A/N: Part of this was an actual dream I had and then I expanded it so there was reason behind it. Why I would dream that Wash would be calling Taylor a tugboat I have no idea but it involved leather pants on her part. I left a lot of the details vague because I want people to let their imaginations fill them in.
With two children under the age of 5, it was sometimes difficult to get a few minutes alone as a adults. But as fate would have it, on the morning of their anniversary they got a whole 30 minutes to make love. Granted they had to be quiet, but they had lots of practice by this point and he was just happy to hold his wife without two children crowded into their bed.
A shower, breakfast, and a morning routine down, he was out the door to the Command Center. He wouldn't be seeing much of his wife today as they had different schedules but that would make tonight that much sweeter.
At 5 o'clock exactly, he left his desk and the never-ending requests and paperwork. His wife had promised his favorite meal for their anniversary and he was looking forward to it very much, along with the surprises he had arranged.
When he walked into his house, his two children were playing quietly and his wife was making a delicious smelling dinner.
"Happy anniversary Alicia," he said while presenting her with a simple bouquet of flowers. He knew flowers weren't her favorite gift but once in awhile he bought them for her. He liked to tease her that she was so much more beautiful than this new world. It always made her blush. "For the woman that has my heart."
"Happy anniversary tugboat," she said barely containing a laugh at the look on his face.
"How did you find out?" he asked with a frown. Today had been the bi-monthly code name picking and he really did not like the name he had gotten this time around.
"I have my sources," she said mysteriously.
"They weren't supposed to be released until tomorrow," he grumbled. The code names had been in use for the past few years for two reasons: security, if anyone was out there listening, and it was fun. Boylan would take bets and the whole system was anonymous. Some of the names were funny, some mean, and others were spot on to the personality of the person.
"You should make your password more difficult if you don't want people snooping around," she teased.
"You did not?" he asked.
"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. You'll never know," she said with a smile over her shoulder as she stirred the sauce on the stove.
"I don't like tugboat," he confessed under his breath. It wasn't the worst one he had been given but it rubbed him the wrong way.
"And why is that? I think it's cute," she said.
"Tugboats are short and stout. You know I don't like to be called short," he said quietly.
"Hmmm, first of all you are not short. You're taller than me," she said.
"By only a couple of inches and Shannon has a good inch on me," he interrupted.
"Shush," she warned before moving in front of him. She moved her mouth to the shell of his ear and he grasped her hips as she whispered to him. "Secondly tugboats are powerful and boy oh boy did you drive home that point this morning."
He blushed a deep red at her compliment.
"So happy anniversary tugboat. I love you," she said and turned back to the stove.
She drove him mad sometimes but he loved her for it. With a kiss to the base of her neck, he moved off to their bedroom to change out of his work attire. When he returned, dinner was being served and his children were sitting at the table.
"You two have been awfully quiet tonight. What are you hiding?" he teased the boy and girl.
"Nothing dad," his almost 5-year old son said. "We want tonight to be special for you and mom," he answered sounding too grown up for his age. The boy's younger sister just hummed in agreement.
Taylor was taken aback. His children were loud and adventurous most of the time but well behaved when needed. However, the home was free-range territory for his kids. He just shook his head and counted his blessings.
"Or, I may have bribed them," Alicia said softly only to him.
"I'll take what I can get," he said while leaning over to give her a kiss. The dinner was delicious and his kids ate everything on their plates.
Promptly at 7, the assigned babysitter, Maddy Shannon, showed up to the surprise of Alicia.
"Maddy," Alicia greeted. "What brings you over?"
"The Commander asked me to watch the kids," she said with her trademark smile.
It was Alicia's turn to be stunned and turned to look at her husband.
"There's more?" she asked.
"Oh yeah there's more. Lots more. So go get dressed for a night out," he told her and then whispered "And if you would indulge your husband, please wear your leather pants."
Alicia just beamed at him and took off to change while Maddy was giddy with knowledge of the surprise.
Not 20 minutes later they were at the public square where people were milling about as vendors sold food while the band finished setting up. Josh and a few of his friends had been established as the go to band for concerts and while it wasn't a steady income for the young men, they loved playing.
"I didn't know there was a concert tonight," Alicia said as they wandered the stalls.
"I may have persuaded some people to throw one together," he admitted.
"Ahhh, that's sweet," she said while kissing his cheek.
By the time they had picked up dessert, the band was playing and a crowd was gathered in front of the stage. They hung out towards the back to finish their food before getting on the dance floor. They moved around with ease and all of the colonists greeted the pair.
"This next song goes out to the Commander and the Lieutenant for their 5th anniversary. Congrats!" Josh said into the mic and the band started up the song.
"This is our song. I didn't know they knew how to play it!" Alicia said in delight as he maneuvered her around the floor.
"They didn't until a few weeks ago," he said as he spun her out then in. "I asked them to learn it."
"You are full of surprises Nathaniel Taylor," she said, and engaged him in a passionate kiss.
The song came to end and the crowd applauded. A few more songs passed and they ended up at the back of the crowd once more.
"Ready for the final surprise?" he whispered into her ear.
"There's more?" she asked. "I'm not sure you'll be able to top this."
"Oh I bet I can," he said with a wink while dragging her away from the crowd and towards the housing sectors.
They walked hand-in-hand through the quiet streets as she wondered where in the world he was taking her. Occasionally, they would stop and share a kiss in the shadows. He was approaching 65 but she made him feel like he was a kid all over again.
Before they took the next corner, he stopped them.
"Will you let me cover your eyes?" he asked.
"Of course," she answered. "I trust you."
He moved behind her and covered her eyes with his hand. She giggled at the silliness of it. He prodded her forward and around the corner before coming to a stop.
"The 5th anniversary is the wood anniversary," he said.
"I thought I already got that gift this morning," she teased while wiggling her hips into his crotch.
"Such a mouth on this one," he retorted. "That was only part of it. No, this is your main gift." He pulled his hand away to reveal a brand new house.
The porch was was wider than the other houses on the block and featured gorgeous double doors with dark wood framing. Two bushes had been placed on either side of the porch where they would be planted and the the house lacked paint.
"Would you like to see the inside?" he asked his astonished wife who just stood there with her mouth agape. He took this as a good sign. She stuttered before answering yes, and he guided her into the house with a hand on the small of her back.
The living room was an open floor plan that flowed into the kitchen. On either side of the living room were bedrooms, one for each child. Past the rooms were smaller rooms on the sides of the house, one for storage and the other a bathroom. The kitchen was completely unfurnished but walled in to create a hallway that led to another room in the back. The interior was lacking paint and carpet.
"There are some finishing touches that are missing obviously," he said while he watched her take in the house. "But the contractor said we should be able to move in by next week." At this she turned to him.
"When did you have time to plan this? What even made you want to do this?" she asked him and he just chuckled.
"You remember that trip OTG you had a few months back? That's when I did all of the planning. And what made me want to do this? Our children Alicia," he answered as he wrapped her up in a hug and then pulled back. "We only have two bedrooms as it is and soon the kids are going to need separate bedrooms. It was either build a new house or add an addition. A new house meant living somewhere that was less military and I liked that idea."
"I like it as well. We'll never be out of the military, but I want our kids to grow up with other children and our current housing sector doesn't exactly offer that with it being surrounded by barracks," she said then kissed him gently.
"Would you like to see the master bedroom?" he asked once the kiss was over and teased her with the raising of his eyebrows.
"Lead the way Nathaniel," she said and looped her arm with his.
The master bedroom was enormous compared to their current room, and unlike the rest of the house, it was fully finished. There was carpet, paint, framing on the windows, and door-knobs. But the main feature was pushed up against the center wall. It was a four-poster canopy bed surrounded by glowing candles.
"Wow...wow," was the only thing to come out of her mouth. "When did you set up the candles?"
"You have your mysterious ways and I have mine," he teased. "Why don't you check out that door over there?"
Alicia smiled at her husband before walking to the door and opening it.
"Oh my gosh...it's a walk-in-closet!" she clapped her hands in joy. The closet was wide and was divided into two sides, one for her and one for him.
"You like it?" he asked leaning against the door.
"Like it? I love it!" she yelled and threw her arms around his neck before planting a kiss on him.
"Ready for the next part?" he asked after the kiss.
"Yes," she answered.
"Take a look in that door over," he motioned with his head over shoulder to the door in the opposite corner.
When she opened the door, it swung open to reveal a bathroom with an enormous tub. The colors were her favorite and the ceiling featured a skylight. The light from the moon was pouring in and bouncing off the silver-colored fixtures. If you could call a bathroom majestic, this one was it.
"When do we get to take a bath in that?" Alicia asked and Nathaniel just laughed.
"When they hook up the water next week darling," he drawled and kissed her. "Ready to see that last door?"
"God yes," she answered and ran out of the bathroom. She opened the final door to reveal a beautiful deck with chairs and a bottle of chilling champagne. "Nathaniel," she whispered. "It's perfect."
"I'm glad you like it," he said wrapping his arms around her waist. "Would you like a drink?"
"Yes, but let's take this inside and try out that bed," she said coyly.
"We can definitely do that," he answered.
The End