Part Five
"Daddy!" Emily squeals, running into her father's office.
"Princess," Michael says with a surprised laugh, crouching to allow the little girl to throw herself into his arms. "Where's your mommy?"
"Emily," says a harried-looking Sydney, pushing Grace's stroller into the office. "Don't run away from me like that, I said to stay there and wait while I talked to Daddy's secretary."
"But I wanted to see Daddy," Emily says with a petulant frown.
"You need to listen to your mommy, princess," Michael tells her, but there is a gleam in his eye that almost dares her not to take him seriously, and it drives Sydney insane. He's spoiling her again.
It drives even crazier when Michael straightens up and turns that gleam on her, and she forgets why she was irritated in the first place. "Rough morning?" he asks, offering her a soft kiss.
"Kind of. Sorry we're late, your mother called just as I was about to walk out the door."
"She has a knack for doing that, doesn't she?" Michael asks with a smile.
"Yes, she does," Sydney says, rolling her eyes.
"What did she want?" Michael asks, moving to lift Gracie out of her stroller. He babbles to the little girl in baby talk for a few seconds before settling her into the crook of his arm, and Sydney smiles.
"She didn't get much past the part of the conversation where she bemoans your choice of profession and the fact that you moved her grandbabies across the country," Sydney says with a half-smile. "I told her we had to hurry if we wanted to catch you before your meetings."
"Well, my one-thirty just called and rescheduled, so I'm all yours for a little longer."
"All mine, hmm?" Sydney asked, eyes glinting devilishly.
"Absolutely."
She pulls him toward her for a kiss, almost managing to forget that he holds a three-month-old baby in his arms and that a three-year-old sits spinning in her father's office chair. The three-year-old, of course, doesn't let her forget for long.
"I'm hungry, Mommy," she complains.
Michael and Sydney break the kiss with a laugh, their foreheads touching.
"If I'd known you had extra time, I would have left them with a sitter," Sydney whispers huskily.
"There's always tonight," he says with a smile.
"Mm," she says, giving him one last kiss. "Are you sure we have to spend it with your business associates?"
"Sorry, baby, we do," he says apologetically. "But we don't have to stay too late."
"Good," she says, running her index finger down the front of his shirt in a way she knows drives him wild.
"What do you say we get away some weekend soon?" he whispers. "Just the two of us."
"Really?" she asks, eyes lighting up.
"Absolutely," he says. "Maybe we could fly my mom out to stay with the kids."
"Oh, she'd love that," Sydney says happily.
"Mr. Vaughn, I-- oh, I'm sorry."
Sydney and Michael turn toward the door to see Todd, one of the younger associates at the firm, standing holding a file folder.
"Liz wasn't at her desk, I didn't know you had visitors," Todd continued, naming Michael's secretary.
"It's okay, Todd, what is it?"
"Do you have a minute?" Todd asked, flipping open the file folder.
"Sure, make it quick, though."
"Absolutely." He directs a look at Sydney. "Sorry, Mrs. Vaughn."
"It's quite all right." Sydney takes Gracie from her husband and motions for Emily to move out of Michael's chair, then settles herself there with both little girls in her lap, watching Michael explain something to the younger man. She loves watching him do this, and especially loves watching him in the courtroom, though she hasn't done so often. Something about the very way he speaks, the very way he carries himself denotes authority, power, and she finds it almost irresistibly attractive.
"Thanks, Mr. Vaughn," Todd says, snapping the file folder shut.
"No problem, Todd. I'll see you at the party tonight. You're bringing Lisa, right?"
"Yeah. It was good to see you, Mrs. Vaughn," Todd says, shooting a smile at Sydney.
"You too, Todd."
"Bye, Todd!" Emily chirps.
"Bye, uh--"
"Emily," Emily says, beaming at him. "Emily Adele Vaughn. And my daddy's name is Michael and my mommy's name is Sydney and my brother's name is Jack and my sister's name is Gracie."
"How old are you?" Todd asks with a smile.
"This many," Emily says, holding up three fingers.
"You're smart," Todd tells her seriously.
"Thank you."
Todd manages to excuse himself, and Emily scrambles off of Sydney's lap. "Can we go eat now, Daddy?"
"Of course we can," Michael says with a smile, picking her up. "Then what else are you going to do today, princess?"
"Mommy's going to buy a new dress and then I'm going to get a new Barbie."
"If you're good, Emily," Sydney admonished. "That means you can't run away from me again, okay?"
"Okay, Mommy."
Michael puts Emily down and turns his attention to Sydney. "Are you going to be home in time to pick Jack up from school?"
Sydney shakes her head. "I asked Mrs. Byrne if she could pick him up when she went to get Aaron." The Byrnes were the Vaughns' neighbors; their sixteen-year-old daughter, Amanda, was baby-sitting for the kids that night, and their son, Aaron, was six years old and in Jack's class at school. "I thought Jack and Aaron could play together. I'm a little worried about Jack, I don't think he's made many friends here."
"Give him time," Michael says. "He's a little shy. I was the same way when I was his age."
"You?" Sydney asks with a delighted smile.
"You don't believe me?"
"It's just that I know how persuasive you can be," she says, moving close to whisper in his ear. "You had me in bed on the second date, Michael. That was an unprecedented event."
"I had you in bed?" he teases, his voice low enough that Emily can't hear. "I believe you were the one who invited me back to your place."
"Whatever," Sydney rolls her eyes. "I'm just saying, you weren't shy."
"Can I help it if I know what I want?" he asks innocently.
"No," she says with a smile. "And that's one of the things I love about you."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes."
His smile softens. "You know what I love about you?"
"What?"
He reaches out to brush a hand across her cheek. "Everything."