Prompt: Can u please write a short fluffy happy prompt of Emily returning from the army and meeting Alison and her kids in the airport?

A/N: Two people asked for a prompt for their holiday gifts. So Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Maybe next year Santa/the Hanukkah Beagle shouldn't use USPS, cuz those presents are ALWAYS late...

Home

Grace had insisted on blue. Lily wanted pink. They'd settled on purple. They had managed to get most of the marker on the poster board. Their little fingers ended up covered in glitter and glue. The first 'e' in "Welcome" was backwards and the 'o' in "home" had gotten smudged. But when they looked at Alison and asked,

"How does it look, mommy?"

Alison said, "Perfect."

Because it was. They had made it with love. They were so excited that their mama was coming home.

o ~ O ~ o

The flight had been nerve-wracking. It's not like Emily hadn't flown before. She was used to it. It wasn't the actual plane ride itself. She was having trouble shaking off the residual anxiety she had from being in combat. She was also anxious to hold her babies and kiss her wife again. She spent the entire flight thinking about them. She couldn't wait to see them again.

When the plane was approaching Rosewood Emily opened the window shade and looked at her town below. When the aircraft started its descent Emily could see the clouds, as soft as white mountain peaks covered in snow. The wings sliced through them as though they were nothing. She could see the bulbous shadows hovering above the ground.

She felt something brush against her arm on the armrest. When she looked over her shoulder she saw the little girl next to her sitting up high in her seat, trying to look out the window. She had been playing games on the screen in the seat in front of her the entire trip, but now that the window was open she was trying to get a better look at what was happening outside.

"Can I see?" she batted her big blue eyes at Emily. She had her little palms against Emily's arm.

Her mother looked over and saw the little girl practically climbing over on to Emily.

"Amelia, honey, what did we talk about earlier? It's not polite to touch people without asking first." She faced Emily. "I'm sorry. She doesn't understand boundaries yet."

"It's okay. I get it. I've got two girls around her age." Emily smiled.

"Must be hard to be away from them."

There was an unspoken understanding between the two mothers.

"Yeah. They grow up so fast." Emily looked at Amelia, who was oblivious to the adults talking around her.

"Amy, you remember how we talked about how some mommies and daddies have to spend time away from their babies to be somewhere else to protect us?"

"Uh huh."

"What do we say, do you remember?"

The little girl looked at Emily's uniform and it registered. She smiled at Emily and leaned up on her knees.

"Thank you for your service."

Emily had to bite back tears. It was such a sweet and simple gesture. And it was something that she'd obviously learned from caring parents. It made her realize how much of her daughters' lives she was missing. She had been gone for nine months. What had she missed in that time?

"You're very welcome."

"I like your pins." Amelia pointed to Emily's medals.

There was one medal she hadn't gotten in person yet. It was one that Alison didn't know about. It was the reason she was coming home.

Her purple heart.

She'd been injured by a roadside bomb. Fortunately, no one had been killed, though they had been ambushed after the attack. She'd suffered three broken ribs, mild burns on her side, two fractures in her arm, and a laceration on her right hand. She'd managed to pull three of her squad members to safety even with her injuries.

She was healing up nicely. She'd mentioned the ambush to Alison, but she had downplayed her injuries and told her that she was okay, which was the truth.

She didn't realize that her commanding officer was going to give her the option to be medically discharged due to the nature of the problems her injuries might cause in the future. She didn't know that nearly being blown up was going to bring her closer to her family.

The little girl was squirming in her seat, trying harder and harder to look out the window.

"She's welcome to sit on my lap if you're okay with it." Emily offered.

"It's fine with me."

Emily helped the little girl into her lap and they looked out the window. They watched as the buildings and streets turned from tiny blips into shapes and images they could actually recognize. She held her, pointing to the landmarks below, until the "fasten seatbelt" sign came on. Then she helped her get settled back into her seat.

Landing was always the hardest part. She knew from experience that take-offs and landings were generally the most dangerous parts of the flight. But when she looked outside at her town, her home, she couldn't feel anything but excitement.

o ~ O ~ o

The airport was lined with people, a sea of faces all moving in waves to their next destination. Some were rushing. Some were sitting and sleeping in chairs. Others were waiting in the crowd for their loves ones.

Alison held the twins' hands firmly as they moved through the crowds. One of her biggest fears was losing one or both of them in a busy place.

"I don't see mama." Grace whined, twisting the poster board with her fingers.

"She's still coming home, right?" Lily looked at Alison, a sad look of fear in her eyes.

Sometimes the girls worried that they'd never see their mama again. They didn't know the extent of what Emily did, but Alison and Emily had had the conversation with the girls about how sometimes mama would be in situations where she had to help others, but that she would always do her best to come back safe and sound.

Alison looked up at the plasma screens that showed the arrival and departure times. Emily's plane was at its gate. She would be coming towards them any minute. She felt a bubbling sensation in her stomach she hadn't had since she was in high school. She hadn't seen Emily in nine months. It felt like forever. She couldn't wait to hold her again.

"She should be here soon." Alison assured the girls.

"I wanna hold the sign." Lily reached for the folded up poster board.

"No! I want to!"

They were both cranky. They'd fought in the car on the way over. Alison told them to behave and that they could both hold it. They each stood on one side and held the sign up, but it kept flopping forward, so Alison ended up holding the damn thing while the twins pretended they were the ones holding it up.

A crowd of passengers rounded the corner and started walking towards them. They dispersed, finding their family members. Alison watched everyone hugging and it made her antsy. She wanted to be in Emily's arms. She wanted to kiss her wife...to touch her cheek...to bathe in her aroma.

It was the twins who spotted her first. The uniform was a dead giveaway. Grace squealed and Lily shouted "mama!"

Emily turned and saw them and she felt her heart melting. She saw the large childlike letters on the poster board covered in sparkles and glitter. They had drawn hearts around their simple message.

"Welcome Home Mama. We Love You."

The twins were supposed to stand behind the roped off security line, but they forgot everything they'd been told to do when they saw Emily's face. They dropped the poster and raced forward before Alison could grab them.

No one in security stopped them. In fact, one of the men in uniform walked over to where Alison was standing and unlatched the rope to let her through so she could be with her family.

Emily dropped her bag and fell to her knees as the twins ran into her arms, both of them crying 'mama!' so loudly that everyone in the airport turned to see the commotion. She didn't even feel the tightness of her still healing injuries. All she felt was her children's love.

Grace and Lily wrapped their arms around her neck. She reached up and gripped the backs of their heads with her palms and peppered them with kisses.

"Hi, babies."

Emily was not someone who cried easily. She'd been through a lot in her life and some of it had hardened her. She had a tight lid on her emotions. But she was a sucker for her kids. And the second she had them in her arms she crumbled, burying her face in between their necks, letting her tears fall down her face.

"Oh, I missed you so much."

"We missed you, mama." Lily pulled back. "Why are you crying? Are you sad?"

"No." Emily reached up to wipe away her tears. "No, I'm crying because I'm so happy to see you."

They had gotten so big. She felt like she hadn't seen them in years. Being overseas away from her family was hard. She didn't know how much she was missing until she had them in her arms. It was like a piece of her she didn't even know was gone had been returned to her.

She saw Alison approaching. She gripped Lily and Grace and picked them both up, putting one on each hip just like she'd done since they were babies. She instinctively moved forward towards Alison and their lips met. Alison put her palm against Emily's face and thumbed away a stray tear.

"Hey." Emily pecked her lips again.

Alison tasted as sweet as she remembered. She couldn't believe she was here. She couldn't believe she was with her family again. She had a new appreciation for what her mother and father must have felt like every time they reunited.

Alison wrapped her arms around her wife and children. Her body melded into Emily's, as if they were a perfect fit, even with their children...especially with their children. They stayed in their embrace for several minutes.

They could hear the applause and the cheers of the other passengers in the airport, but they still felt like they were in their own little world.

Grace started wiggling and wanted down. She was suddenly on a tangent about how she wanted to show Emily their poster, which was sitting on top of a counter over by the security area.

Emily put Lily and Grace down, which gave their mothers a moment of intimacy without them. Emily reached up and cupped Alison's cheeks. The blonde's eyes were brimming with tears. She couldn't contain her emotions any longer.

"I missed you so much," Alison sobbed with a smile on her face. She was so happy to see her...alive...home in one piece.

Emily wiped away Alison's tears with her fingers and pressed her lips against Alison's once more. Their noses touched. Their foreheads met. They took a moment just to hold one another.

"Mama." Lily tugged on Emily's hand.

Emily forced herself to pry her eyes away from Alison's and look down at her little girls.

"Can we go home now?" Lily asked.

Emily leaned down again, giving the twins another opportunity to hug her neck. She picked them up, balancing them on her hips. She snuggled Lily and then Grace. They both giggled.

"I want to hear all about what you two have been doing while I've been away."

She carried them as far as the food court. The second they saw ice cream they were begging for sugar. Alison and Emily bought them each a cone and they walked out of the airport together. They'd both inhaled their treats by the time they got to the car. Their moms got them situated in their booster seats. Emily threw her bags in the back and then climbed up front with Alison.

She took a moment to appreciate where she was. It was something so simple...sitting in the car with her wife and her children. But it was something she knew a lot of people took for granted. She didn't want to miss a single second.

"So." Alison put her hand down against the center console. "How long are you staying?"

Emily hadn't told her the good news. She'd wanted to see the look on Alison's face when she told her she was coming home for good.

Emily reached down and took Alison's hand, linking their fingers together. She smiled.

"How about forever?"