Disclaimer: I own neither Homeward Bound nor Pet Sematary.

Down to Sleep

When Eva came home from a lunch with Traci, she expected Grace to be taking her afternoon nap in her room. Instead, upon walking through the front door, she was greeted by the smell of buttered popcorn and the sound of the TV. Stifling a groan, she headed to the living room to find Neil sitting on the couch, a popcorn bowl beside him and their snoozing four-year-old on his lap, her head resting on his chest. Before Neil and Grace were two dinner trays, each having a plate covered with pizza crumbs and an empty cup set on them, with the coffee table moved aside to make room for said trays. On the TV, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey was playing.

"Neil," Eva said, her voice flat with disapproval as she stepped over to the couch.

"Hey," Neil replied, unfazed by her tone as he looked in her direction, then nodded down towards Grace.

Eva's gaze switched to their daughter, who looked perfectly relaxed as she slept on Neil's lap, a faint smile on her little face. Her heart softening at the sight, Eva bent down and gave her husband a kiss on the lips. Nonetheless, she couldn't help but say, "Grace needs to be in bed."

"She's napping, isn't she?" Neil pointed out. "Besides, Homeward Bound was on and I thought it was high time our girl got to watch a classic live-action film where the animals talk without using shoddy CGI to make—"

Eva cut him off with another kiss, muffling the last three words of his argument. She knew all too well that Neil just wanted to show Grace something he thought she'd love. He didn't need excuses for it. She pulled away after a moment to smile wryly at him. "It's a good thing I've just had a great lunch, because I'd be madder at you otherwise."

"Well, lucky me, then," Neil quipped as Eva straightened up and eased down into the free space beside him on the couch.

Once she'd gotten comfortable, she peered at Grace again and tucked a stray lock of hair behind her daughter's ear. "If she gets bad dreams from this," she told Neil, "you're the one getting up in the middle of the night."

"She was asleep before Shadow, Sassy, and Chance even left Kate's ranch."

"I guess I should just be grateful it's not Pet Sematary."

"Like I'd ever inflict that on our baby," Neil groaned, shaking his head in disgust.

"True," Eva agreed, laying her head on his shoulder. The minutes ticked by, the movie played on, and Grace let out a snore. Eva and Neil both chuckled at that before the former lifted her head up.

"Like father, like daughter," Eva said.

"Hey," Neil protested, "I happen to be a very quiet sleeper."

"Only in your dreams, Neil. And speaking of which, are you ever going to put Grace to bed?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it."

Eva stood up from the couch as Neil gently pulled Grace into his arms and followed suit. As he left the room with their daughter, Eva searched the couch for the remote. Soon enough, she found it in between the cushions and turned the TV off before tidying up the living room. She brought the plates, cups, and bowl to the kitchen and set them on the counter to be washed later; folded up the dinner trays and stashed them in the entryway closet; and moved the coffee table back to its original place in front of the couch. By the time she was finished, Neil had returned.

"I saw the restaurant pizza boxes on the stove," she informed him.

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, and?"

"You couldn't just cook one of the frozen pizzas we already have?"

"And feed Grace something that tastes like cardboard in comparison? Heck no."

Eva sighed. Typical Neil, she supposed. "At least I wasn't the one paying the bill," was all she said.