Title: Life As We Know It
Author: WriterGrl
E-mail:
Twitter: TracyJ516
Content: Charlotte & Cooper, Private Practice
Premise: As Charlotte & Cooper make preparations to spend their lives together, they are faced with a life-altering challenge sooner than anticipated.
Disclaimers: I own nothing and borrow lots. All Private Practice characters are property of ABC and Private Practice. All I own is the story I write and any characters that I create. Everything written is purely for fun, creativity and for my imagination.
Author's note: This story is completely alternate universe, as in I'm creating my own canon. I want to do something different from all the recovery stories that are out there right now.
Feedback: Authors like to hear what readers have to say.
Life As We Know It
Chapter 1
Cooper walked into Violet's office, stopping a few feet from her desk. "I want to get married," he blurted out.
Violet looked up from her computer screen with an eyebrow raised and smirked. "Sure, but I know two people that may have a problem with that."
"Ha. Funny," he sat down on the couch, running a hand through his hair.
"Well, have you and Charlotte talked about setting a date?"
"Not really. There's never been a good time," he replied.
Violet's brow furrowed. "Didn't the two of you just get back from a trip to Alabama? I figured with all the time you spent together, setting a wedding date would have been something that would come up while you were there."
"It never did. Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and all," Cooper smiled, thinking back to how much he enjoyed the trip. "I guess it's just something I thought would casually bring itself up, you know?"
"And now the both of you are back and super busy."
"Yeah. Charlotte's stuck at St. Ambrose all day and probably will get home late. She mentioned something about having to fix a mess or two that happened while we were away."
Violet smiled and was amused at how head over heels her close friend was for Charlotte. Make no mistake, she disliked the blonde doctor at first, thinking of her as the medical professional equivalent to Cruella de Ville and wasn't deserving of Cooper, who was the complete opposite in terms of personality. But over time, Violet grew to like Charlotte and understand why she was the way she was. And deep down, she knew that somewhere inside was a warm heart that was guarded by a tough exterior that only Cooper could get past.
"Well, I really don't know what to tell you," she said.
Cooper nodded and smiled back. "It's okay. I wasn't expecting any advice. I just needed to get it out," he stood up. "I should go. I've got a few more patients and then maybe I'll go and surprise Charlotte with some dinner. Thanks for listening, Vi."
"Anytime," Violet waved, watching Cooper leave her office.
Charlotte sighed deeply staring at the stack of paperwork in front of her. She and Cooper had only been gone for five days and it amazed her how it all piled up. After spending a good portion of the day getting up to speed on what she'd missed and also being on the phone following up on her rescheduled appointments.
It was nearly seven-thirty when Charlotte finally got started on the stack of paperwork. She heard a knock at the door and looked up, "Yeah?"
The door slowly opened, Cooper sticking his head inside. "Hi. I figured you'd be working late, so I brought dinner," he held up a paper bag. "Chinese?"
Charlotte smiled, motioning for him to come inside. "Bring it here. I'm famished."
Cooper entered, carefully shutting the door behind him. He placed the paper bag on the desk, taking its contents out and placing it in front of Charlotte. Sitting down across from her, he handed the blonde a paper plate, a fork and some napkins.
Charlotte didn't wait and immediately opened one of the containers to reveal General Tso's chicken, while the other container had fried rice. Cooper placed a good amount of both on her plate and she quickly dug in.
"Well, someone is hungry," Cooper commented, putting a forkful of rice into his mouth.
"I told you I was famished," Charlotte replied, taking another bite of chicken. "I barely had anythin' for lunch, 'cause I was so busy."
Cooper sipped his soda. "Looks like you barely made a dent," eyeing the stack of paperwork. "Are you going to be long?"
Charlotte followed Cooper's gaze and was reminded that her day was nowhere near done. Truthfully, she was exhausted and didn't want to stay and do paperwork. But a part of her didn't want to leave it all to get done the next day. "Not too long. I want to get started on some of this stuff and I'll just finish it up tomorrow," she replied, satisfied with the inner compromise. "You wanna wait?"
"Sure," he nodded, reaching for the container of fried rice.
They continued with their usual dinner banter, sharing the happenings of their respective days. Cooper filled Charlotte in on what they'd missed at Oceanside, while Charlotte vented about a couple of issues that occurred while they were away.
While Cooper was cleaning up, Charlotte got a start on the stack of paperwork, reminding herself that there wasn't a pressing need to get it done that night. But Charlotte being the way she was had gotten so engrossed in what she was doing and lost track of time, finishing everything anyway. Of course, it also could have been because Cooper had dozed off on her couch, leaving her with the peace and quiet she'd been seeking since arriving in the morning.
Neatly piling everything off to the corner of her desk, Charlotte logged off her computer and reached for her bag. She walked around the desk and toward Cooper, bending down to press a kiss on his forehead.
"Hey," she said softly, rousing the man from his sleep. "Let's go home."
"Huhmm?" Cooper's eyes slowly opened. He sat up and tried to glance at the clock on the wall. "What time is it?"
"A little past ten," Charlotte held out her hand to him. "Come on. Where are your keys? I'll drive."
Cooper reached into his pocket, handing the blonde his car keys. Wrapping an arm around her waist, they walked out of her office, shutting the door closed behind them.
They got home in a reasonable amount of time, Charlotte chuckling softly to herself the whole way while Cooper slept in the passenger seat. She surmised the guy had a long day at the practice. Either that or his body was having a wicked time getting adjusted back to being on West coast time, after being in Alabama.
Once again, she roused him awake and he in turn apologized for being a lump for most of the evening. They walked hand in hand into the loft, Cooper making a beeline for the bathroom after getting inside.
"Someone seems mighty exhausted," Charlotte commented, kicking off her heels and placing them inside the closet.
"I think it was the Chinese that put me into a food coma," Cooper replied, exiting the bathroom completely changed with his dirty laundry in his hands. He dropped it into the hamper and sat on the bed.
"I pretty much figured that," Charlotte entered the bathroom and came back out a few minutes later, dressed and ready for bed. She climbed in next to Cooper and laid back against the pillows. "It's okay though. I got through that pile of paperwork that was on my desk."
"I figured you would," Cooper reached over to turn off the light on his side of the bed. He then leaned toward Charlotte and kissed her. "Good night."
"Night," she smiled back.
Now wide awake, Cooper laid there in silence for the next few minutes, unable to fall back asleep. He turned to his side and stared at Charlotte, slightly smiling at her.
"You know how I find it creepy when you do that," Charlotte spoke, eyes still closed. "Quit starin' at me."
"Sorry. I couldn't help it."
"Yeah, I know."
After a minute, Charlotte opened her eyes and turned to Cooper who was lying on his back, still awake. "What's the matter? Can't sleep after the nap you had earlier?"
"Probably," Cooper replied.
Charlotte smirked. "Wanna get busy then?" she grabbed his t-shirt, ready to pull it off when his hand stopped her. "What? You don't want any?"
"Not tonight," he replied with a straight face.
Brow furrowed, Charlotte pressed the back of her hand to his forehead. "You're turnin' down sex? You don't seem warm."
Cooper took hold of the blonde's hand, pressing his lips to it. "I'm fine. I was just laying here thinking about something."
"Oh? Well, hope you're not hurtin' yourself," she laughed, propping herself up and resting her head on her hand. "So? Spill… whatcha thinkin' about?"
Cooper smiled. "I was wondering when we'd tossing around some possible wedding dates. I mean, it doesn't have to be anytime soon, but I was thinking that maybe we could set a date… have something to work towards, you know?" he said, entwining his fingers with hers. "Just a thought."
Charlotte didn't reply for a few seconds, then finally met his loving gaze with a smile of her own. "You're right, we should."
"Really?"
"Yes, really."
Cooper leaned into Charlotte, kissing her deeply. "I was thinking sometime in the fall. Not too warm."
"Fall sounds good," Charlotte yawned, realizing she was more exhausted then she thought. "I'm thinking late September. A Saturday…sunset."
"Alright, last Saturday in September it is. I'll mark the date in a calendar in the morning," Cooper made a mental note to himself to put the date down tomorrow when he got into his office.
Charlotte yawned again, trying to fight off the beckoning slumber. "Great, now let's get some sleep. I tired and wasn't as fortunate as you to have taken a nap a couple of hours ago."
Cooper turned in bed, draping an arm over Charlotte's waist. "Good night again."
"G'night…" Charlotte muttered, drifting off to sleep within minutes.
Unable to fall asleep just yet, Cooper remained awake for a little while longer, proud of himself at how easy it was to get his fiancée to agree on setting a wedding date. Albeit, he had some worries, considering the subject hadn't been brought up, but after the wonderful time they had in Monroeville, he figured it was time they made their union official. With a smile on his face, he closed his eyes.
After years of a rocky courtship, he was convinced nothing would stand in their way.
~end chapter