A/N: Another family fic, sort of. This is something I wanted to do, it turned out a little different than my original idea but nevermind. Hope you like it! The song lyrics are from Carly Simon's song "Coming Around Again." The title comes from a quote by Terence (amantes sunt amentes "Lovers Are Lunatics"), I thought it fit...
Lovers Are Lunatics
~*~
You pay the grocer
Fix the toaster
Kiss the host Good-bye
Then you break a window
Burn the Soufflé
Scream the lullaby
~*~
Jackie was frazzled.
It had been another of those days with the children. The weather had been foul which had put Jimmy in a bad mood as he had had his heart set on playing football in the backyard. Nerys had been in a similar mood since she hadn't slept for long enough the night before and even Katrina had been difficult, taking much longer than normal to get to sleep.
To make matters worse, it was their anniversary and Michael had forgotten.
She sighed as she sat down on the couch and Nelson, now fully grown, came padding into the room. At least he was now toilet trained, she mused as he sat down by her knee so she could scritch him behind the ears.
"Michael's still working," she sighed, " and the kids are – finally – asleep, so I guess it's just you and me," she said looking down at Nelson, who looked up at her with big brown eyes.
Jackie sighed again and curled up in the corner of the couch, "This is not how I planned on spending my wedding anniversary," she muttered, telling herself that she wasn't going to cry.
Nelson bumped her hand with his nose and looked at her pitifully; Jackie gave a small laugh as she patted his head. "I'm glad we bought you, Nelson," she told him, leaning forward slightly to take his face in both of her hands, "it's nice having someone else around."
Nelson wagged his tail in response and licked her face. Jackie laughed as she wiped the doggy saliva off her face with the back of her hand. "Yuck," she said, shaking her head, "that had better not be the only kiss I get tonight," she said darkly, "or someone is going to be in even more trouble."
Nelson cocked his head a little to the side and Jackie patted his head again as she got to her feet, "I think this calls for some chocolate," she informed him, making her way to the kitchen.
A few minutes later Jackie returned, with Nelson in tow, carrying a bad of M&Ms and a mug of hot chocolate. "Now let's see what's on TV," Jackie said, flopping back down on the couch and turning on the TV.
She stopped at a rerun of her favourite sitcom and settled back against the couch cushions with her chocolate. Nelson took his place on the floor next to couch, hoping to catch any M&Ms that might come his way.
Jackie woke with a start at the sound of the front door opening; she rubbed her eyes and looked at the clock: 2AM.
Nelson, who had also been startled out of his snooze, disappeared to investigate, growling softly. She didn't need to hear his yelp of greeting to know that it was Michael.
"You're still up?" Michael asked in surprise as he came into the lounge.
Jackie shook her head, "I fell asleep watching TV," Jackie told him.
Something in her tone made him pause, "Long day?" he asked cautiously.
"You could say that," she replied shortly.
"Care to elaborate?" he asked.
"All right," she agreed, "your son was in a bad mood all day because it was raining and he couldn't go outside and play." Michael winced slightly at her words, the kids were only ever 'his' when they had been difficult, he braced himself for the rest. "And your daughters weren't in a bad mood, but were just...difficult."
Michael nodded, trying to think of how this could be his fault; the kids had been difficult before but this time he was pretty sure he was also in trouble. "Have I done something to upset you?" he asked nervously.
"Upset? Me? Noo..." Jackie said sarcastically, "why should I be upset that my husband forgot our anniversary?" she demanded.
Michael suppressed a smile and came up to hug her, she moved away, "Jackie, honey, I didn't forget our anniversary," he told her. She glowered at him, "Our anniversary's tomorrow," he glanced at the clock, "well, today," he amended.
"Yesterday was the fourth," she said tersely.
Michael shook his head, "No, honey, today is the fourth," he told her, picking up a nearby newspaper to prove it.
Jackie lost all of her anger, "Oh," she said sheepishly.
This time Jackie allowed Michael to pull her into an embrace, "I'm sorry," she mumbled into his chest, still feeling guilty.
She felt Michael's rumble of laughter, "That's all right," he told her seriously, pulling away slightly so he could look into her eyes, "if I had forgotten you would have had every right to be angry." He gave her a smug grin, "At least this way I know you haven't forgotten," he teased and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"I was going to surprise you, but you may as well know now," Michael began after a long moment. Jackie looked at him questioningly, "Robbie and Stuart will be coming to babysit tomorrow night and you and I are going to have a nice dinner and then spend the night in a hotel. No kids, just us," he told her.
Jackie twined her arms about his neck, "It's moments like these that I remember why I love you," she told him.
Michael grinned, "I hope you don't forget very often."
Jackie giggled, "I don't," she promised and she kissed him.
They stayed like that for a long moment, until Nelson decided he had been neglected for long enough and made his presence known by forcing himself between them.