From barking dogs, to children running about, to random musical moments, privacy was a concept not quite in the vocabulary of the Tanner-Fuller household. This was something that DJ and Steve learned long ago in their relationship, so by this point it was practically second nature.
So it came as no surprise on that Friday night that Steve was sleeping over, they could hardly get a moment of peace. As the couple lay cuddled together in bed, DJ scrolling through various movies on Netflix for them to watch, there was a knock at the door.
"Mom can we come in?" Max said from the other side of the door.
DJ sighed. "Yes sweetie, come in."
Max entered, walking hand in hand with Tommy, with Jackson behind them preoccupied with whatever he was looking at on his phone.
"We almost forgot our kiss goodnight" Max explained. He stood near the bed, climbing up slightly to kiss his mother's cheek. "Goodnight mom"
"Goodnight my sweet Max" DJ said with a smile.
Max lifted Tommy up so he too could get his goodnight kiss from his mother. "Night night mama" said the young boy as he gave her a hug and kiss goodnight.
DJ smiled, returning the gesture. "Night night baby boy. Mama loves you"
"Jackson wants a kiss goodnight too, he's just too embarrassed to admit it!" Max blurted out. This caused both DJ and Steve to chuckle lightly.
"Shut up, Max" Jackson groaned, rolling his eyes.
"Hey now, you know we don't say "shut up" in this house" DJ scolded.
"Sorry mom. Goodnight" Jackson said as he leaned forward to give his mom a quick hug and kiss goodnight.
After all the goodnights were said and done, DJ and Steve were alone once again.
"Amazing" Steve mused.
"What is?" DJ asked, tilting her head upwards to look at him.
"When we were younger, I'd see how you were with your little sisters and little cousins, and I always knew you'd be a wonderful mother someday. And to see it now is just the most beautiful thing in the world" Steve explained as he gently ran his fingers through her hair.
As DJ simply looked at him, she found herself in one of her "This must be a dream. How did I get so blessed with a man like this" moments that were happening more and more since their romance was rekindled.
However, the moment was interrupted by yet another person barging into the room. This time it was Kimmy.
"Oh you two lovebirds don't mind me. I just came in here to get my special foot cream out your bathroom Deej" Kimmy stated.
DJ, clearly annoyed, sat up a little. "Why is your foot cream in my bathroom?"
"'Cause I like to keep it there" Kimmy shrugged.
"Of course you do" DJ replied, shaking her head.
Kimmy was then followed by Stephanie who held Tommy on her hip. "Kimmy have you seen Tommy's paw patrol toy? You know he can't sleep without it"
"Last time I saw it it was in Cosmo's doggy bed" Kimmy informed her from the bathroom.
"Uh, thanks" said Stephanie, turning to walk out of the room.
"Oh hey Stephanie, do you mind telling the boys to keep down the noise please?" DJ asked. She could hear a lot of talking and laughter coming from their room, which was great because it meant they weren't fighting, but also a bit of a nuisance considering she wanted quiet time.
Stephanie nodded and stepped out to the hallway. "HEY BOYS YOUR MOM SAID TO KEEP IT DOWN. HER AND STEVE WANT SOME PEACE AND QUIET TIME!"
"Well I could've done that" DJ mumbled.
Finally, it seemed that her wishes of quiet time were coming true. Stephanie and Kimmy were out of the room and DJ went to close the door for good when Cosmo managed to sneak his way in.
"Alright, Cosmo. You can stay but you're the only exception" DJ said to the dog as he climbed up to claim is spot at the foot of the bed.
After closing the door, DJ crawled back into bed and snuggled closely to Steve. "I'm sorry this night hasn't gone exactly as planned"
Steve smiled. "No need to be sorry. Things don't always go as planned and that's alright. All that matters is that I'm spending time with you and your beautiful family comes along with that" He softly traced small circles around her lower back across the thin cotton fabric of her nightgown.
"I love you" said DJ as she planted a gentle kiss to his lips.
"And I love you" Steve replied, holding her close and taking in her sweet scent of freshly washed laundry and peach vanilla body wash.
The couple spent the remainder of the night enjoying the company of each other until they both eventually drifted off to sleep.
The early morning hours were one of the few times the Tanner-Fuller household was completely calm and quiet and that next morning was certainly no exception.
It was a little before 6am when DJ's bedroom door opened and in walked a sleepy baby Tommy. DJ heard him come in and her eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Hey baby come here" DJ spoke softly as he toddled over. She lifted him up onto the bed and placed him in the middle of her and Steve.
To DJ's surprise, instead of cuddling up to her as he usually did whenever he came into her room in the early mornings, this time he cuddled up to Steve, wrapping a chubby little arm and leg around the snoozing man.
Steve awakened soon after that and smiled when he saw Tommy snuggled up to him and DJ watching with a smile.
"Morning" Steve said.
"Morning" DJ greeted back to him. "I can move him if you want" said DJ, gesturing towards the sleeping toddler.
Steve shook his head and looked down at the young boy with a smile. "Nah, he's fine"
The fact of the matter was, Steve knew and accepted that dating DJ essentially meant dating her family as well. They were a package deal, especially her and her children. And as he looked down at little Tommy Jr., who had chosen him all on his own, Steve began to truly feel as if he could actually be a father and maybe even be good at it.
Max came into the room around thirty minutes later. "Morning, mom. Morning, Steve." He walked up to the bed and crawled on top of DJ, cupping her face in his hands. "Mom could you pretty pretty please make your special chocolate chip pancakes?" He gave her his signature puppy dog face.
DJ giggled softly, knowing she couldn't resist that face. "Sure, just give me a minute and I'll be right down."
"Yay!" Max mused excitedly. He then hurriedly exited the room to go wake Jackson and Ramona to inform them of the good news.
DJ turned to look at Steve again, her blue eyes sparkling from the morning sunlight coming in through the window and the smile that never failed to get Steve's heart racing.
If this was an insight into what mornings would be like when he married DJ and became a permanent resident of the household, then Steve knew he had much joy to look forward to.