Thanks to Claire_grady143 for the inspiration for this snapshot (go check out her stories). She's been sending me a few ideas (I highly recommend/support others doing the same — although no promises on use) and this is directly from one she sent me earlier this week. Yay! And for once it's not super short. :)

Splish Splash, I Was Taking a Bath

Claire lit the final candle before blowing out the match and setting it on the counter near her sink. As she dimmed the lights and closed the bathroom door, she was starting to feel the stress of the week beginning to melt away. Shrugging out of her robe, she hung it on a hook and then carefully lowered into the bathtub with a satisfied sigh.

This. This is what she'd needed. A hot bath, made with her favourite bath bomb, surrounded by candles, and, best of all, silence.

For once there was no one yelling across the house. No sound of feet pounding down the stairs or throughout the hallways. No TV or music blaring. No dog barking. No banging of metal from Owen working on his bike or the steady thrum of the treadmill. It had been too long, she realized, since she'd had an evening like this. She really needed to figure out how to make this happen more often.

Tonight, she'd lucked out because Maisie had been invited over for a sleepover. Normally, when that happened, Claire and Owen would try to plan some sort of "date night" activity — even if it often ended up just being staying in and watching a movie with take out. But Owen had been super busy with meetings of his own all week, and Murphy had ended up being left home alone during the day a couple of times, to the dog's complete and utter disappointment. So when Owen had mentioned wanting to take Murphy out for a longer walk that evening and maybe even over to the nearby dog park for a bit, Claire had been more than happy to agree.

She'd spent the first bit of time after they'd left finishing up a few final work tasks, wanting them done so she'd be able to relax without having anything hanging over her. It had felt like a huge weight off her shoulders when she'd finally closed her laptop and pushed away from her desk. It really was too bad that weekends were only two days long.

But, none of that mattered now, as she lay submerged, watching the candlelight flicker off the ceiling, the hot water making her drowsy. No, at the moment, it was just her.

Claire wasn't sure how long she'd stayed there — the water was still warm, but no longer hot — when she realized she could hear the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She must have drifted off, she thought, as she hadn't heard the garage door or Owen and Murphy arriving home.

"Claire?" She heard Owen shout her name.

"I'm in the bathroom," she shouted back. "Did you have a good walk?" She didn't wait for Owen to answer, before continuing. "I'm having a bath, but I'm almost done. Or…" she paused as she contemplated for a second, before sitting up and reaching for the faucet, turning the tap on. "Actually," she continued, raising her voice to be heard over the sound of the rushing water, "you should come join me. It's been a while since we've done that."

A sound at the bathroom door had her finally turning her attention away from the tap and towards it, watching as the handle turned and the door was pushed inwards. However, she had barely two seconds to grasp what she was seeing, before there was a giant SPLASH, as Murphy rushed into the room and took a flying leap directly into the bathtub, sending water up and over the sides of the tub.

Claire couldn't help but let out a scream, scrambling for purchase on the sides of the tub as Murphy spun in a circle a couple of times before stopping and leaping towards her, causing a small tsunami of water to rush across the tub and into Claire's face, leaving her gasping. Giving her a happy bark, Murphy's tongue did a quick swipe over her face before Claire managed to fully sit up and push the dog backwards, one of her hands reaching for the tap, turning the water off.

Murphy sat down and stared at her, submerged up to his chest and his tail wagging furiously causing the water to continue to swirl about the tub, while Claire just stared at the dog in disbelief. Finally, she raised a hand to swipe away the water that was now dripping down her face.

"Whoa!"

The sound of Owen's voice from the doorway had Claire turning her head slowly to look at him. She was still so stunned, she wasn't quite sure how to react. The moment her eyes met his, however, he let out a huge laugh. Immediately, she could feel her eyes narrowing and her shoulders rising.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Owen gasped out, raising his hands in the air. "But you should see yourself. You look like a drowned rat."

"I look like what?" Claire asked, her tone icy, a glare settling across her face.

Owen opened his mouth as if to respond, before snapping it shut, seemingly realizing whatever he was about to say wasn't going to make things better. Instead, he turned his attention from her to the dog, "Murphy, when I said you needed a bath, I didn't mean you should join Claire. C'mon, get out of there."

Murphy let out a loud woof, before leaping out of the bathtub, sending another wave of water towards Claire as well as over the edge of the tub. Grimacing, Claire once again wiped away the water from her eyes, before Owen's words hit her.

Wait a second… She turned her attention more carefully towards Murphy who was now standing in the middle of the bathroom, just in time to see him start to shake.

"Nooo!" Owen cried out, but he was too late, the dog sending a spray of water arcing across the bathroom, as Claire raised her hands to protect her face. When she could no longer feel water droplets landing on her, she carefully lowered her hands, and once again took in Murphy, before her gaze jumped over to Owen, and then back to the dog, as she realized what she'd missed originally.

Mud. So much mud. Everywhere there was mud. On Owen. The bathroom floor. The counters. The mirror. The toilet. Everything was now covered in muddy droplets.

She looked down at her bath, and realized that the slightly pink-tinged water she'd been originally bathing in was now brown. Looking at her arms carefully, she could see muddy spots dotting the back of them from where she had used them to shield her face.

"You have got to be kidding me," Claire ground out through clenched teeth.

"I'm sorry," Owen apologized again. "There was a giant puddle at the park and…" he trailed off.

Claire just stared at him in disbelief for a moment before asking, "What is Murphy doing in the house?"

"He needs a bath," Owen pointed out the obvious.

"Right, but, oh god, don't tell me he's tracked mud all up the stairs and across the carpet?" Claire said, her voice horrified as she pictured what the house might look like.

"He got away from me," Owen replied a bit sheepishly. "He heard 'bath' and headed straight up the stairs before I could stop him."

At the sound of the word "bath", Murphy turned his attention back towards Claire and the bathtub. Thankfully, Owen leapt forward and grabbed at his collar before an enthusiastic Murphy could take another flying leap.

"You know," Owen said thoughtfully, looking from Claire to the dog and back again, "since you're already wet…"

Claire's jaw dropped, her previous disbelieving glare returning, her hands clutching tightly against the frame of the tub as her knuckles turned white.

"Or not," Owen quickly backtracked. "I can just take him to Maisie's bathroom."

"NO!" The force of Claire's response had even Murphy looking at her in surprise. "You're not messing up a second bathroom. Uh-uh." She shook her head, before looking around for her towel, only to realize it, like everything else in the bathroom, was now muddy. "No, you're going to get me a towel, and then I'm going to go use Maisie's bathroom and you… well, let's just say I'm not cleaning any of this up."

"Sure, no problem," Owen immediately agreed. He reached for Claire's towel that was draped on the edge of the bathroom counter and picked it up.

"Not that one," Claire hissed through gritted teeth. "One that isn't muddy."

"Right, right," Owen nodded. "Of course. I'll just…" He looked around the room for a second, before turning his gaze down to Murphy. "Murph, stay right here. I'll be right back."

Claire and Murphy watched as Owen retreated out of the bathroom before Murphy turned his attention back towards her, walking over to the side of the tub before placing his paws on the edge, giving her a hopeful look, his tail wagging.

"Ugh, fine," Claire finally caved. She'd never been able to resist Murphy's begging. "But no jumping," she said sternly, pointing her finger at the dog. He promptly gave it a quick lick.

She sighed and shifted in the tub, reaching for the plug and to let some of the water start to drain out. Murphy was still so covered in mud he was probably going to need a few rinses before it all came out.

Claire gestured for Murphy to climb back in, the dog happily joining her, immediately laying down in the water. She rolled her eyes in exasperation, but started to rub her hands over his fur, trying to free up the mud. She was going to have to add tonight to her list of things she'd never pictured herself ever doing.

It took Claire a few minutes before she realized that Owen should've been back by now. Looking up, she was only half surprised when she found him leaning against the doorframe, his arms full of towels, with the bottle of Murphy's doggy "shampoo" perched on top of it, as he watched.

When he finally realized he'd been caught, he moved into the bathroom, setting his stack down on the counter. The dirty counter, Claire mentally groaned to herself, but bit her tongue to keep from commenting.

"Towel?" Claire asked, and Owen obligingly grabbed one off the top of the stack. "Stay," Claire told Murphy firmly, before quickly climbing out of the tub and wrapping herself up in the clean towel. A towel that promptly became muddy, as she quickly wiped herself down, trying not to think of all the loads of laundry tonight was going to produce. Once she was mostly dry, she grabbed her (ugh, muddy) robe and slipped it on, tying it tightly around her waist. By the time she turned her attention back to the tub, Owen was kneeling beside it. He'd reached in and pulled the plug, and the dirty water was draining out. He was busy scrubbing Murphy down, trying to get the remaining mud off of him.

Closing her eyes briefly, Claire let out a resigned sigh before crossing over to the counter and picking up the bottle of doggy shampoo before crouching down next to Owen.

"I can do it," she offered, opening the cap and squeezing out some of the shampoo onto Murphy's back.

"Are you sure?" Owen asked hesitantly, looking from Murphy to Claire. "You don't have to. I really don't mind doing it."

Claire reached into the bathtub, massaging the soap into Murphy's fur. "I know, but Murphy prefers when I give him his baths, don't you?" She said the last bit to Murphy, who looked up at her, letting out a gentle woof, before his eyes drifted closed as Claire continued to massage him.

"Okay, well then I'll just," Owen paused, and then jerked his thumb towards the door when Claire looked over at him. "I'm going to start cleaning up out there. I'll do in here once you're finished."

She nodded, barely even noticing when Owen slipped out into the hallway, her attention already back on Murphy as she reached out and turned the faucet back on. "Let's get you all clean. No more mud in the house, please."

x x x

As Claire exited Maisie's bathroom, finally feeling completely clean, she could hear Owen moving about in their bedroom, talking to Murphy as he cleaned. She bypassed the bedroom and headed straight for the stairs, her arms loaded down with a bundle of now dirty towels.

After starting up a load of laundry, Claire looked briefly towards her office, before retreating into the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of wine which she took into the family room, settling down onto the couch with a sigh. What an evening.

She looked over at the TV, but didn't feel like she had the energy to turn it on. Instead she had a large sip of her wine, before grabbing the blanket that was in a heap on the couch and wrapping it around herself.

The sound of footsteps on the stairs had her glancing in that direction, just in time to see Murphy padding into view, his head down and tail between his legs. She watched as he walked into the family room, pausing at the couch and looking up at her morosely.

"Come on up," Claire told him, patting the spot beside her on the couch, and Murphy eagerly jumped up, cuddling in close to her and resting his head on her blanket covered thigh. As she reached out to pat him, he squirmed a bit, turning so his belly was exposed and Claire obligingly rubbed it.

"It's been a busy evening, hasn't it?" Claire asked Murphy, who just looked up at her from his position, a doggy grin on his face. "You're lucky you're a dog," she just said, as she took another sip of her wine, before setting the glass on the small table beside her. Leaning back, she let her eyes drift shut, comforted by the warmth of Murphy beside her.

A while later, Claire wasn't sure how long, she was awoken by Murphy sitting up beside her. She blinked her eyes open to see Owen walking into the room. "All done?" she asked, a question that morphed into a yawn.

"Yeah," Owen nodded. "I just changed the laundry over and started a second load." He came over to the couch, and looked down at Murphy. "Hey, Murph, can you scootch over?"

Claire had to stifle a grin as Murphy just moved closer to her, before lying back down, his head back on her thigh.

"Wrong direction," Owen groaned. He pointed at the opposite end of the couch. "C'mon, Murphy, move over."

Murphy didn't even flinch. Well, not until Owen reached for him, at which point Murphy bared his teeth, growling.

"Still holding a grudge, are you?" Owen said with an arched eyebrow, and Claire could no longer keep her grin to herself, as a snicker escaped as well. He let out a resigned sigh before flopping down onto the couch on the other side of Murphy.

"What'd you do, anyway?" Claire asked. "He came down earlier with his tail between his legs."

"I had to force him out of the bathroom while I was cleaning," Owen said. "Not only was he underfoot and getting in the way, I was worried he was going to end up all dirty again and I didn't want to have to give him another bath."

While Owen talked, Claire watched Murphy, who immediately looked over at her, trying to look innocent by the time Owen finished. "It's okay, Murph, we still love you," she told the dog. "But maybe no more muddy puddles for a while."

"I can't believe how tired I am," Owen commented a few minutes later. He had kicked his feet up to rest on the coffee table and had his eyes closed. Although he opened them briefly to glance down at his watch. "How is it only 8?"

"So much for date night," Claire replied as she picked up her glass of wine.

"We're getting old, aren't we?" he said, turning to look over at her.

"Hey, speak for yourself," she immediately shot back.

"Is this our life now? Sitting on the couch, too tired to even turn on the TV?" he asked.

"Did you have other plans?"

"Well, no," Owen admitted after a short pause. "But we should, shouldn't we? We don't get many nights to ourselves these days." He looked down at Murphy who had fallen asleep. "Although, I guess we're not really on our own now. But what about you? Did you have any plans for tonight?"

"I was going to suggest you join me, earlier," Claire said, "but Murphy put an end to that."

"We could now," Owen offered, his gaze darting towards the stairs.

"Ugh, no," Claire shook her head. "That mood is gone."

"Yeah," he agreed, although he did look slightly disappointed, before suddenly a thoughtful look crossed his face. "Oh, I know what we should do." He stood up and started out of the room, before pausing to turn back to her. "Wait here."

Claire listened as Owen moved about the house, hearing him exit into the garage briefly, before re-entering the house and then apparently going out into the backyard. She was intrigued what he was up to, but couldn't muster up the energy to actually get up and check. It wasn't long, though, before he returned to the family room, offering his hand to her.

"Okay, ready."

She carefully dislodged Murphy, before letting him pull her up. He grabbed the blanket she'd been wrapped up in in one hand, before leading her through the house and out to the backyard.

"Ta-da," Owen said as they stepped outside, gesturing towards a newly setup hammock that was now taking up space along one side of the yard. "I know we've talked about getting one a few times, so I finally picked this up a couple of weeks ago but then forgot about it."

"You were supposed to get one last spring," Claire reminded him, teasingly, but she followed after him to the hammock anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, life got busy," Owen waved his hand dismissively at her as he climbed into the hammock first, before Claire joined him. He spread the blanket over them, as she cuddled in closer. There was a slight chill to the evening air.

For a few minutes the two lay there contentedly.

"Not such a bad date night after all," Claire said, tilting her head up to press a kiss to Owen's jaw.

"Not bad at all," he agreed, before tilting his own head down so he could kiss her properly.


Well? I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who left comments on the last one (or any of my stories). If you leave me a guest comment, I can't reply directly, but do know I received it and it made me smile.

Next up I'm going to finally tackle a bigger story again. Wish me luck...