my moonflower. - damie.

five.

jamie returned to her flat for one night, she had no clothes at the manor and needed to pack some things up to be able to stay there more regularly. walking into her scarcely-decorated apartment, she took in a deep breath to inhale the familiar scent. it was nothing special, but it was hers. 

she made her way to a record player in the corner of her living room, she picked up a vinyl which she had heard a million times yet it never seemed to get old. placing the needle on the traced out lines of the record, she pressed the play button and ramped up the volume. 

now making her way to her small bedroom, she reached into her closed and grabbed a large duffel bag and a backpack. the last time jamie had touched the dusty bags was when she'd moved into this apartment over two years ago, she felt it was time to put them to use again.

opening the drawers of her dresser, she grabbed a wide array of tops, pants, and anything else she may need. she didn't plan on bringing everything, just enough to scrape by and not have to wear dani's clothes because if she were being honest, their styles were quiet different.

after she'd packed her things, she made her way out of the door. as she exited her apartment, she'd reach in her pocket to find the keys to lock it up. the hallway was silent besides the sound of the key turning in the lock.

after she'd struggled getting her large bags into her car, she was off to a greenery in town. she thought dani's bedroom at the manor lacked green, and she intended to change that.

pulling up infront of a small local flower store, she'd walk in and glance at what they had to offer. flowers are definitely too cheesy. maybe just a small little plant or something? she thought as she walked down the isles of the shop. walking up to a small maidenhair fern, she felt some sort of attraction to it. she pressed her finger against the small leaves, picking up the pot and examining it. "this'll do." she'd mutter under her breath, walking up to the cashier to check out.

almost half an hour later, the sun was setting as the gardener reappeared at bly manor.

dani was standing in the entrance-way to the manor as she pulled in, flora and miles both at her sides. flora waved at jamie as she hopped out of her car, "welcome back !" she'd say, running up to the gardener holding a handful of small yellow flowers. "i gotcha these!" she said with a smile stretching from ear to ear. 

"oh flora, these are beautiful!" jamie exclaimed, taking the small flowers and holding them in her palm. "thank you sweetheart." dani and miles walked up behind flora, "i helped her pick them," miles said as they got closer. "oh, did you now?" jamie said, "well, you two did a great job." 

"now, we better get inside before it gets too dark." dani said, placing a hand on both of the kids shoulders. "you two run inside, i'll help jamie get her stuff." the kids raced inside the tall doors of the manor.

"hi stranger." dani said, opening the trunk of jamie's car.

"oh, i'm gone for maybe two hours and you already consider me a stranger? shit, poppins, i see how it is." jamie nudged her, reaching in and grabbing the large duffel bag. dani grabbed the backpack, slinging it over her shoulder. "you made it just in time for dinner." dani said, grabbing jamie's hand as they walked into the manor. jamie placed her bag by the staircase. "perfect, i'll just take the bags up when i go upstairs later tonight."

"welcome back jamie." owen said as the two sat down at the table. "i'll take it you're hungry?" 

"absolutely famished." jamie said, smirking. "what's on the menu tonight?" 

"baked chicken, carrots, and mashed potatoes. you can never go wrong with a good traditional meal." owen said, tossing a hand towel over his shoulder and peering into the oven to check on the bird roasting inside.

"i've never agreed with you more, owen." the gardener said as the reached for the pot of tea, pouring some into a small ceramic glass and taking a small sip. 

"shit, i've almost forgot! stay here." jamie said, pushing her chair away from the table and running back out to her car, reaching into the passenger seat to pull out the fern she'd selected for dani. 

walking back in, she presented the plant to dani. "for you, i figured your room could use a little bit more life." dani smiled, "jamie, you shouldn't have. thank you, it's so cute." she took the potted plant from the gardeners hand. "you're gonna have to tell me how to take care of it though, i'm clueless when it comes to this stuff." 

"shouldn't be a problem, i think i'm gonna be stickin' around here more often anyways." jamie said, smiling.

the night from thereon out was pretty uneventful. small talks at the dinner table, mainly flora and miles telling everyone about their days. as dani went upstairs later in the night to tuck the kids in, jamie was down stairs grabbing a bottle of red wine from the basement.

the two met on the ground floor by the staircase, jamie holding the bottle in hand.

"what's that for?" dani said, pulling a coat over her.

"it's for us, assuming you'd like to accompany me outside again?" jamie explained, hopeful.

"i'd love to." dani said, "it's cold though, let me grab a coat." she trotted over to the coat rack in the corner, grabbing a puffy jacket and walking back to to gardener. 

"ready?" jamie said, grabbing taking dani's hand and heading out of the manor and onto the lawn, making their way to the greenhouse. 

once they got there, they both sat on the couch that they had gotten familiar with at this point, this was their nightly routine after all. walking out to the greenhouse to talk the night hours away until it was early hours of the morning. 

their nights typically ended the same way, dani dozing off as the two just sat enjoying each-other's presence. dani would fall asleep on jamie's shoulder, and jamie would watch her sleep for a few minutes before deciding that it's time for them to go inside. she would wake her up peacefully, rubbing a thumb over her soft cheek and whispering, "daniiii, we gotta go inside love." dani would let out a small groan, blinking her blue eyes open and lifting her head. 

"how long was i asleep?" she said, rubbing sleep from her eyes. 

"only a few minutes, i promise." jamie said, standing up and kicking the empty wine bottle under the bench. she reached out to grab dani's hand to help her up from the couch. 

they'd make their way to their now shared bedroom, jamie had put the fern she'd bought on dani's nightstand, and she'd have to make sure it stayed watered. but, as she watched dani tuck herself into their bed, she was so happy. she'd never show dani how truly happy she was, but she would do anything to stay here in this moment, to be with dani. 

as jamie laid next to the drowsy blue-eyed au-pair, she planted a small kiss on her forehead and wrapped her arm around her as they both drifted to sleep.