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It’s not particularly late, only just past 10pm. Lorraine is zonked though, a busy day of preparing for Christmas with an excitable four-year-old has stolen all of her energy. Lorraine had taken Judy to buy their gifts for Ed, giving him the time alone to put up the outside decorations and get the Christmas tree from the attic.
They’d returned just before 2pm, and the remainder of the afternoon was spent decorating the tree and baking cookies together. Judy has never been so excited for Christmas, finally at an age where she understands what it means.
She’d wanted to stay up later, but Ed could see her eyes drifting closed as she tried to read her book. He’d smiled and carried her up to bed, helping her change into her llama pyjamas.
She’d curled up under the duvet, and asked Ed about what Santa would bring her for Christmas. He’d given a cheeky smile, you’ll have to wait and see he’d promised, kissing her forehead before letting her fall asleep.
A few hours later, he and Lorraine had made their own way to bed, with Lorraine briefly checking in on Judy while Ed had gotten them both a bottle of water.
She’s changing into the soft pink nightgown when Ed enters the bedroom. The bottles of water are placed on the nightstands before he tugs his tee off. Lorraine bites her lip, watching with love in her eyes as he strips to his underwear before searching for his pyjamas.
Their morning activities rendered their sleepwear… lost. Lorraine has found hers though. Ed requires a little more searching, but eventually finds the bottoms atop the armoire, and the tee stuffed clumsily beneath the pillow.
“What the hell happened this morning” he muses, reaching up to pull his bottoms down from where they’re dangling over the edge.
“What happened is you went down on me” she teases. Ed nods with a slight chuckle. He did go down on her, bringing her to orgasm three times before he’d let up for long enough to deal with his own arousal. Lorraine had kicked his clothes aside as she shoved him back onto the bed, riding him through his orgasm and her fourth.
Only then did they move from the bed to make breakfast, though Ed liked to remind her that he’s already had his fill for the day, always with the bad lines that she finds so endearing.
Ed sits back on the bed, leaning against the headboard. Lorraine curls closer and winds an arm around his waist as she rests her head on his chest. She can hear his heart drumming beneath the skin, reminding her that he’s still here, in spite of everything that’s happened, everything that they’ve faced.
“Tired?” Ed teases, lightly stroking his fingers through her hair for a moment. Lorraine nods, though she doesn’t say anything and instead stretches her body out. When Ed slowly removes the pins that are holding her hair in place, she lets out a long, languid moan.
“C’mon hon… I’ll get these out and then you can sleep” Ed promises. Lorraine smiles and lays herself over his chest, tangling their legs together.
The pins are tossed aside, landing in the pot beside the bed. Lorraine smiles lazily, leaning up to kiss Ed as sleep begins to overtake her.
“You’re warm” she murmurs, burrowing deeper into his chest. Lorraine loves Ed’s warmth, he’s like a flame and she’s the moth that can never be close enough to him. Ed strokes his hand along her spine, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.
“Get some sleep, hon…” he says, and Lorraine can’t deny him. Sleep is overtaking her slowly, reaching the deepest corners of body and seizing the lingering energy. She doesn’t want to fight it though.
Ed watches as Lorraine drifts off to sleep, curled up in his warmth. She has a lazy smile on her face, but as the last ounces of sleep leave her body, the smile fades. Ed presses a gentle kiss, picking up his book from the nightstand as he flicks the lamp on.
Lorraine is bathed in a golden glow as Ed slowly opens the book. He’s barely a page into the fourth chapter before there’s a quiet knock at the bedroom door.
“C’mon, Jude… you don’t need to knock here” he responds. He has never quite understood why she knocks on the bedroom door, it’s rare that they’re doing anything that she shouldn’t see, and because she’s not a morning person, Ed and Lorraine are usually doing that in a morning. Ed shakes the thought away and watches as his daughter peers into the bedroom.
She has tear tracks on her cheeks and her body is shaking with each step she takes. Ed lightly rolls Lorraine onto her side before sitting up.
“What’s up, sugar-plum?” he asks, putting the book aside.
“I had a bad dream” Judy admits. Ed pulls her into a loose hug, she clutches at his chest.
“… Mis-ster Thompson’s doggie b-bit me” she continues. Ed strokes his fingers through her hair to try and reassure her that it was just a dream.
“It’s okay, you’re safe…” he murmurs, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.
The odious Mr Thompson is a horrible man who likens himself to the leader of the street, much to everybody’s disapproval. He’s crude, obscene towards the young children of the street, his dog is vicious and he’s generally unwanted in the street. He harasses everybody. Ed still remembers the time that he had first laid eyes on Lorraine. The man had run inside his house, attempted to clean himself up and came outside with some flowers for her.
It just so happened that at the time he re-emerged, Lorraine was kissing Ed. And since then, Thompson has done everything in his power to make their lives a living hell.
Ed isn’t fazed, and neither is Lorraine, in honesty. The man is a pathetic weasel at best, but he’s upset their daughter many times – something that Ed finds unforgiveable. His current thing is to make the dog bark at the children in the street, for no understandable reason.
“What did we say to do if the mean doggie barks at you?” Ed asks, his voice soft so not to wake his wife. Judy wipes away a tear, and Ed can feel his heart breaking a little more.
“You said to tell you” she says. Ed nods and smiles.
“Daddy will make sure nothing happens to you. No mean doggies, no mean Mr Thompson, nobody will hurt you when I’m around” Ed promises. It’s not only a promise to her, but a promise to himself, he won’t let anybody hurt her, just like he’s never let anybody hurt Lorraine.
Ed slowly lays Judy back on the bed.
“Cuddle with mommy, I’ll go and get you some juice” Ed says. Judy nods, though before she can move, Lorraine’s arm is winding around her waist. Ed smiles and looks at the pair for a moment as love fills his chest, before he leaves the bedroom.
The house is silent as he wanders down the stairs, the only sound the humming of the refrigerator. He finds Judy’s juice cabinet and pulls out a bottle of orange juice for her, before wandering back up the stairs.
He wanders through to Judy’s bedroom to straighten it out, and when he peers out of the window, he notices Mr Thompson is watching the her bedroom window.
“Fuckin’ pervert” Ed grumbles, closing the curtains again before leaving the bedroom. He closes the door before peering into his own bedroom. Lorraine and Judy are cuddled close together, and Ed can’t help himself as he lifts Lorraine’s camera and snaps a picture of the pair, love filling his heart. He places the photograph and the camera on the table beside the bed, before sitting on the edge of the bed. He places the juice beside his water bottle, laying back.
“Daddy…” Judy murmurs. Ed smiles as he lays back, lifting his arm for long enough to let her slide against his chest.
“I’m here” he promises. He watches as Lorraine curls up at his side and wraps her arm over his waist, sandwiching Judy between him and her.
It’s only a few minutes later that Judy has fallen back to sleep, surrounded by her parents’ love.