The Worst Valentine's Day Ever
This once again follows my Hudson family from "A New Beginning" and "After All This Time." I know its past Valentine's Day, but I was talking to a friend's young daughter about her "worst Valentine's Day ever" and it made me wonder how a similar situation would play out for the Hudson family.
X X X
Jack sighed as he unlocked the front door and ushered Ava inside.
"This is the worst Valentine's Day ever!" Ava huffed as she stomped into the house. "The worst one ever!" She repeated as she threw her book bag on the ground.
"Ava," Jack warned sternly. "That is not where that belongs," he said gesturing to the bag on the ground.
Ava sighed, picked up the bag, and hung it up on the lowest hook on the coat rack. Then, knowing that her dad wouldn't allow her to forget about hanging up her coat, Ava hung her coat on the hook next to it.
"That's more like it," Jack said as he kneeled down to help her take off her shoes.
"It's been a really bad day, Daddy."
Jack sighed, the whole Hudson family appeared to be having a bad day today, but after talking to the teacher at Ava's school this afternoon, Ava seemed to be getting the worst of it. "I know, Pumpkin Pie. Everyone is allowed to have a bad day, but that doesn't mean its okay to be disrespectful or throw things. There are other ways to deal with your feelings."
"I'm sorry, Daddy," she said sadly as she stared at her socks. "I don't think I ever had a bad day before."
Jack bit back a chuckle. "There's a first time for everything."
"I don't want another bad day. I don't like them."
"No one likes bad days," he assured her. "There are always going to be bad days, but there will always be good days, too. Now, let me see your elbow."
Ava held out her arm and Jack examined her right elbow. The bandage the nurse applied did not bleed through, so that was good, but it was already beginning to bruise and turn a very deep shade of purple and green. "It still hurts."
"It will be sore for a few days, but it isn't broken."
"I want Mommy."
"I'll go check and see if Mommy is awake," Jack suggested.
If Sue was asleep, he wanted her to rest as much as possible and would have to distract Ava until she woke up. At fifteen weeks and three days pregnant, Sue's pregnancy was progressing smoothly until about a week ago when all the symptoms and side effects of pregnancy - backaches, leg cramps, heartburn, insomnia, and morning sickness - seemed to bombard her one right after the other if not all at once. This morning, however, had been the worst of the morning sickness to date which was probably related to the fact that was up until nearly 3am because of the insomnia and sore back.
"She's right there!" Ava pointed over Jack's shoulder to Sue who was making her way slowly down the stairs with Bella at her side.
Jack turned around and watched as Sue walked over towards them. She still looked tired, but her coloring looked like it returned to normal. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"A little better. I just have a backache and I'm still tired. I am, however, more concerned about Miss Ava. What happened today?" she asked as she pulled the footstool over and sat down on it so she was level with Ava. Jack had texted her an hour ago and said that he was picking Ava up from school because she fell in gym class, but that was all she knew. "Oh, baby, what happened?" she asked again as she took in her daughter's appearance. She was no longer wearing the white long sleeve shirt with red, sparkly hearts that matched her red and white striped leggings. Instead, she was wearing a grey sweatshirt and grey sweatpants.
"I had the worst day ever."
"Come here and tell Mommy all about it," Sue said as patted the spot next to her on the stool. Ava sat next to her mother, and Jack kneeled down on the floor next to them.
"Well," Ava began with a sniffle. "I didn't get French toast with strawberries and whipped cream for Valentine's Day breakfast; I had to have Cheerios and strawberries instead."
"Ava," Sue began gently. "Daddy does his best to make us that breakfast every year for Valentine's Day, but sometimes things happen that we can't control. Sometimes that means that Daddy and I have to work on holidays, or weekends, or birthdays, or that we have to go to work really early in the morning or come home really late at night."
Jack had every intention of making his two favorite girls French toast with strawberries and whipped cream – per their Valentine's Day tradition – but he was called into work at 5:30am because of a bomb threat at a local high school. Luckily, the threat was a hoax, the school was cleared, and the culprit was taken into custody quickly, but being pulled into work that early was enough to cause some issues at home.
First, he had to wake Sue up just after she fell asleep to tell her that he had to go into work early and that he made arrangements with Cindy to take Ava to school. Then, he had to break the news to Ava that there would be no French toast for breakfast. He told her she could have Cheerios and strawberries instead. Ava was not impressed, but seemed to be okay after he promised her that he would make it up to her as soon as he could. Jack then told Ava that her mommy wasn't feeling well, so she had to be on her best behavior and help Mommy by getting ready as much as she could on her own.
"I know," Ava sniffled.
"And, sweetheart, Daddy and I love you every day whether there is a special breakfast on Valentine's Day or not. Now, tell me about what happened at school? Why aren't you in the clothes you were wearing this morning?"
"We were in the cafeteria eating lunch and Joey and Owen were being bad. They were fighting about something and Owen threw his spaghetti at Joey but he missed and it landed on my lap, Mommy! It was all over my pants and my shirt. Then," her lip quivered, "Joey threw his chocolate milk at Owen, but it splashed really far and landed on me, too. So Miss Jacobs took me to the nurse and she gave me clothes to change into and the boys got in lots of trouble."
"Oh, I'm sorry, honey," she ran her fingers through Ava's hair. "That does sound like a really bad day," she said before remembering the injury that prompted Jack to pick her up from school. "But what happened in gym class?" Sue asked as she too examined Ava's elbow.
"We had gym class outside because it was nice out and we had to jump rope. I'm not very good at jump roping, Mommy. I got all tangled and I fell and I hit the cement really, really, hard and scraped my elbow. It was bleeding lots and I was scared. The gym teacher brought me to the nurse…I had to go to the nurse twice in one day, Mommy," Ava frowned. "She said I didn't need stitches and that I didn't break any bones," Ava said proudly, happy that she remembered what the nurse said. "But I still cried 'til Daddy got there. I was really scared. I wasn't scared anymore when Daddy got there, though. I was just sad that it hurt lots," she paused a moment to sniffle again and wipe her eyes with her sleeve. "Oh! There's a scrape on my knee, too," Ava added as she rolled up the sweatpants to reveal a Frozen Band-Aid on her knee. "It's not as bad as the boo-boo on my elbow.
"What would make your day better?" Sue asked as she pressed her forehead against Ava's. She was heartbroken that her daughter was having such a horrible day, and would do anything to make it better.
"Will you watch a movie with me?"
"Of course."
"Would French toast with strawberries and whipped cream for dinner help, too?" Jack asked.
"That's breakfast food," she exclaimed with a small laugh.
"We can have breakfast food for dinner," Jack assured her. "Can't we, Mommy?" he asked Sue jokingly.
"We sure can," Sue smiled. "Breakfast food sounds lovely, actually. Mommy didn't really eat anything other than crackers today."
"That would help," Ava agreed in the most grown up voice she could manage. "Can I have a bath first, Mommy? I feel yucky."
"I think a bath is just what you need," Sue said as she and Ava began to make their way upstairs.
"Can I have a bubble bath?!" Ava asked as they were halfway up the stairs.
"Certainly," Jack heard Sue reply before he went to begin their breakfast/dinner.
X X X
Shortly later, Sue and Ava returned to the kitchen to find that Jack had already made the French toast and set the table.
"I feel better," Ava, clad in her pink pajamas, declared when she saw her father. "Mommy washed my hair and gave me new Band-Aids, but my elbow's still sore."
Jack smiled sadly as he lifted her up and situated her at the breakfast bar. "It will only be sore for a few days."
"We aren't sitting at the table today?" Ava asked, confused. This is where they ate in the morning, not at dinner time.
"I thought we could pretend it was breakfast time and we could eat here tonight. That way it will be just like the breakfast we didn't get to have this morning."
"That's so neat!"
"I'm glad you think so," Jack smiled as he pulled out a chair for Sue before sitting down himself.
The dinner conversation was kept light and Jack was pleased that Ava talked about the good parts of her day and didn't solely focus on the negatives. He was also glad that Sue ate well and truly did look like she felt better than she did that morning.
After dinner was finished, Ava went to pick out a movie to watch and Sue and Jack carried the dishes to the sink.
"Hey, what do you think you are doing?" Jack asked as he turned her to face him after she began to wash the dishes.
"Washing the dishes?" She said more as a question than a statement and looked at him like he had clearly lost his mind to ask such a thing.
"I can see that. Why are you washing the dishes?" He clarified while signing the word "why" for emphasis. "I can do that."
Sue set the dishrag in the sink and placed her hands on her hips. "Um, whatever happened to – 'the cook never cleans'?"
Jack snatched the dishrag up before she could pick it up again. "I am amending that rule…"
She raised an eyebrow.
"…for the time being," he tacked on hoping it would defuse the situation. He gently flicked a soap bubble at her. "Go on – leave these to me."
Sue laughed and put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, okay. I'll go see if I can get those stains out of Ava's clothes." She began to walk away towards the laundry room, but then turned around and returned to kiss him on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispered, intimately, her eyes staring deep into his.
"For what?" He asked, clearly confused. For doing the dishes? He's done the dishes hundreds of times.
Her response was simple. "For being the way you are." There was a time, a long time ago, when she thought she would never have all of this – a wonderful husband who would do anything for her and their children, a successful career, a beautiful home - much like the one they stayed in while they were undercover all those years ago. "For everything."
"Well, I don't know about that. I haven't been able to come up with a way to lasso the moon yet."
She laughed, immediately catching the reference to her favorite scene in 'It's A Wonderful Life.'
"Now, now. Go on. Get out of here and leave these to me." He flicked some soap bubbles at her and laughed himself when one landed on her nose.
"You're going to pay for that!" She laughed as she wiped the bubble away with her sleeve.
"As an attorney, I would advise myself to plead guilty and will gladly accept my punishment," he grinned. He watched as Sue, with a grin of her own, walked away towards the laundry room. He began humming to himself as he worked on the dishes. The day was taking a turn for the better.
Meanwhile, in the family room, Ava had carefully pulled out four DVDs to choose from. She finally decided she wanted to watch Cinderella and went to put the other movies away. She pulled out a blanket from the ottoman and went to sit on the couch and wait for her mommy and daddy. That was when she noticed it – her turquoise blue Betta fish, Minnie, wasn't moving about in the bowl like it normally did. Instead, Minnie was at the bottom of the bowl – unmoving.
Ava walked over to the bowl. "Are you sleeping Minnie?" she asked the fish. "It's dinnertime, silly, not bedtime," Ava said as she put in the flakes of food into the water like she did every night. "Minnie, why aren't you eating?" Ava gently tapped the bowl with her fingernail and Minnie still didn't budge. "OH NO!" She shrieked. "Daddy! Mommy!" she cried.
Jack dropped what he was doing and was at Ava's side in a matter of seconds. Sue also came running in after Bella tugged on the hem of her shirt and pulled her towards the family room. "What happened?" she asked when she saw Jack holding a sobbing Ava.
"Fish died." He signed.
Sue sighed and leaned heavily against the wall. Could Ava's day get any worse? She crossed the room and ran her fingers through Ava's hair. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly.
"No," she sobbed into her father's shoulder.
Sue frowned, unable to know for sure what Ava said, but she was almost certain the answer was no.
"Pumpkin Pie," Jack started gently, "You weren't looking at Mommy when you answered her question. She doesn't know what you said."
Ava pulled away just enough to reveal her tear stained face. "No," she repeated before burying her face again in the comfort of her father's shoulder.
This wasn't Ava's first experience with death; the classroom hamster had died a few months ago. Ava, like any child her age, had many questions that Sue and Jack answered truthfully to help explain the situation. At the time, Sue determined that Ava understood the situation sufficiently, but now that the dead fish was her pet, Sue wasn't sure how Ava would handle it.
"What happens now?" came her soft voice.
Jack shifted her in his arms so she was facing Sue. "Well, we'll take Minnie into the bathroom and then we flush her down the toilet."
Ava looked absolutely mortified and Sue wished that Jack would have explained it a little bit differently. "Flush Minnie down the toilet?! We can't do that to Minnie!"
"That's what people do when fish die, honey."
"No," she shook her head. "No. We have to bury her."
"Bury her?" Jack repeated back as a question as he looked out the window and watched the rain pour down outside.
"Mmhm," Ava sniffled. "That is what we did at school when our hamster died."
"Okay, okay. We will bury Minnie."
"I have to make a picture to bury with her so she knows I still love her."
"Of course," Sue said.
Jack went to change out of his work clothes and gather the burial supplies for Minnie while Sue helped Ava draw her picture. Twenty minutes later, everyone had on their coats and umbrellas and went to the backyard to say their farewells to Minnie. Sue had tried to hold an umbrella over Jack while he dug the hole in the ground, but it was much too windy for her to hold with one hand. Sue and Ava ended up standing under a large, sturdy umbrella, staying nice and dry, while Jack became drenched in rainwater and mud while he dug the whole in the yard. Eventually, Minnie was buried along with the picture, and Ava tearfully said her goodbyes to her pet.
X X X
Jack exited the master bathroom after his shower and found Sue and Ava snuggled up together on the bed. The book the Sue was reading to her was long forgotten as it appeared both mother and daughter were sleeping. Jack was exhausted and ready for bed himself, he glanced at the clock and was shocked to realize that it wasn't even 7:30 PM.
He sighed as he sat down on the bed to take a break before he went downstairs to finish cleaning up.
Sue opened her eyes when she felt the weight shift on the bed. "It's about time you joined us."
"I thought you were sleeping."
"No, just resting my eyes. Ava is asleep, though."
"I'm surprised she is," Jack commented. "She had a rough day, and I guess I thought she'd have a hard time falling asleep tonight."
"I think some good old fashioned cuddles from her mommy helped. She was trying to stay awake to wait for you as well, but the day just caught up to her."
"I can take her to her bed, now," he said as he reached his arms out.
"No," Sue shook her head. "Ava asked if she could sleep in here tonight, and I just didn't have the heart to tell her no - especially after the day she had. So, I told her we could make an exception for tonight. Is that okay with you?"
"Of course it is." Jack stood up and walked towards the door.
"Hey, where are you going?" Sue asked, confused, as she stood up from the bed.
"To finish the dishes…"
Sue interrupted him before he could finish his sentence and took a step closer to him. "The dishes will still be there tomorrow, as will the clothes with the stains on them that never made it to the wash after dinner. I already locked up for the night, so there is no reason for you to leave this room. Come back to bed?" She asked.
"I didn't get a chance to buy you flowers today," he said sadly. "With having to go to work so early and then having to pick Ava up early from school…"
"I don't need flowers. And besides, I planned on wearing that green night gown you like so much, but I tried it on the other day and it didn't fit...for obvious reasons."
Jack closed the distance between them and placed his hands on her hips before kissing her. "You're beautiful," he said before moving his hands from her hips to her stomach.
Sue wrinkled her nose. "Somehow, I doubt that. I haven't showered today and I'm pretty sure I've been wearing these pajamas for twenty-four hours straight – at least. If I wasn't so completely exhausted, I would have joined you in the shower once I was sure Ava was asleep..."
"Is that so?" He grinned; his fingers gently caressed her stomach. He couldn't wait for the day he could feel the baby move beneath his hands.
She nodded, unable to speak. All these years of marriage and Jack still managed to make her turn to jelly with a simple touch. "Mmmhmm..." she finally managed.
Jack looked behind Sue to make sure that Ava was really asleep before he walked over to Sue's dresser and pulled out a fresh pair of pajamas. "Come with me," he said as he took her hand and led her to the bathroom with a wink.
He locked the door behind them, just in case Ava woke up, and then instructed Sue to sit on the countertop as he filled the sink with warm water.
"May I?" He asked as he reached for the buttons on her flannel pajama top.
The corner of her mouth turned into a smile as she stared into his eyes. "Yes," she nodded. The anticipation was making her giddy, and the garment was shed in one simple movement and tossed into the hamper.
Jack dipped a washcloth into the water and added Sue's favorite body wash. He trailed the washcloth from her neck, shoulders, back, chest, and stomach while trailing kisses along the way.
"You spoil me," she said as she shifted her position so her pajama bottoms could be easily removed and tossed to the hamper as well.
"You deserve to be spoiled," he replied before continuing his journey downwards to her legs. "Every single day. You've given me the greatest gifts a guy could ever want."
"That was mutual..." she smiled. "It takes two to do what we did. You've given me everything I could have dreamed of. However, there was a time many, many moons ago when I thought you weren't the settling down type," she reminded him, playfully.
Jack's mind flashed back to the conversation they had after their undercover stint so long ago. That was the moment when we realized he could want all those things– marriage, children, nice house, big yard, and a dog - with the right person and the right person was Sue. It was then when he realized he never wanted to settle down with Allie because she simply wasn't the right person. What they had was special at the time, but he knew they probably only lasted as long as they did because of the pressure from their parents. "You're never going to let me live that down, are you?"
"Not for another fifty years or so," her smile widened. "At least."
"I can live with that."
"Good," she replied as Jack helped her down from the countertop and she began to dress into a fresh pair of pajamas. "I feel much better," she told him, already thinking of ways she could repay the favor in the near future.
"I'm glad." He squeezed his shoulder affectionately before opening the bathroom door. When they stepped into the bedroom, they saw that Ava had moved in her sleep. Instead of sleeping soundly in the middle of the king sized like they had left her, she was sprawled out starfish style on Jack's side of the bed. "Are you up to sharing your side of the bed with me?"
"I guess there could be worse things."
"After you," he said as he gestured for her to climb into bed and then followed.
"I love you," she whispered before kissing him tenderly.
"I love you, too." He replied when they parted before shutting off the light on the night stand.
Sue found a comfortable position by lying on her side and Jack adjusted to slip his leg between hers, place one hand over her stomach, and nuzzle his face in the crook of her neck to give her a few more kisses.
Sue smiled and pressed herself even closer against him.
Moments like these, well, they were some of her favorites.