all american | lance tucker

ch. 33 • miss the apartment

The next morning, I actually got to sleep in. My hangover was terrible, and I woke up multiple times to take aspirin, but I was sleeping it out. When I finally woke up for real and registered my surroundings, I realized Lance wasn't in the room.

I got up, pulling on some clothes before heading into the hallway and towards the other guest bedroom, where the kids were staying. When I silently opened the door, I smiled.

Lance was sleeping in the middle of Aria and Ciara on the double bed, arm around both as they slept on his chest. They must've gotten scared sleeping in a different room. I took a picture, then closed the door quietly, heading back down the hall towards the stairs. When I got downstairs and entered the living room, where Harley was sitting alone while drinking coffee.

"Morning, sunshine." She joked. She looked pretty okay for a night of partying.

"How are you not dead?" I groaned, shading my eyes from the sunlight. She smirked.

"Dad's hangover recipe. Raw eggs down the hatch. And a bunch of black coffee. Steve, on the other hand, is not doing so well. Passed out on the bathroom floor and he's too heavy for me to get him to bed." She sighed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Where's your fiancé?"

"Asleep with the kids. Someone must've pulled him in there last night. He'll be up any minute because the kids have been sleeping for a long time." I checked the clock. 10:17.

I wondered if Steve's mom had let them stay up all night. Jesus Christ.

"Did you hear us at all last night?" She asked nervously, raising an eyebrow. I shook my head.

"Nope. Did you hear us?" She shook her head, and then we both started laughing.

"You better not be laughing about what you made me do last night." Lance had arrived, and he looked ten times worse than I did. His hair was everywhere, his torso and back were covered in marks and scratches (courtesy of yours truly), and he had circles under his eyes.

"Good morning, gorgeous." Harley laughed. "I can see you two had fun last night." She signaled to the scratches, and he stood a little taller.

"Nah, I had zero fun. I'm just that good." He boasted. I rolled my eyes.

"Come here." I held my hands out for him, and he muttered something under his breath before coming over to me. I had him bend down towards me, then I flattened his hair. He smacked my hand away, pushing it back out of his face and into all directions once again I rolled my eyes, moving my feet off the couch so that he could sit next to me.

"Kids are awake and playing some games now. You woke everyone up when you walked into the room." He complained, rubbing his eyes and then coughing loudly.

"Sorry, just wanted to make sure you didn't drunkenly stumble out of the house." I joked.

With a grumpy Lance, this was going to be a long day.

After that day, and with lots of explaining from Harley, Lance and I realized we needed to start kicking into gear for this wedding. We began planning, still having no idea where we were going to have the wedding, and then I had to bring up a topic I knew he wouldn't like.

"Lance, I think it's time to consider moving. It's super cramped in here, and the kids are getting bigger." I brought it up while we were at work, sitting in his office. His jaw clenched tightly.

"I've lived there for 8 years." He muttered, keeping his eyes on his phone. "That place is my life."

"I knew you were going to be difficult about it. Lance, you have to think about our future. Not some college house that doesn't fit a family. You're not even listening to what I'm saying." I complained. He set his phone on the desk, cleaning back and clasping his fingers in his lap.