"Goodnight hon," Jamie said to his wife, leaning over and pressing a kiss to her lips. He stopped suddenly when she flashed a slight grimace as he pulled away.
"What?" he asked, confused with her expression.
"Nothing," she responded, trying to play it off.
He gave her a look and laid back down on his side to face her. "Really, what is it?"
Eddie sighed, "You know I love you, right?"
Jamie nodded, "Mhmm. I love you too."
"I think it's time…"
He gave her a confused look, "Time for… what?"
She gently patted his face, bringing attention to his ever expanding facial hair. He'd been home for a few weeks now and the beard had grown a life of its own. It seemed as long as his actual hair. She didn't mind it at first but now she was missing her clean shaven Bub.
"My beard?" he replied.
"It's time for it to go, babe."
"What?" He let out a small laugh. "You want me to shave it?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
"Well… what if I actually like it?" he responded.
"You like it?" she questioned with surprise hinted in her voice.
"I do," he replied honestly. "It gives me the lumberjack look I've always been trying to go for."
She rolled her eyes, "Then you still have a ways to go. Most lumberjacks I've seen are over six feet tall and have about twenty more pounds of muscle."
"Ouch," he said, feigning mock hurt as he put a hand on his chest. "You really had to hit me there, huh? You know how sensitive I am about my height."
She smacked his chest with the back of her hand, "You're ridiculous."
"What don't you like about it?" he asked seriously. "Be honest."
"It's just… I'm not used to it. I'm used to scruff every once in a while but not all of this," she said, running her hands over his beard to emphasize her point. "But if you want to keep it, then I'll get used to it. I'll love you either way, beard or no beard."
He smiled gently at her and pressed a kiss to her lips, "Thank you." Then, he rolled over to turn off the lamp on his nightstand. "Goodnight Ed."
"Goodnight," she replied as the light went off.
The only thing that could be heard was the rustling of the sheets as they settled into their respective sides of the bed. A few minutes later, Eddie was on the verge of sleep when Jamie called out to her.
"Ed?" he said softly as he poked at her.
"Hm?" she replied.
"I actually hate it," Jamie finally confessed.
She smirked, "I knew it!" Then, she sat up and headed toward the bathroom.
"What are you doing?" he asked as she disappeared behind the doorway.
She came back out a few seconds later and headed toward his side of the bed. He turned on the lamp to find her with his razor and shaving cream in hand.
"Either you do it or me," she said seriously. "And if you do it right now, then you might get lucky when you come back to bed."
That incentive was all Jamie needed to leap out of bed and run toward the bathroom.
"You forgot the razor and the shaving cream!" she called out with a laugh as she was still standing with them in her hands.
He suddenly reappeared from behind the bathroom door and came back toward her. Instead of grabbing the razor and shaving cream, he surprised her by picking her up with ease and throwing her over his shoulder.
"Don't drop me!" Eddie exclaimed.
"I'm not going to drop you," he assured with a chuckle.
He made it into the bathroom, sat her on the counter, and shut the door behind them.