November 10, 2022
Five year old Lily knew she shouldn't be doing this, but she couldn't help herself. She had been asleep, snug in her bed, when she heard the music and she wanted to see if Mommy and Daddy were dancing again. She took her favorite Mets blanket with her and tip-toed down the hall to the perfect spot to watch the action.
She loved to dance, and Daddy would dance with her whenever she asked, and so did Mommy and Alexis and Gram. And she was the one who taught Grandpa the Macarena, and he would dance that with her all the time. Even Jake and Reece, her little brothers, would bounce around when she danced. She loved it when Daddy would pick a fast song from his iPod and twirl her around and around. He called it "exercise" and they would laugh and laugh when they got dizzy. Mommy would smile and tell Daddy not to make Lily sick, but Daddy knew she loved how the room spun around her.
But there was a different feeling in her when she watched Mommy and Daddy dance. First, the music was a slow song. So they weren't spinning around and getting dizzy. No, they were holding each other very close, almost like they were hugging. Mommy had her head next to Daddy's neck. Lily did that when she was tired and Daddy would carry her to bed. She liked how Daddy smelled – like books and coffee and just like Daddy. Mommy must like that too, because when they danced slow she always put her head right in that spot.
And Daddy must like it, because as they danced, he would kiss the top of Mommy's head. Daddy did that to Lily sometimes. He would kiss her and then put her in her bed, and make sure the covers were just right. (And he always made sure she had her favorite stuffed animal there too.) If Lily looked in the right direction, she could see Daddy smile right before he kissed Mommy.
Mommy must not be wearing her high heel shoes because she wasn't as tall as Daddy right now. Lily knew Mommy always wore her heels when she went to work because she could hear the tap tap tap of the shoes on the floor. When she heard that noise in the morning, it made her kind of sad because that meant Mommy wasn't going to be home anymore. But when she heard it at night, that sound made her happy – those taps were saying "Mommy's home, Mommy's home!" She could tell that Jake and Reece liked it too, because they would laugh. And Daddy would get a big smile on his face when he heard it. Mommy would step out of her shoes and then she wouldn't be as tall as Daddy, but she didn't care. She'd kiss him and smile when Lily and Jake and Reece wanted her attention.
And now Lily smiled as she watched her mommy and daddy dance. They were so close to each other and she felt that warm happy feeling inside. In front of them, she would pretend that their kissing and hugging made her unhappy, but it was the opposite: she loved when they kissed each other. She loved watching her daddy smile that slow smile and put out his hand to her mommy and then say: "Care to dance, Kate?" And she loved when her mommy would put her hand into her daddy's hand and smile and say, "I would love to, Rick."
Sometimes when they danced, her mommy would sing to daddy. Mommy had a great singing voice, and Lily loved it whenever she sang to her. She remembered when she was sick, how her mommy would snuggle her and sing all her favorite songs until she'd fall asleep. And when they went on car rides to the Hamptons, Mommy would make them all sing and that made the trip go faster. Gram said Mommy had a voice like an angel and she thought Lily did too. That made Lily very proud.
And Daddy had a good voice too. But he didn't sing slow songs to them; no, when she and Jake and Reece were with Daddy, he liked to make up silly songs. He would sing about how they should eat their vegetables and how they should brush their teeth. Sometimes, he would let them make up words to songs too, and they'd all laugh. But Daddy would sing sweet songs to Mommy when they danced together when they thought everybody was asleep. Mommy would put her head on his shoulder and he would sing close to her ear. That only made Mommy smile, so it must not tickle her like it tickled Lily.
Like right now, Daddy was singing along to the music from his iPhone. He wasn't singing very loudly, but Lily could hear him. "Oh, you're in my veins, and I cannot get you out." When he stopped singing, he and Mommy would smile at each other and Lily could even hear Mommy say, "It's perfect." And then Daddy said, "It was perfect then and it's still perfect." Lily's eyes were getting heavy, so she tugged her blanket around her, and closed her eyes.
So she didn't see her mom look up at her and smile and tell her dad, "Look – our audience fell asleep!" with a soft laugh. And she didn't see her dad smile at her mom and take her hand. Together, they walked up the stairs, Daddy picked her up and together, they tucked her back in bed. They each kissed her forehead and made sure she was covered. And since they were upstairs, they looked in on Jake and Reece. They shared a tender look as they had to tuck both boys into bed too. They walked downstairs hand in hand, and once again, shared an anniversary dance.
A/N: I really wanted to post something for FanFiction Tuesday, but nothing I wrote made any sense. Then this popped into my head on my walk to the train station last night, but I didn't get it done in time. It's just as well, because after yesterday, I need sappy. And if you've read my stuff before, I mostly write sappy. So Happy Anniversary Rick and Kate!