The day that marked Jacob's death was always hard and despite him being back for a little over two years, it didn't get any easier. It just reminded the Langston parents how hard it had been when they lost their little boy all those years ago. This year it was a little easier knowing that Jacob spent another year with his parents, but like the year before, they where still unsure of how long he had with them. Lucille tried to push those thoughts out of her head as she grabbed her eyeglasses on the side table, looked at the clock, which read 6:13, and sat up in bed. Henry had also just woken up and had moved so he was sitting higher up in the bed and his head was leaning up against the headboard. Lucille looked over at him and smiled softly.
"Hey, beautiful," he said softly. Her smile grew ever so slightly and when he opened his arm up for her, she immediately scooted closer to him, resting her head in the crook of his shoulder. He knew how hard that day was going to be on his wife and it was going to be hard on him as well, but he hadn't carried Jacob for nine months like Lucille had done. They stayed there for a few minutes, content with how close they where to each other. Normally they weren't up this early, but neither of them had slept very well the night before and they had both silently agreed it was time for them to get up.
Henry was in the process of kissing his wife on the top of her head when the door to their bedroom opened revealing their nine-year-old, sleep in his eyes. Both parents smiled at him as Lucille lifted up the sheets on her side of the bed so he could come in with them. Jacob smiled and walked to the bed, climbing in and mirroring Lucille's position next to Henry. He moved so he was in a fetal position sitting next to his mother, his head still in the crook of shoulder.
"Hey, monkey," Henry said softly, looking down lovingly at both his wife and son.
"Hey," Jacob replied in the same soft voice his father had used. Lucille just smiled to herself at the interaction. Jacob reminded her so much of his father. She loved it, but there where times when it proved to be tough on her, like the time she had thought she lost her husband. But she pushed that thought out of her head, not wanting to remember at that.
"Are you okay, sweetheart?" Lucille asked, just as softly as her boys.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep and I heard you two moving around," Jacob replied as he scooted closer towards his mother's body for more heat. Henry moved his arm and rested his hand on Jacob's shoulder. Lucille, feeling Henry's arm move, looked up at her husband and smiled at him before kissing him on the lips. This was a much better way to spend the day than the way they had spent it the year before, especially knowing Margaret was out of the picture.
"Gross," Jacob said in a teasing manner. He was grossed out about their choice of affection, but he still teased them about it. Lucille laughed as she pulled away from her husband. Henry ruffled Jacob's hair with his hand affectionately and Jacob laughed his contagious laugh. Both parents immediately started laughing, enjoying the sound that they had both missed while Jacob was gone. Jacob cuddled even closer into his mother when his bout of laughter ended and moved his head so it was resting on her chest. Lucille wrapped her arm around his body lovingly and kissed his head. Henry just watched the interaction between the two of them with the happiest smile on his face. Lucille then rested her head against Henry's chest and sighed in contentment. She then looked up at Henry and smiled at him lovingly.
"I love you," she said softly, so as not to startle the almost asleep Jacob.
"I love you too," Henry replied and he kissed his wife once more on the lips. When they pulled away from the loving kiss, Lucille cuddled into Henry as much as she could and kept her head on his chest, the heat from her favorite boys lulling her back to sleep. Henry watched as her eyes fluttered with sleep and when they finally closed, he took off her glasses and put them on his nightstand. He then just watched her and Jacob for a few minutes, thinking about how lucky he was to have his entire family back. He then thought about everything he had been through in the past two years and before he knew it, he was also asleep. The happy family stayed in bed, sleeping for the rest of the morning.