Out Of Time

Cruise Bar

Sam was happy, and Arthur was happy that she was happy. He watched his wife as she played with and cooed at Clarice, giving tiny kisses to the chirping and squeaking creature. He'd gone out that morning on a whim to buy Clarice for her on account of Sam having a fit last night. He'd just wanted her to be happy and a broad smile formed on his face when he realized he'd succeeded in doing just that. Oh, how much he wanted to spoil her rotten. He'd give her the whole world if he could. His blue eyes remained on her as she played with Clarice, scratching the little monkey's head and back. Sam looked at him, a big smile on her face. It delighted him to see it, knowing how beautiful that smile was.

"Penny for your thoughts?" she asked him, Clarice rolling over on the bed.

"Just thinkin' about how beautiful you are. In fact..." he pulled out his journal from his satchel, opened to a blank page and began to sketch Sam and Clarice. "I'm gonna draw you."

Just when he thought her smile couldn't get any brighter, it did, reaching her eyes and filling them with light. "You are an amazing man, Mr. Morgan. How did I ever get so lucky?"

Arthur let out a snort as he continued sketching, the sound of pencil on paper filling the room. "I'm the lucky one. You got stuck with an ugly old bastard."

Sam's smile faded to a frown. Dammit. Now that beautiful smile was gone. "Arthur, why do you say things like that about yourself? I just don't understand how you can't see what a beautiful, kind and wonderful man you are."

His breath hitched in his throat. They'd had conversations before about things, but not like this. If he was being honest, they really hadn't had the time to truly talk about how they felt about the other. They'd only met not even half a year ago, been married for way less. They'd rushed into their relationship hard and fast, but not once did Arthur ever regret it. He continued sketching though, his eyes darting between her, Clarice, and the page in his journal, yet he let out a sigh.

"I dunno, sweetheart. Guess I'm just built that way."

The frown deepened on Sam's face. "Well, I suppose nobody is perfect. It just makes me sad when you talk so low about yourself."

God, he wished she'd go back to smiling. It was the whole reason why he wanted to sketch her so he'd have to do it from his memory. "I'm sorry. The last thing I want is to make you sad."

Sam went back to playing with Clarice and a giggle escaped her throat. "I know, babe. I feel the same way about you."

Arthur smirked at her. "I'd do anythin' to make you happy, sweetheart. You know that, right?"

"Ditto."

"What?"

"I mean...likewise."

Arthur chortled a little. "Well, you can start by smilin' for me. I wanna draw it."

Sam gave him a big smile which was all he needed to feel happy. As he continued drawing, Sam and Clarice still played together. Eventually the monkey perched on Sam's shoulder once more and began playing with her hair. "Does anyone else know about Clarice?"

"No, not yet. I wanted you to be the first to know."

"Well, I know Jack is going to be absolutely thrilled about you, my darling girl," Sam uttered to the black and white creature. Arthur finally finished his drawing and closed up the journal. "Hey, don't I get to see it?"

Arthur chuckled and opened back to the page. Sam squinted at the journal and smiled broadly. "Wow. I never knew you were so good at this. And you made Clarice look so adorable."