The bed bounced beneath the weight of David joining her a few hours later, and Erin found herself pulled out of her deep sleep as she groaned a little. Sitting up, she looked over at her husband, and saw that he had managed to get undressed and into pyjamas before joining her. "What time is it?"
"About three in the morning. JJ and Will just left for their honeymoon, and Sally is sleeping in the guest room. You should probably change before that dress wrinkles so badly that you'll be mad at yourself for not taking it off sooner."
"I hate that you know me so well," she muttered as she turned her back towards him. He deftly ran the zipper down her spine before unhooking her bra, and she yawned deeply as she got to her feet and padded over to the closet, stepping out of the dress and hanging it up before tossing the bra on her dresser and wrestling the tights off her legs before tugging out a short teddy and pulling it over her head, smoothing it down her torso before padding back to the bed. "And how about our guests? Did they set off for home safely?"
"Garcia is sleeping on our sofa, I made certain to cover her up with a blanket before I came up to join you. I didn't think that she was sober enough to actually give her address to a cabbie and make it into her apartment safely."
"Why didn't you let her use Tabby or Karen's room?"
"Because she was asleep before I could give her that suggestion? And besides, our sofa is really comfortable, so it shouldn't be too hard on her back." He tugged her closer to his chest, nuzzling his face into the crook of her neck, causing her to shiver a little with desire. "I think that we're too exhausted to think about this tonight, especially with the extra people in the house."
"Once again, you're right, darling. And how about Aaron?"
"He and Beth left shortly after he came back from saying goodnight to the bambinos. Which brings me around to something that I wanted to talk to you about, but perhaps that can wait until the morning?"
"I think that would be for the best, David." She yawned widely before snuggling closer to his side, tucking her chin into her chest as he pulled the covers up around them. "I love you."
"I love you, too, stellina," he murmured as she fell asleep once more. It seemed like only a few minutes later that she was waking up once more to the feel of David's lips against hers, and she leaned up into him, welcoming his arm around her waist, holding her close. "Good morning."
"Good morning, David. Though it looks like it's just about afternoon, according to the sun."
He nodded before kissing her once more. "I think that it is, but who would know?"
Erin rolled her eyes a little as she looked over his shoulder to glance at the clock. "I can tell you that it's almost eleven thirty, so we need to get up and check on the children. We're supposed to be watching Jack and Henry, after all."
David gave her a little grin as he slid out of bed and went over to the dresser, quickly changing into a polo shirt and khakis. "Are you getting up?" Erin rolled her eyes again as she picked up her pillow and tossed it at him, hitting him square in the chest. "I'm wounded!"
"You'll be hurt even more if you don't shape up, mister," she muttered as she got up and tripped her way over to the closet, pulling out a fresh dress before changing into new underwear and then tugging the dress over her head, tying the belt around her waist with a flourish before running a brush through her hair. "I'll do my makeup after we eat."
"You're that hungry, too?" She nodded and took hold of his hand, leading him down the stairs. "How else are you feeling this morning?"
"A little stressed, if I'm honest. I had thought that Beth would have let this silly rivalry go, when she saw how happy that we are together, and how much I love you and our family. But it seems like she's going in harder on this notion that there's something between Aaron and myself. It probably didn't help matters that Aaron came up to check on the children after I went inside to read them a bedtime story, but any good father does just that. What am I to do?"
"I honestly don't know, Erin. We're going to have to come up with a way together to put her mind at ease, sooner rather than later."
She nodded as she let out a deep sigh, stepping into their kitchen to see that Bruce was looking intently at a cookbook, ingredients spread out around him on the countertops. "Good morning, Mom, Papa Dave. I'm fixing lunch right now, it will be ready in about an hour, but there are some leftovers from breakfast in the fridge if you need something quick."
"Thanks, darling," Erin said as she padded over to the appliance and opened the door, grabbing the plate and shoving it in the microwave for a minute to warm up the food. Once that was ready, she took a seat on one of the stools while David handed her a fork before they dug into the food. "What time did you get home?"
"Before the party ended, but you were already in bed. Karen's spending the day with her boyfriend, and Tabitha has corralled the little ones in the living room. They were watching movies when I left to start lunch."
"You could have woken us up, Bruce."
"Eh, you hosted a huge get together last night, and it's not that much work to put together this meal. Besides, it will look good for my future spouse if I can cook, right?"
Erin giggled as she looked up at her husband, nodding. "That is very true, Brucie. David's cooking was one of the major perks that came with starting a relationship with him." David rolled his eyes affectionately as he poked her with his fork, and she smiled at him as she snagged another bite of egg.
"Yes, well, it is a good thing to make certain that your partner is well fed. Though you do have a plethora of cooks here, since your mother is good in the kitchen, too."
"Yeah, but Dad always made her cook, even if she had had a long day at work. That's why I'm glad you're here with us, and do a lot of the meals, when you're home."
Erin blushed a little, having never known that Bruce had picked up on that particular stressor in her life. "Alan was busy, too," she started to say, trying to make an excuse for her ex-husband, only to see Bruce frown a little at her before returning to what he was making. "What?"
"You don't have to make excuses for Dad, Mom. He is a good dad to us, but there were things that we all picked up on over the years. Especially once you started living with Papa Dave." Turning, he looked at them both, a sad smile on his lips. "I know that he's our dad, but you stepped up when Mom needed you, even though it wasn't an ideal situation. Dad could have done the same thing, if he really loved Mom. And I know, I shouldn't take sides like this, since you did cheat on him, but Dad wasn't right for you, like Papa Dave is right for you."
This was the most that her son had ever opened up in regards to the divorce, and Erin allowed his words to seep into her heart as she nodded. "I never wanted you to make a choice between us, I always wanted it to be fair."
"And you were exactly that. Dad just made some different choices in life after the divorce. And that's okay, because everyone is different. It's just nice to have the sort of blended family that we have now." He came over to her side and hugged her gently, and Erin reached up to pat his chest as she sighed, wondering when her children had grown up to be such fine young adults. She wasn't certain that she had had much to do with this, but it was still heartening to see develop in them as they started to move forward in life. This little conversation just proved that somewhere along the line, she had done something right, and she hoped that it would continue in the future.
