When Justin took his daughter, Madeline, over to Debbie and Carl's house, he had anticipated Debbie to be home. He knew that Debbie still worked at the Diner, but he also knew that she hadn't been working as much lately. But when Carl answered the door, he didn't mind because he trusted Carl. Not only was he a cop, but Justin knew that he had kids of his own, so he was more then adequate to take care of his daughter. So he left his daughter with Carl, leaving her with him so he could go to work. Normally either Brian or Justin would watch their daughter, but an emergency had popped up and Justin needed to go to work, so he left without a doubt in his mind that his daughter would be taken care of. Carl also didn't mind taking care of his granddaughter. He was happy that the Liberty Avenue gang trusted him enough to watch their kids, so he was more than happy to do it. So he watched Madeline. He played dolls with her, he played dress up with her, he even had a tea party with Madeline. But after a few hours, they both tired out and decided to watch TV. Carl fell asleep, like he quite often did, and Madeline followed close behind, cuddled up close to his body, her head in the crook of his shoulder. They were asleep for no more then twenty minutes when Debbie's shift ended at the Diner and she made her way into the house.
"I'm home," she called out. When she didn't get a response, she added, "Carl?" She walked further into the house and into the living room, only to see Carl and Madeline asleep, cuddling with each other. Carl had his arm wrapped around Madeline's three-year-old body. She was cuddled as close to him as possible. Debbie smiled to herself as she watched her husband and granddaughter sleep next to each other. Debbie bent over the couch and pressed a soft kiss against Madeline's head and then did the same thing to Carl. Madeline stirred softly, but didn't wake up, but Carl did.
"Hi, sleepy head," Debbie said with a smile. A smile appeared on Carl's face immediately when he saw Debbie.
"Hey," he said. "When did you get home?" he asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He then looked down at the granddaughter that was sleeping against him, a soft smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
"I just walked in," Debbie replied. She then walked around the couch and sat next to Carl, who wrapped his free arm around his wife.
"Do I get a proper kiss?" he asked, bringing out his puppy eyes. Debbie rolled her eyes and laughed before leaning over and affectionately kissed him on the lips. Carl smiled as he kissed Debbie back.
"I love you," he said quietly.
"I love you too," Debbie replied. With all the talking that was going on, Madeline stirred and woke up. Both grandparents looked over at her, smiles on both of their faces. When Madeline realized that her grandmother was sitting with them, a smile also appeared on her face.
"Hi, Grams," she said as she crawled into Carl's lap so she could be closer to Debbie.
"Hi, sweetheart," Debbie replied with a smile on her face while she watched Madeline get comfortable on her husband's lap. With her back against Carl's chest and stomach, Madeline let her small hand wonder to Debbie's. Debbie looked much like Madeline had just looked, cuddled into Carl's side, her head resting against his chest. "Is Guppy comfortable?" she asked Madeline as she held Madeline's small hand. Madeline nodded her head with a small, almost embarrassed, smile on her face. "He is, isn't he?" Debbie asked as she crinkled her nose, laughter lacing her voice. She had to agree with her granddaughter, Carl was comfortable as a pillow.
"Am I everyone's pillow?" Carl asked, laughter also lacing his voice.
"You fu-," Debbie stopped herself before she said something she would regret. "You love it," she finished as she craned her neck to give Carl another kiss. Carl laughed as he kissed his wife back. Debbie smiled when she pulled away from the kiss and then pulled her legs up onto the couch, making herself more comfortable. When she was comfortable, Carl moved his arm so his hand was resting on her hip, making sure it was still wrapped around her shoulders. Madeline then moved so she was sitting in the empty space in between Carl and Debbie. She quickly became Debbie's little spoon so her head was also resting against Carl's chest as well. Carl then grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch they were sitting on and draped it across his wife and granddaughter. When the blanket was draped on top of Debbie watched Madeline as she pulled the blanket closer to her body. Carl was also watching as well, but he was paying more attention to the look on Debbie's face. She looked so content. She didn't even question why Madeline was over, she was just glad she had a granddaughter to dot on for a while.
Not getting quite comfortable, Madeline flipped over so she was facing Debbie's body. She moved closer to the woman so she could softly nudge her grandmother's chest. A smile tugged at the corners of Debbie's mouth as she draped her arm around Madeline's body and started to rub her back, pulling her close to sleep again. But Madeline was clearly fighting sleep. She wanted to stay awake as long as possible, especially now that Debbie was home.
"Are you comfortable, sweetie?" Debbie asked. She could tell that Madeline was fighting sleep, but she also knew that the closeness of her grandparents and the heat that radiated from them would push her to sleep soon enough. Carl smiled to himself as he kissed the top of Debbie's now gray hair. She had long since stopped wearing her wig. She claimed it was because she was tired of wearing it, but it was really because Carl made her feel comfortable enough with herself to be able to not wear it. Madeline nodded her head in affirmation.
"You're warm, Grams," she replied. Debbie laughed and then bundled up Madeline in her embrace and moved so her back was resting against Carl's body and the three-year-old was in her lap and resting against her body, both of them still under the blanket. Debbie took up rubbing Madeline's back again as she comfortably rested her head against Carl's chest. Madeline was on the verge of sleeping when Michael walked in, his son in tow. Levi was a little younger then Madeline at two and a half years old.
"Ma?" Michael called out. He and his mother agreed that she would watch the baby for the night while Ben and Michael had a night to themselves.
"We're in the living room," Debbie called out. Michael walked into the room and immediately noticed Madeline using Debbie as a pillow and Debbie using Carl as one as well. Michael didn't even question what they were doing. He knew this was a normal picture in Carl and Debbie's marriage, especially with so many grandchildren, so he just placed the baby bag behind the couch and then he leaned over to put Levi down in Carl's lap. Levi immediate moved around in Carl's lap so he was facing his grandfather. He then zeroed in on Carl's buttons and started playing with them.
"It's almost time for him to take his nap," Michael informed Carl and Debbie as he made his way out of the house.
"That makes a couple of us," Debbie replied. "Have fun, sweetheart," she called out when she heard the front door open.
"Thanks again, Ma," Michael said and then he walked out of the door, closing it behind him. After a few minutes of playing with Carl's button, Levi looked up at his grandfather, his eyes drooping. Without thinking about it, he moved around on Carl's lap so he was laying against Carl's body, his head against his chest. A smile tugged at Carl's lips as he watched Levi get comfortable against his body. Like Debbie had done, he took up rubbing Levi's back.
"We have a couple of tired kids on our hands," he said. When he first started dating Debbie, he was a little worried about how many kids were apart of the Novotny clan, because he wasn't sure if they would like him or not, but they all took a liking to him and every single one of their grandkids had him wrapped around his finger.
"Is Levi asleep too?" Debbie asked. Madeline had fallen asleep when Michael dropped Levi off and Levi was fast asleep.
"Yeah," Carl said happily. Debbie moved her head against Carl's chest so she could see his face, which had a look of happiness written on her face.
"I think we might have another cop in the making," she said. Gus already wanted to be a cop because of his grandfather and it seemed like Levi was taking a liking to Carl. Carl laughed.
"Possibly," he said. He knew that all the women in the family didn't want Gus to become a cop, but he quite liked the idea of his grandson following in his footsteps. Carl looked down at Debbie and smiled while Debbie craned her neck and kissed her husband.
"I love you," Carl said.
"I love you too."