Post 3.14: some mother-daughter bonding, talks of love and happiness, and the stuff of dreams. This is very short, but I hope you enjoy, and please, let me know what you think — your reviews mean the world.
"So they're not getting married?" Alison asks, her brown eyes wide, filled with that youthful naïvety that Elizabeth sometimes envies her for. Alison still believes in those perfect fairytale endings, and she wishes it were that easy sometimes.
"C'mere, Noodle," she says instead, pulling her daughter close in the dim light of the kitchen. She's just gotten home and Alison had insisted on waiting up for her. "I don't know. They're gonna take some time to figure out how their relationship is without a peace deal to hold it together."
"But they looked so in love, mom! How can they have second thoughts all of a sudden?"
"Because relationships are hard. They're both so young; it's hard knowing what exactly you want out of life at their age. It's hard being sure."
"But you and dad were sure, right? And Stevie and Jareth are engaged, aren't they?"
"Yeah, Noodle." She presses a kiss to Alison's head and moves so she can sit on the counter. Ali gives her a look — sitting on the counter is usually frowned upon, but Elizabeth just pats the space next to her so her daughter can join her. "Listen: relationships are difficult. There really isn't that pink, bubbly, happily ever-after thing. You have to constantly work on it, and reaffirm to your partner that you're both on the same page. Dad and I still do it to this day."
"Really?" To Alison, her parents' marriage seems like such a given, something she can rely on always being there, strong as ever, acting as reassurance and inspiration for what she wants herself someday. To think that they actively had to work on it seems to betray the effortlessness she sees in their relationship.
"Yeah, Noodle — but that also makes what we have infinitely more special, because we both know we're totally, completely invested in it, and determined to make it work."
Alison nods; she seems to get it, and Elizabeth wraps an arm around her before continuing.
"That's why Stevie and Jareth are waiting a few years, and why Juan-Luis and Soledad called off the wedding. It's a hard business, being in a long-term relationship. I mean, even your dad wasn't totally sure when we were dating. He broke up with me for three days to sort out his feelings."
She can feel Alison pull back so she can look her mother in the eye, her eyes wide in shock. "Dad broke up with you?"
Elizabeth laughs at the memory, her eyes crinkling, and Ali looks even more confused than she had before.
"Yeah. He was so scared to make it completely real that he left me sitting in the apartment one night, right after telling me he needed to think. At the time, I was heartbroken, but now I know he was just scared that he wouldn't be able to provide for the both of us. Which was stupid, really, because I'm pretty sure I made more money than him at that point. Not that that was the whole reason."
She chuckles and smiles as Alison bites back laughter too.
"But three days later, he came back, and apologized, and told me he was in it for real. And he proposed, and the rest is history."
"Will you tell me the story again?" Ali asks, leaning into her mother's side. Elizabeth's heart melts a little at the request — Ali is strong, and independent, and outspoken, but in moments like these she is just her little Noodle.
"Okay." She presses another kiss to Ali's head. "Your dad came and found me, and apologized like a million times. He said I needed to come with him, he had something to show me. He brought me out to this field, close to UVa, and he had me close my eyes. When I opened them, there was a message, written in big, puffy letters in the sky."
She lets out a laugh before continuing. "But like I said before, we were broke students, and your dad only got a discount skywriter, and he couldn't spell, so the sky said: 'Mar me, Elibet?' and I was so confused I had no idea what was going on. Your dad got just about as red as a tomato before he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. And I couldn't not say yes."
"And then you had us, and lived happily ever after…" Ali teases, and Elizabeth nudges her.
"Not quite. Your dad was deployed soon after we married, and I only saw him for like a week at a time. A couple years later, he was discharged and we had to get to know each other all over again all. Plus, we had just had Stevie, and it was hard having to fall in love all over again. But I think it made us stronger in the end."
"Yeah, having to get up in the middle of the night constantly and change dirty diapers is really a romantic way to bond, babe." Both Elizabeth and Ali spin their heads around, surprised to hear Henry's voice and see him at the base of the stairs.
"Hey, how long have you been here?" She smiles at her husband as he walks toward the counter.
"A little while, I thought I saw that the light was still on." He stops in front of Elizabeth and Ali, taking his wife's hand and interlacing their fingers. They share a look and Ali smiles in peaceful contentment.
"Anything you wanna add, Professor?"
"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness."
"Nietzsche," Elizabeth says, without skipping a beat.
"You guys are such dorks, you know that, right?"
"Yeah, we do, Noodle." Henry laughs, and Elizabeth can't help but notice the way his eyes crinkle and sparkle and she thinks she might be falling for him just a little more in that moment, if that's even possible. She's still amazed sometimes at how lucky she is with Henry, and their kids. It feels too good to be true, sometimes, when she thinks back to those years before Henry when she didn't think she'd be capable of loving anyone ever again. But he'd proven her wrong in so many ways, and she couldn't be more grateful.
Ali yawns and both Elizabeth and Henry look over at the clock. "It's late," she says, pushing herself off the counter. "And you have school tomorrow."
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna go to bed." She hugs her parents and they exchange I-love-you's and she walks up the stairs to her room, leaving Henry and Elizabeth staring after her, wondering where the hell all the time has gone.
"When did she become this almost grown-up person?" It's Elizabeth who breaks the silence, looking forlornly at her husband, needing him to reassure her that Ali is still her baby, no matter what.
He gets it, of course he does, because he pulls at her hand so she takes a step toward him and then envelops her in his embrace and just lets them be there a little while. He can feel her melting into him as he breathes in the scent of her shampoo and he's reminded of just how lucky he truly is to have this incredible, headstrong, brilliant, passionate woman in his life. How he really, truly found his other half in her. How he can't imagine himself without her anymore.
He pulls back after a little while, and cups her face in his hands before pressing a chaste kiss to her lips. "I love you," he says, because he thinks she needs to hear it tonight. Not that he doesn't say it every day, but tonight seems a little more important.
She smiles and says it back, stroking the palm of his hand.
"Nightcap?" he asks — he knows the stress of this peace deal must've taken a toll on her over the last few days.
She nods and he goes to the cabinet to grab two glasses of scotch. When he comes back, he hands one to Elizabeth and she raises it.
"To love."
"To love."
When they've both had sips, Henry takes her hand and leads them to the couch, pulling her down on his lap. He nuzzles her neck again, pressing kisses to it, and he can feel her relax under his touch. She lays her head on his chest and he starts playing with her hair and he thinks it's a pretty good time to say what he's been meaning to tell her for the past few days.
"You're my pink, bubbly, happily ever-after thing, babe."
She looks up at him, confused.
"My fairytale ending, I mean. You're it, Elizabeth. You're everything I could ever ask for and more. I know we're not perfect, but you're pretty damn close."
The look she gives him is so full of love that he can't help but kiss her, feeling her wrap her arms around him tighter as she deepens the kiss. When they break apart, she's grinning, and he can't put into words how happy that makes him.
"You're mine too," she whispers, placing her hand over his heart and feeling it beat faster at her touch.
They stay there for a while, quietly, basking in the fact that their relationship means so much to both of them, thinking it's pretty damn miraculous — this thing they have. Even with all the ups and downs, or maybe because of them.
Henry can feel the exhaustion wash over Elizabeth, see her eyelids flutter closed. He kisses her cheek. "Let's get you in bed, you need sleep, babe."
He picks up her small frame and she curls up against him, her arms wrapping around his neck. "My knight in shining armour," she says, and yawns.
He just chuckles and walks toward the stairs. "That makes you the princess — or should I say Sleeping Beauty." He's hoping for some kind of sassy remark, typical Elizabeth banter, but she's out like a light.
So he turns off the lights in the kitchen and starts climbing the stairs to their bedroom, thinking that maybe fairytales aren't just the stuff of dreams after all.
Fin.