Mason awoke to the sound of a door closing down the hallway. Dismissing it, he rolled onto his side and reached out to pull Jamie into him but found an empty space. The mattress was still warm, so Jamie hadn't been gone for long. Figuring he was in the bathroom, Mason burrowed into the blankets to wait for his boyfriend to come back to bed. The click of another door closing pulled him awake just as he was about to fall asleep again.
When Jamie didn't return a few minutes later, Mason pushed himself up and blinked sleepily, looking at the clock on Jamie's bedside table. 2:36 am. He quietly groaned.
Swinging his legs over the side of the bed, Mason shivered from the loss of the warm blankets as the cold air hit his shirtless chest. Spying a hoodie on the chair by Jamie's desk, he scooped it up and pulled it on. Pausing for a moment to pull the collar over his nose, he inhaled the scent of Jamie on his boyfriend's clothes. He could have gone back to sleep curled up in Jamie's hoodie- and was tempted to- but pushed himself to his feet to find where his boyfriend had gone.
The hallway was just as dark as the bedroom behind him. Maybe Jamie had gone for a midnight snack? Though he didn't think Jamie still did that. That was something they used to do as kids.
As he was passing the twin's room, he paused when he caught sight of the faint light shining under the door. While he was standing there, he thought he heard soft crying and Jamie's voice from inside. Quietly to not disturb them, Mason opened the door and peered inside, his heart melting at the sight before him.
Jamie was sitting in the chair near the two cribs under the glow of the dim table lamp. His eyes were closed as he held one of his sisters to his chest, softly rocking her in his arms while whispering softly to her. Her face was tucked into his neck and Jamie's head was bent down and his cheek was resting on the top of her head to murmur in her ear. Mason leaned against the doorway and watched his blurry boyfriend sit there, comforting his baby sister.
He didn't know how long he stood there, but when the twin was sleeping soundly, Jamie looked up and at him. Mason couldn't see what his facial expression was from across the room without his glasses, but he continued to watch as Jamie cradled the two-year-old to him as he stood before gently placing her in her crib and tucking her in. He then turned off the light and the room and house were plunged into darkness.
Mason pushed himself up from the doorframe and took a step back into the hallway as he heard Jamie walking towards him.
"Hey, " Jamie whispered as the door shut behind him.
Mason wrapped his arms around his boyfriend's waist. "Hey, boyfriend," he said, pressing a soft kiss to his shoulder.
"You really like using that word, don't you." It wasn't a question and both of them knew it. Mason had been using the term as often as he could since the two of them started dating. He hummed sleepily into his shoulder. Jamie wrapped one of his own arms around Mason, cupping his other hand on his cheeks, tilting up his face to kiss him properly. Mason grinned sleepily into it.
"Did I wake you?" Jamie asked, his lips brushing against Mason's as he spoke.
"No. J'st wondered where you went." Mason was still half-asleep as he mumbled into the kiss.
Pulling back for a moment, Jamie smiled and gave him a quick peck. "Why don't you go back to bed and I'll come join you when I'm done. Elisabeth is sick and she threw up about half an hour ago. I just need to clean up her dirty sheets and throw them in the wash and then I'll be back."
Mason frowned. Not only was he concerned for her, but he was also wondering what they would have to tell Jamie's mom in the morning. She and Frank were away for the weekend, and Mason didn't want to have bad news to give her. She was stressed enough as it was, plus, he wanted to show her they could be trusted. He wanted to make up for McCall. "How bad is she doing?"
"She'll be okay. I gave her some medicine to help her sleep through the night. We'll see how she is in the morning." He sounded a little worried but mostly tired. With one hand still cupping Mason's cheek, Jamie stroked his thumb over his cheekbone. "Babe, you're exhausted. Go back to bed, you need sleep too. She'll be fine."
"Yeah, but," Mason stalled, not wanting to go to bed alone.
Drawing him close again, Jamie kissed him, soft and sweet. Mason melted into it. He pushed himself up and wound his arms around Jamie's neck, deepening the kiss. It was because he was unsteady on his toes, Mason didn't realize he was being walked backwards until he bumped against the doorframe to Jamie's room.
He broke the kiss. "Hey," he complained, not liking that Jamie tricked him. "That's not fair."
"Go to sleep," Jamie said and gave him another kiss.
"Okay," Mason conceded, letting Jamie steer him to the mattress.
The bed was still warm when he collapsed into it and he almost fell asleep right away, but he forced himself to stay awake just a little longer. The soft sounds of Jamie walking around were soothing, though, and he couldn't hold off sleep any longer. Not when he was wrapped up in Jamie's blankets and buried in his hoodie. He was floating on the brink of sleep when movement jolted him awake. It was Jamie climbing back in bed and Mason pulled him close, drifting off with the presence of his boyfriend.