A/N: This is based of a prompt that I found on tumblr. The prompt is at the end. I hope you enjoy it.
"Hi you've reached Elizabeth McCord, I can't come to the phone right now please leave a message at the tone." Henry sighed into the phone "Hi babe, its me. Just calling to see how your flight was. Let me know if you will be home for dinner. I Can't wait to see you I have really missed you this week. Let me know about dinner. Love you."
Henry sat back in his chair and scrubbed his hand over his face. Elizabeth had been in Australia for the last week working on a big trade agreement. The fifteen hour time difference had meant that they had barely been able to talk to each other and Henry was finding the distance particularly hard this time.
He was having a particularly bad week all around. Work had been stressful, the kids had been at each others throats, he hadn't been sleeping well and most of all he missed his wife. He and Elizabeth had never been good at being apart. They had been forced to spend a lot of time apart due to their jobs and every time it made them both miserable. But he was determined to shake off his bad mood because she was due home today and he was going to welcome her home enthusiastically if it killed him. He sighed again and turned back to the essays he was supposed to be grading. He hoped that if he lost himself in the grading by the time he was finished she would be home in his arms.
Several hours had passed and he still hadn't heard from her. He was trying his best not to get annoyed. "Maybe her flight was delayed or maybe she got called in to work" he thought. He was startled from his thoughts by the thrill of the landline. Security was calling to tell him that Blake was here. Blake being back in DC meant that Elizabeth was back too, he tried to push down his disappointment that it wasn't her at the door and went to greet Blake.
"Dr. McCord, hi" Blake said cheerfully stepping in the door when Henry stepped aside for him.
"Hey Blake, not that I'm not happy to see you but I would much prefer it if you were my wife. So where is she?"
"She had to go brief the president on our trip. It shouldn't take too long. She asked me to drop this off," he motioned her her suitcase "and tell you that she will be home in time for dinner."
Henry felt as if a weight had been lifted off his chest. He was thrilled. "Thanks Blake," he grinned.
"I hope you don't mind me saying this but she missed you a lot this week. I had to keep extra chocolate around at all times," Blake told him.
Henry chuckled. "I don't mind you telling me that at all Blake, I missed her a lot too this week. Thank you for looking after her."
"No problem, anyway I'm going home this jet lag is really starting to hit me. Take care Dr. McCord."
Henry smiled widely as he made his way to the kitchen to start preparing her favourite meal. Just a few more hours and she would be back with him and everything would feel right again.
Henry had finished all the prep work for dinner when he decided he would put on a load of washing. He took Elizabeth's suitcase to the laundry room and started to empty it. He was sorting her laundry when something caught his eye at the bottom of her case.
He reached in and pulled it out. It was one of her most racy pieces of lingerie. He frowned. It didn't make sense for her to bring that all the way to Australia with her. He rummaged around and found she had also brought her favourite silk blue night dress. He started to feel sick. She only wore that night dress for seductions she would never wear it to just sleep. Looking at the underwear he had just sorted in to a pile he saw what he didn't notice earlier. She had brought all her best underwear, nothing but lace and silk.
Could it be possible? Could she be having an affair? Henry's head was pounding, his palms were sweating. How could she do this? He didn't want to believe it but he couldn't see any other explanation. He had done her laundry after her work trips countless times before and her suitcase had never looked like this. Something was going on and he would get to the bottom of it.
Leaving the laundry room he heard the sounds of his children talking in the kitchen. "God you look terrible Dad," Alison said with concern, "are you okay?"
Henry took a deep breath, not quite knowing what to say. "I just have a migraine that's all," he replied.
"You should go lie down," Stevie suggested. "I'm okay, I was just making dinner, Mum will be home from her trip soon." He felt sick at the thought of seeing her. What would he say to her?
"We can finish dinner, you lie down and when Mum comes home you will hopefully be feeling a bit better."
Henry agreed thinking it was better if he just avoided her completely for tonight. He would work out how to confront her tomorrow. He changed in to pyjamas shut the curtains and climbed in to bed. This had to be a mistake he tried to reassure himself.
Elizabeth opened the front door and dumped her coat and bags in the hall. She heard the sound of her kids laughing and joking in the kitchen. It was great to be home. She had missed her family terribly this week. It had been a long, exhausting week of negotiations and she couldn't wait to curl up in her husbands arms. She hated being away from him but she loved reuniting with him. They always made up for the time they had lost.
"Hello family, something smells really good in here," she called out as she entered the kitchen. "Mum" Alison exclaimed running over to give her a hug "I'm so glad you are home."
"Me too Noodle, I missed you all." She pulled Jason and Stevie in for hugs too despite Jason's grumble that he was too old for hugs.
"We are making your favourite," Jason grinned at her. "It smells delicious, I'm starving" Elizabeth replied.
"Thank god you are home," Stevie said "Dad has been driving us nuts he has been pining so bad."
Elizabeth chuckled at that "speaking of Dad, where is he? She asked the kids.
"He had a migraine so he went to lie down for a while" Ali explained. "It must have been pretty bad, he looked terrible" Stevie added. Elizabeth was instantly worried, Henry hadn't had a migraine for a long time but when he did get them they were really bad. She told the kids she was going to check on him and she quickly headed up to their room leaving her shoes haphazardly at the end of the stairs.
The room was dark when she opened the door. The only light coming from the hallway and the ensuite. Henry appeared to be sleeping so she tiptoed into the room and over to his side. Henry heard her approaching and squeezed his eyes shut a little tighter. He couldn't face her. He didn't know what he would say. He needed more time to think things through.
She ran her hand through his hair and placed a light kiss on his cheek. "My poor baby" she whispered. He heard her walk in to their closet followed by the noise of what he assumed was her changing out of her work clothes and the tap running. She came back to his side and placed a cold damp cloth on his forehead and pulled the blankets up around his shoulders then made her way back downstairs to the kids.
Henry felt his heart breaking. She was being so tender and caring to him. He wanted to go down and wrap his arms around her but he couldn't get the thought of the lingerie out of his mind. Why would she have brought them with her if not to wear them for someone else.
Elizabeth spent a couple of hours catching up with the kids and unwinding with a couple of glasses of wine. All she wanted now was to go upstairs and fall asleep in Henry's arms. When she went upstairs Henry was still asleep. He was lying on his side facing their ensuite. She carefully climbed in under the covers, trying not to wake him. She slid in behind him and wrapped her arm around his waist, reveling in the warmth of his body and the smell of him. He was hard and tense and she guessed that his migraine was a bad one. He used to always tense up when he had a particularly bad one. She pressed a quick kiss to his shoulder and allowed herself to fall in to a deep exhausted sleep.
The next morning Elizabeth woke slowly. She was exhausted and jet lagged. She stretched before rolling over to snuggle with Henry. Henry wasn't there. The bed was empty and the sheets were cold which meant he was probably gone a while. That was unusual. After a long trip he usually couldn't get enough of her. He would never leave without waking her and combined with him being in bed when she got home last night she started to worry that something was up.
She sighed and got up to go look for her husband. It really had been a long week and all she wanted was to feel his arms around her. She pulled on her robe and went downstairs.
In the kitchen she found the kids, dressed for school and college but not Henry. "Morning mum, coffee?" Stevie asked.
Elizabeth gratefully accepted the cup. "I am so jet lagged I don't think one cup will be enough."
"How is Dad's migraine this morning Mum," Alison asked. "I'm not sure Noodle, he was gone before I woke up this morning."
Ali looked concerned. This was very unlike her Dad. "I saw him this morning," Stevie said "he went for a run, his head was better and he wanted to let you sleep in Mum."
Elizabeth smiled, maybe she was overthinking. Maybe he really did just want to leave her sleep in.
"You guys need to get going or you will be late for school," she said looking at the clock. "Ya let's go nerds," Stevie said, giving her Mum a kiss on the cheek.
The kids filed out and Elizabeth took her coffee to the couch to wait for Henry to come back. Half an hour later there was still no sign of him. Elizabeth had tried to call him but it had gone straight to voicemail. Something was definitely up.
Elizabeth stayed quiet as Henry came in the back door and kicked off his running shoes. She watched him pause and listen to hear if anyone was in the house before he let out a sigh.
"That was quite the run," she said nonchalantly. Henry jumped and whirled around to face her. "Jesus Elizabeth you scared me. Welcome home. I thought you would be in work."
"Its good to be home, I gave us all the day off to get over this jet lag" she walked towards him reaching out for him. He took a step back from her, a look of hurt flashed across her face "I'm sweaty, I need to shower," he mumbled. He never usually cared about hugging her after his run.
"What's going on Henry? Why are you avoiding me?"
"I'm not avoiding you," he lied "I just really need a shower and then we will talk okay?" He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. It was the only affection that he could muster, but it seemed to relax her.
Henry came back downstairs wearing sweats, his hair was still wet from the shower. He was obviously on edge. Elizabeth handed him a cup of coffee and followed him to the kitchen table. "Are you ready to tell me whats going on?" she asked. "I think you are the one who has something to tell me," he retorted.
Elizabeth looked confused, "what are you talking about Henry?" This just made him more agitated. "Don't play dumb Elizabeth, it doesn't suit you."
"Henry I'm not playing dumb I have no idea what you are talking about. If you have something to say just spit it out and stop dancing around it." She glared at him, starting to lose her patience.
Henry got up suddenly and stalked towards the laundry room. He came back with a bundle which he put on the table in front of her. "This! I am talking about this," he exclaimed angrily. Elizabeth grew even more confused. "What are you doing with my underwear?" He looked at her with a steely glare. "What are you doing with all of this when you are on a trip away. Are you having an affair because if you are you need to tell me now," His expression wavered from angry to hurt.
Finally Elizabeth was beginning to see what was wrong. She burst out laughing. "Henry, n.." she started to say before he cut her off. "I'm glad you find this funny Elizabeth because I find it the complete opposite. My life is falling apart before my eyes and you are just laughing."
Elizabeth got up from her seat and took a step towards him. "I'm not having an affair Henry," she said softly "you know I would never do that. I only want one man and that man is you." She placed her hand on his bicep lovingly. "But the... why did you have.." Henry trailed off. At this she started laughing again, he stepped back from her.
"Clearly you are forgetting that you were supposed to be coming on this trip too and that you had to cancel because of your presentation being moved up. I wasn't bothered repacking so I just left them in the case even though I wouldn't be needing them."
Henry let out a massive sigh of relief as the tension melted away from his body. He pulled her in to his arms, holding her tight against him. "Oh thank god, thank god," he murmured in to her hair. He couldn't believe he had forgotten that. He was an idiot. He should never have doubted her. "I am so sorry baby, I didn't want to believe it but my mind kept jumping to horrible conclusions and I couldn't come up with any other explanation. I am an idiot."
"I am not thrilled with the fact that you thought that I could ever cheat on you. I would never and I thought you knew that." She looked hurt. "I do know that, I promise I do, I just lost my head for a while. It will never happen again I swear. I am sorry. I love you."
"I love you too, only you," she said with a small punch to his arm. "I missed you so much this week. It was unbearable," he said wrapping his arms tighter around her waist.
"The kids did mention something about you pinning alright," she brushed her lips lightly over hers. "Oh ya, well Blake mentioned that you needed extra chocolate to get you through the week," he brushed her lips lightly mirroring her actions. "Oh he is so fired," she giggled.
He swooped down on her capturing her lips with his. Her body melted against his as she lost herself in him. Her fingers tangled in his hair as his tongue pushed its way in to her mouth. She pulled away breathless and took a second to just look at him. "Its only you baby, only ever you," she sighed. He pulled her in again this time lavishing his attention on her neck. "I think its time you show me how much you missed me," she panted tugging him towards the couch.
Prompt: Henry finds sexy lingerie in Elizabeth's suitcase after she comes home from a trip abroad. (Henry doesn't know how to ask the question, but what he seems to have forgotten is that he was supposed to go with her, but had to cancel in the last minute).
