Barry opened up the door to his home and was immediately welcomed by the sound of Christmas music blaring from down the hall and the laughter of his family in the next room. He smiled at the sound, his heart squeezing with affection, before he walked towards the noise.
Finding himself in front of the living room, he poked his head through the threshold. He first noticed his wife curled up on the couch, dressed in fitted sweats - her beauty was so transcendent, especially with the glow of the fireplace shining on her; she looked more like an angel than the one they usually put on top of the tree. He then followed her line of sight to their kids, who were by the lit up Christmas tree, hands deep in a box that had all of the tree ornaments in it.
"Decorating the tree without me, huh?"
The kids' heads snapped up at their father's voice before they ran to his side, hugging him tightly. He hugged them just as tightly back. He had been gone for a good week.
"Sorry - we didn't wait," Nora apologized.
"Yeah, sorry, Daddy," Nate piped up. "But Mommy said she wasn't sure how long you'd be and it's Christmas Eve..."
Barry's eyes caught Caitlin's across the room. He sent her a wink before jovially ruffling the kids' hair. "It's fine," he assured them. "You guys have done a better job than I ever could," he said as he assessed the tree.
However, after looking at it a little longer, he cocked his head to the side. "Though, why are there no decorations at the top?"
"We couldn't reach it," Nora said with a shrug as her and her brother went back to the box and resumed decorating.
The speedster turned to Caitlin, lips in a half smirk as he walked closer to her. "And what's your excuse?"
"I couldn't reach up there either."
"In heels you probably could."
"I didn't want to wear heels. Today is supposed to be about relaxing," she said, stressing on the last word as she stretched out her toes, showing off her slippers. "Plus, it allows you some space to still decorate the tree," she pointed out, watching him knowingly.
His smile softened, now knowing they had purposely refrained from decorating up there so that he could still contribute to the festivity whenever he came back home. It was the little things like that that she did that just made him love her more and more. He then got down to his knees in front of his wife, kissing her briefly as a thank you, and then kissing her again, but for longer, to properly greet her after being gone for so long.
"How was National City?" she softly inquired as they broke away.
He wobbled his head, trying to find a way to phrase it without worrying her too much. "It was hectic at first, as always, but it all kinda wrapped up a couple hours ago. Everything's fine. Another crisis averted."
She nodded her head solemnly, her hands absentmindedly playing with the front of his shirt. "I'm just glad you're home in time for Christmas," she shared, looking back up at him.
He smiled back, nodding. He knew how hard it was for her to sit these big fights out - that she always felt better when she was present rather than just sitting home, waiting for news.
"Why don't you hang some of the decorations," she then prodded him.
He got up to his feet. "You going to decorate any?"
"I did earlier. You do it now."
"You sure?" he asked again while walking to the box.
"Oh yeah," she assured as he bent down to grab an ornament. "This is honestly the best view," she said, her voice getting a little thick and raspy towards the end, and he knew she only usually spoke that way to him in more alone moments.
Raising a brow, he stood up and turned to look over at his wife, only to find her blatantly checking him out. "You minx," he faux-scandalously mouthed to her, causing her to erupt into giggles.
"Come on," he told her, grabbing her hands and dragging her to the tree with the rest of them. "I want to do this with you, and as a whole family," he told her, handing her the ornament he had previously gotten.
Her face softened, before she complied with the request, taking the little ornament and hanging it expertly on one of the tree branches nearby. And with the whole family now decorating the tree, it was completed in little to no time. To top it off, Barry lifted little Nate to put the angel on top of the tree to officially complete it.
"It looks great!" Barry exclaimed as he stood back with the rest of his family, bringing them in for a big group hug as they admired their work. This really had been the perfect way to come home.
A/N: Once again, if you're reading, definitely let me know your thoughts through a REVIEW! Knowing you guys are enjoying them definitely keep me motivated to write and keep doing them! :)
