The next day, just as Eames was saying his goodbyes at the front door before heading off to work, the phone in the hallway rang loudly; interrupting a lovely slow snog he was very much enjoying. Arthur broke away, flushed and eyes apologetic as he walked the few steps to pick up the receiver and sigh a greeting to the rude bugger phoning at this time of morning.
Arthur smiled brightly upon recognising the person on the other end of the line.
"Hey Ari… No, don't worry, we were up anyway."
After a moment he glanced up at Eames, a worried look overtaking his smile. "What's wrong?" Eames whispered, mirroring his expression. Arthur shook his head and listened intently, muttering a few affirmations in reply to Ariadne.
"Ari!" He interjected firmly, obviously having to raise his voice in order to be heard.
"Calm down. We'll take care of everything. Give Yusuf our best and call me when you can, okay honey?" Eames frowned at this, closing the front door and moving to stand at Arthur's shoulder.
There was a brief pause before Arthur smiled a little sadly. "We love you too. Take care."
Once Arthur had hung up, he turned to face Eames, scrubbing a hand over his face. "What is it darling?" Eames asked, pulling Arthur's hands into his own and rubbing his thumbs soothingly over them.
"Yusuf's mother had a stroke last night and he and Ariadne want to fly over there to be with her. She's going to be okay, but you know how close they are. Anyway, Ari wanted to know if we'd watch Edie while they're away. She was worried that she was asking too much of us, but I said that we'd take care of her." He finished, mouth turned down in a concerned frown.
"Oh God. How awful. Well, of course we'll look after Edie. The poor little mite." Eames said, glancing in her direction.
The baby was happily kicking away on her play mat in the living room, belly full and totally oblivious to the dour news.
Once assuring himself that she hadn't somehow picked up on the bad vibes through some magical baby witchcraft, he embraced Arthur properly and spoke against his shoulder.
"Shall I stay home with you today, love?"
Arthur gently shook his head, giving Eames middle a squeeze and catching his gaze. "No. You've only just received your promotion. You can't be taking personal days off so soon." He smiled, showing his dimples. "I appreciate the thought though, babe."
They managed to press a few more desperate and heated kisses to one another's lips before time was really against Eames. He whined pitifully when Arthur pried himself away, but couldn't feel embarrassed as Arthur looked equally disappointed and hot under the collar.
Eames once again looked to Edie on his way to the door, seeing her big brown eyes staring back up at him. "Will you look after my darling for me whilst I'm at work today, baby girl?" He cooed. Edie gurgled in response and bit her little fist. Eames saw it as confirmation.
He gave one last pointed look at Arthur as he slipped out the door. "To be continued." He promised, in a growl that he knew from experience made Arthur shiver.
Eames day dragged by to an excruciating degree, peppered with well wishes for Ariadne and Yusuf and further congratulations on his promotion. He tried to keep his mind occupied with his newest project, but his traitorous eyes kept drifting back to the clock. Having the long weekend with Arthur had spoiled him and once he'd had a taste, he craved it even more so than before. He knew he'd neglected his darling, but he was hopeful that now he'd achieved his goal at work, he'd be more focused on his home life.
He not only wanted to get back home to his boyfriend, but to Edie as well. She was a mixture of his two closest friends and as such, he loved her fiercely. Having the two of them waiting back at home for him, while his day continued at a snail's pace was killing him.
He was brought back to a memory of Arthur last night; bleary eyed, with his hair in total disarray from their enthusiastic shagging, cradling the baby in his arms, humming softly and rocking her back to sleep. Eames' heart had clenched at the sight and he wondered how it was possible to fall even more in love with him. Once Arthur had settled the baby in her bed, he had staggered to the doorway, wordlessly clasped Eames hand in his own and led him back to the bedroom where they cuddled into one another, Arthur snoring softly and Eames smiling stupidly as sleep took him over.
He kept that image in his mind as an incentive as he thrust himself back into work.
Arthur was planning to write a little today.
He'd changed his mind once he'd spoken to Ariadne.
He decided that he'd spend the whole day fussing over Edie instead. He gave her a warm bath not long after Eames had left for work, laughing as she batted at the bubbles around her, splashing him several times with a wicked grin pulling at her mouth. As he dressed her afterwards, he blew raspberries on her stomach and playfully nibbled at her chubby little legs, earning himself a round of squealing, contagious laughter and a few firm tugs on his hair.
"Eames likes it when I do that too." He confessed to her, in between giggles.
The sun peaked around lunch time and he kept the French doors open to let the warm breeze blow through the house. The sound of birdsong seemed to captivate Edie as Arthur tried to feed her. Each time the spoon was close to her mouth, another tweet would catch her attention and she'd twist and turn in her seat, trying to find the source.
After ten minutes of unsuccessful attempts, he decided to move them outside for a little picnic.
When he'd applied sunscreen to the baby, they ventured out into the garden, Arthur laying a soft blanket down beneath them and although Edie still squirmed and looked all around her in amazement, she finally let herself be fed the banana pudding. Thankfully she didn't make him wear any of it.
They spent most of the afternoon rolling around on the blanket, laughing and enjoying the sun. Once the baby tired of the birds, they played with some of her toys and Arthur even made a little daisy chain and placed it like a crown on top of Edie's soft curls.
When her eyelids began to grow heavy, he gently plucked her from the ground and took her to the pop up crib to nap, placing her tiny garland on the kitchen table for later. She was out like a light as soon as he laid her down and Arthur quickly went outside to pack up their little picnic area.
He glanced at the kitchen clock as he came back inside, seeing that it was still a couple of hours before Eames was due home. He was looking forward to Eames fulfilling his promise from that morning, but he knew that the longer he thought about it, the more he'd watch the clock and the time would be go torturously slow.
He resolved to curl up on the couch with a good book until then, warm from the sun and content as he listened to the sleepy sighs of the baby.