They were quiet as they sat on the floor in front of the couch, watching and listening to the fire flicker in front of them. Sam rested her head against Dante's shoulder as he reached across with his other hand and rested it on her round belly, his eyes widening at what greeted him.
"Woah…someone's having soccer practice tonight," he marveled, spreading his fingers wide as he felt their baby kick up a storm beneath them.
Sam chuckled and glanced down, placing one of her hands beside his.
"It's the spicy sausage…and the hot peppers," she said, nodding towards the stack of pizza boxes on the coffee table in front of them, the remnants of what had been their dinner with the kids earlier that evening. "Heartburn," she added. Dante shifted slightly and peered down at her, waiting for her to look up at him.
"Why didn't you tell me to order something else?" he asked and she smiled, reaching up and brushing her fingers against his chin.
"Because I wanted spicy sausage and hot peppers," she whispered, narrowing her eyes at him and he chuckled, nodding in agreement. It was both of their favourites, something they discovered early in their relationship. "I'm fine, baby's fine…promise," she added.
He nodded again and leaned down, kissing her softly as he brushed his thumb back and forth against her stomach. She leaned into him, trying to remember the last time she felt this content.
It was their first night in their new house. The fireplace they were sitting in front of was theirs, the stacks of boxes that surrounded them were full of their belongings. And, most importantly, their three children were asleep upstairs in their new rooms, and their fourth was currently doing somersaults beneath their hands.
They pulled apart and Sam moved to stand, using Dante's shoulder as leverage to push herself up, something that seemed to get more challenging each day.
"What do you need, I'll get it," he offered, reaching for her hand but she gently swatted it away, picking up the pizza boxes off the table as she made her way to the kitchen opposite their living room.
"Just need to stretch my legs for a minute," she said, depositing the boxes on the counter and tidying up a little bit from their dinner. "Besides, these are the only boxes you've let me carry all day," she said with a smirk and he shrugged, standing up and walking over to sit at one of the stools on the other side of the kitchen island.
He had made a point of getting the boxes for Scout's room off the truck first so Sam and Scout could work on unpacking and setting up her room while he, the boys and Chase worked on unloading the rest of the boxes. He had the boys carry in some lighter boxes and then sent them upstairs too so Sam could help them get their rooms unpacked while he and Chase brought in the heavier items.
They had wanted to get the kids settled in their new rooms for their first night in the house and knew they could get everything else unpacked and organized later, including the kitchen. So Dante raised an eyebrow as he watched Sam open and start digging through some of the boxes stacked beside the kitchen island.
"What are you looking for?" he asked and she glanced up at him, smirking as she pulled out the items she'd been in search of.
"For you," she said, holding up a bottle of scotch in one hand. "And for me," she finished, holding up a box of ginger tea with the other. "For us to toast to our new home," she said and he chuckled, reaching out and taking both from her. He stood up and leaned down to kiss her, smiling against her lips.
"Let me find the kettle," he said and she laughed, sitting down on the stool and watching as he started opening boxes.
"Mommy?" They both turned towards the top of the stairs at the sound of Scout's voice, watching as she held onto the banister and made her way down the stairs.
"Hey baby," Sam said, standing up and meeting her at the bottom. "You okay?" she asked, taking her hand. Scout nodded and walked with Sam over towards the kitchen.
"I'm thirsty," she said and Sam smiled, leaning down and pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
"Well, we can do something about that," she said, looking up at Dante who walked around the island and lifted Scout up to sit on one of the stools.
"We sure can," he said, patting her on the head before going in search of a cup. Just as he found one, they heard more footsteps on the stairs, turning to see both Danny and Rocco coming down them.
"We thought you guys were asleep!" Dante exclaimed and both boys shrugged, walking over to sit on either side of Scout. Sam walked around to the other side of the island where Dante was standing and he hooked his arm around her shoulder.
"We were playing video games," Danny said, glancing around the kitchen. "We have any snacks?" he asked and Sam and Dante both laughed. They had planned to take the kids to Kelly's for breakfast in the morning before coming back to unpack and set up the kitchen so they hadn't really stocked it with anything yet.
"Cold pizza?" Sam offered, nodding towards the stack of boxes between them but Danny wrinkled his nose and shook his head.
"Wait," Dante said, holding up a finger and returning to one of the boxes he'd been rummaging through a few moments earlier. "I thought I saw…a-ha, I did…popcorn, anyone?" he offered, holding up two packages.
"Popcorn!" Scout exclaimed, clapping her hands in approval. "Can we watch a movie, too?" she asked, looking up at them hopefully and Dante glanced over at the clock on the microwave and then down at Sam, raising his eyebrows.
"Yeah, can we?" he whispered, knowing it was way past all the kids' bedtimes but wanting to indulge them on their first night in the new house. Sam laughed, playful swatting at his chest as she sighed.
"Okay," she agreed, laughing again as the kids all hopped off their stools and ran towards the couch. "Danny, nothing violent," she called after them, nodding towards Scout. Danny turned back and gave his mother a thumbs up before picking up the remote control.
Dante made the popcorn while Sam searched for bowls in the boxes, shaking her head at the mess all their searching had created.
"So much for our organized plan," she mumbled as they divided the popcorn among the bowls for the kids. Dante leaned down and pressed a kiss to her shoulder and then another to her jaw as he rested his hand on her stomach.
"This is better," he murmured to her as they looked across the room and saw the kids piling their couch cushions on the floor, setting up their viewing spots for their late-night movie.
Sam smiled and turned towards him, brushing her lips against his as she nodded.
"It's perfect."
They carried the bowls of popcorn over to the living room, passing them to the kids and settling in on the couch for the movie. The boys stretched out on the cushions they'd set up on the floor, while Scout sat in between Sam and Dante on the couch, curling into Sam's side.
He wasn't surprised when, twenty minutes into the movie, he glanced over and saw both Sam and Scout had fallen asleep, with Scout resting her head on Sam's belly. He reached over and gently moved their half-eaten bowls of popcorn to the coffee table before lifting Scout up into his arms, smiling as she stirred for a moment but stayed asleep against his shoulder.
He quietly walked over to the stairs and made his way up to Scout's new room, gently laying her down in her bed. He knelt down and tucked her in, nestling her favourite stuffed unicorn against her side.
Sam reached the top of the stairs, having stirred awake when Dante had moved Scout and decided to head to bed herself after saying goodnight to the boys and making them promise they'd go to bed after they finished the movie. She had almost reached the doorway of Scout's room when she heard her little voice from inside.
"Did we finish the movie?" Scout mumbled sleepily, her eyes fluttering open for a moment before she snuggled into her pillow and closed them again.
Dante chuckled and reached out, brushing her hair off her face.
"Almost," he said, pulling her covers up over her shoulders. "We'll finish it tomorrow," he said and she nodded, pulling her unicorn into her chest.
"With more popcorn?" she asked and Dante nodded, reaching over and turning on the nightlight beside her bed.
"With more popcorn," he promised, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her temple. "Good night, honey," he whispered as he stood up, jumping a bit as he saw Sam leaning in the doorway.
"Sorry," she whispered with a smile. "I was spying," she added and he chuckled, nodding as he reached out and took her hand.
"You're good at that," he said as they started to walk down the hall to their bedroom. Sam gave his hand a tug and pulled him back towards her.
"You're good at that," she said, nodding behind her towards Scout's room. She took his other hand in hers and gave them both a squeeze as she leaned up and pressed her lips to his. "Thank you," she said as she pulled back but he shook his head as he kissed her again.
"There's nothing to thank me for," he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her as close as her belly allowed. "We're a family now," he said softly and she smiled up at him, her eyes glimmering with happy tears.
"It feels really good," she whispered, shaking her head at herself as a few tears escaped the corners of her eyes. He chuckled and reached up to brush them again with his thumb, brushing his lips against her cheek afterwards.
"Yeah, it does," he agreed, taking her hand again in his as they continued down the hall to their room. "We are right where we're supposed to be."