Eskimo Kisses
"...And so the prince and the princess lived happily ever after," Arthur finished reading, closing the book with a small smile on his face.
He was about to lean over and kiss Charlotte's forehead when he realized her eyes were still open. Usually one story was enough to put her to sleep!
"Daddy?" the little girl asked sleepily.
"Yes, Char?"
"Can you and Mommy tell me about the different kisses again?" she asked. Arthur sighed, knowing that she wouldn't go to sleep otherwise.
"Alright, let me just get Mommy," Arthur replied.
The "different kisses" thing had started because Arthur had seen Mal and Cobb do it to their own kids. Usually, though, they did it during the day. This was the first time Charlotte had requested it before bed.
A moment later he came back in, this time with Ariadne.
"This is how butterflies kiss each other," Ariadne began. She leaned over and fluttered her eyelashes on Charlotte's cheek, making the little girl giggle.
"This is how Eskimos kiss each other," Arthur continued, rubbing noses with his daughter.
"This is how humans kiss each other," Ariadne finished, kissing her daughter's cheek, and then her husband's.
"That's not a real kiss!" Charlotte complained, breaking away from the routine. Usually the cheek kiss was enough to satisfy her.
Arthur and Ariadne grinned at each other, both of them fighting laughter. He leaned over and gave Ariadne a light peck on the lips, reminding them very much of their first kiss.
When they broke apart, Charlotte hard her eyes closed.
"Goodnight," Arthur whispered, and then the two of them crept out of the girl's room, softly closing the door behind them.
"I thought little girls were supposed to hate the idea of their parents kissing?" Arthur asked. He knew that James and Philippa did. They always ran from the room screaming when their parents were affectionate in front of them.
Ariadne shrugged, "She's probably going through a romantic stage."
"Arthur," Ariadne said, smirking mischievously, "Can you show me again how humans kiss? I'm afraid I didn't understand it the first time."
He was only too happy to show her.
A/N- kind of a continuation of my story "Holiday Traditions", but you don't need to have read the first one to get this one. In response to the prompt, "Eskimo Kisses" over at schmoop_bingo.