchen to their positions, leaving Sam to clean the messy room. He only manages to pick up a few pillows and pop the darts off the wall before he hears the sound of Henry's key scratching the lock of the front door. Despite his worries of what his husband will say when he sees the state of the house, Sam still feels his heart leap in his chest at the anticipation of seeing Henry as soon as he arrives home after work. In all the five years they've been married, it never gets old.

The door flings open, and the howling wind bangs it against the opposite wall. Henry enters, looking undeniably tired and wet from the rain, and he sighs before raking a hand through his long, damp unruly waves and sets his briefcase down on the small table in the entryway.