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Fallon Carrington was not having a good day.
To start, she’d had a jammed packed schedule and had no choice but to leave her two daughters with their Uncle Sam for the day - she trusted Sam, sure, she just preferred to spend as much time with her girls as possible. Unfortunately for her, her schedule didn’t allow it that one Tuesday in September. Usually, she’d switch off with Liam if her schedule was more jam packed than his, but they’d both been struck with terrible luck and he too had a day full of meetings that he simply couldn’t reschedule.
Fallon got to spend her day stuck in meeting after meeting with people she’d much rather never have to ever meet with face to face. But, if that wasn’t bad enough, she’d pretty sure everything that could go wrong with all her projects for the day at Fallon Unlimited, did go wrong.
The only thing she wanted to do when she finally escaped her office at 7:47pm that night was go home to her family and curl up on the couch and watch one of those Disney movies the girls loved so much. Except, when she got home, her house was quiet. Too quiet to be the living corridors for two young girls who were always playing excitedly up in their bedrooms.
No, the only thing she walked into was Liam eating leftovers in their kitchen.
“Where are the girls?”
“Still with Sam, I guess,” he replies when she slips in the room with him and places her purse on one of the empty barstools.
So, she does what any mother would do - pulls out her cellphone and tries to call him. Except, she’s met straightaway with his voicemail. So, she texts him, leaving it alone for about thirty minutes until she realizes just how quiet their house still was, noticing he still hadn’t reached out to let her know where he was with Olivia and Charlotte - immediately making her assume the worst of all possible outcomes and sending her into an understandable panic.
“I’m sure they’re fine, Fallon,” Liam reassures her gently settling beside her on the couch after his nightly shower. He wraps his arm around her frame, pulling her into his chest which she welcomes the way his touch can calm her instantly. His fingers graze against her bare shoulder, pressing a soft kiss against the crown of her head.
And sure, Liam made her feel better with his soft touches and reassuring words; she knew he was probably right, too. She trusted Sam, she did - he was just the one who would be most likely get them into more trouble than needed, too.
She just wanted her daughters to be safe.
“Why won’t he pick up his phone?”
“He probably took the girls for ice cream or something,” he suggests, thumb still tingling against her skin, even after all these years. A reasonable argument, she must admit, even though she wouldn’t say it out loud and admit that to him.
Still, she didn’t like it.
She liked to be given a heads up if her daughters were going to be returning to their estate late; especially on a school night when Charlotte had to be up early in the morning. But, then Liam continues to try to reassure her. “You know how Olivia gets about ice cream for dessert. And he can’t tell those girls no.”
She takes a deep breath, leaning into his arms further and trying to take comfort in the way his fingers created friction against her bare arms. “You’re probably right.”
She feels Liam press a soft kiss against the crown of her head again, a glowing warmth settling in her veins as she lets herself begin to get lost in his touch. She tilts her head up to meet him in the middle, their lips finding each other in the night as she applies just enough pressure against him to let him know how much she missed him all day. They’re just starting to get lost in each other, his hand starting to slip under her shirt and tease the bare of her stomach when they hear keys jingling in the door and jump apart at the risk of getting caught by two pairs of wandering eyes.
Their feet swing off the couch quick, heading towards the foyer where they hear the door start to creak open slightly, meeting the three culprits who can’t seem to quit giggling away as their laughs echo off the walls.
She greets the three of them with her arms crossed against her chest, eyes landing directly on the girl’s uncle first and foremost. “Where have you two been all day?”
“Hi mommy!” Charlotte bursts into excitement first, running right up to her mother to grab at her legs and hug them tightly. She pulls back and looks up at her mother with those matching blue eyes sparkling right before her. “We went to Disney!”
“Disney?” Fallon asks, eyes wide as she finally lets herself notice the logo on the bundle of bags Sam is carrying in his hands “How did you three go to Disney?”
Olivia’s already found herself to Liam, settled in his arms as he hoists her against his frame when she jumps into the conversation with enthusiasm. “Jet, mommy!”
“The jet? How did you take the jet, Sam?” Fallon asks through her teeth. “You need authorization from Liam or I for that thing to even take off.”
Charlotte tugs at Fallon’s shirt to get her attention. “I gave the pilot the authorization, mommy!”
“How did you do that Charlotte?”
“Were you two aware that your daughter is, like, a super genius?” Sam places the bags with Walt Disney World written in dark blue font against the tiled floor, leading himself closer to the four other bodies in the room. “She found some type of loophole. I don’t even know. I was getting ready to take them back here but, before I knew it, your pilot said we were clear for take off.”
“Did you not think to ask me if you could take my daughters out of state today?” Fallon twirls her fingers in her daughters soft brown curls. “Charlotte, do I even want to ask how you managed to authorize our family jet to take off?”
“Probably not, mom,” the young girl smiles. “It’s better if it remains a secret.”
“Fallon,” Liam steps in, placing a hang against his wife’s shoulder; the same place he placed it earlier to calm all her anxieties. She’s sure it’s because he can see the worry lingering in her eyes, always so easily able to tell how she’s feeling just by looking into her blue eyes.
“I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal, Fallon,” Sam says. “They had a great day. Isn’t that what matters?”
“Yeah! Mommy, Ollie got to meet Mike and Sully today!” Charlotte exclaims. “Oh, she was so excited!”
Liam looks at his blonde little girl with wide eyes. “Is that true, Olivia? Did you meet Mike and Sully today?”
“Mike Wazowski, daddy!” The little blonde’s laugh is infectious when she starts sharing the moment from her day. “Mike gave me a hug! So did Sully!”
“Don’t worry, lovely parents!” Charlotte moves towards the back, locating the item in question and pulling it out. “We got you a picture all printed out and in a pretty frame! See!”
Fallon looks down at her youngest in that photograph, the happiest smile and widest eyes she’s ever seen on her baby girl. It makes her sad that she’d missed such an important day for them, as they’d clearly had one of the best days they’d had in a long time. She’s to blame, really, for her busy work schedule being out of control lately.
She intended to fix that.
“I got to see Olaf, too!”
“Of course you did,” Liam says. “And how was Olaf today, Miss Ridley?”
“Don’t be jealous, dad,” Charlotte says. “That’s not very becoming of you.”
“So, I think I’m going to go now. This seems like a family conversation and I don’t want to intrude,” Sam says sinking backwards towards the door.
“How convenient for you,” Fallon rolls her eyes as he slips himself into the outdoors. “We’re not done talking about this.”
Liam places Olivia carefully on the floor, as she quickly makes her way to the bags to start pulling out all. her souvenirs. “What else did you girls do at Disney today?”
“We went on the carrousel and we did a lot of shopping!”
“Wait a second,” Liam says. “How did you go to Disney today, Charlotte? It’s a school day.”
“Well, you see, guys,” she trails off with a devious smirk appearing on her face. “It’s a funny story really.”
“Charlotte Grace, do not tell me your uncle allowed you to skip school today for a trip to Orlando,” Fallon speaks up.
“It might not have been his fault entirely,” she admits. “It’s possible I managed to convince him that today was the day for those once a month teacher meetings.”
“Charlotte,” Fallon sighs.
“Harvard isn’t going to allow these little stints, Charlotte.”
“Look, mommy! I got Mike!” Olivia runs up to her mother with her new Disney themed plush toy, lifting it up as high as she could to show her mother her new favorite toy. “Mike Wazowski!”
“I see, baby. He’s very cute,” Fallon says as Olivia attaches herself to Fallon now. “What do you think Liam? How long should we punish her for?”
He ponders it before he suggests, “Six months?”
“Six months?!” The eight year old shrieks with wide eyes.
“Okay, that’s a bit harsh, wouldn’t you say?” Fallon questions. “Maybe like two weeks?”
“Two weeks?!”
“She skipped school and manipulated our privately hired pilot to fly our jet to a different state,” Liam says.
“Okay, fine,” Fallon sighs. “We will discuss this further in the morning, Charlie. For now, it’s time for you to go to bed.”
“I don’t think I deserve any punishment!” The tiny brunette is met with two lingering stares from her parents that suggest otherwise. “Fine. I accept whatever punishment you give me. Even though, I should be rewarded for being so smart, I think.”
“Charlotte, it’s bed time,” Fallon says. “We’ll discuss this in the morning, okay? You’re not off the hook, though, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I just wanted to have a good day is Disney and this is what I get.” Charlotte’s shoulders drop dramatically, always ready to perform and put on a show, as she starts to make her way up the grand staircase, sulking all the way to the top step.
“And you will be returning to school tomorrow!” Fallon turns her attention back to Liam, with a look that can only read unbelievable at their daughter ability to pull off her greatest heist thus far. Olivia, already yawning and closing her tired eyes as she leans against her mother’s shoulders. Fallon can only turn towards Liam with these words: “When did we exactly raise a convict?”