Henry climbs into his big, empty bed in his Kensington bedroom with a grimace. Thankfully, it's his last night in London after staying a few days for the christening of Philip and Martha's third child. Normally Alex would have come with him but had been prevented this time for various reasons, mainly professional. So even if he enjoyed the last few days with his siblings, he can't wait to be back in New York, more specifically between the strong arms of his husband.
He checks the hour on his phone, does a quick calculation and presses the button to facetime Alex.
When Alex answers the room is dark, and Henry vaguely sees him move to turn on the bed lamp. A soft glow illuminates his handsome face and he rubs his eyes before focusing on the screen.
"Hey beautiful."
"Hey love. Sorry to wake you."
"S'ok. It's almost seven. And the sound of your voice is much better than my alarm clock. How was the christening?"
Henry shrugs. "Long and boring. But it was nice to spend some time with Bea, Pip and Marthat and the kids." He squints at the screen. "Is there someone with you ?"
Alex's face turns to his left side before coming back to him with a sheepish look. "That's not how I wanted you to find out, but yes, there's a woman in my bed."
Henry smiles. "Let me guess. Auburn hair, brown eyes, has a fondness for Disney and Star Wars?"
The other woman in question appears, putting her head on her dad's shoulder so she can see the screen. Alex puts a kiss on the crown of her hair.
"Hey daddy."
Henry's smiles widen, as does his heart."Morning my love. Did you sleep well with Papi?"
The 8 year old nods sleepily. "Yes. But he snores."
"I do not!" Alex protests.
"What did the two of you do last night ?"
"We watched The Lion King and Tangled," Emma says, gradually waking up.
Henry raises an eyebrow towards Alex. "Sounds like you went to bed way past your bedtime."
Father and daughter exchange a knowing look and Emma giggles. "It wasn't that late," Alex replies. "Besides, she fell asleep in the middle of Tangled."
"I missed the boat scene with the lanterns" she pouts.
"Well, it's not like you haven't seen it 247 times already." Henry teases her and she puts her arm over her eyes in a dramatic gesture.
"But it's my favorite scene!"
Alex rolls his eyes at her antics and Henry laughs. God, he can't wait to be home with them.
"Come one, mija," Alex tells her. "Time to get up. Your clothes are on the bed. I'll come down in five minutes for breakfast."
Emma presses a kiss on his cheek and addresses a little wave to Henry before jumping out of the bed.
"Don't tell me she let you pick her clothes for school ?" Henry asks, surprise tainting his voice. Emma has been quite particular lately when it comes to dressing herself.
Alex scoffs. "What do you think ? But she couldn't choose between two outfits so I had a front row seat to a mini fashion show and had to make the final decision. Imagine the pressure."
"The exciting life of Alex Claremont-Diaz, former FSOTUS and lawyer extraordinaire. If only people knew," Henry jokes and Alex chuckles.
"That I'm at the beck and call of an eight year old tornado? Yeah, I don't care if everybody and their grandmother know. What time are you coming home exactly?"
"Around 3 pm. I'll text you the exact time before boarding."
"Ok, I'll be there."
"Don't you have that meeting for that case?"
Alex scowls."Fuck that. We're 3 lawyers on that case, they can survive without me for one afternoon. I missed your stupid face,"he adds, his voice softening.
Henry laughs."Just my stupid face?"
"No, but there's a little girl next door who doesn't need to hear all the filthy stuff I'm going to do to her dad as soon as he brings back his perfect ass over here."
"Stupid face but perfect ass. It's not a complete loss, I suppose. I missed you too, darling."
They just look at each other for another minute, Henry wondering for the umpteenth time how he got so lucky.
Emma'face reappears on the screen. 'Hey daddy, I have a surprise for you."
Henry smiles. "Really? What is it?"
She snorts and rolls her eyes in a way that makes her look like a carbon copy of Alex. "Duh. Nice try. See you tonight." She kisses the screen, leaving a clear stain on it and eliciting a 'Emma Fox Claremont-Diaz, this is disgusting.'
"I need to go clean up my phone," Alex sighs and Henry can see he's rising from the bed even through the now blurry screen. "See you in a few hours? I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too," Henry replies with a grin and disconnects the call.
He puts the phone on the nightstand, next to the picture of Alex and Emma he carries with him everytime he travels, even if it has become a rare occurrence nowadays.
A bit cheered up by his conversation with his family, Henry falls asleep easily after that, and dreams about being Rapunzel and Alex as his dashing Flynn Rider.
He wakes up with a smile on his face.