Hi guys! You may have noticed my absence for the last couple of days. If you follow me on tumblr, you know that I was touring a college in DC (! the Madam Secretary feels were real) that I've absolutely fallen in love with. I'm home now so it's back to business as usual. Enjoy!
Prompt: Elizabeth overhears Henry talking to the children about her.
Elizabeth slipped as quietly as possible into the house. She leaned back against the taupe curtains that shielded her home from the outside world, letting out a near-silent breath. The curtains, she thought, hadn't been doing such a fantastic job lately at keeping the world outside from infiltrating the little haven she and Henry had attempted to create for their family. Things had been tense- the kids had busy schedules, and that was nothing next to the seemingly never ending list of responsibilities that Elizabeth was incurring as Secretary of State. Henry, too, had increasing responsibilities, and as much as they both tried to pretend it wasn't, the whole thing had been putting a strain on them. Now, Elizabeth just closed her eyes, hoping against hope that tonight would be different; that no one would get called away, that there would be no fighting, that she could catch a glimpse of the marriage that they'd built together, one based on a foundation of fierce, endless love and devotion to one another. She just wanted to sink into them, for one night.
Even so, she moved forward with caution. She started by silently slipping out of her heels, laying her coat over the back of the hallway chair, putting her bag down on the shining hardwood floors without a sound. She headed up the stairs in silence as well, still unsure as to where her family was. As much as she wanted to see them, her first priority was to get out of her work clothes. It had been a long day, and all Elizabeth could think about was getting out of the restrictive material of her tie blouse and dress pants, discarding her blazer and slipping into a sweatshirt and yoga pants. That was exactly what she did, and then she stopped before the bathroom mirror to wipe away the makeup that she'd applied that morning. Her eyes burned as she swiped the makeup remover over her skin, but she blinked away the feeling and then, vision cleared, headed downstairs again. Her bare feet made very little sound as she approached the opposite staircase from the one she'd ascended a few minutes earlier. As she reached the top of the stairs, the first sounds of the house reached her ears. It was Henry's voice, and she registered it immediately even though she couldn't hear what he was saying. The cadence, the rhythm, the tone; it was all as familiar to her as the lines of her own face in the mirror. She could have picked it out of any lineup, after nearly thirty years of sweet nothings and quiet laughter and soft I love you's. She descended another two steps and then leaned against the wall, as of yet unnoticed by the four people that were sitting at the kitchen table. She closed her eyes, intending to just take it in for a moment, and then, focus shifted, she realized she could hear his words clearly now.
"-from very early on," he was saying.
"But she's so stubborn," Stevie marveled, and Henry laughed.
"She is that," he agreed. "You know, guys, that's one of the things I love most about your mom."
"Why?" alison asked. Henry sighed.
"Well," he began, and she heard a creak. She could almost see it; the kids watching their dad attentively, Henry leaning back in the chair at the head of the table. "I guess the simplest way to say it is that it makes her who she is. Just like every other piece of her."
There was a moment of quiet, and Elizabeth was about to move, but then Jason spoke up.
"You guys have been fighting," he said, and his voice was uncharacteristically quiet. There was a soft click; Henry had set his glasses down on the table, and Elizabeth was waiting with bated breath to hear what her husband would say in response.
"Yeah," he agreed. "Couples fight, Jace." His tone was gentle, but not overly so. He did it expertly; enough softness to reassure without Jason feeling like he was being babied.
Well played, McCord.
"Not you guys," Alison chimed in, and Henry laughed. Elizabeth let a small smile flicker over her features; if only they knew.
"We do," Henry told her. "We always have. It's just...your mom and I handle things differently."
"Differently how?" Stevie inquired, her tone more curious than cautious like her siblings.
"I would do absolutely anything for your mother," Henry said softly, his voice having taken on a more serious note. Her heartbeat picked up in her chest and she found herself listening even more intently. "She's my whole universe, has been from the moment I met her. She's what keeps my feet on the ground. We have our disagreements, but at the end of the day…" Henry trailed off, and Elizabeth bit her lip.
"At the end of the day," he continued, "she's everything. I'd lay down my life for her in a heartbeat, and she would do the same for me. What your mom and I have is one in a million, guys. I can't even begin to tell you how I got this lucky, but somehow I did. No amount of fighting is going to end that. Not ever."
Elizabeth could feel tears prickling at the back of her eyes.
"I hope someday I can find what you and Mom have," Stevie said, and when Henry spoke again, Elizabeth could hear the smile in his voice.
"Me too, honey."
Elizabeth descended the stairs then, and the whole family looked up at her. The kids moved on from their conversation with Henry quickly, but as she met her husband's eyes, she knew that he hadn't. She greeted her children as the normal chaos of the house resumed, but then she moved toward Henry, and he rose to meet her, their bodies coming together in the middle of the kitchen as she collided with his solid form. His arms were wrapped around her instantly, warm and familiar. Elizabeth nestled her head into the curve of his neck, sighing contentedly. There was something about being in his arms that had never failed to make her feel safe and secure. Even if they were in the middle of a fight, Henry's arms around her could take it all away, even if only temporarily. Now, his words of love for her echoed in her head and she smiled slightly, pressing a light kiss to the tender flesh just under his collar. He suppressed a shiver, and she felt it, smiling to herself as she looked up at him, love shining clearly in her eyes.
"Hi," he murmured, his hand moving to drape casually on her hip as he held her close to him.
"Hi," she replied.
"How much of that did you hear?" he asked against the shell of her ear.
Elizabeth smiled, leaning into him.
"I love you, Henry McCord," she said simply, and when he pressed his lips to her forehead, she knew that that was enough of an answer for him.
"Love you, too," he said softly, and she sighed, not making a single movement to disentangle herself from his embrace; after all, they had all night to sink into them.
