Everything is perfect.
Even as the alarm blares, forcing him to crawl out of bed after much too little sleep, Will Schuester could not be a happier man. He rolls over, reaching for the small woman, the reason he got so little sleep, and the source of all his happiness, but he finds only an empty bed. His lips turn up into a smile as he thinks about her- up at the crack of dawn, everyday, much earlier than necessary, not even needing an alarm clock. That's just her; she's nothing if not prim and prompt.
Will sits up in bed and stretches before swinging his legs to the side and standing up. He shuts the alarm clock off, and makes his way out of the room and down the hall. He stops to peek into their daughter's room. She's still asleep, her head under her pillow, only a bit of her curly, fiery red hair can be seen. Will smiles; he can't believe she'll be turning four next week.
Suddenly, from a little farther down the hall, he hears an alarmed gasp, followed by a small, pained whimper. "Honey?" He hurries down the hall to the bathroom, and sees the door's already cracked open a little bit. "Em," he says tentatively, knocking on the door before pushing it open. "Are you alright?"
His wife is only standing there, staring at the sink, her eyes incredibly wide with terror. "What's the matter, Emma?" Emma lifts a small white hand and points. He follows her gaze and realizes she's not staring at the sink; she's staring at what's next to the sink. On the counter is a light jade-colored ceramic toothbrush holder, with the three of their toothbrushes standing up in the little holes. He realizes what's wrong immediately. Their daughter Elaina's toothbrush is slightly askew as if it had been bumped or put away carelessly, and the bristles of the brush are in contact with the bristles of Emma's light purple toothbrush. A situation that would be mildly gross at the worst to anyone else, but to Emma it would be downright horrifying.
Will jumps into action. "Hey, Em, it's fine. Here." He opens the medicine cabinet to reveal an unopened pack of toothbrushes, "We have others to use. We can get rid of that one. I'll head downstairs and start the water boiling." Emma always has to boil new toothbrushes before she can use them. Emma looks at will gratefully, as her eyes return to their usual size, and the look of helplessness is replaced by one of loving adoration. "Thanks, Will," she says quietly. "I can do it myself though. Sorry about this, I know I must seem so crazy all the time..." She looks at him apologetically, but he cuts her off by cupping her face in his hand and pulling her in for a sweet kiss. "Never apologize for being you, Em. You're exactly what I want."
She smiles a brilliant smile- his smile- and lays her head on his chest. "You know, we're up a bit early, even for school... Elaina's babysitter won't be here for another hour... We might need to do something to pass the time," he says grinning playfully, wrapping his hand around hers, pulling her towards their bedroom. At first Emma stops him, looking a bit unsure. "Oh, I don't know Will, I'd love to, but if we do I'll have to take the customary three showers before I can leave the house. I know I won't have time to do all that-" She is cut off abruptly as he pulls her in for another kiss, this time more passionate. Just when she starts to kiss him back enthusiastically, he pulls away, leaving them both gasping for air. "It's alright, Emma. I understand. I know how you hate to be late." Emma's head is still spinning though, and she grabs his arm before he can turn away. "On second thought- it's never killed anyone to be late," she says, her voice breathy. Will's smile stretches into an all-out grin, pleasantly surprised by her change in mood. He lifts her up into his arms, making her gasp in delight, and carries her into their room, closing and locking the door behind them. He lays her gently on the bed, and kisses her forehead, her cheek, her neck, and finally her mouth.
Everything is perfect.
Well, everything is perfect except for that loud buzzing noise.
"Will! WILL!! You're going to be late. Would you get up and shut that damn thing off already?!"
Will jumps awake, startled by the shrill, nasal voice. He looks around. As he realizes where he is, and what he was just dreaming, he feels a cold sheen of sweat begin to form on his skin. He reaches over to shut the alarm clock off, and glances over at Terri. She's glaring back at him, her fuzzy pink eye cover pushed up onto her forehead. "The alarm was going off for like 10 minutes, Will! You know how much I need my sleep. Why on earth weren't you getting up?! I shouldn't be up at this hour, I'm pregnant!" He looks down at the large mound in the blankets, caused by her giant belly, and feels a lump rising in his throat from guilt. He swallows before saying, "Sorry, Terri." He heads for the bedroom door, but freezes in the threshold. He turns around to look at her. "I love you," he says quietly, but he can't help notice it feels more like he's saying it to try and convince himself of that, not actually saying it to her.
"Goodnight, Will!" She says, her voice riddled with annoyance and exasperation, as she puts her eye cover back on and settles back into her pillows. Will sighs sadly and goes to brush his teeth, trying not to think about the dream he had just had involving a much cleaner bathroom. He looks at himself in the mirror, trying to find answers in his own face. He's never dreamt like that about Emma before. Emma, his best friend, the sweetest person he knows. He blushes a little as he thinks of how graphic the dream had been turning before Terri woke him up. Terri. His wife. His pregnant wife, who he feels he owes everything to because she's carrying his little girl, who will probably have blond curls, not fiery red ones. He feels so ashamed, he knows it's incredibly wrong for him to be thinking about any other woman besides his wife. He's still staring at his face in the mirror, and the more he looks at it, the more angry with himself he feels. He feels so guilty, so unworthy of the daughter Terri's giving him.
He feels so imperfect.
Thanks for reading. I got this idea a few days ago because Emma's toothbrush situation happened to me. :) It bothered the heck outta me so I thought- Jeez, what would this kind of thing do to poor Emma? And then the rest of the story just sort of fell around it.
Thank you so much to madAmeSaysWhAt for previewing this chapter, and giving me her support! (Psst... go read her Wemma stories... They're awesome!)
I hope you liked it, but I won't know unless you REVIEW! Please, please review! Make my day, please? Comments and criticism very welcome.