Regard
"Mommy?" four-year old Tyler said, coming over to his mother and plopping himself down on his lap.
"What's up, Ty?" Sam smiled, tossing aside her magazine.
"Can you play with me? I'm bored."
"You're bored?" Sam repeated. "You have three siblings to play with. Why don't you go see what Jason's up to?"
"He's building one of his trains and said I can't help him because I'm a baby," Tyler pouted. "But I'm not, right mommy?"
"Course not," Sam chuckled, rustling his dark hair. "Well what about Emma and Ashton?"
"They're playing house," Tyler cringed. "And they said I could only play if I was the baby, but I'm not-"
"I know, I know, you're not a baby," Sam nodded knowingly. "Well sweetie, I'd love to play with you, but mommy has to start getting ready."
"Ready for what?"
"Daddy's taking me out on a date tonight," Sam explained.
"What's a date?" Tyler asked. "Like a play date?"
"Er, sort of," Sam nodded. "But for adults. You'll go on them when you're older…much older."
"So you can't play with me?" Tyler asked sadly.
Sam sighed. "Well…alright. Just for a little bit though, okay. Then you'll have to wait for Aunt Carly to play with you; she's coming over to watch you guys."
"I like it when Aunt Carly watches us," Tyler said. "She orders us pizza for dinner. Pizza's my favorite."
"Smart kid," Sam laughed.
Just then Freddie walked into the room, already dressed for his and Sam's date.
"You do realize our reservations are in an hour, right?" he said to his wife. "Maybe you want to start getting ready?"
"She's playing with me, daddy," Tyler said before Sam could even open her mouth.
"Oh is she?" Freddie grinned.
"Okay Ty, how about you play with daddy so mommy can go get dressed," Sam said, getting to her feet. "Otherwise I'm gonna have to listen to him complaining about being twenty seconds late for our reservations."
"Well you know I like to be punctual," Freddie said.
"Oh we all know, baby," Sam said, rolling her eyes as she gave him a quick kiss. "Trust me."
"What does punctual mean, daddy?" Tyler asked as Sam headed upstairs.
"It means on time," Freddie explained. "See, I enjoy being on time or, even better, early, to things. But mommy, on the other hand, well…let's just say she's not a huge fan of it."
Just then there was a knock on the door and a second later Carly walked in with her eight-year old daughter, Clarissa.
"Hey Carls," Freddie smiled. "Hey Clarissa. Emma and Ashton are upstairs playing in their room if you want to join them."
"Go have fun, sweetie," Carly told her daughter as the child ran off. She shrugged off her coat and hung it up. "I hope you don't mind that I'm a little early-"
"Daddy says he likes being early," Tyler cut in.
"Er, yes he does," Carly nodded.
"I was just explaining punctuality to him," Freddie said.
"Ah," Carly said. "Gotcha."
"Anyway, thanks for coming over tonight," Freddie said. "We owe you one."
"No problem," Carly said. "What are you guys going out for anyway? Any special occasion?"
"Nope," Freddie told her. "Its just been so long since we've gone out, just the two of us, that we figured it was overdue so we're gonna feast on lobsters."
"Well that's sweet," Carly smiled. "So where are the other kids I'm supposed to be watching?"
"Upstairs," Freddie said. "Sam gave the twins a whole bunch of her old clothes for dress up, so they've been busy with that all day, and Jason's up in his room working on a model train."
"None of them will play with me," Tyler told Carly sadly.
"Well why wouldn't they want to play with someone as cute as you?" Carly chuckled.
"I don't know."
"Alright, I'm ready," Sam said, hurrying back downstairs, now wearing a light blue dress. "I just told Jason and the girls we're leaving and to behave for you, Carly."
"They always do," Carly said.
"Well, at least they do for someone," Sam said, rolling her eyes. She turned to her husband. "Alright, let's get out of here before you go crazy about being late."
"Right," Freddie nodded. "Bye Carly, bye Ty."
"We'll be home around midnight," Sam said, kissing the top of Tyler's head.
"Can I stay up and wait for you guys?" Tyler asked.
"Aw that's sweet," Sam smiled. "But absolutely not."
…..
"When was the last time we were at a restaurant without a drive-through window?" Freddie said as him and Sam sat at the bar of the fancy restaurant they were attending as they waited for their table.
"Probably before Tyler was born," Sam said, sipping her drink.
"Probably," Freddie agreed, setting his glass down. "So, what do you want to do after we eat? Go to the movies?"
"Eh, there's nothing good playing," Sam said. "Let's do something else."
"Like…?"
"I dunno, something we never get to do anymore," Sam said. "This is our one night of freedom! Who knows when we'll get another chance to go out without the kids? We can't just waste it on a movie."
"So do you want to-"
"Excuse me, ma'am?" the bartender said, sliding a drink over to Sam. "This is for you."
"I didn't order this," Sam frowned.
"No, the gentleman at the end of the bar did," the bartender said.
Sam and Freddie looked over and saw a bearded man waving at Sam. He gave her a quick wink.
"Who does he think he is?" Freddie said hotly, glaring at the gentleman who just bought his wife a drink.
"Eh, probably just a sleeze," Sam shrugged, taking the drink and sipping it.
"You're gonna drink it?" Freddie frowned.
"Duh, it's free," Sam nodded. "And I had to deal with two temper tantrums, over a dozen spills, and an overflowing toilet today, so Mama needs all she can get."
"I still think I should go over there and say something," Freddie mumbled.
"Don't, you'll just get hurt; he looks pretty big," Sam said. "Besides, he'll get the hint when I don't respond."
"Alright," Freddie conceded. He glanced at his watch. "Our table should be ready soon anyway."
"Exactly," Sam nodded. "So back to what we're doing after this…How against fireworks would you be?"
"Are we going to see a legal, city-sanctioned fireworks display?" Freddie asked. "Or are you thinking more on the illegal side?"
"Baby, you've been married to me for thirteen years," Sam laughed. "What do you think?"
"Well I can dream, can't I?" Freddie sighed. "Okay, how about we compromise? We go on a romantic stroll through the park, and halfway through…you can have your fun with fireworks?"
"Deal," Sam grinned.
"We really do have some untraditional dates," Freddie chucked, taking another sip of his drink.
"And people say couples get boring after so many years," Sam smirked.
"Well, we've never been like most couples," Freddie pointed out. As he made to set down his glass, though, a bit of the drink spilled onto his shirt. "Aw man!"
"Relax, it was just a little splash," Sam said.
"Yeah, but I don't want this stain to set," Freddie said.
"You're so your mother," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"I'll be right back," Freddie said. "I'm just gonna go dab this off in the bathroom."
"I'm finishing your drink!" Sam called after him.
About thirty seconds after Freddie had left, Sam felt someone tap her shoulder. She spun around and saw the man who had bought her a drink.
"Hey there, beautiful," the man grinned. "You're looking good tonight…"
Aw jeez, Sam thought to herself.
"Yeah, um, listen," Sam said. "Thanks for the drink and all, it was really nice of you, but I'm kind of here with my husband, so thanks but no thanks."
"Just because you've got your husband around doesn't mean you can't have some fun," the man chuckled.
"I have plenty of fun with him," Sam snapped. "So seriously, get out of here."
"Come on, I bought you a drink," the man said. "The least you can do is-"
"What's going on here?" Freddie demanded as he walked over to Sam. "Sam, is this guy giving you a hard time?"
"Yes," Sam scoffed, getting to her feet. "Come on, Freddie, let's just go wait for our table over-"
"No, hold on," Freddie said, looking up at the man, who had a good eight inches on him. "Listen, buddy, I don't appreciate you messing with my wife, okay?"
"You gonna do something about it?" the man laughed.
"Yeah I-"
"Come on," Sam said, tugging at Freddie's arm.
"Sam!" Freddie said. "I can-"
But Sam had already pulled him off.
"What did you do that for?" Freddie said once him and Sam were a safe distance away from the man. "What? You think I can't handle myself in a fight?"
"It doesn't matter if I think you can or not!" Sam snapped. "How do you think it's gonna look to the kids if their dad gets arrested for getting into a bar fight? You remember that whole speech you gave to me about getting in trouble with fighting after Jason was born; well the same rules apply to you!"
"But-But he was hitting on you," Freddie said lamely.
"I know, he-he was a jerk, and deserved to get it," Sam said. "But come on, it's not like he was going to get anywhere with me. You know that."
Freddie didn't reply.
"You-You do know that…right?" Sam frowned. "You know I'd never do anything about a dumb guy hitting on me."
"I know," Freddie said heavily. "I trust you, Sam. One hundred percent. But, you know, seeing stuff like that just reminds me of the fact that-that you always could've done better."
Sam gave him a strange look. "You're kidding, right?"
"I just…You should hear what people say when we go out," Freddie mumbled. "They're always saying 'what's she doing with him?'. I mean, you know you could've done a lot better than me."
"You're unbelievable," Sam said, shaking her head. "Seriously…Freddie, I love you. I don't want to be with anybody but you. And you know what? I couldn't have done better than you because to me, there is nobody better. You're the only one who can make me feel like a princess when I'm having the worst day. You're not freaked out by my insane appetite or by how strong I am. And you're the only guy who has ever loved me no matter what. You've given me thirteen amazing years of marriage and four perfect kids. So you know what? I think I've hit the jackpot with you."
Freddie put his arms around her. "The jackpot, huh?"
"That's right," Sam smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. She leaned up and kissed him. "I'm a real winner."
"So am I," Freddie said gently, returning her kiss.
