Notes: Mari and Sammy - Thanks for the squeal-inducing feedback. You're the best!
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
New Kind of Movie Night (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Steve paused in his whistling as the microwave timer beeped. He ducked his head slightly, listening for the last of the popcorn kernels to pop before opening the door.
Catherine came into the kitchen chuckling. "They're getting comfortable on the sofa even though they'll move as soon as we come in."
He grinned at her. "Did they decide on a movie?"
"It's down to either Finding Nemo or Finding Dory."
He nodded approvingly, taking the hot popcorn bag out of the microwave and bringing it over to the island and the waiting bowl.
Catherine smirked as she poured cold water into cups for the four of them. "You know something I've noticed?"
"What's that?"
"You do a lot less grumbling now on Movie Night when it's not your turn to pick the movie than you used to."
He smirked, looking up from the popcorn bowl. "Maybe that's 'cause our kids have better taste in movies than you do, Lieutenant."
She rolled her eyes. "Or you're just a big ol' softie," she said, picking up three of the cups.
"Nah, I think it's your taste."
She rolled her eyes and nodded to the remaining cup. "Grab that, will you?"
"I got it," he said, following her into the living room with the cup and the bowl of popcorn.
"Mommy!" Angie said excitedly when she spotted them. "Daddy! Wa'ch movie!"
"That's what we're going to do," Catherine said, smiling at the two children sprawled out on the sofa together in their pajamas, DJ with his teddy bear and Angie with her bunny and her aardvark.
"Is there any room for us?" Steve asked.
"Po'co'n!" Angie squealed when she spotted what was in the bowl Steve carried.
He chuckled, exchanging a look with Catherine. "Can see where we fall in the priority list."
"Will you sit by me, Daddy?" DJ asked hopefully.
"Of course, buddy." He and Catherine set the refreshments down on the coffee table and joined the kids on the sofa. Angie immediately leaned over for a handful of popcorn, knocking the bowl, and Catherine shot a hand out to steady it.
"Careful, baby girl," she said. "Here, let's do this." She took the bowl and set it in the middle of the sofa. Pulling Angie into her lap, she continued, "Now we can all reach it."
Instead of staying put, Angie wriggled off Catherine's lap and onto the sofa, grinning up at her mother proudly.
Catherine smiled at the show of independence, knowing at some point Angie would crawl back up for a cuddle of her own volition. She looked over at DJ. "What did you two decide on for the movie?" she asked.
"Finding Nemo," DJ said.
"Nemo," Angie echoed her agreement, leaning forward and making a grabby motion for her sippy cup. "Mommy, hewp p'ease."
Catherine grabbed the cup and gave it to her.
"That one comes first, right?" DJ asked.
"That's right," Catherine said.
"Then we should watch that one before we watch the other one."
"Good plan," Steve said, reaching for the remote they'd retrieved from Angie's dresser drawer. He navigated on the screen to the movie. "Everyone ready?"
Angie nodded eagerly even as she gulped down water from her cup and DJ grinned. "Yeah!" he said.
Within a few minutes of the movie starting and the barracuda's appearance, DJ had moved onto Steve's lap for reassurance, though Angie had remained determinedly in her own spot by the popcorn bowl, quietly distracted by placing individual pieces on her legs. As Nemo headed off for his first day of school, she'd eaten them all and decided to climb back onto Catherine's lap.
"Who dat, Mommy?" she asked.
"That's Nemo and his daddy."
Angie looked over at her own father who smiled at her, shifting himself and DJ closer now that Angie had moved into Catherine's lap.
"We' dey going?" Angie continued her questions.
"They're going to Nemo's first day of school," Catherine answered.
It was DJ's turn to smile, tilting his head to look at Steve. "Like you took me to school on my first day," he said. He turned toward Catherine and his sister. "With Mommy and Angie."
"That's right," Steve said.
They continued watching, Steve and Catherine patiently answering questions about the different fish and sea creatures in Nemo's class, his argument with his father, and the sudden appearance of the scuba divers.
"I don't think they should take Nemo away from his daddy," DJ said, subconsciously pressing closer to Steve.
"Me either," Steve agreed. "But his daddy's not going to give up until he finds him."
Catherine looked over, smiling softly at the promise in his voice.
Angie enjoyed Dory's introduction, pointing at the screen. "Bwue fish," she said.
"Yep, that's Dory," Catherine said. "She's blue, and she's going to help Nemo's daddy find him."
"She hewp him?"
"She's helping him."
Angie nodded approvingly at that. "Hewp him," she repeated, turning her attention back to the movie just as Bruce the Great White Shark appeared on screen.
DJ's eyes widened nervously and he shifted closer to Steve while Angie straightened, leaning forward with interest.
"Biiig sha'k! she squealed. "Do do, do do do do," she sang. She paused, momentarily startled when Bruce lunged at Marlin and Dory as a joke, then she grinned and pointed. "See aww da teef!"
"He has lots of teeth," Catherine agreed, glancing between Angie and DJ who were having such different reactions. She reached over for DJ's hand and gave it a little squeeze. "They're gonna be fine," she assured him.
They continued through the action scene of the escape from the sharks and Nemo's introduction to the other fish in the dentist's aquarium tank, then Steve checked the time on his watch and glanced at Catherine who nodded.
"Okay, kiddos," she said as Steve reached for the remote to pause the movie. "That's it for tonight. It's bedtime."
While DJ started to sit up, Angie shook her head. "No, mo' Nemo, Mommy," she said.
"We'll watch some more this weekend," Catherine promised. "Now it's time to brush teeth and go to bed." She kissed Angie's head and shifted to stand.
"Did you like the movie so far, DJ?" Steve asked.
DJ turned to look at him, nodding. "Yeah, but there are some scary parts with the sharks."
"Sha'ks!" Angie said excitedly. She bounced in Catherine's lap. "Do do, do do do do."
DJ grinned, her energy contagious. "Do do, do–" His kicked his foot out, accidentally knocking the popcorn off the sofa, the remaining pieces spilling onto the floor. His smile vanished instantly, face crumpling at the mess.
Cammie popped up from her bed in the corner and trotted over, curious about the commotion.
"Wait, Cammie," Steve said, immediately turning back to DJ.
Before Steve or Catherine could say anything else, Angie pointed to the floor. "Uh oh. Cwean up."
DJ took a breath, and they could see his tension visibly easing. "I'm sorry," he said.
"That's okay, honey," Catherine said, smiling reassuringly at him.
"It was an accident," Steve added, patting his shoulder..
"I'll clean it up," DJ said, sliding to the floor and turning the bowl over.
Steve and Catherine exchanged a quick look of surprise and relief. Both had been momentarily worried DJ would retreat into himself as he had when he'd accidentally broken the ornament at Christmas. They were pleased and grateful he now clearly felt secure enough in his home to calm himself before getting upset in the face of an accident.
"We'll all help clean up," Catherine said, setting Angie down and kneeling along with Steve.
"Cwean up, cwean up …" Angie sang the song Esther had been singing with her for two years.
Together, they got most of the fallen bits of popcorn back in the bowl.
"Cammie ha' some?" Angie asked hopefully when it was down to just a couple pieces on the floor.
"Sure, honey," Catherine said, smiling at the toddler's desire to share with her furry sibling. "Okay. Go ahead, Cammie."
Cammie, who'd waited patiently as instructed, quickly scarfed up the few pieces left on the floor, sniffing around for anymore as the family stood.
Steve squeezed DJ's shoulder reassuringly. "Good clean up. Let's head up and get ready for bed."
As they walked up the stairs, DJ looked back at Steve and smiled. "I think Nemo's going to be okay. His daddy is definitely going to find him."
"I think so, too, buddy. I think so, too."
After putting both children to bed, Steve and Catherine returned to the sofa. Steve smiled to see the remote was still on the coffee table for once and pressed the button to return to the main screen with all the various streaming options.
"You know, there was definitely a time I wouldn't have thought we'd ever need the 'Kids' profile on Netflix, let alone a Disney+ subscription," he said.
"To be fair, that second one is pretty new …" she pointed out.
"You know what I mean," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
Catherine smiled. "I do." She grinned. "And it was your idea, remember?"
He grinned, resting his head back against the sofa. "I know."
"But you're right, Movie Night selections have changed quite a bit, especially the last few months." Shifting closer, she ran a hand up his chest to cup his cheek and turn him toward her. "One thing about movie night hasn't changed, though …" she said, leaning up to kiss him with a saucy smile.
"What's that?" he asked, even as he turned to lie back, bringing her with him.
"We still don't make it through the whole movie."
Hope you enjoyed!
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