Sometimes, Lauren just sat at her desk in awe of how her life ended up being so perfect.
Her small family had just moved into a new house, boxes still surrounding her in the study, and her wife had accepted a new position at work that paid better and required almost half as many hours. She absent mindedly places her hand on her ever-growing baby bump and her smiles grows even larger.
Yes. Her life was perfect.
Tamsin gently cleared her throat from the doorway, and when Lauren looked up from the book she was pretending read, the doctor smiled even larger at her wife. But then she noticed Tamsin wasn't exactly smiling back, her face contorted nervously.
"What's wrong, Tamsin?"
The blonde's eyes shift from side to side, and she looks down at her feet as she shuffles them awkwardly.
"Don't be mad", she says quietly.
Suddenly feeling quite nervous, Lauren carefully stands and starts to make her way over to Tamsin.
"What happened?"
"Just promise me you won't be mad."
"I won't be mad", Lauren huffs out impatiently. "What happened?"
Tamsin sighs, and offers Lauren a sheepish grin before turning her head to look at something down the hallway. She offers the unseen person or thing a nod, and within seconds Ethan stumbles into the doorway to join his parents. Tamsin scoops him up, flinching at the shocked gasp that escapes Lauren's lips as she gets a good look at his face – he has a black eye, already red and swollen, and she notes a missing tooth in his already toothy grin. His Oilers jersey, 2 sizes too big and hanging down past his hands, has small blood drops down the front of it.
"Hi momma!", he says happily, waving at her.
Lauren gives Tamsin a look, trying to keep her anger in as she holds her hands out for Tamsin to deposit their son in to. Tamsin does, and returns to look at her feet nervously as she waits for Lauren to finishes looking Ethan over.
"What happened, buddy? Does your head hurt?"
"Mommy and I were practicing outside!"
"Practicing?", Lauren questions as she gently squeezes his arms and legs to see if they're bothering him at all. She waves a hand in front of her confused son's face, checking to make sure his eyes are following her hand as it moves. "What were you and mommy practicing outside in the snow? It's too cold to practice."
Tamsin hangs her head even further, suddenly remembering that Lauren had told her earlier this morning that she and Ethan should stay inside today, as the temperature was dropping fast and a snow storm was on the way. Of course, Tamsin couldn't just sit around on one of her only days off without challenging her hyper-active four year old to a pick-up hockey match.
"I was teaching him how to slapshot", the valkyrie says sheepishly.
"Slapshot?", Lauren looks up from Ethan and to her wife with an eyebrow raised. "How did our son end up with a black eye and a missing tooth if you were teaching him to slapshot?"
"She was letting me goalie!", Ethan says proudly, showing off his new missing tooth like it was a prize. Lauren's jaw drops as she sends Tamsin an angry, pointed look. Tamsin sighs again, knowing that she was in for it – this was certainly not the first time Ethan has ended up hurt because they were practicing hockey, not even the second or third time; the last time, he had ended up needing to get stitches, and Lauren made Tamsin promise not to let him tend the goal any more.
"Why don't you go get an icepack from the freezer and put it on that eye, champ. Mommies need to have a little chat."
He nods to Tamsin, and Lauren sets him down so he can go to the kitchen. Tamsin bends down to brush errant strands a pale blonde hair out of his eyes and place a slobbery kiss on his cheek, to which he giggles out an 'ewwww' and runs off towards the kitchen. Lauren resists the urge to tell him not to run, deciding to instead focus all of her anger on her wife.
"You promised, Tamsin. You could have really hurt him."
"I know… I know! I'm sorry, baby. I really am. I just… he really wanted to play", Tamsin forces a small smile. "How can I say no to that kid?"
Lauren huffs and walks over to lean against her desk, her swollen ankles tired from what little standing she was doing.
"He's not even five, Tamsin. You're his mother. Tell him no."
"I just hate being the bad guy, you know? I just want him to be able to do everything. Even if it might hurt him a little, at least he gets to do it."
Sighing, Lauren pushes herself up off of the desk to go back up to her wife and wrap her up in a loving embrace – yes, she was mad Ethan got hurt. Again. And she was mad that Tamsin had broken one of her promises about their son's extracurricular activities. Again. But she knew that her wife had the best intentions; she just wanted to make Ethan happy. And how could Lauren argue with that? They would just have to have a talk on how to keep Ethan happy and out of the hospital.
Ethan wandered back to the study, and icepack pressed gingerly against his swollen eye, just as Lauren finally gave in and placed a soft kiss to Tamsin's pouting lips. Another giggling 'ewwww' pulled the women from their embrace, and Tamsin bent down to pick the small boy up.
"Besides", she said as she tickled his sides, "chicks dig a guy with battle wounds, anyways."