“Are they both asleep?” Tucker whispered as Meredith softly closed the door to the girl’s room. She quickly held a finger to her mouth to shush him as she turned back to finish closing the door. Once closed, she nodded with a soft sigh. Tucker leaned against the hallway wall next to her, making sure his groan wouldn’t be heard by the babies.
Meredith chuckled. “You look exhausted, Tuck. Did you have a long day?”
“Just as long as any other.” He flashed her a tired smile as he shrugged. Hand in hand they walked down the short hallway and into the small, slightly cluttered living room.
“Who knew having two kids under three would be so exhausting?” She moaned, dropping onto the couch.
When she looked back at Tucker she discovered that he hadn’t sat down next to her. Instead, he was still standing with his arm stretched out to her.
“A dance, my queen?”
Meredith sighed as she smiled up at him. It took a second to find the willpower to move but she finally convinced herself to reach out her arms and let him pull her up. Holding on to her, he slowly wrapped her into a warm bear hug. As her arms went around his neck, she laid her head on his shoulder and gave another long, weary sigh. He held her close and slowly her breathing calmed to the steady beat of his heart beneath her ear.
Softly melded together, they began to sway from side to side. They rotated around the room, practically floating in each other’s arms, hearing their song shimmer in the air around them. Occasionally they would have to dodge around the toys the girls had left scattered throughout the house but didn’t mind.
“Married 8 years and still you are the best part of my life.” Tucker whispered in her ear.
She stood up on her tiptoes and whispered back with a contented half smile. “And you still step on my toes while making me laugh at the same time.”
“It’s a talent.” She could hear his pleased smirk. “I’m a natural comedic toe destroyer.”
She squeezed him tight and sighed. They continued to move and sway, not needing music or words.
It was several minutes later that they slowly swayed to a stop and simply stood there holding each other once again. Meredith breathed softly into his shoulder, on the verge of laughing because of how good it felt to breathe while her husband held her.
Eventually she did chuckle into his shoulder as she sighed. “Tucker.”
“Yeah, Mere?”
She pulled back to look up into his face, slipping her hands around his waist and squeezing. “Thank you.”
His head canted to the side as his smile quirked to life. “For what? For dancing with you any chance I can? Or for being so devastatingly handsome?” After a pause, he grinned. “How do you know I’m not just being selfish?”
She shook her head and tugged at his hand. “Selfish or not about the dance, it’s not what I’m saying thank you for. I’ll happily dance with you every chance I get. I am saying thank you for making me feel special, for noticing that I am tired, for not commenting on how much of a mess the house is and for so much more. I could go on. This dance with you is a bonus, a perk.”
Tucker pulled her in for a tight hug. “You are my world, Mere. What kind of a husband and man would I be if I didn’t cherish you and make sure you know how incredible you are to me?” He drew her lips to his for a brief kiss before whispering. “Plus, I’ve heard from a reliable source that two beautiful but hellion angels ran rampant through this house and are responsible for this mess surrounding us, not you.”
With a wink he maneuvered her around so that as he sat down on the couch she ended up snuggled in his lap. Settling in, Meredith glanced around the room.
“Those two are better mess makers than I ever thought possible. I can’t keep up.”
“I’ll help you clean up.” Tucker gave her a hug and kept his arms around her, not moving to stand.
“Really?” She sounded surprised. “But you are exhausted. I can do it tomorrow.”
He shrugged. “That would leave it all to you while both the girls are awake and making more messes faster than the ones you clean up. So if it makes you feel better, I’ll help on one condition.”
She laughed and leaned her head back against him. “How would having conditional help make me feel any better than unconditional help?”
With a wink he pulled out his hand that was holding her close to him, so that he could point to her nose. “Because you seem to think that this is your mess to clean up alone when those children belong to both of us.”
“And what condition are you proposing?”
“We snuggle first, for at least 15 minutes without even looking around or even thinking about what needs to be sorted and tidied.”
“Is the time negotiable? I know we both need to get to bed. We can’t spend the whole night cleaning.”
He was shaking his head before she even finished getting the question out. His voice deadpanned, though he was still smiling. “No. I don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
Meredith sprung away from him, whether the indignation was fake or real she wasn’t quite sure yet. She kinda softly whacked him on the shoulder. “Now I’m a terrorist?”
“Only if you take the kid’s side. Complete, destructive terrorists.” He laughed. “Aw come on. You have to agree though that they are cute little terrors.”
“I don’t have to agree with anything. You called me a terrorist. And they are adorable. I love them.” She crossed her arms and leaned away but didn’t get up.
He nodded. “I agree. And they are terrors. Just say yes. You know you want the snuggle time.”
“You know me too well.”
He twisted her around until she was facing him once again. “I’ll throw in a foot rub.”
“Oh fine.” She fake groaned. “If you insist. Snuggling and foot rub.”
