Chapter Text
Jack wakes up from a dreamless sleep feeling grounded and at peace. He rolls on his side and curls his body around Bitty, pulling Bitty in close and feeling his warmth pressed against Jack. Bitty is buried under the thick duvet, his blonde hair poking out the top.
“ ‘s too early. Cold. C’mere.” Bitty grabs and pulls Jack’s arm so that it’s wrapped around Bitty’s waist, and Jack is happy to oblige. He presses a gentle kiss to the back of Bitty’s neck.
“Bits. It’s almost 6:30. We have to start getting ready, or else we’ll be late,” Jack murmurs into Bitty’s skin.
“I don’t wannaaaa,” Bitty whines. He rolls over to face Jack and cracks open his eyes. “It’s still dark out. I’m gonna sue.”
“Who? The Rhode Island weather department?” Bitty squints at Jack’s chirp, and Jack chuckles. “Guess we gotta call Shitty, then, if you’re taking this to court.” Bitty groans and buries his face in the pillow, grumbling, “ How are you like this before coffee?”
Jack pokes Bitty’s face. “Come on, Bits. We used to wake up at 4 every day, remember?”
Bitty lifts his head and throws the pillow at Jack. “That was ages ago, Jack.”
As Jack reaches over and turns on the bedside lamp as the bedroom door bursts open, light from the hallway spilling into the room, and the sudden brightness makes Bitty shriek. A tiny body crawls onto the bed and bounces up and down, slightly crushing Jack and Bitty’s legs.
“Daddy! Papa! Come look, it’s snowing!”
Jack drags their daughter down into the mattress as Bitty cries out, “It’s too early to be shouting!” She snuggles under the blanket between her two dads.
“First one of the season, Elizabeth,” Jack says as he rubs his morning stubble on his five-year-old’s cheek, making her giggle. “Think they’re gonna cancel school?”
Bitty is already scrolling through his phone. “Looks like it. Nearly two feet of snow overnight. Might even have to close the bakery for the day.”
Jack reaches for his phone and sees a few messages from the Falconers group chat. “They cancelled practice today, too. Roads are completely blocked.”
Elizabeth resumes jumping on the bed, excitedly chanting, “No school! No school! No school!”
Bitty sits up and stretches. “Guess we have a day all to ourselves, then. Jack, can you help Betsy get dressed? I’ll get started on breakfast.” He stands up and pads to the kitchen, and Jack scoops up his daughter and tosses her in the air, easily catching her.
“Wanna hang out with me for a bit?” Jack asks. Betsy nods, grinning, and runs to the master bathroom to perch on the rim of the bathtub and watch Jack get ready for the morning. She sings through the alphabet twice while Jack brushes his teeth, and another dozen or so times as Jack shaves and washes his face. When he finishes, Jack takes Elizabeth down the hall to her room. Together, they pick out an outfit: track pants (that Jack bought) and a floral-patterned button up (that Bitty bought). Once she’s all dressed, she dashes out and runs up to Bitty in the kitchen, hugging one of his legs.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” Bitty says to her without moving his eyes from the stove. He’s smiling, significantly more awake than he was twenty minutes ago. “Go set the table, and I’ll bring these over in a sec.”
Jack stands at the doorway and watches the scene in front of him. Elizabeth takes the stack of plates and utensils from the counter and lays out three place settings, and then she eagerly scrambles into a chair. Bitty walks over, prized cast-iron skillet in hand, and slides two slices of French toast onto each plate. Jack joins them at the table, grabbing the saucepan of compote and leaning down to kiss the crown of Bitty’s head before he slides into his chair. Bitty and Elizabeth excitedly chatter about plans for the day, and Jack hears blanket fort and Golden Girls marathon as he zones out.
“Papa! Can we go to The Pond today?”
Jack smiles down at Elizabeth. “You want to go skating?”
“Yeah!” She nods vigorously. “I wanna play some hockey with you and Daddy!”
“Do you want to invite Uncle Poopy, Auntie Lardo, Holster, and Ransom?” Bitty asks Elizabeth.
“Yeah!”
“I’ll give them a call and see if they can come.” Bitty meets Jack’s eyes and reaches across the table to lace their fingers together. Jack thinks about this life that he and Bitty have built together: Jack with his NHL career and Bitty with his bakery and their beautiful family and all their friends.
Even though Jack hasn’t had a single dream in over a decade, it still feels like a dream come true.