"Hey Mase," Charlotte says, putting her briefcase down and sitting at the table next to her son.
Mason looks up from his homework. "Hi Momma. I got a hundred on my English test," he tells her excitedly, pulling out a paper with a gold star sticker on it.
"Good job!" Charlotte tells him looking over the test. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to pick you up after school."
"It's ok. Dad said you had an emergency at work."
"Yeah. Where is your dad?" Charlotte asks as she lays the exam back on the neat stack of papers.
"He went to take a shower… Momma?" Mason asks uneasily
"Yeah?"
"Is Dad ok? He seems really worried." Charlotte's heart aches, because yes Cooper is worried – about her.
"He's ok, sweetie," Charlotte reassures Mason with a smile. He's such a sweet, perceptive kid. "I'm going to go say hello to your dad. I'll be back in a few minutes, ok?"
"I'll be here with my piles of homework."
Charlotte chuckles and asks, "How much more do you have?"
"Math, spelling, and I need to study for my history test," Mason rattles off. "Could you help me with that later?"
"Of course. How about you finish up the rest of your homework and we can study after dinner."
"Ok," Mason agrees.
"Sounds like a plan," Charlotte says getting up to find Cooper. "I'll be back soon. Think about what you want for dinner."
Charlotte walks into her bedroom to find Cooper out of the shower and pulling on a pair of jeans. Cooper is so happy to see his wife walk in. He knows she's strong, but unexpectedly taking care of a patient who had been raped has to have been hard.
Charlotte and Cooper had been on their way out of the office to pick up Mason when they'd seen one of Violet's patients sobbing in the waiting room. Charlotte had asked if the patient wanted sit down in Charlotte's office for a while to calm down. It had turned out that the patient had revealed to Violet mid-session that she'd been raped a month ago, and Violet had given her a guilt trip speech, that sounded from her patient's account of it, much like the one Violet had used on Charlotte. The patient had connected with Charlotte, and Charlotte had asked Cooper to go pick up Mason so she could stay with the patient and try to encourage her to have Addison take a look at her.
"Hey," Cooper says with a smile. Charlotte walks over to Cooper and wraps her arms around him. She's grateful everyday that she has Cooper. Her afternoon had been difficult. Charlotte had held this woman's hand while Addison had done a pelvic, trying not to think about when she'd been the one on the table, trying to ignore the way Addison kept looking at her.
Charlotte had left the office feeling vulnerable and emotional and wanting nothing more than to see her husband. Even when things are hard, even when she's hurting, Charlotte knows she can find peace in his arms. The feeling of safety and contentment that she's become used to with Cooper is something she'd never known before.
Charlotte takes a moment to feel loved and at home in his arms before pulling back slightly to look at Cooper and smile. He's worried, she knows, and she wants to soothe his fears. Because, really, she is ok. She's glad she was able to be there for the patient earlier, and now that Charlotte's home with her family, the sense of unease that the day had stirred in her is fading. "I'm sorry for worrying you, Coop," she tells him, bringing her hand up to caress the stubble on his cheek.
Cover blown, Cooper asks, "Are you ok?"
"I am," Charlotte says, looking Cooper in the eyes and smiling. Cooper doesn't worry anymore that Charlotte will hide her feelings from him. When things are hard they cling to each other. When Charlotte's hurting, Cooper knows that she wants to be close to him. And he loves that he gets to see her like this: without barriers, open, emotional – his.
"Have you talked to Violet?" Charlotte asks a minute later.
"No, why?"
"She could probably use a friend to check on her. Her patient slapped her when she tried to apologize."
"I'll call her in a minute," Cooper tells his wife, hugging her tighter to him.
Cooper's on the phone with Violet. Charlotte can hear Violet freaking out from across the room where Charlotte is changing her clothes.
Now happily clad in yoga pants and a t-shirt, Charlotte walks over to Cooper to give him a kiss before heading back to hang out with Mason. Charlotte leans down and places a kiss on Cooper's head, her hand caressing his neck a moment. When Charlotte starts to walk away, Cooper grabs her hand and pulls her onto his lap. Charlotte wraps her arms around her husband, and he lays his head against her chest. Charlotte presses her lips to Cooper's forehead again, as he listens to the soothing rhythm of her heartbeat.
"Is Violet ok?" Charlotte asks when Cooper hangs up the phone.
"Not really, but Pete just got there, so…" Cooper trails off, losing himself in the lazy way Charlotte is running her fingers through his hair.
"I think you're amazing, Charlotte," he tells her, looking her square in the eye. "What you did today—"
"Coop," Charlotte cuts him off. She did what needed to be done. That's all.
"Don't argue with me. I'm going to think you're strong and selfless whether you argue with me or not. So don't."
Charlotte shakes her head and smiles at her husband. "You ready to help me start dinner?" she asks. Cooper can't believe how much he loves this woman. He would protest moving at all – would insist on spending the whole night holding her – if they didn't have a child in the kitchen who would start getting very grumpy if they didn't feed him soon.
It felt like a cookie night. Some nights just require desert, and this was one of those nights. "Do you want one now or do you want to wait for them to cool?" Cooper asks Mason, as Cooper pulls a tray of snickerdoodles out of the oven.
"What do you think?" Mason tells his dad, like Cooper asked the most ridiculous question Mason has ever heard.
"Right. Dumb question," Cooper says, as he puts cookies on three plates.
"You two want milk?" Charlotte asks, grabbing three glasses from the cupboard, knowing the answer.
"Can I have caramel sauce too?" Mason asks.
"For you cookie?" Charlotte asks, scrunching up her nose. She still can't understand how Cooper and Mason like things that sweet.
"Caramel is good on everything," Mason insists.
Cooper walks up behind her. "I can think of something it would be particularly good on," he tells her suggestively.
"Cooper!" Charlotte scolds, feigning indignation at his comment while Mason is in the room. She hands him the glass of milk with a shake of her head that lets Cooper know that Charlotte finds the goofy, sexy remarks completely adorable.
Charlotte walks over to the table where Mason is sitting with his cookie, waiting. "Here is your milk," she says putting the glass in front of him. "And here," she puts the caramel jar down, "is some sugar to put on top of your sugar."
"Thanks," Mason says, making quick work of smearing caramel all over his cookie. He takes a bite – delicious. "You should try it Momma," Mason insists.
Cooper's busy spreading caramel on his cookie too. "This is actually really good," he tells his wife. "Just take a bite Char," he insists, holding his cookie out towards her.
Charlotte tries the sugary, sticky mess. She has to admit that it is pretty delicious. What the hell? She grabs the knife and spreads caramel all over her cookie. "Told you so," Mason says, pleased with himself. Charlotte just eats her cookie and thinks that she can't imagine a better end to a tough day than having a sugar overload with her two favorite boys.