Author's note: check out the AO3 version of the story for extra goodies. :)
Hunnigan was the first to wake up, her arms still very firmly around Helena who was her little spoon. Were it not for the dull ache brewing in her shoulder, Hunnigan wouldn't have moved, but she reluctantly began to slowly pull her arm back. As she turned to lay on her back, Helena also rolled over and moved her arm over Hunnigan's midsection, then moved her leg over Hunnigan's waist, nuzzling into the side of her neck.
"Good morning, my love," Hunnigan whispered, and Helena mumbled something similar in response. Hunnigan remained still for a while longer, waiting to see if Helena would wake up or sleep in, and Helena apparently chose to sleep in. Hunnigan slowly and quietly got out of bed, made sure Helena had the blanket on her and tucked her in to ensure she wouldn't get cold, and then exited the small bedroom.
She took a quick shower —or, being quick about it had been her intention, but she did end up running through all the hot water.
Good thing Helena's still asleep, gives the water heater time to work, Hunnigan mused as she put on her bathrobe and went to light the wood stove so that she could get started on breakfast. She made the batter for the crêpes and let it sit while she got dressed and went around the room, lighting what remained of the candles for some extra light because while it wasn't entirely dark outside anymore, everything was a shade of dark blue rather than well-lit.
She'd just finished cooking the first crêpe when Helena emerged from the bedroom and came to the kitchen, pausing to hug Hunnigan tightly from behind for a long moment before scuffing over to the bathroom. Hunnigan smiled quietly at the sleepy woman and poured a thin layer of batter onto the cast iron skillet to make the second crêpe of the batch.
Once Helena had also managed to take a quick shower, they sat down to eat breakfast and checked in with the kids. After it was confirmed that everything was all right in the world, Hunnigan ushered Helena over to the couch and went to unlock the case that held her acoustic guitar.
She'd been meaning to play for Helena last night but they had gotten pleasantly distracted before she'd had a chance.
"This is something you would've inspired me to write if Johnny Cash and Jewel hadn't already written it," Hunnigan said with a grin, took a seat on a chair opposite to the couch, and Helena smiled, leaning back on the couch as Hunnigan picked the strings through the intro of "Body on body".
Hunnigan had a decent amount of experience performing and she quite enjoyed it, there was always something incredibly electrifying about playing to a crowd. But even so, the best gig to the biggest audience had never been enjoyable in the same way as playing just for Helena was. Performing a song only to the one person, especially a love song, was so intimate, and performing just for Helena always made her more nervous than playing to a room full of people did, but it was the good kind of nervousness, pleasant butterflies in the stomach followed by the sweet high of seeing Helena's reaction.
Once she'd played the song, she put the guitar away, and Helena got up from the couch.
"You're a wonderful woman, and I love you so much that sometimes I find myself agreeing even with your creepy fans, like, yeah, it makes perfect sense that someone would want to drink your bath water, I totally get it, I would do it too," Helena smiled as she straddled Hunnigan's lap, wrapping her arms around Hunnigan's shoulders and leaned to kiss her slowly and passionately before Hunnigan had a chance to say anything.
"Oh, I forgot!" Helena then exclaimed suddenly, snapping her head up, breaking the kiss with a resounding smack, leaving Hunnigan sitting there with her eyes closed and lips still puckered for a couple of seconds. Helena went to the corner and pulled out her suitcase. She opened it and dug around until she found what she was looking for.
"I did have a gift for you, kinda," she said and gestured toward the couch.
"You also got me a book?" Hunnigan chuckled as she accepted the item, and Helena shook her head as she sat next to Hunnigan on the couch.
"Well, kind of, but you know I'm more of a visual artist," she said.
The thick tome was a photo book, one that Helena and Hunnigan had said they'd have printed out at some point but had never gotten around to it because doing that would require going through a dozen cellphones' storages worth of pictures and weeding out the unnecessary ones, and neither of them had had the time or the energy for it until Helena had apparently decided to just do it.
"I meant to do this for our twentieth anniversary but, eh, you know."
"I know, two years late is fine when it comes to this kind of stuff, I assure you," Hunnigan smiled and kissed Helena's cheek.
They sat cuddled up together and spent the next couple of hours going through the pictures and reminiscing over them; official looking photos taken at fancy parties Nolan had invited them (or occasionally coerced them) to attend, parties they'd had at home or on Isabela's yacht with friends and family, candid shots they'd taken of each other or the kids doing something they'd deemed especially endearing, and of course dozens upon dozens of pictures from birthdays, anniversaries, holidays, family vacations.
"Well, would you look at that young couple. I wonder what happened to them," Hunnigan grinned as they arrived at a picture of her and Helena wearing bridal veils Hawke and Harding had made for them of toilet paper, the photo taken at their so-called wedding reception.
"Oh, haven't you heard?" Helena smiled, resting her head on Hunnigan's shoulder, slipping her fingers between Hunnigan's and holding onto her hand firmly. "They lived happily ever after."
The end