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Wednesday had not yet changed out of her clothes into pajamas. She’d gone straight to the bed after brushing her teeth, laying there with her eyes shut. Today was long, filled with nitwit colleagues who didn’t know what they were doing, families of the victims that were overly emotional for her to be around and not rip out of their vocal cords- including one person who got in her face about “not doing enough.” That woman was lucky Wednesday didn’t give her something to really be angry about.
Off to the side, Tyler was taking a pair of flannel pants out of his dresser, glancing over at her. “Rough day?”
“Rough doesn’t begin to cover it,” she said sourly without opening her eyes.
“Want me to make a quad?” He offered.
She never turned down caffeine, but just for this one time, she would. “I want to sleep,” the soft sheets and pillow felt nice underneath her. Wednesday sunk lower, exhaling deeply.
The drawer shut. “Dean was asking for you earlier,” Tyler mentioned, leading to Wednesday cracking open her eyes. He got into the bed, scooting closer so he was within distance to throw his arm over her. “He was upset you couldn’t tuck him in.”
“He will have to get over it.”
Dean was used to both of them being here to tuck him into bed and read him a story. It would have stayed that way if not for an unexpected schedule change disrupting their routine. She just knew he would fuss a little, but, she supposed, he would get used to it eventually.
He unzipped her jacket she’d left on, sliding it down to the end. “At least take this off,” he said. Her shoes were already off, leaving her in her socks. “I don’t want you to overheat.”
“You insist on denying me pleasurable experiences,” she murmured, eyes fluttering shut once more, edging onto the brink of sleep.
Whatever Tyler’s response would have been, it was dropped when their bedroom door creaked a little. She assumed it was Nimbus- he was not a fan of closed doors. They learned that the hard way one night when theirs was shut, leading the feline to howl repeatedly until Tyler stumbled out of bed to open it.
“Buddy, what are you doing up?” Her mind barely registered his question.
“I wanna see Mama,” came the voice of their son. The bed moved, and squeaked. He climbed up close to her, forcing Tyler to move away, invading her personal space.
“Dean,” Tyler said, voice hushed. “Mama’s trying to sleep.”
“But I wanna see her,” Dean said and she could just imagine he was pouting.
“You can see her tomorrow ,” Tyler said.
That was not what Dean wanted. He poked at her face, ignoring Tyler’s orders to stop . “Are you sleeping?”
Wednesday swatted his hand away. “Would you like me to remove your thumbs?”
Dean laughed.
She wasn’t trying to be funny.
Wednesday made a noise when Dean plopped on her, laying directly on her body. His head rested just below her chin, his hand holding onto a fistful of her shirt.
“Dean,” Tyler said reproachfully. “You’re going to hurt her.”
“Sorry,” Dean said but did not let go.
“Come on,” Tyler said gently. “Let’s let Mama rest.”
Out of fear that his father would take him away back to his own room, Dean tightened his grip on her. Wednesday sighed. He would not let this go until he was sufficiently placated.
“Leave him be,” she said. “But let this be known that he gets this behavior from you.”
“I’m okay with that,” Tyler replied.
Wednesday threaded her hands through their son’s curls. “How long do you intend to stay here?”
“I dunno,” he mumbled, then yawned. “You didn’t tell me a story.”
“Yes, I know,” Wednesday said. “I was working.”
“Can you tell me a story now ?”
“No. You need to go to sleep.”
Dean lifted his head up, giving her those doe eyes he used in the hopes that she would give in.
Wednesday stared back, unimpressed.
“Please?” He begged.
“No,” she said, point blank.
He dropped his head on her chest. “Aww...”
“I will tell you a story when the opportunity arises.”
“And she’ll make sound effects too,” Tyler added cheerfully.
Wednesday gave him the stink eye while Dean cheered sleepily.
Tyler came closer to them both, his smile tender as he rubbed a hand down his son’s back. On any other given day, Wednesday would not be comfortable laying here with Dean clinging to her like this, but the exhaustion was once again creeping up on her. She stifled a yawn of her own, her eyelids fluttering.
Tyler’s fingers were massaging a spot on the right side of her head near her temple. It was going to make some of her hair stick out of the braid, which would normally be taken out by now or re-done, but she couldn’t care less.
Wednesday didn’t last another minute; her head rolled to the side, her breathing evening out. She didn’t find out if Dean was asleep yet or not as she drifted unconscious.