Two Pink Lines

16

The buzzing of his alarm wakes him up, and he groggily reaches across Alice to turn it off, careful not to wake her. She had fallen asleep shortly after they had finished "celebrating", and she looked so peaceful, he didn't have the heart to wake her.

He feels guilty that he has to do so now, she looks so content in her sleep state and he doesn't want to ruin that, but they can't risk the kids finding them.

So, he presses a kiss to her shoulder and whispers softly to her. "Alice, it's morning." She waves him off, opting to roll over and snuggle into his body further rather than actually wake up. He chuckles and runs his fingers through her hair. "You've gotta get up, babe. The kids can't know you slept down here."

"You're right." She yawns. "I hate that."

He smiles. "You look beautiful. God, I've missed you."

She returns the smile and brushes a soft kiss against his lips. "I've missed you too, I wish we could just stay in bed together all day."

"Well I'm all yours as soon as the kids leave." He presses a kiss to the top of her head and wraps his arms tighter around her, holding her close. "If you want, you can go up to bed and I'll make sure the kids get to school alright."

"That's sweet of you, but I'm alright. Just a little more tired than usual."

"Is our little one zapping your energy?" His hand comes to rest on her stomach, rubbing it slowly, not that there's much to feel just yet.

"The baby, and you." She corrects with another yawn. "Not that I'm complaining."

He chuckles. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Alright for now, not sure how long that'll last."

"Do you two want some breakfast?"

Alice perks up immediately at the question. "Scrambled eggs?"

"Sure."

"How about some bacon, oh! And waffles!"

He laughs at the excitement in her eyes. "Whatever you want, babe. You're eating for two now."

"You are the perfect man, I swear it."

•

"Wow, a whole breakfast spread." Betty comments as she walks downstairs, followed closely by Jughead and Jellybean.

"It's just my way of saying thanks for letting us stay here." FP says with a smile. "Eat up kids, there's lots to go around."

"Hopefully you still know how to cook after being in the can for so long." Jughead teases.

"I'm sure it's great, daddy." Jellybean says.

FP smiles at her and presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Thanks, Bean. It's nice to know one of my kids have my back."

"Mom, you alright? You look exhausted." Betty questions, sitting down next to her mother at the dining table.

"I'm fine, honey. I was just reading a book last night and lost track of time, stayed up a lot longer than I meant to." Alice assures her.

"Must be a good book." Betty drops the conversation and starts up a new one with Jughead, much to Alice's delight, the last thing she needs is to accidentally let something slip.

"Well since we have everyone together, maybe we should go over some ground rules." Alice says.

"Like what?" Jughead asks, shovelling food into his mouth.

"Well for one, just because you two are dating and now living in the same house, doesn't mean you can sneak into each other's rooms at night, and there will be no closed doors when you're alone in each other's rooms."

"And you've gotta help out around here, you two." FP tells Jellybean and Jughead. "Alice is kind enough to let us stay here, the least we can do is keep it clean and tidy."

"And you also have to keep up with school." Alice adds.

Betty rolls her eyes. "Mom, I'm not going to get distracted just because Jughead and his family are here now. Things are just like they were before, there's just a few extra people living here now."

"I'm sorry, it's just... I'm sure this is a bit strange for everyone, so I want things to stay as normal as possible."

"And they will." FP promises. He catches a glimpse at the clock and looks back at the kids. "You guys might want to hurry up, you're gonna be late."

The kids quickly finish up their breakfast and then they're saying their goodbyes and rushing out the door to get to school.

FP stands up from his seat at the table and takes he and Alice's dishes to the sink, preparing to wash all the dishes. Alice has other plans though, which are made clear when she steps up behind him and wraps her arms around his middle. "Come sit with me."

"I'll be there in a bit, I'm just going to do the dishes for you."

"You can do them later." She insists, leaning up on her tip toes to press a kiss to his cheek.

"Well if you insist." He smiles and follows her to the couch.

She tugs a blanket over them as soon as he joins her and snuggles into his side, breathing him in and enjoying the peace and quiet. "I could get used to this." She tells him. "Waking up next to you, spending the morning just cuddling with you. Sounds pretty ideal to me."

He presses a kiss to her temple, bringing her close with the arm he has around her. "It sounds amazing."