Convalescence

Frustrated

"Thank you for being such a great co-host while Savannah was away." with Haley Joy occupying one arm, Hoda juggles her purse to get her arm around Dean's broad shoulders. "Haley and Hope really love seeing you."

"I love seeing them, they're beautiful!" Dean smiles down at his co-host. "I'll be back any time you need me. You really didn't have to bring me to the airport."

"It's the least I could do." Hoda shrugs, adjusting the child on her hip. "You lookin' forward to seeing that gorgeous wife of yours?"

"I don't know if I'll see her." his sad sigh is all Hoda needs to nudge him with her elbow and get the floodgates open. "We had a fight - well, no. It wasn't a fight. I didn't let her say much. I acted like an idiot and yelled at her."

"That's not like you, Dean." her deep frown speaks volumes about her disappointment in him. "What happened?"

"Remember when she called me and you heard her?" Dean's face flushes dark red at the memory of that phone call. When Hoda nods, his entire body slumps forward. "I was exhausted because I barely had time to change before I came in to work after my flight and then she calls with that and I guess I just took my bad mood out on her when she didn't deserve it. I can be an asshole, Hoda, and I took it out on my wife."

"Then, go home, do that thing that men hate and admit you were an asshole and apologize." Hoda suggests, reaching up to give his arm an affectionate squeeze. "You and Teri have been with each other in some way for years. This probably isn't the first time and it won't be the last. So, you've got a temper and it got the best of you. You'll fix it and move on."

"Yeah." Dean nods. "I just feel awful."

"Then, get on that plane, go home, and fix it."

...

"Teri? Sweetheart?" he tucks his suitcase into the coat closet and shrugs out of his jacket. New York appropriate wardrobe didn't translate well in Los Angeles. "You home?"

The slam of a cabinet is all the affirmative he receives. If his ego hadn't already been shredded by the seething voicemail waiting for him, letting him know in no uncertain terms that his mother would be picking him up from the airport, that definitely would have done it. The shame of it tucks his chin into his chest.

He doesn't blame her for being mad, but she needs to understand how tough and awkward it'd been explaining her phone call.

"I think we need to talk," Oh, he's not looking forward to the conversation, but it has to happen.

"I think you are absolutely right." Teri smiles cheerfully, draping herself across the doorway to block his entrance to the kitchen. "Do you plan on letting me speak this time or would you like to continue yelling at me? I could call up your Today show buddies and you could give them another show."

"What was I supposed to do?" Dean clenches his teeth around the words. "Sit there and let you give Hoda all the dirty details about what you do when I'm not home."

"Better than what she actually heard." Teri snaps.

"Oh yes, Teri, so much better." his eye roll so does not help the situation, neither does the sarcastic remark that follows. "I'll call her right now and you can tell her all about how your toy ran out of batteries!"

"It's what women talk about over wine, Dean!" her disbelief is clear in the squeak of his name; she honestly didn't know she married someone so dense.

"Not on national television, Teri!" Dean snarls, walking away from her. He bypasses the kitchen and heads for the living room.

"You weren't live, I did the math!" it's Teri's turn to roll her eyes, making a point to mimic his angry stomping. The louder click of her heels echoes in discordant harmony with the thump of his boots.

"I was ten minutes away from the whole damn country hearing you spill about our sex life!" Dean snarls, turning on his heel. The abrupt turn sends Teri crashing into his chest, but she's quick to pull away.

"Oh please." another roll of her eyes and she's crossing her arms over her chest - oh, he's familiar with that. She's guarded better than Fort Knox. "Look, I know you squirm when your personal life is brought up, but they know we're married. I think any reasonable adult has figured out; we have sex!"

"I don't squirm."

Teri's mouth opens. The audacity of this man to seem deeply offended by the idea that he might do something outside of his normally calm nature is a little bit of a shock to the system.

And she voices this with a squawk of disbelief. "Kathie asked you about your last kiss and you couldn't change the subject fast enough!"

"That was before you decided you were ready to tell the world we'd gotten married in New York!" Dean grits his teeth.

"Well, I was hoping you'd come out of that comfort zone and open up a little bit." Teri sighs, staring at her husband's suddenly guarded posture, the crossed arms and the square of his shoulders. "What are you, a monk? Did you take a vow of silence?"

"Teri..."

"No! You yelled at me, Dean!" Teri cries foul at his deep sigh of resignation.

"You were being difficult!" is his grumpily snarled reply.

"So were you, you jackass!" her reply comes with the burn of fresh tears.

"And I'm sorry about that but did you really want the whole country to know your toy broke?" Dean makes a face at the idea of the entire country knowing what his wife does to satisfy herself when he's not there.

"No, I wanted you to know that I missed you!" Teri throws her arms up. Her eyes, once soft and teary, are hard once again, glaring at her husband. "That ended when you yelled at me!"

"I didn't yell!" But his loud insistence falls on deaf ears. She won't hear it, so he tries another tactic. "Look, I understand, you're used to the puppy dog eyes and pretty pout and getting your way, but I seriously am not going to talk to you on air about our sex life!"

Teri clenches her teeth. Her husband, her Dean is actually standing there calling her a - oh, he must be kidding. With a heated glare, rage seething beneath the surface of her teary facade, she grits out. "Are you calling me a brat?"

"Maybe."

And he's going to be smug about it. "Well," she jeers, "You're a control freak!"

"You knew this when you married me!" Dean spreads his hand, "You knew this when we worked together!"

"And?"

"I'm not a control freak when my wife isn't acting like a brat because I didn't fall for her pout." Dean points out, tilting his head as if to say, you know I'm right. Which, maybe he is, but that is not important at the moment.

"I am not a brat!" she doesn't often feel the need to defend her reputation - for the most part, it's false, but she's happy to let the media think what they like - but this is her husband calling her something, she tries really hard not to be.

"Could have fooled me!" he doesn't doubt that she's not a brat, but he's so mad, he's not thinking clearly.

"I didn't know I married an asshole!" Teri takes her final shot before she heads up the stairs to their bedroom. "Sleep in the guest room, tonight."

"I didn't know I married a brat!" Dean yells at her retreating form. He watches her disappear up the stairs and immediately the shame sets in. She's crying. He knows she is, and he feels helpless because he made her. He got her to that point. "Shit!" 

Teri sinks to the floor of their bedroom, leaning her head against the closed door.

Dammit.