Chapter Text
Caleb had become a pro at closing doors quietly.
There’d been an old saying Nan used to share, “Let sleeping dogs – and children – lie.” He hadn’t understood it much when he was young, but ever since adopting Tadhg and Niamh, he had learned to take it seriously.
Most days, Tadhg and Niamh could run him – and any other adult around them – ragged. Bundles of energy packed into such small packages, but when they let it loose, they did not believe in half measures. It made Caleb’s shoulder and hip ache just to think about it, but even he couldn’t argue that it wore them out enough that once bedtime arrived, they slept the sleep of angels – deep, unbothered, and peaceful.
Recently, however, they’d added a new member to the family, a member who had more energy than the two children combined.
Giving one last look into the bedroom the siblings shared, Caleb’s gaze dropped to the mat on the floor between the two beds. A pair of dark, soulful eyes lifted sleepily up at him. Eyes that, despite all the energy spent daily on adventures, still had a flare of alertness the second he heard the faintest creak of the door.
Caleb held his breath, nodded once and waited.
With a small whoosh of air through his snout, the pup gave his approval and settled back down.
Turning away from the door, it was a short walk back to the kitchen.
He was looking forward to their move in just a few weeks’ time. A proper house, more space, carpeted floors that would mute any little sound and maybe, just maybe, let the pup stay asleep when Caleb checked on his children.
He was barely in the room when a warm mug of tea was pressed into his hands. Taking a careful sip, he met another pair of soulful dark eyes that twinkled up at him. “Everyone sound asleep?”
A soft huff of laughter escaped as he wrapped an arm around Ashley’s shoulders, leading her back into the front room. It wasn’t too late just yet and they still had half a movie to get through. Squeezing affectionately, he replied, “Aye, though Goliath twitched mightily there for a moment or two.”
“Twitched?” Ashley dropped onto the sofa chuckling to herself while Caleb nabbed the remote before sitting next to her. “He almost woke up, didn’t he?”
“I prefer to think he was chasing rabbits.”
Setting her mug on the coffee table, she turned to face him, confusion mixing with disbelief. “Chasing rabbits?”
“In his dreams,” Caleb clarified with a teasing grin back at her. “His legs were movin’ like he was runnin’ through grassy Irish fields.”
Rolling her eyes, Ashley settled against his side, head falling to rest on his shoulder. “Everything’s always Irish with you, isn’t it?”
Caleb couldn’t deny he enjoyed the evenings when she came over, rare as they might be. Dinner together – all four of them – then watching a movie until it was time for the kids to go to bed. Even Goliath approved of her presence, usually lying next to her, his head on her lap while she idly scratched between his ears.
Tucking his arm around her, he deadpanned with a teasing emphasis on his lilt, “Don’t tell me you’re surprised; the accent gives me away, darlin’.”
Ashley rumbled something Caleb couldn’t understand beneath the volume of the movie while snuggling closer. Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been important.
Apparently, neither was the movie because within the first couple of minutes, her breathing evened out as she drifted off. He couldn’t blame her. She had spent the whole day chasing after her students. Teachers, it seemed, could wear out just as easily as students. Maybe even easier.
Chuckling softly enough not to wake her, Caleb relaxed and savored the moment for himself. She wasn’t the only tired one. Since Coats’ arrival in Norman, the two of them had spent so much time of late working on the pub to get it ready for opening, when it came right down to it, he was tired too. But they were close now. So close.
Ashley murmured something against his neck he couldn’t quite hear causing him to smile even as he covered a yawn and settled deeper into the cushions, holding her close.
Everything could wait. Everything except a nap. A gentle, snuggling snooze with his girlfriend.
What better way to spend an evening...