Prompt: Every Saturday possible, Elizabeth & Henry always enjoy a lazy morning in bed together. Today, Henry is surprised to find Elizabeth gone before he woke up, leaving no note or text explaining that something came up...but she has been going non-stop for so long that she literally just forgot what day it is.

Sunlight was streaming into the McCord family home; or what was slowly becoming it, anyway. None of them quite thought of it as home yet, but they were all getting there. They were adjusting, settling in, just as Henry had always thought they would. Elizabeth was adjusting, too, sinking her teeth into her new job and the imortance that came with the role. It was something she seemed to slip into easily, but Henry was the one who saw the true behind-the-scenes Elizabeth, and he knew it had been harder for her than she had let on. Moving to DC, uprooting their kids and starting a new life all while bieng thrust into the spotlight had not been natural for Elizabeth, who was by nature introspective. Still, she had handled it with immense grace, as Henry had known she would. And now they were settling. The weight of the world was on her shoulders now more often than not, but she was still Elizabeth, his Elizabeth, and things were okay. This job- it seemed- was working out well for all of them in some sense, despite the bumbs in the road that they'd already endured and the many more that were sure to come ahead.

But on this, a Saturday morning, Henry was not going to think about the weight of the world or even about the job. Just Elizabeth. Because on Saturdays, they always made a point to be with each other, to really be, to exist in the same bed sharing the same space and trading kisses and laughing. It was Henry's favorite time of the week. There were, of course, Saturdays that did not unfold that way, and he admitted there had been more as of late. But they always made sure to let the other know if something would prevent this weekend tradition, and the night before Elizabeth had said nothing of the sort. Henry couldn't say he wasn't surprised- she had been working on a project almost nonstop lately, so he'd been half expecting a rain check for this weekend, but had been delightedly surprised when nothing happened.

Now, sunshine streaming in through the beige blinds on the window, Henry rolled over against the warm, soft sheets, the comfortable temperature of the bed and the room a balm against his closed eyelids, and he reached, as usual, for Elizabeth.

But the bed was empty.

His bubble of warmth burst, Henry opened his eyes into the dim room, and found that he was alone. Slowly, his dreams of this Saturday morning tradition drained away as he looked around in confusion. Elizabeth had somehow slipped away, leaving him asleep, which was baffling enough, but surely there would be a note. He pushed himself up and looked around, scouring the floor and the bed and the pillows and nightstands, only to come up empty-handed. No note. And when he remembered what century they were in now, and checked his texts instead, he found nothing there either.

Dismayed and confused, Henry looked around once more and sighed, before throwing back the blankets and heading for the bathroom, supposing that he'd make breakfast and sort out Saturday on his own.

Elizabeth, meanwhile, had been in her office all morning. She had risen quite early, even more so than usual, and arrived at the State Department before any of her seventh floor colleagues, an unusual but not unheard of occurrence, and she had not moved from her desk since then. So consumed was she with her work that she failed to notice their absence; in fact, she failed to notice much of anything at all. It was not until nearly lunchtime that Elizabeth even considered picking up her cell phone, and it was then that she saw a text from Henry.

"Missed Saturday with you. Hope you're okay. H"

Saturday?

Saturday?

Elizabeth exited the app and swiped to her lock screen, where the date was displayed prominently on the screen.

Saturday.

She thought of Henry, whom she'd left asleep in the dark that morning, waking up and finding the bed empty, and her heart sank. How could she have completely forgotten it was Saturday? What day had she thought it was? She wasn't even sure. She dropped her head into her hands on the desk and sighed. But another look at her phone, and she was onto something, the gears in her head whirring as they so often were.

A moment later, she had seized her jacket and she was out of her office, half-finished work still on her desk.

When she arrived at home under an hour later- impressive by its own standard in DC traffic- Henry was in his office. He had tried to put it out of his mind, making a good breakfast and settling down to work on some leisure reading and a little note-taking for his next book. He thought of Elizabeth often throughout the morning, and hoped it had not been anything too serious which took her away that morning, but for the most part he worked and glanced intermittently at the clock. So engrossed in his book, he jumped a little at the click of the door, but when he looked up he was filled immediately with warmth at the sight of his wife, in her work clothes but bearing a takeout tray with coffees and a brown paper bag.

"Hi," she said. He spread out his arms and grinned at her.

"She returns," he teased.

"Oh, Henry, I'm so sorry," Elizabeth groaned as she slipped out of her heels with practiced movements and left them in the foyer to join him there in the office. Henry had risen to greet her, with his familiar hands on her shoulders and a kiss against her lips that felt so much like home even in its routine.

"It's okay," he answered. "Is everything alright over there?"

Elizabeth didn't dwell on it, but she couldn't help but think how much she hated that he knew it was work which had taken her attention from him.

"Yes," she answered, a little sheepish. "You want to know something crazy and bad?"

Henry chuckled lightly.

"Do I?" he asked as he leaned back casually against his desk.

"I forgot what day it was," Elizabeth said, sounding vaguely anguished and appalled with herself. Henry couldn't help but laugh.

"Henry," she admonished. "It's not funny, I'm going crazy."

"No," Henry laughed. "Of course not."

"Well, I don't even know which day I did believe we were in," she said, with a touch of finality as if it were the damning evidence of her insanity.

"It's fine, babe," Henry said. "What's in that bag?"

"Aren't you mad?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, but I can be if it'll make you give me what's in the bag."

Now, it was Elizabeth's turn to laugh. Henry had always had that effect on her; she could almost feel her shoulders relaxing just by standing there with him.

"Well, I thought I'd make amends and maybe save our Saturday," she answered.

"I'm all for that," Henry began. "If it involves what's in the bag."

"Henry," she laughed. "It's pain au chocolat, here."

"Yes," Henry said, taking the bag from her. "You're forgiven."

"Easy sell," she answered.

He grinned at her, bright and familiar and warm.

And she couldn't help but kiss him.

"I'm gonna go change," she said. "And then I'll come back and we can totally revive Saturday."

"What if I come upstairs with you instead?" Henry suggested.

"I can't say I'd complain," Elizabeth shrugged. "But are you sure you're willing to leave the pain au chocolat?"

"What pain au chocolat?" Henry asked, and Elizabeth laughed, and chasing each other up the stairs, the loss of the morning suddenly didn't seem so pressing.