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The following night, Penny came home from the Hard Deck still wired from the rare energetic Tuesday night. Her bar was hopping most of the night with lots of drinks slinging to and fro. If she closed her eyes, she could almost make out the laughter from some patrons who came in earlier. It had been a really good night financially speaking, and she was so damn thankful for it.
As she passed her daughter’s bedroom, she glanced in, grateful to see her baby girl curled up asleep in bed. The vanishing tricks Amelia pulled sometimes (which was definitely Penny’s karma coming to bite her solely in the ass) made Penny nervous these days. So, anytime she saw her girl asleep in bed, she’d consider it a win.
Walking further down the hallway, she passed Bradley’s room that she knew was empty since he was spending the night at Jake’s again. She hoped things were going well with them, happy to hear they were trying again. She was obviously a big believer in second chances. Of course that belief was only because of one Pete Mitchell, the hotshot pilot she gave her heart away to without restraint and broke her own heart as a result later on—only for him to mend it back together time and time again.
Speaking of Pete, she entered their bedroom not long afterwards, hearing the familiar snores from the two lumps in bed. She crept closer to them, feeling playful yet making sure she wouldn’t unnecessarily scare them awake.
Tom woke first, being the light sleeper he was. His eyes darted to her the second she neared Pete’s side before Tom visibly relaxed as he recognized her in the extreme low light of their room.
She pressed a hand against her husband’s chest directly over top of his heart, rubbing her thumb gently over him to lull him back to consciousness. She pressed her lips together to keep from laughing when Tom started to run his hands through Pete’s hair, helping her coax her husband awake. Pete didn’t seem to know which way was up, quickly becoming overwhelmed by their ministrations.
“en? ‘ce?” His eyes were still fluttering as he did his best to push past the grogginess for them.
“Sorry for waking you,” she murmured, waiting patiently for more of him to waken.
“s fine.” He waved her apology away, nearly smacking poor Tom in the process. He shifted in bed prior to pushing himself up and back against the headboard. “Are you okay, though?” His number one fear lately was something happening to their family, which hurt to know.
“Yeah, sweetheart, I’m okay. We had a pretty busy night tonight.”
He smiled groggily, clumsily reaching for her hand. “My wife, the amazing businesswoman.”
She snorted, glancing at Tom to share in a fond smile with him.
“I don’t think I’m going to be able to sleep quite yet,” she admitted, leaning up to caress Pete’s cheek. “You think you two could keep me company while I try to lose some of this energy?” She wasn’t in the mood for sex because frankly she needed to be coherent and awake for tomorrow. Her surprise she had been working on for the past few weeks with Beau and others was finally coming together. That anticipation plus tonight’s unexpected business meant she was full of chaotic energy currently.
Pete nodded before he scooted over to offer her space in-between him and Tom.
“Actually, I was sort of thinking of watching a movie,” she laughed quietly.
“Is it going to be another one of your Slasher films you love so much?” he sighed. He was definitely not a fan.
“Actually, I was thinking of something else. A nice drama one with some romance.” She caught their shared look. “You don’t have to join me if you’d rather sleep.”
“Nonsense,” Tom declared, shaking his head before he gracefully slipped from their bed. “We’ll get everything ready downstairs if you want to freshen up.”
“That your way of saying I stink, Kazansky?”
“Never, my dear,” he murmured, kissing her cheek. “Just my way of saying we’ll be downstairs waiting to spoil you as you deserve afterwards so don’t keep us waiting too damn long or we’ll be asleep again regrettably.”
She laughed, patting his cheek before she headed to grab her night clothes to change into after a quick shower to wash off all the germs and whatnot from the bar.
She joined them not long after, sitting in the space between them they carved out for her on the downstairs sofa.
At the glass of a deep red liquid that Tom held out to her, she glanced at him. “Is this—?”
“My homemade Sangria?” he replied with a smirk. “It is. I made a new batch earlier for us.”
“I could kiss you, Thomas Kazansky. I really could.”
Her husband groaned beside her in his usual playful way.
“Oh, sweetheart, what’s the matter?” She always found this game of theirs to be silly and a bit ridiculous, but it led to some fun moments afterwards. Jealousy, fake that it was, was a hell of a thing.
“How am I supposed to compete with that?”
She rolled her eyes before she bumped against his side. “It’s not a competition.” That was a worry they quickly dismissed at the start of their relationship when they tried to navigate this whole thing. None of them ever wanted anyone to feel left out, accidental or otherwise. “You do lots of things that spoil me, too. Like having a bowl of popcorn and TV remote at the ready for me. Covering us up with the extra-large fuzzy blanket. Face it. You two are serial spoilers. I honestly cannot believe how lucky I am to share my life with you two amazing men.”
They kissed her temples in sync before they wrapped their arms around her shoulders to give her something to lean back against if she needed it. She snuggled back into them, sighing in contentment before she quickly searched through the streaming services for the movie she was thinking of watching.
It had long become a tradition of hers to watch scary movies around Halloween, with one always being The Mothman Prophecies. She didn’t even know why she liked this movie exactly. Just that she did. Maybe it was the Richard Gere effect still. Him and that damn An Officer and a Gentleman movie that started her whole fascination with egotistical hunks who believed they were damn near invincible. It certainly made sense considering her two loves keeping her company.
She happily munched on popcorn, laughing anytime their hands touched in the bowl while they watched the movie together. She could feel the warmth of the sangria as it settled in her belly as well. Not for the first time, she wondered how much it’d take to bribe Tom to make some batches for the bar. She knew it’d be a big hit. However, she also knew that the regulations alone to get all the approvals she’d need would be a literal nightmare.
Tonight had been a good night, though.
Because of her two amazing guys, the chosen admiral and the rebel captain. Richard who?