~•~

Jamie arrived home to find his wife sprawled on ground in the kitchen, laying in only a sports bra and shorts. On any other day, he would find the view arousing and immediately join her but the intense heat of the apartment couldn't be ignored.

"Why is it so damn hot?" he asked, dropping his duffel bag down next to the door.

She frowned over at him, using a cool damp rag to wipe the sweat off her forehead. "The power is out all down our block. You didn't see my message?"

"My phone died during the middle of the day and I left my charger here this morning," he explained. "How long has it been out?"

"Since I came back from the grocery store earlier this afternoon," she replied. "Supposedly, they were doing some construction on that new building and knocked out a power line. According to the super, the power won't be back on until tomorrow afternoon."

"What?!" he exclaimed. "That's crazy."

"I know. But there's nothing we can do about it unfortunately."

"Should I call Pop and ask if we can stay there tonight?" he asked, walking over and sitting down on the ground next to where she was laying.

"I already did but they're not home. Your dad is in Rochester for some work thing and Pop is in Boston with some of his buddies. And your sister is visiting Nicky in San Francisco and I don't think you want to stay with Danny."

He immediately shook his head, "I love my brother but no."

"And I don't think you want to go pay two to three hundred bucks for a hotel room for one night. It should cool down a little bit tonight so I feel like if we keep the windows open and camp out here or in the living room, it'll be okay."

"What about dinner?" he asked, his stomach letting out an audible rumble that made his wife chuckle.

"I had plans to make a lasagna but without any power, it's a no go. I don't think we want to eat anything hot anyways with this heat. We have stuff to make sandwiches. I pretty much stuffed everything I could into the freezer in hopes to salvage it."

"A sandwich sounds amazing if I'm being honest," he replied.

She sat up before Jamie helped her stand up. "You go get changed and I'll make the sandwiches," she said.

Jamie returned a few minutes later, only clad in a pair of basketball shorts. Eddie had laid an old bedsheet across the floor in the kitchen and set out their sandwiches and multiple bottles of water that had thankfully stayed cold.

They sat side by side, leaning back against the cool cabinets as they ate. He gave her a quick smile before offering a bite of his sandwich. She accepted it happily before laying her head against his sweaty shoulder. The sun was just starting to go down, which gave the apartment a warm lighting.

"Do you remember the last time we did this?" she asked gently.

"What? Me giving you a bite of my sandwich? That's pretty much every day, hon."

He let out a small laugh as she pinched his side. "No! The last time we sat on the ground and ate like this."

"Of course," he replied, taking her free hand and pressing a gentle kiss to the back of it. "It was our first night here in the apartment. We hadn't moved the furniture in yet but the power was already off at our other place so we decided to stay here."

"We ate dinner in this spot," she said.

"And made a pallet on the ground in the living room with a whole mess of blankets and pillows," he added with a smile.

"Can you believe that was five years ago?" she asked. "I remember it like it was yesterday."

"Those days were fun, huh?"

She nodded in agreement, "They were. Because it was something that we were doing together. It wasn't my apartment or your apartment anymore. It was our apartment. Our home."

"We were combining our lives together into one place."

"And with other things too. Joint bank accounts and I changed my name. Legally at least. I'm still Janko at work."

"I'll be honest. I was surprised that you actually did it."

"What? Changed my name?"

He nodded, "Yep. I thought you would've wanted to just stay Janko. I mean, it would've been completely fine by me if you did. But it was a nice surprise when you said you wanted to add Reagan to your name."

"Well… you're my husband, Jamie. Why wouldn't I want to take your name? I'm proud to have it as mine."

He simply smiled at that and pressed a kiss to her sweaty hairline. They finished their sandwiches and cleaned up before moving over into the living room. They set down multiple bed sheets on the ground, pillows and a thin blanket to cover up if needed. It was dark outside now and the only light they had was from a candle that Jamie had lit that was sitting up on the coffee table. They laid side by side on the ground, with Eddie tucked into his side and her head on his chest.

"This is nice," Jamie commented as he stroked the silky skin of his wife's taut belly.

She nodded, her eyes feeling heavy now due to Jamie's caresses, "No phones or TV to distract us."

"We should have nights like this more often," he said. "Unplugged. Just you and me without the rest of the world to distract us."

"I'm down for that," she yawned as she finally closed her eyes.

He looked down at her and shook his head, "Wake up, wife. There's no falling asleep yet."

She groaned and opened her eyes again, "What? Why?"

"Because… do you remember what else we did that first night here?"

She was silent for a long moment before a smile appeared on her face. "How can I forget?"

"I say we should recreate that," he said, rolling them over before landing on top of her.

She giggled as he pressed a kiss under her ear, "Oh yeah? All sweaty like this?"

"It's better this way," he joked.

"You're so…" was all she managed to get out before Jamie shut her up with a kiss to the lips.

~•~