"I'm home!" Arturia called as she pushed the heavy wooden door with her hips. She set down a bag of groceries before setting her car keys on the cute faery themed key hook that Diarmuid had insisted they get. Slowly, she slipped out of her black kitten heels and settled into her fluffy lion slippers. She exhaled a sigh of relief, although she could handle walking in heels, she was glad to relax her feet.
Arturia could hear the loud bolero music (Diarmuid had heard it once at a Mexican restaurant and he'd fallen in love with the music genre) that came from the kitchen and just by the smell that permeated her lungs she knew Diarmuid was cooking. Another sigh of satisfaction left her glossy lips. Slowly, she walked past the staircase, sliding her feet across the wooden floor until her growling stomach led her to her kitchen.
A smile stretched her lips as she watched him swaying to the music as he stirred a boiling pot. Whatever he was making smelled divine, and although she'd had a snack he prepared for her just before she left work, she was already starving. Still she watched as he danced around the kitchen. These little moments filled her heart with the warmth of a hundred suns, making her admire everything about their life together.
Diarmuid turned to grab a knife from the knife stand next to the sink. He jumped as a yelp left his mouth. "Artie! Wh-when did you get home?" He brought a hand to calm his beating heart.
Arturia couldn't help but laugh at his startled reaction. "About a minute ago," she replied as he lowered the volume of the music, setting it so it was barely heard.
The silence the lowered music left behind was deafening but not uncomfortable. Diarmuid hurried over to her and planted a gentle peck on her lips.
"Welcome home, my love," he whispered against her cheek as he set a kiss on it too.
Arturia's smile grew and she wrapped her arms around his waist. She hummed in satisfaction against his chest.
"How did work treat you today?" He asked as he returned the hug, slowly rubbing circles on her back.
Arturia groaned as she pulled away just a little, enough to look at his face. "Don't even get me started," she huffed. "The investors wanted to change the terms of their investment all in the last ten minutes of our meeting. Do they even realize we already started the project? It's like they have no consideration for our company," she ranted. "And then Gilgamesh thought it was a bright idea to pick a fight with them, like yes they did deserve to be scolded, but you know how harsh he can be."
Diarmuid nodded, holding her hand and intertwining their fingers. He could feel she had tensed up as she talked about work.
"And then Merlin tells me that the company's shares fell by two percent and it caused an uproar—"
Diarmuid brought her hands to his lips and gently set a kiss on it. He raised an eyebrow as she stopped her rant.
Arturia took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, my love, I shouldn't be talking about this…"
His head tilted, amber eyes filling with confusion and lips pouting. "And why not?" He asked, a little upset.
Arturia took her free hand and brushed his cheek. "Because I don't want to burden you with such needless thoughts."
"How could you do such a thing?" He kissed her hand again. "I love to hear about you and your day, and most importantly your struggles. You trust me to listen to you, and you seek comfort, don't you?"
She nodded as she bashfully looked away.
"What else would a husband do for his wife other than listen to her turmoil and be there for her as a shoulder to lean on?"
Arturia nodded again. "Yes, but I spent eight hours in the office, sometimes it seems my life is only work, and when I get home all I talk about is work."
Diarmuid nodded knowingly. "Well," he began, "I just love to hear your voice, whether it be your ranting of work or telling me you love me."
Arturia shook her head and nudged him. "I'm being serious. I think I should make it my mission to stop bringing the troubles of work home."
Diarmuid frowned as he squeezed her hand lovingly. "I don't think that's too healthy, it's important to talk about things so they don't eat you up inside. But, if you'd like, we can limit the work talk, just not completely. What do you think?"
Slowly she leaned towards him and hugged him. "How do you always know what to say?" She mumbled against his chest. She felt his chest rumble as he laughed and she hugged him tighter. Oh how she loved the sound of his gorgeous laugh.
The sizzling of outpoured water and erratic boiling finally broke them apart as Diarmuid gasped. "The stew!" He reluctantly pulled away from her and ran to the stove, having to lift the pot from it and move it out of the hot stove ring. He grunted as he shut off the stove and reached to grab a kitchen cloth. Arturia heard him swear under his breath as he cleaned the over spilled stew.
"What time is it?" She asked, looking over at the clock that hung on the wall. "Shit," she hissed. "It's almost six!"
Diarmuid's head shot to the clock as well. He groaned as he threw the soaked kitchen cloth into the sink. "Fencing is almost over," he grunted.
"I'll go!" Arturia offered, seeing as Diarmuid struggled to pull off his 'kiss me I'm Irish' apron.
"No, my love, you're exhausted from work, I can't ask that of you." He fidgeted with the knot on his back.
Arturia shook her head. "No, you stay and finish the stew, I go to pick up the kids," she instructed. "You know I'll burn the stew if you leave me alone."
Diarmuid sighed and nodded. "Okay, I'll make sure dinner is ready by the time you're home." He walked to her and gave her a kiss on her forehead.
"I love you," she said before she left the kitchen.
"I love you too," he replied with a smile as he watched her hurry to the car.
Arturia didn't know how she made it on time. But she was able to park her car, run into the country club and make it to the fencing classroom right on time. She caught her breath as she leaned her arm against the wall while the elementary-schoolers trickled out of the classroom. She tried to even out her breathing, wiping the sweat from her brow and unbuttoning her black blazer.
She fanned her face as she straightened her posture.
"Mommy!" The screech of a little girl caught her attention and she squatted down as she saw her daughter running towards her.
"How's my little girl?" Arturia wrapped her arms around the six-year-old and lifted her in the air.
"Daddy didn't come today?" The little little girl's dark eyebrows knitted.
Arturia frowned. "You're not happy to see me?" She pretended to be hurt.
"I'm happy mum is here!" Arturia's eyes dropped as she heard her son next to her.
Arturia set her daughter down and brought her son into a tight hug, kissing him on his round cheek. "Thank you, my little prince," she smiled. After pulling away from the hug, she stood from her squatting position and took the hands of her children.
"How was fencing?" She asked.
"Fun!" Boann, who took after Diarmuid in her curly black hair and beauty mark under her green eyes, bounced on the balls on her feet. "I got to stab Arthur!" She clapped her hands together.
Arthur, their son, sighed. "Yeah, and it hurt!" He argued. He was a couple of years older than his sister, and he took mostly after herself. He was already tall for his age, and his blond hair hung around his head like a mop, sometimes obscuring his amber eyes.
"Boann, sweetheart, you have to be gentle with your brother," Arturia reprimanded gently.
Banner groaned and dragged her little feet. "Fine, mum!"
After making their way home, Arturia was able to get them a little more calm for dinner. They had begged her for ice cream but she promised they would get some on the weekend. Upon reaching their home, Boann burst through the door, calling for her father after kicking off her shoes and running to the kitchen.
Arturia couldn't help but smile as she dropped the fencing equipment bag by the door. She still remembered the day Arthur begged to be signed up for a fencing class after learning that Arturia had done fencing in high school. Of course, Boann also had to join after she threw a fit that her brother was taking classes. Since Boann was such a daddy's girl, Diarmuid relented and signed her up as well, even if she was still pretty young.
Arthur was more on the reserved side, silently walking to the kitchen followed by his mother. Once they reached the kitchen, Arturia spotted her handsome husband with their daughter in his arms. She stopped to admire how the little girl giggled and played with her father's hair as she talked about her fencing adventures with her cute giggling voice.
"My love," Diarmuid spotted her and walked to her. He gave her a kiss after setting their daughter down. "Take a seat at the dinner table, I'll be serving soon."
Arturia smiled, "Thank you, my love."
Arturia all but squealed as she took a bite of the stew. Diarmuid was the best cook in the world, and to her it wasn't an exaggeration. As they sat at the table, the kids were enjoying their food which was served on cute animal plates while theirs was served on the Pendragon's fine china.
"Were you able to finish your composition?" Arturia asked before she took another bite of the delicious soup, the beef was so tender it melted in her mouth.
Diarmuid sighed. "Well, I'm not exactly happy with it yet, I think I need to add a bit more to it. I'm thinking a viola would probably be nice." Although He'd gone to university with a lacrosse scholarship, Diarmuid's passion had become music and he started pursuing his career as a composer. He'd done quite well for himself, his work had been featured in a few films, some with a big following and some not so much. What he loved most about his job was definitely the ability to work on his own schedule, allowing him to be at home for his children and be able to take care of Arturia as well.
Arturia nodded. "A viola does sound like a nice touch."
"I was also thinking it should sound more melancholic," he added before he took a spoonful of the soup.
Boann clapped her hands. "Like when someone dies!"
Both Arturia and Diarmuid shot their heads towards her, not able to mask the shocks in their faces.
"Like the music in Star Wars?" Arthur chipped in.
Arturia raised an eyebrow. She swore they'd only watched those Lego versions.
Diarmuid's eyes had widened and he shushed his son, which didn't go unnoticed by Arturia. Immediately, she shot Diarmuid a look; a look that said 'we'll talk about this later'. Diarmuid avoided her gaze.
After dinner, the children had wanted to play games with their parents, and of course, Diarmuid and Arturia agreed to play hide-and-seek, tag, and even a dancing game. Before they knew it, it was already past ten and Arturia tried to get her kids to calm down so they could settle in for the night. This was proving hard to do as Boann jumped on her beds singing ninety-nine monkeys.
"Now, young lady," Arturia warned. She'd been trying to control her daughter for the past ten minutes.
Boann ignored her mother and continued to jump and sing at the top of her lungs. "Eighty-one monkeys jumping on the bed, one fell done and—"
"Honey," Diarmuid had finally entered the room, arms crossed over his chest.
"Momma called the doctor—"
"Boann Pendragon, you get down now," Arturia was losing patience. She was starting to tire from her long day of running around both in the office and at home. She was trying to control her frustration.
"No more monkeys jumping on the bed! Eighty monkeys—"
Arturia let out an exasperated groan and threw the girl's pajamas on the floor before she stormed out of the room. Of course, Diarmuid followed after her, stopping her in the hallway. He turned her towards him and cradled her face in his hands.
"What's wrong, my love?"
It was Arturia's turn to avoid his gaze. Her foot was tapping against the carpeted floor in a steady rhythm while her fingers tapped on her crossed arms. She didn't speak.
"How about you say good night to Arthur while I settle Boann down and then you come and kiss her goodnight, how does that sound?" He raised an eyebrow as he gently brought her face to look at him again.
Arthuria sighed and slowly nodded. "Okay," she mumbled.
"Okay," Diarmuid brought her face closer and kissed her forehead before gently nudging her towards their son's room.
Arturia did as Diarmuid suggested. She went to her son's room and watched as he read a storybook. She softly smiled at his calm demeanor and sighed, being reminded of her daughter. Arturia loved both of her children equally, but Arthur was so much easier to handle. She needed to work on being more patient and loving with Boann. Arturia sat next to her son, his bed dipping down from her weight.
"Mum," he smiled as he set the book down. "Are you headed to be now?" He was so mature for his age.
Arturia took the book from his hands. "How about I read to you, would you like that?" She asked.
Arthur's smile widened and he nodded enthusiastically. He snuggled into the bed and rested his head against his blue pillow. His room was decorated in blue and gold, after his medieval phase, they made sure it looked like a room fit for a prince, with family crests and fake swords lining the walls.
Arturia opened the book and began to read aloud. It was a story of a boy that wandered a forest, making friends with animals along the way. Arturia was only a few pages in when she heard soft footsteps behind her.
"Mum," the soft and sweet voice of Boann called timidly.
Arturia turned to see her daughter, dressed in her pajamas and looking up at her remorsefully. "I'm sorry…" She mumbled with her big green eyes tearing up.
"Oh sweetheart," Arturia patted her head and brought her up into a hug. "I should be the one that's sorry," she mumbled.
Boann's little arms squeezed Arturia as best they could. "I don't listen to you," she admitted. "I'm sorry."
Her cute apology melted Arturia's heart. "And I'm sorry I wasn't patient…" She patted her daughter's back gently. Boann pulled away and gave her mother a wet kiss on the cheek, making Arturia laugh.
"Come here," Arthur then pulled his sister's hand gently and helped her under the covers.
Arturia smiled at her children and once they settled in again, she began to read the story again. She had barely made it halfway into the picture book before she saw that they had fallen asleep. She gently set the book on the bedside table and took a moment to admire her sleeping children. They were curled next to one another, their long eyelashes against their round and rosy cheeks. She slowly stood from the bed and set tender kisses on their heads, wishing them sweet dreams. She was already making plans on what they would do on the weekend, sadly reminding herself it was still three days of work until the weekend.
She flicked off the bedside lamp and walked towards the door, seeing Diarmuid leaning against the door frame in silence. He wrapped his arms around her and held her for a while. Arturia closed her eyes and felt the steady thumping of his heart which calmed her even more. She felt safe in his arms, he was the rock that grounded her, her firm foundation that held her up. He was the love of her life, and she would never wish it to be any different.
"I love you…" She breathed.
He rocked her from side to side tenderly and kissed the top of her head.
"I will always love you…" he replied.
She could never want anything more.