A/N: Hi guys! This plot bunny popped into my head and wouldn't go away, as they tend to do, so here are the results of that. I wasn't quite sure how to end, so apologies for the lukewarm ending. Also: I wanted this story to be 1,500 words tops because I tend to ramble. HAHAHA so obviously that worked out great…sigh. Enjoy!
"Jasonnnnn!" Elizabeth yelled from the kitchen. "Get your backpack off the table!"
She sighed, a little annoyed at her youngest child, but kept her annoyance in check. Mornings in the McCord household were the typical, hectic family scramble, with five people trying all to get ready for the day and out the door in relatively one piece.
Henry came downstairs; his white tee shirt had ridden up a little and blue plaid pajama bottoms slung low on his hips, showing her a tantalizing glimpse of his lower back.
Her mouth dried instantly, and Elizabeth stood by the sink for a moment, just staring at her husband. Over 25 years of marriage and he still had the power to make her weak at the knees.
Henry caught her staring and winked cheekily. Elizabeth blushed, snapped out of her daze, and started to pour much-needed coffee into her travel mug.
Henry chuckled, and crossed the room to stand behind his wife and wrap his arms around her. He nuzzled her neck. This — this — was his happy place. The pair stayed wrapped up in each other for a few seconds, drawing on each other's energy and love to begin their day.
The kids began to clatter into the kitchen, and Elizabeth and Henry reluctantly separated, each moving to get breakfast ready and get the kids, and themselves, out of the house.
A sleepy Jason staggered into the kitchen in search of his missing backpack, followed by Alison, who was dressed to the nines and frantically texting on her iPhone. Stevie emerged from her room soon after to grab some coffee before she headed to class.
The McCords quickly ate cereal and toast; all five of them briefly in their own little worlds. Even with the help of coffee, mornings were hard for everyone in the house.
Henry grabbed the carton of milk from his wife and went around the island to place it in the refrigerator, frowning at the appliance's almost-empty contents. Making a mental note to remember to go grocery shopping later that day, and writing a brief note on the chalkboard for good measure, Henry wondered if he could swing a date night with the Secretary of State to go grocery shopping.
Lips pursed in amusement, he looked up to see his wife staring at him in equal amusement. He swore, after all these years, she could almost read his mind. As if in reply, she raised an eyebrow toward the note on the chalkboard and smiled. Grocery shopping date, it is! With both of their crazy schedules, they'd take what little time they could get.
Elizabeth broke the comfortable silence in the kitchen and started to run through a list of the day's activities, if only to put her own mind at ease.
"Okay, Noodle, your soccer game is at…5?" Elizabeth furrowed her brow as she tried to remember the details.
Alison nodded in agreement and Elizabeth sighed in relief. That's one kid down!
"We have an appointment right before then, but Dad and I will do our best to be there," Elizabeth said as she looked at Henry for confirmation.
"Yeah, yeah, mom, it's really okay if you guys can't make it. As long as you're coming to the quarterfinal game next week, it's all good!" Alison replied as she placed her school backpack on the kitchen table to try and find a lost hair clip.
Jason located his video game and shoved it in his backpack before dropping the bag on the floor and sitting down at the kitchen table to finish his breakfast.
"What's your appointment for?" he asked curiously.
On opposite sides of the island, Elizabeth and Henry locked eyes and froze for a second. It's not that they didn't want to be open with their kids about what makes a marriage work and so on, it's just that they didn't quite know how to go about this conversation.
Henry sighed and walked over to Elizabeth's side of the counter, pulling her flush against him. He saw her pupils dilate from the slightest contact that their hips made and wished he could postpone this conversation in order to kiss his beautiful wife senseless. She pulled back slightly to gather herself and with Henry's silent support, decided to forge on with this conversation.
"Uh," Elizabeth tried to steady her voice and reassure her kids. "We're actually going to see Dr. Sherman this afternoon for a couples therapy appointment." She steadily fixed her eyes on her oldest daughter, knowing that the news would hit Stevie harder than it would Alison and Jason.
Rooting through the fridge impatiently, Stevie dropped what she was holding and it went clattering to the floor. She drew her face out of the fridge, shut the door, and slowly turned to face her parents.
"Wait, you're doing what?" Stevie demanded, the barest hint of anxiety in her voice.
Alison and Jason stopped what they were doing at the kitchen table and turned in their chairs to hear their parents' explanation. Why would they need to go to couples therapy? They haven't been fighting or anything, right?
Elizabeth smiled reassuringly, drawing strength from Henry's solid presence beside her.
"Your dad and I have been through a lot recently, and we just thought it would be a good idea for us to have a little check up and figure out different ways to communicate effectively that are more productive than what we've been doing," Elizabeth said, hoping that Henry would tag her out in this conversation.
Knowing that the conversation strained Elizabeth and opened up old wounds, Henry took the lead.
"Going to couples therapy doesn't mean anything bad — Mom and I are solid. It doesn't mean that we're fighting horribly or on the road to divorce or anything like that. This is just something we need to do for us to work on our relationship so that we can be a better husband and wife to each other, and better parents to you kids."
Jason looked troubled. "But you're great parents already, and you obviously still like each other, so I don't get it. But I mean, you guys have always said that there's nothing to be ashamed of with therapy, so if you think it'll help, then that's cool I guess."
Not having any of it, Stevie shot her brother a venomous look.
"Stevie," Elizabeth said pleadingly.
Stevie threw up her hands, which had been slammed on the kitchen counter.
"No, Mom! It's going to be just like it was last time and what if you guys don't make it this time? It's not fair to us!"
Stevie grabbed her cup of coffee and quickly left the room. Elizabeth and Henry could hear her stomping up the stairs, and shared a laugh; some things never change, no matter how old you get.
Henry looked lovingly at his wife and quickly pecked her on the lips before moving toward the stairs.
"I'll go, babe. After all, I am the Stevie-whisperer!" He said with a smirk, and left the room in search of his daughter.
Elizabeth's eyes followed her husband out the kitchen. She mentally steeled herself and then turned back to look at her remaining children.
Alison and Jason looked on in disbelief and confusion. Elizabeth joined them at the kitchen table and wrapped her hands around a blue coffee mug, seeking its warmth. Quietly searching for how to begin their story, Elizabeth briefly ran a tired hand over her face and decided to be honest with her children.
"The last time we went to therapy was when I left the CIA. Stevie remembers, but you two were so little," she explained calmly, even though she felt a little rattled by her eldest child's outburst.
"Why is Stevie so upset about it?" Alison asked, curious but half not wanting to know the answer.
Elizabeth sighed. "Because the last time marked a really low point in our marriage, and we're not proud of it. Even now, we don't like to talk about it. Stevie heard some horrible things that were said in anger at one another, and even at age 10, she was good at figuring out the cause of the tension between us. I think she thinks it's going to be more of the same, but that couldn't be further from the truth." She looked at both of her sweet children.
"Your dad and I are committed to each other and we're committed to this family. We took vows, which we hold very dear, and we are not about to break them. That being said, sometimes going to therapy together helps us to find new ways to reconnect and strengthen our relationship, which is the point of the whole thing. We think, anyway," Elizabeth said with a chuckle.
Jason was heartened by the fact that his mother kept referring to her and Dad as "we." Maybe his mom was telling the truth and things really would be okay.
Henry padded softly upstairs, absentmindedly scratching his head as he ascended, trying to think of the best way to have this conversation with Stevie and to reassure her that, despite what she might think, her parents' relationship was rock solid.
He sighed heavily, steeled himself, and knocked on the door of his eldest daughter's room.
Not bothering to wait for a reply, he opened the door to find an open suitcase on Stevie's bed and clothes flung every which way about the room. Furrowing his brow, he concentrated on finding his daughter amidst the pile of clothes and random possessions strewn on the floor. Just then, Stevie emerged from her closet with a pile of clothes and shoes in her hand. She stopped in her tracks.
"So, you finally got sick of your crazy family, huh?" he asked, trying to keep a neutral expression on his face and a light tone in his voice.
After a moment, the sheepish look on Stevie's face was replaced with a steely resolve.
God, she was so much like her mother; a carbon copy of Elizabeth, right down to her mannerisms and thought process.
Coming to stand at the side of her bed, opposite Henry, she began to sort clothes and place them neatly in her suitcase. After a few seconds of half-heartedly packing, she began to pace at the foot of the bed. Shooting a ferocious glare at Henry, who recognized the signs, she began to rant.
"I'm not just going stand idly by and watch my parents' marriage implode! We almost didn't survive last time," Stevie angrily said as she came to a standstill.
Henry went to speak and Stevie indignantly cut him off.
"Wait, I am not done yet – it's my turn to talk. Do you know what your last jaunt to therapy did to this family? Alison and Jason may not be old enough to remember, but I sure as hell do!" Stevie said as she resumed her pacing.
Henry watched with the barest hint of amusement as he marveled at his eldest child; the resemblance to Elizabeth was uncanny. He saw nothing of himself in Stevie; she was all Elizabeth.
Stevie noticed his little smirk and began to berate Henry even more ferociously.
"What about this situation is funny, Dad?! Do you guys even remember the venom you spewed at each other that precipitated your therapy session last time?" Her eyes glazed over in pain, remembering the bitter late night fights. Her parents didn't think she could hear them, but her room was right across from the master bedroom, and she could hear every word.
Henry took a breath and watched his daughter, obviously in pain, as he wracked his brains to try and fix the situation.
"Stevie —"
"Don't you 'Stevie' me, Dad. I'm serious. This is not okay. You weren't supposed to let it get this bad; remember? Isn't that the point of therapy in the first place?" Stevie said exasperatedly.
"If you would let me finish, honey, I was going to tell you that Mom and I aren't going to therapy because we're on the verge of divorce, which we are not," he emphasized, shooting his daughter a sharp look. "We're going to therapy as more of a check-in, check-up type of situation, and as a way for us to find better ways of communicating than we have been lately. Therapy doesn't have to be a last-ditch effort to save a relationship; think of it as relationship maintenance. It's not a bad thing."
Stevie looked at him dubiously. Although she stopped packing, she remained unconvinced.
Henry rose and crossed the room to stand in front of his daughter, putting his hands on her shoulders.
"Look, I promise, Mom and I are not on the verge of disaster. We're going through issues as much as the neighbors next door, and we just wanted to schedule an appointment to keep us on track and not allow resentment and anger at a situation to build. That's probably what you witnessed last time, and we are so sorry that you had to go through that." Henry said as he rubbed her shoulders soothingly.
Stevie looked at him through tear-filled eyes, and her lip trembled a little as she tried to suppress her emotions. Henry's heart broke for his daughter, and he cursed himself for not handling the situation better.
"Besides, do you really think I'd still be in this house let alone breathing if your mom really didn't want me to be," he said with a smirk, unknowingly paraphrasing his wife's words to Stevie the year before, when she suspected him of having an affair.
Stevie let out a shaky breath.
"I don't know." She looked lost without her parents to anchor her. "I just thought it would be like last time and I got scared so I wanted to run."
Henry wrapped his eldest in a big hug, trying to make all of her pain and insecurities and fear go away. He sucked in a breath, remembering holding a newborn Stevie and feeling terrified as his wife slept after laboring for hours in the hospital bed. Where had the time gone?
Stevie sank into the hug and felt loved and protected. Her dad would fix everything; she was sure of it. Spying her mom hovering at her door, she let out a shaky grin. Her parents were tag-teaming champions in the parenting department.
Henry felt Elizabeth's presence behind him, and opened his arms to her.
"I think this calls for a Stevie sandwich?" he said with a wink.
Elizabeth laughed and joined the pile, peppering her daughter's head with kisses. She would never get tired of hearing her eldest child's beautiful laugh. Wrapping her arms around Stevie, and her husband, she felt content and whole. The trio stayed there for a moment, soaking up the group hug.
Elizabeth caught a glimpse of the half-filled suitcase on Stevie's bed and her eyes narrowed. Pulling back a bit, she placed her hands on her hips and mock-glared at her daughter. Stevie shuffled over to her bed and began distracting herself by organizing the clothes on her bed, hoping her mother wouldn't question her too much about the open suitcase on her bed.
"Well, well, Stephanie McCord, what have we here?" Elizabeth said with a grin. She enjoyed needling her children — almost too much.
Stevie looked sheepish for a second, and Henry swooped into save the day.
"Uh, Stevie was just looking to donate some clothes and things to the local thrift store," Henry said, sure that his wife would not buy that story.
Sure enough, she did not. You could take the girl out of the CIA but not the CIA out of the girl, and Elizabeth could smell tradecraft from a mile away. Her eyes narrowed mischievously. Two could play this game.
Stepping closer to her husband, she watched his lips part in anticipation as she neared him.
"Oh, really?" Glancing at the bed, she found her perfect target. Picking up her daughter's favorite leather jacket, she smirked knowingly.
"I didn't realize you wanted to get rid of this jacket, Stevie, or I would have sent it with our donation last week. I think I'll just take this with me and add it to our 'give away' pile," she said with a chuckle.
Stevie almost leapt across the room to grab the jacket out of her mother's hands.
"No, no. Ah…I'll just…go make sure Alison and Jason are ready for school," Stevie said, as she beat a hasty retreat from her room.
Taking advantage of the fact that all of their children were downstairs, Elizabeth and Henry gravitated toward each other like magnets. His hands snaked around her lower back to pull her closer to him. Elizabeth rested her hands on his strong chest and nuzzled his nose gently.
"Hi," she said breathlessly.
He smirked, loving the effect he had on her. "Hi."
Henry dipped his head and captured her mouth in a searing kiss. After all these years, he was still absolutely intoxicated by his wife, and wrapped her golden locks around his fingers, pulling her even closer. Elizabeth responded in kind, by locking her arms around his head and playing with the nape of his neck.
Stevie clattered down the stairs and was on the downstairs landing before she realized her parents weren't following her down to the kitchen. She sighed in annoyance and exasperation, while being secretly relieved that her parents still loved each other, and more than that, that they still liked each other.
Smirking, she yelled up the stairs: "Parental units, you better not be making out in my room right now!"
She heard a muffled chuckle coming from her room and rolled her eyes before continuing on down to the kitchen.
"Yo nerds, what's up?"
Elizabeth and Henry broke from their kiss. The sight of his wife, blushing furiously with swollen lips, never failed to bring a smile to his lips. Henry bent down to wrap his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead.
Elizabeth leaned into Henry's embrace and they drew comfort from each other.
After a few minutes, Elizabeth pulled back.
"So, Mr. Stevie-whisperer, what did you say to our stubborn child that changed her mind? And by the way, I still maintain she gets all her stubbornness from you," Elizabeth said with a wink.
Henry smiled down at his wife. "I just explained that therapy isn't a bad thing. And then I reminded her that you are a scary, awesome badass who wouldn't hesitate to toss me out on my butt if I ever did anything that meant we had to separate. Besides, you aren't getting away from me that easy!" He bent down to his wife, intent on kissing her senseless.
Her blue eyes sparkled as she reached up to meet him halfway. She was just captivated by this man, and so grateful for the life they had built together.
Catching sight of her daughter's bedside clock over he husband's shoulder, she inwardly groaned and reluctantly broke the kiss.
Henry looked dazed and startled. "Babe, what?"
She smiled up at him. He looked so cute with his ruffled hair and swollen lips. Dammit.
"Real life calls, sweetheart! We have to get going; I have a busy day at the office today." She didn't want to break their little bubble, but she really did have to work.
She gently pecked him on the lips, drew his hand in hers, and started for the stairs with Henry in tow.
All her children were still in the kitchen, in various stages of wakefulness. Elizabeth made a beeline for the coffee pot; she might need more coffee today than she originally thought. Henry rested his hands on her shoulders and gave her a mini massage; he knew she couldn't resist.
Elizabeth knew Henry was feeling a little uneasy about the children finding out about their appointment. He always wanted to project a united front, and got a little squirrelly when he realized the kids were old enough to see through their tradecraft. She decided to needle him a little. Apart from her kids, teasing Henry was one of her favorite pasttimes.
"And besides, I'll see you this afternoon at Dr. Sherman's, yeah?" she winked at him.
Henry pouted at his wife slightly before breaking out into a wide grin. She was just so damn cute when she was trying to tease him.
"We better not get any homework at our appointment today — I hate homework!" Henry whined playfully.
Elizabeth turned around at the sink to whisper in his ear.
"How about you don't complain about the homework and I'll make it up to you when we get home?" she grinned mischievously.
Henry snapped his head up. "Uh Noodle?" he said in a strangled voice. "We might not be able to make your soccer game!"
Elizabeth smacked her husband playfully on the chest.
"Your father is kidding! We'll be there, I promise!" she said, while mock glaring at her husband.
Alison just confusedly nodded. She was obviously missing something; her parents were being weird again.
"Alright family! I'm off to the office! Hoping the world hasn't gone up in flames in my absence. Who's cooking for dinner tonight?" Elizabeth said with a laugh. Obviously it wouldn't be her.
Stevie saved them all. "I will, guys. It's fine. We all don't have to suffer through mom's cooking til later in the week."
Elizabeth was strangely touched, and laughed. "Thanks for that vote of confidence, guys! Well hey; America's Next Top Diplomat isn't perfect, you know? And on that note, I'm heading out!"
Elizabeth left for the office, safe in her knowledge that the world may be crumbling, but her family was rock solid. Although she was a little anxious about their appointment today, it was much needed, and would help them add other tools to their 'communication toolbox' or whatever Dr. Sherman had called it.