"Good night, guys" Elizabeth nodded at her DS agents as they shut the door behind her. A thud rang through the entry way as she dropped her bag and kicked off her heels, the discarded bag stopped them from rolling across the floor.
Three days. Elizabeth had spent the last three days with her staff, holed up in her office dealing with one crisis after another. Sometimes she felt she spent more time with them than her own family. The whole endeavor had been deflating, and it felt so good to be home at a decent hour. Elizabeth was exhausted, but so glad she'd be able to see Henry and the kids before everyone went to sleep. She couldn't wait to climb into bed herself, but she would try to be present with the kids and Henry; at least for a little while before she ran out of steam.
Elizabeth's ears perked up at the jubilant sound of her family's boisterous voices, and she followed it toward the kitchen. She leaned against the doorframe, taking in the scene. All three of her children were sitting at the table with their father, erupting into fits of laughter at a story someone just told. Smiling at the scene, she wished she would have gotten there thirty seconds sooner to hear the punchline.
Henry took a swig of his beer as he jokingly shook his head in disbelief at the story Alison just told the family. Elizabeth took in his facial expressions as he listened to their daughter's story. She was so lucky to have him in her life.
Ah, the drama and peril of young adulthood- to be that young again, Henry thought to himself as he leaned forward, elbows on the table, continuing to listen to Alison, Stevie and Jason tell stories about their day. His mind wandered to Elizabeth. He and the kids missed her when she wasn't able to come home. They had texted earlier and she thought she was finally going to be able to get away from the office tonight. Elizabeth should be home soon, he thought to himself. It had been quiet at the house this week. The kids had all had busy weeks and hadn't been home much. He had taken the opportunity of everyone being home tonight to cook dinner. Everyone except Elizabeth. He sighed to himself and looked up at the clock to look at the time. She should be...
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught her leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen watching them. A wide smile lit up his face as he realized she was finally home.
"Hey babe!" He beamed as he jumped up from his chair to greet her.
"Mom! Hi!" All three of her children joyfully shouted in unison as they saw their mother in the doorway of the kitchen.
They watched as their father greeted her.
"I missed you" he whispered into her ear as he enveloped her in a hug.
Still holding on to each other, she pulled back to take him in. God, I miss them so much when I'm gone, Elizabeth thought to herself as she felt her husband's arms around her. "I missed you, too," she smiled at him as she leaned up to greet him.
Yet another reason to despise those heels. She loved their height difference when she wasn't wearing her heels. After almost 30 years, she loved being able to reach up on her tip-toes and kiss him. They shared a sweet moment before she leaned around him to greet her children.
"Hi guys! I need to know all about your weeks!" She beamed, still holding on to Henry as long as she could as she walked toward the cabinet to find a wine glass.
She was thankful for her sudden second wind as she sat down at the table with her wine, listening to her children as Henry sat a plate of lasagna in front of her.
Elizabeth ate and listened to her children tell her about their weeks. How were they all so grown up? Weren't they just dropping Jason off for kindergarten like, yesterday? She poured herself some more wine and finished the last few bites of her lasagna. Her eyes took in each of her children sitting around the table. They could be doing so many other things, but they chose to be sitting around their table with their parents and actually talking. Henry, who had positioned himself in the seat next to her, reached under the table, grabbed her hand and began to rhythmically run his thumb back and forth over her hand.
One by one, the kids bid their good nights to their parents as they retreated to their rooms to study and Elizabeth was sure, in Jason's case, to play video games. After all the kids had disappeared upstairs, Henry stood and took her plate, heading toward the sink to finish the dinner dishes. Elizabeth followed him to the sink, and they fell into their usual after dinner routine, washing the dinner dishes in silence. They finished loading the dishwasher and washed and dried the extra dishes, touching hips and brushing hands. Henry reached behind her, wanting to grab a towel from the other side of the sink. Instead of picking up the towel, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and placed a kiss to her hair. "I'm so glad you were able to come home tonight." Drying her hands, she turned to face him so he could kiss her properly. "Me too. You want to know something? I love not wearing heels standing next to you. Because I get to do this", she smiled, reaching up to kiss her husband.
Henry let out a laugh at her confession. "Well, in that case, maybe it's time to ditch the heels altogether?" he joked, letting her go to wipe down the counter with the towel he grabbed earlier. "Come on, babe, you look exhausted. Let's go to bed". Henry draped his arm around his wife's shoulder, and led her upstairs. Stifling a yawn, Elizabeth grasped his hand resting on her shoulder and kissed it as they walked up the stairs together.
Yep, she really liked not wearing heels.
