couples retreat ⊳ fivesauce

one ; easy like sunday morning

sleeping in late on a lazy sunday morning, soft sheets against his bare back with morning sunlight streaming through the blinds. the smell of laundry detergent and soft vanilla. no birds chirping in the trees or kids running through the background. it was an ideal start to the day. just perfect quiet and serene-

a loud ringing ran through the still air, like metal clanging on metal. michael squeezed his eyes, shaken out of his early morning stupor. "babe, the kids awake?"

receiving no reply, he forced his eyes open, rubbing them with the back of his hand in hopes to alleviate his drowsiness. he could feel his hair sticking up unattractively in a severe case of bed head. sighing, he rolled over towards his wife's side of their queen bed. "babe-"

coming face-to-face with his young daughter instead of his wife, michael let a smile as he saw the smiling brown eyes of his little girl, her pin-straight blonde hair spread across white sheets.

"i peed."

his face dropped. pulling up out of bed, michael grasped his daughter, pulling her off the wet sheets and switching her soaked pyjamas in favour of a dry summer dress with stockings, her blonde hair still sticking up from the static of the bed. he gathered the sheets, hoisting her up onto his shoulders and carrying the dirtied bedspread into the laundry room.

"lila peed the bed." he announced, stepping into the bright kitchen, the young girl still hanging off his shoulders. she was nearly six years old, and still had trouble time to time in getting to the bathroom on time, especially when she spent the night in her parents room.

"our bed?"

"yup, our poor white sheets."

lila pouted as her father set her down at a dinning table chair, her chocolate eyes big and sad. "i'm sorry."

michael smiled as he ruffled her hair, making it more messy and staticky than it had already been. "you're sorry? don't worry about it sweetie, it'll happen again your sophomore year of college."

"oh yeah, ask your dad about that one when you get older." rose laughed as she mixed the scrambled eggs in a pan, a few pieces of toast popping out of the toaster beside her. her straw-blonde hair fell scattered across her back, olive skin glowing as the silver band on her left hand glinted in the sunlight streaming from the windows. michael couldn't help but admire her from where she was, free of makeup and accessories, simply alive and beautiful, there in his kitchen with his daughter playing beside him. "and no more juice before bed, honey."

lila scrunched her little nose, crossing her arms in mock defiance. "but i like juice."

"i know sweetie, let's have a big breakfast, ok? we've got a big morning." rose giggled, setting a small plastic bowl of fruit loops in front of her daughters pouting face, watching it spread into an excited look.

"-and here daddy's coffee." setting a mug in front of her husband. "and a bowl of fruit, without the loop."

looking down at the bowl of plastic, decorative apples and bananas his wife had pulled towards him, michael scrunches his face. "what, why no loop?"

"honey, you don't need loops, have a smoothie or toast or something. that crap has so much sugar in it." rose had already turned back to scraping her eggs onto her plate, carrying it to the table with a plastic cup of milk.

"and yet we feed it to our child, hypocrite." michael laughed lightly, pouring milk and sugar into his coffee.

"well, either way, we gotta hurry up. lila's got gymnastics and we've gotta pick out the cabinets for the kitchen at the showroom today."