I wrote this as a thank you to the 231 follows I had gained on the Dasey blog I run on Tumblr! Hopefully you all enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
"No," Casey deadpanned. Moving gracefully around the kitchen, she prepared breakfast for herself, Derek and their three year old daughter, Catherine.
Watching his wife work, Derek grumbled to himself. He was seated at the counter top, his eyes following her dance-like movements as she poured pancake batter into the skillet before getting out the eggs and breaking one open into another skillet. She was in her own world, doing more things at once than should be humanly possible and doing them so well that Derek often wondered if she was really human.
"But Case…"
"No." Her voice was a little firmer this time and she looked over her shoulder at him, those mesmerizing blue orbs of her's piercing into his very soul. "I'm not letting you give Catherine a mohawk."
He stuck out his lower lip, leaning forward on the counter to rest on his elbows. "Come on! Sam and Ralph are doing it with their kids! Even Lizzie is letting Edwin!"
Casey snorting, putting the first two pancakes onto a plate along with a plate. "Derek, all of their children are boys. Catherine, if you'll remember, is a girl. Which is why she is currently wearing pink."
"That's not fair to her. Maybe she doesn't even like pink!" He argued.
"And maybe she doesn't like mohawks," Casey shot back. They locked eyes for a long moment, a silent battle going between them. As usual, Casey broke first. "Fine! You can put her hair into a mohawk. But only this once, understand? And you won't take any pictures. If she sees those when she's older, she'll never forgive me for letting you do that to her. I just know it," Casey mumbled, flipping the pancake in her skillet.
Pushing himself up from the stool he'd been seated on, Derek moved behind her to wrap his arms around her slim waist. Nuzzling his nose into the gentle curves of her hair, he took in a slow breath. She smelled like she always did. A strange smell that reminded him of sunshine, happiness and an unusual bit of spice. It was uniquely Casey. "You're so good to me," he whispered, sliding his hand from its place at her waist to above the waistband of her dress pants. Moving the silky fabric of her shirt aside, he traced silly swirls along her skin.
Her skin prickled at his touch and she shivered, biting her lip to suppress the smile she knew he'd been trying to drag out of her. "You're darn right I am," she told him, getting the last pancake out and turning in his arms. Reaching behind her, she turned over the burner and smiled up at him. "Now, eat your breakfast like a good boy."
Leaning in closely, his lips brushed over hers and he smiled. "Yes ma'am." Casey's eyes fluttered and she mentally cursed herself at her reaction. But just like that, Derek was gone and she groaned as she watched his retreating form move back to their daughter. Looking to her left, she realized that the plate of food was missing too.
"Der-ek!"
—-
In the basement of their home, Derek placed another bowl of chips on the table against the wall before grabbing a handful and shoving them into his mouth. "I saw that," Casey voice sounded out behind him, causing him to turn.
In her arms, Catherine was grinning wildly. Her dark hair, much like Casey's was spiked up into a little mohawk atop her head. Seeing as she was only three, there wasn't too much hair, but Casey had managed as best she could and as far as Derek was concerned, Catherine looked badass. "Ah, there's my princess! The guy's are gonna be so jealous." Moving over, he plucked his daughter from his wife's hands and spun her around.
Catherine giggled, latching onto Derek when he pulled her in to kiss her forehead. "Alright you two, enough goofing around. We still need to get Cathy into her jersey and you haven't brought down the beer yet," Casey reminded Derek, straightening out the arrangement of food on the table.
"It looks find, Case. It'll get a little messed up anyway," he explained, setting Catherine down and letting her grasp onto his pinky. "I'll keep it as clean as possible, though. Promise." He grabbed her hand to pull her around and kiss her cheek.
"You had better," Casey told him, smiling softly as she jabbed a finger into his chest. Derek thought she looked beautiful in this moment. Her hair was pulled back into a messy pony that she still managed to make look professional. She wore one of his out Maple Leaf jerseys and a pair of jeans that hugged her legs in all his favorite kinds of ways and made him briefly entertain the thought of sending Catherine to spend the night with his dad and Nora and canceling the plans for the night. He kissed her again.
"I'm gonna go get the beer," he said, smiling. "Stay with mama, alright? I gotta go do some stuff." Catherine nodded, throwing herself at her mother, who bent down to scoop her up. "It surprises me you know. How is it that she can be such a quiet child…when her mother is such a loud mouth?" Laughing, he booked it up the stairs as Casey's mouth dropped open.
Grabbing a pillow from one of the couches, she chucked it after his fleeing figure.
"Der-ek!"
—-
Letting out a loud yawn, Derek looked over at the sleeping form of his wife. How was it that at 45 years old, she looked more beautiful than ever? Reaching over, he wrapped his arm around her stomach and pulled her closer to him. Spooning her, he pressed his nose into that soft brown hair and inhaled. She still smelled the same after all these years. "Morning," he murmured, his voice groggy.
She snuggled back into his frame, sighing contently. "Morning," she replied, her voice groggy as well.
Their few moments of piece were ruined as a third body joined them, causing Derek to groan and Casey to laugh. "Mom, mom, mom!" Their youngest, Ryan shouted. At only eight, he still wasn't sure what 'adult time' meant and Derek and Casey rarely got much of it when he was around.
Rolling to her back, Casey propped herself onto her elbows and smiled at Ryan. "What?" She asked.
"Don't encourage him by asking," Derek told her, burying his head into the pillow.
"It's Catherine's birthday!" Ryan shouted, throwing his arms into the air and falling back onto the large blankets of the bed.
Casey chuckled, pulling him into her lap and littering kisses all over his face. "You think I would forget when my little girl's birthday is?" She asked, holding Ryan down as he giggled from her onslaught of kisses.
"I'm not a little girl anymore, mom." In the doorway, Catherine stood rolling her eyes at her parents. While her looks were all Casey, the leather jacket and attitude were every bit Derek. Still, she gave her parents a loving smile.
Looking at her daughter, Casey gave a sad smile. Catherine was eighteen today. "You'll always be my baby," she said softly.
Derek and Catherine groaned in union. "Don't be such a mush ball, Case," Derek told her, stretching out before sitting up and grabbing Ryan from Casey's clutches. He began to tickle the small boy, laughing hard as Ryan's eyes began to fill with tears.
Letting him go, he watched as the littlest Venturi scrambled off their bed and booked it passed Catherine., giggling the whole way. "He's got too much energy in the morning," Casey said, smiling. "I could use some of that." Stretching her arms, she slid out of bed and smiled at Catherine. "Alright, we're gonna get everything set up for today. Grandma and grandpa are going to be here around 2, right?"
"Right," Catherine confirmed with a nod. "And I've already got the grill running for you, Dad."
Derek beamed, "That's my girl." Getting up as well, he winked at Catherine. "Now get out of here before I kick you out."
Laughing, she left and closed the door behind her
They got ready quickly and Casey went to make sure Ryan was appropriately dressed for the day while Derek stepped into the backyard and found Catherine texting on her phone next to the grill. Smiling, he squeezed her shoulder. "Hey kiddo, mind if we talk?"
She shrugged, "Not doing anything else. What's up?"
Pulling some chairs over, Derek took one and motioned for her to take the other. Once she did, he pulled out his wallet. "I've been saving this up for the last 15 years. Your mom's gonna kill me when she finds out, but I knew it was something you needed to know about." Pulling open the wallet folds, he looked at her. "Now remember, Cat, this was your mother's idea. I told her you wouldn't be happy with it." Using his pointer and thumb, he grabbed hold of a small piece of paper and pulled it out.
It was a folded up photograph. The color had faded slightly, but the image was still there. Casey stood with her right hand above her head as she cheered. In her left hand, she held three year old Catherine to her hip. Mohawk and all. The now adult daughter's eyes widened and she stared at her dad. "Mom did this!?"
Keeping a neutral face, Derek nodded. "Oh yeah. She was dead set on it too. I told her no but," he shook his head. "She never listens to me."
"Hey you two, we've been looking for you. Ryan decided he wanted to wear a little tie today. How cute is he?" Casey asked, stepping outside to the rest of her family.
Her eyes locked on the picture in Catherine's hand and in a way that only mother and daughter can be similar, they shouted almost as one.
"Der-ek!"
"Mo-ther!"