Walking into his home at midnight on a Friday, Michael was exhausted. He had just spent the past 14 hours poring over the blueprints of a new apartment complex that his firm had been working on. Michael, along with two other structural engineers, had spent the better part of the week planning and reviewing every detail relating to this assignment, working tirelessly to have it done and they still just barely made their deadline. Needless to say, he was in need of some much needed rest.

Entering the two-story house that overlooked the ocean, Michael was met by silence, which he welcomed greatly. He stepped into the kitchen, taking off his jacket, folding it neatly and then hanging it on the back of a chair. On the kitchen table sat a plate covered by another plate with a light blue sticky note on it. Michael picked up the small piece of paper and read it.

Hope you had a good day :) I'm taking a quick nap and because you love me, I know you'll wake me up when you get home so I can eat these brownies with you. Also, there's a pizza in the fridge, pleaaaaase put it in the oven. -xo Sara

Grinning, Michael picked up the top plate to reveal a batch of perfectly baked brownies - Sara's specialty and one of his biggest weaknesses. He carefully picked one up before putting the plate back down and heading to the fridge, taking out the aforementioned pizza and placing it into the oven. After setting it to 450 degrees, he picked up his jacket and proceeded up the stairs and into the bedroom where a head of reddish-brown hair poked out from under their duvet. Michael smiled, watching his wife sleeping so peacefully, and he really just wanted to crawl into bed next to her, pull her into his arms and fall asleep to the rhythm of her breathing. He probably would have on a normal night but he knew Sara hadn't had dinner because she'd been waiting for him...plus brownies and pizza were waiting for them downstairs. So, he quickly grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and went to change out of his work clothes, allowing Sara another few minutes of sleep. When he came back, he went around to the other side of the bed and sat on the edge, stroking her hair gently, watching her stir but not wake up. He bent down and gently kissed her forehead and she stirred again, her lips forming into a smile as her eyes fluttered open. She smiled sleepily, her hazel eyes focusing on him as shereached her arms up, bringing them around his neck and pulling him down, pressing her lips against his.

He kissed her back and then pulled away, smiling. "Hey there, sleepyhead."

"Hey yourself," she replied, as he pulled her into a sitting position. She peered at the clock on her night table, noticing the numbers that read 12:11. "Long day, huh?"

"Very. But my work is done and now I'm home with the most important person in my life," he said, pressing his lips to her temple. He then leaned in and whispered"And, more importantly, there is a batch of brownies and a pizza waiting downstairs for us."

"Good point!" Sara yawned, yawning. "Let's go."

"Are you awake enough to make it down the stairs on your own?" Michael teased.

Sara smiled, shaking her head. "I don't think I am. But that's not a problem because I have this amazingly strong husband that can carry me." She winked, reached her arms out and Michael chuckled, turning around and bending down so she could climb onto his back. Securing his arms around her legs as she wrapped her arms around his neck, he carried her down the stairs and into the kitchen, her laughter tickling his neck.

Once downstairs, he put her down on the counter and turned around, standing between her legs as he pressed his lips against hers.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" he asked, moving his hands from her the back of her neck and into her hair.

"Well, I did just get out of bed..." Sara said with a laugh.

"And you're still the most beautiful woman I've ever seen in my life," Michael replied.

Sara smiled, looking at him oddly. "You already had a brownie, didn't you?"

Michael laughed. "Maybe."

Sara nodded, running a hand over his head and then hopping off the counter. "You taste like them." She pressed a light kiss to his shoulder and then turned around to take the pizza out of the oven. Michael grabbed two plates from the cabinet along with two glasses, filling them with water and putting them on the table. Sara placed the steaming pizza on the table, cutting it into slices and then putting a slice on each of their plates. They sat down and started eating while discussing their days - Sara had spent hers at the hospital where she worked, having come home a couple hours before her husband and Michael had spent his day at the firm, finalizing details for his project.

After devouring the pizza, they went straight for the batch of brownies. Michael went to the fridge and grabbed a can of whip cream, tossing it to Sara, who practically sprayed a mountain of the white cream all over the brownies. They ate the dessert with cups of milk and somehow managed to get whip cream and brownie crumbs all over themselves. At one point, Michael took the spray can and sprayed it directly into his mouth while Sara laughed, telling him that, what he was doing was, in medical terms, "so unhealthy." In response, Michael sprayed her with whip cream and she shrieked, wiping it off her face and throwing the blob of cream back at him, running away.

They fought with whip cream for the better part of a half hour. It came to an end when Michael yawned and Sara grabbed the whip cream from his hands, pouring it into his open mouth. Michael had gone to retaliate but it turned out the can was now empty and they were in a kitchen that had the sweet cream on every surface. Looking at the clock, Sara realized it was nearing 3am.

"Well..." she started, looking around at the mess. "..it appears we have two options. We could either start cleaning up sleep through our day off...or we could ignore the mess and go to bed because it's 3am."

Michael looked between the mess and Sara, wanting to choose the second option, especially because his exhaustion had suddenly come back full-force. But, being the obsessively neat and organized man that he was, he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep knowing there was a huge mess left behind. Sighing, he gave Sara an apologetic smile and then reached for a cloth, tossing it to her before going to get a mop.

"Think we can finish this in an hour?" Michael asked, re-entering the kitchen with the mop in his hand.

Sara yawned, shaking her head. "Absolutely not."

Michael smiled. "I don't know, I think we could pull it off."

"No way, Scofield." Sara said, wiping down the counter.

"How about a bet?" Michael asked. "If this kitchen isn't clean by...4:06am, you can have the last brownie."

"Done," Sara said, grinning. "You might as well just give me the brownie now."

"Don't get cocky, Tancredi." Michael teased.

Sara shrugged, reaching for her phone and putting on some music. "Let's do this."

At 4:04am, Michael wiped the last of the whipped cream off the table and quickly went to the sink, washing out the cloth. Throwing it triumphantly down, he turned to his wife with a very smug expression on his face.

"2 minutes to spare. Well done." Sara said, impressed. She went to the table and picked up the plate with the last brownie, taking it over to her husband. "I guess you deserve this," she said, picking up the brownie and feeding him a bite. He smiled, enjoying the taste of the crispy, chewy chocolate baked good. "Mmmmmmmm."

"I really hope you enjoyed that," Sara said, smiling as she popped the rest of the brownie into her mouth. Michael's eyes widened and he shouted "Cheater!" through a full mouth.

Sara shrugged, giggling. "I told you I wasn't a nice girl."

Michael launched himself at her, tackling her against the wall. She laughed as his hands grasped her hips and he pressed his lips to hers. A moment later, when they broke apart, he smiled, his lips inches from hers.

"The brownie tastes much better on you," he whispered.

"Good," Sara replied, pulling him back, pressing their lips together once more.

When they pulled back again, Michael stepped back, letting Sara stand without the wall pressed against her back. He yawned and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Time for bed?"

Sara nodded, yawning too as she noticed the clock now read 4:17. "Definitely."

Just a little idea that popped into my head. Hope you all enjoyed. Reviews are welcome :)