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The longest day – the longest night – of their year is done. Finished. Over until next year, when they’ll do it again. Louder. More extravagant. With a new theme that they won’t announce until the first of the year, so that their specially selected guests will have a little more than a month to get everything they need to prepared for the Valentines’ Valentine’s Day Extravaganza. It isn’t the Met Gala by any means, but it’s probably the closest a political event can get. Of course, it isn’t always political, but more and more these years, it has become that way.
Taking their anniversary and turning it into what it’s become was Jen’s idea. Eve still holds that against her – mostly in the days of the week leading up the event itself, when she sees the toll that it’s taking on her wife, when she sees how much Claire doesn’t sleep (even more than normal, which is saying something in and of itself), how much she personally oversees so many aspects of the party just to make sure that she doesn’t need to worry about anyone having a bad time. It’s exhausting, and that’s not even including the party itself.
But there’s something special about seeing the way Claire lights up at the event, and Eve wouldn’t trade that for the world.
…she also wouldn’t trade the week-long vacation afterward, either.
The vacation is Eve’s domain, and she always picks somewhere different every year. One year, Claire convinced her to make it a staycation, but then Claire had just gone immediately back to work, saying stuff like just a little bit and well, I need to get this, too, dear and then it wasn’t really a vacation at all. Claire had promptly come down with a cold because it was still winter and she’d overworked herself, and then it really had been a staycation, just not a fun one.
So every year, Eve makes sure. Somewhere else. Somewhere new. Somewhere they can relax and not feel like they have to get out and see the sights (or where Claire won’t feel like she has to visit dignitaries or other political figures). Unfortunately, as much as Eve would love for them to get out somewhere without any technology, Claire’s job demands that she be accessible. It comes with the territory. Eve understands that; she just regrets that aspect of it.
This year, Eve picked somewhere extra special, somewhere not nearly as far away as they could have gone.
And she’d picked just the right people to host them, too.
“Hey.” Eve leaves her blue suitcase by the door, its handle still stuck straight up, and immediately wraps her arms tight around her sister-in-law, just setting her head on Agatha’s shoulder. “Thank you for hiding us away for a few days.”
Agatha holds her tighter – most of her strength is in her legs, but Cian’s been having her practice hoisting people, just in case Wong wants her to play prince instead of princess, so her grip around Eve feels not a bit unlike being crushed. She can still feel Agatha’s ribs through her baggy sleep shirt, even though she’s not nearly as thin as she once was. “It’s not a problem, hon,” she says, rubbing her back with one hand. “We’ll take you whenever.”
That’s easier for Agatha to say now that she’s nearly retired. Soon, she’ll have free time galore, not that Eve will remind her of that. Eve steps back, searches Agatha’s eyes, and then tucks strands of her wild dark hair back behind one ear. “The kids will love to see their favorite aunt again.”
“Their only aunt,” Agatha corrects as their front door closes.
Claire slips out of her shoes at the doorway, taking them off with her free hand, and looks up at her sister with a weariness she can’t wear as blatantly in public. She sighs, but before she can even stand up straight, Agatha has her arms around her, squeezing her tight and holding her a few inches above the ground. Claire lets out a deep chuckle. “I’m supposed to do that to you—”
“Fuck your gender bullshit.”
Claire just laughs again as Agatha lets her slowly down and then buries her head in her chest. She strokes her hand through her sister’s hair. “You missed me.”
“Didn’t,” Agatha mumbles into her chest, the word coming out muffled.
“Did,” Claire insists, kissing the crown of her head. “You’re still my best girl, Ata.”
Eve shoots Claire a look, and Claire gives her a sheepish one back but doesn’t correct herself. So Eve sighs and makes her way over to where Cian is standing, hands shoved into their pockets, keeping an eye on everything with dark bags under their eyes. Their brows raise ever so slightly as Eve approaches, and she smiles at them. “No hugs, right?”
“I can spare a hug for my favorite sister, love,” Cian says in that soft, easy tone of theirs and holds one arm open that Eve snuggles into. Their grip is nowhere near as strong as it once was, their fingers and body spindly.
Eve wraps her arms around them as gentle as she possibly can, then asks as she steps back, “How have you been doing?”
Cian shrugs, shoving their hands back into their pockets and leaning against the wall with an exhaustion they wear differently than Eve and Claire wear theirs. “It’s the same as last time.” They sigh, grey-green eyes twinkling. “I’ll either get better, or I won’t.”
“That’s not what I asked—” Eve starts to say, only to be interrupted by a thunder of little footsteps from overhead.
Barely minutes pass before a small scrap of a girl rushes down the entryway and tackles into Eve. In one swift movement, Eve hefts her up, and the girl grins at her, a smile that is all bright teeth. “Auntie Eve!” she exclaims before nuzzling into her neck. “Mama said you were coming and I should go to bed, but I couldn’t sleep!”
Eve cradles the daughter that is not hers close to her chest. “Aislin! My favorite niece! I have missed you!”
“I’m your only niece!” Aislin giggles, squirming a bit in Eve’s arms.
“Is that Aislin?” Claire asks, finally moving away from Agatha and coming over to place her hand just on top of Aislin’s dark curls. “You’ve gotten so big.”
Aislin grins up at her. “Uncle Christopher, did you bring me any presents?”
Claire’s reaction is slight, small, a little flickering flinch of a thing that Aislin misses, her blue eyes bright and curious. It’s a secret, her truth, because it needs to be right now, and she shakes it off as she leans down and just touches her nose to Aislin’s. “You’ll have to get some sleep first, Ais. If I gave you your present now, you would never get to sleep.”
“I’m not gonna sleep now.” Aislin pouts.
“Now, now.” Agatha gently takes her daughter from Eve’s arms and gives her a strong look. “Your aunt and uncle just got in, hon, and they’re very tired.” She meets Aislin’s eyes. “Let them sleep, and then you’ll have more presents in the morning.”
Aislin’s eyes light up. “More presents? Like what?”
Agatha’s gaze flicks over to Cian and then back again. “Special secret birthday pancakes.”
“Special secret birthday pancakes?!” Aislin echoes. “But it’s not my birthday!”
“No, but it’s a special occasion,” Agatha says as she heads back down the entryway with her daughter. She continues to explain, but her words are lost as she walks away.
Claire finally looks up at Cian and meets their eyes. “Sorry for the intrusion.” She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. “A few things came up, and our flight got pushed back—”
“Don’t worry about it, Claire.” Cian pats her shoulder. “With the weather the way it is, we were certain we wouldn’t get you in for a few more hours. You were incredibly lucky.”
“It’s not luck.” Eve elbows Claire gently in her ribs. “It is forcing her to keep to a schedule.”
Claire just blushes and hangs her head. “I can’t just drop everything and go, Eve—”
“That doesn’t matter now, love.” Cian claps her shoulders gently. “Let me lead you to your room.” As Claire and Eve get their bags again, they continue, “I hope you don’t mind that you’re on the first floor; Agatha thought that after last time you’d want a room further away from ours.”
“Yes, thank you.” Claire’s teeth grit together. “And I thought we decided we weren’t ever going to speak of that again.”
One corner of Cian’s lips lifts with amusement. “Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of saying a thing.”
The next morning, Eve wakes curled up, safe and warm, in Claire’s arms. She snuggles closer against her chest. “You’re supposed to be asleep,” she murmurs, voice laden with contented sleepiness. “They’re not so loud you can hear them down—”
“We weren’t going to talk about that—”
Eve giggles, a bright sound, and she leans up just enough to kiss the edge of her wife’s jaw. “Right. Right.” She leans up a little higher and brushes her nose against Claire’s. “I love you, Mrs. Valentine.”
“I love you, too, Mrs. Valentine.” Claire leans up against the backboard and runs a hand through Eve’s frumpled hair as she nuzzles her back. “Thank you for bringing us here. We haven’t seen them in—”
“It hasn’t been two months, Claire.” Eve trails a finger along Claire’s arm, gaze dropping to her chest. “Princess?”
Claire’s brows raise immediately, and she purrs a gentle, “Hm?”
“What do you say we make them regret putting us next to the kitchen?” Eve glances up, meeting Claire’s eyes, making hers as wide and as innocent as she possibly can, even batting her lashes a few times for good measure.
Claire laughs, breath hot against Eve’s skin, deep voice rumbling through her. Then she grins. “I think,” she murmurs, “that is an excellent idea.” She leans up to kiss her, and as Eve melts into her, her strong arms wrap around her, holding her in place as she rolls atop her. Eve threads one hand through Claire’s long hair while the other begins to loosen the drawstrings of Claire’s striped pajama pants—
“Auntie Eve! Uncle Christopher!”
The pounding comes at their bedroom door loud and swift and insistent, causing Eve to tense up at her niece’s voice. “Papa made special secret birthday pancakes! You’ve gotta get up, or they’re gonna get cold!!”
Behind Aislin comes Agatha’s voice, calling out, “I told you not to wake them up, precious! They’re here to relax!”
Aislin’s voice again, muffled this time, in response, “But it’s special secret birthday pancakes!” But her voice grows softer, footsteps thundering away into the kitchen.
Claire lets out a breath they didn’t even know she’d been holding and laughs, pressing her forehead against Eve’s. Underneath her, Eve also laughs, until Claire runs a finger slow along her jaw. “I guess I’ll be taking a raincheck, although I—” She pauses, gives Eve a quick, hungry kiss. “—don’t want to.”
“We can be quick,” Eve says, leaning up to kiss her again. “We can be quiet.”
“You? Quiet?” Claire’s brows raise until they just hit her hairline. She traces another finger along the curve of Eve’s waist, and Eve squirms, whimpers beneath her. “But I like when you—”
Eve jumps as Claire’s fingertip hits a particularly sensitive spot with a startled eep of a sound. She bites her lower lip. “Princess,” she whines, “I’m not sure I like this game.”
But Claire’s grin grows wolfish. “You know just what to say to make a girl blush.” She traces her fingers down another spot, gets rewarded with another high-pitched eep of a sound. “Do you really want me to stop?” her voice grows softer, nearly a whisper.
“You know what I’ll say if I want you to stop,” Eve murmurs, hand returning to loosening Claire’s pants, “but you might have to make me stay quiet, princess. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop myself.”
“Like this?” Claire asks, covering Eve’s lips with one hand and gently pressing down.
Eve’s eyes grow wide, but she nods. Then she kisses the palm of Claire’s hand ever so gently before Claire lifts it away. “You always take such good care of me.”
“Not as good as you with me.” Claire’s fingers, cold to the touch, move beneath Eve’s shirt and skim along her skin. She kisses her neck. “Let me reward you.” Then her wife’s fingers slip beneath her pants, and she lets out a soft moan against her neck. She lowers herself into her grasp, nibbling along her skin. “Did I tell you I love you?”
Eve purrs a gentle ascent. “Maybe I’m not the one who needs to be quiet.”
Claire just chuckles. Then her voice grows deeper as she commands, “I’m going need you to turn. Can you do that for me, dear?”
“As you wish, princess.”