relaxation; au

For as long as she could remember, Lightning's mornings had always been busy. From the time she'd been tasked with taking care of Serah, it'd always been a rush to get them ready and out of the house to get on with their days.

That hadn't changed much when Hope came along. His line of work was very demanding, so there were actually rare times when he'd get out of bed before she did. Busy mornings were especially a constant after she'd had their son, Soren.

All of this may have very well been why Lightning felt oddly antsy waking up one Saturday morning, immediately struck with the fact that there were no plans for the day. It was a weekend, so they both had off from work. Though she kept an ear out, Soren was blessedly still asleep, a remarkable feat for a two-year-old child. If she didn't want to, there was no reason to get out of bed.

As much as instinct protested, Lightning had to admit that there was something to be said about just laying in bed…especially after she looking to her side and caught sight of her sleeping husband.

She rolled over onto her side, away from the sight of her alarm clock, so that she could face Hope. A smile formed on her lips at his sleeping face, and wondered not for the first time how someone like him had found her.

As though responding to her thoughts, a minute later, Hope's eyes fluttered open. He looked a little disoriented for a moment, like anyone did when they woke up, but quickly noticed his wife and gave her a smile in return, scooting closer for a morning kiss.

"Morning, love," he murmured. "Sleep okay?"

"Yeah," she replied quietly, punctuating that with another lazy kiss. He hummed quietly in response, definitely not protesting when Lightning nudged him so that he was lying on his back. When their lips separated, she made herself comfortable on his naked chest by folding her arms on top of him and resting her chin on them, giving an oddly serene sigh when she was finally settled.

She chuckled at the confused look on Hope's face. "What is it?"

He shrugged slightly, raising a hand so that he could brush her hair out of her eyes. "You just look really comfortable, that's all."

"Hard not to be."

"Maybe." He smiled. "I wouldn't mind having more mornings like this."

"Me neither." Light's eyes drifted closed, lulled by the soothing motion of Hope's hand. "Maybe we should pencil them in."

She heard a low chuckle in reply. "Kinda defeats the purpose, don't you think?"

Lightning made a noise that could have been an agreement, but even she wasn't sure. Though there wasn't a day that went by where she didn't voice or show her appreciation for Hope, this was somehow…different. She'd never been more comfortable as she was right now, with her warm human pillow.

Funny how less than ten years ago, she never would have imagined she could feel so relaxed with someone other than Serah…and even with Serah, she'd never felt serenity quite like this.

How long she lay there in comfortable silence with him, she didn't know, but it was only the sound of their bedroom door creaking open that made her lift her head.

Of course, she knew who it was. Lightning smiled and rolled off of Hope, scooting to the edge of the bed where their son was standing, his arms raised and hands making reflexive grabby motions.

"Hmm." She hoisted him up with a little grunt, wondering when he'd gotten so big. The moment she plopped him between the two of them, Soren immediately scooted over to his father. "Looks like someone wanted to say good morning."

"Guess so." Hope grinned, of course returning the affection.

Lightning watched the two of them with a smile, playfully poking Soren's forehead. "What are you supposed to do when you want to go into a room that has the door closed?" She hid a chuckle at the toddler babble that was her answer. At least it vaguely sounded like the word 'knock'. "That's right. So remember to do that next time, okay?"

Hope quirked an eyebrow when Soren basically paid no mind and continued snuggling up to them. "Dinner says that he doesn't remember."

She shook her head with another smile, scooting closer to the two of them so she could peck Hope's lips. Soren made a babbling protest, but it didn't drown out her answer.

"It's a date."