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Charlie hummed quietly to himself as he rocked back and forth. The warm bundle on his chest had turned to dead weight several minutes ago, but they had learned the hard way to wait just a little longer.
Rocking their baby to sleep in a separate room to his husband wouldn’t exactly be what Charlie envisioned for a perfect Valentine’s Day evening in years past, but it was difficult to be disappointed. He was so incredibly grateful for every day that they had with this precious miracle. Any time he and Nick could squeeze in together before they themselves crashed to sleep would be greatly appreciated.
Once he was sure she was really out cold, he slowly stood and carefully lowered little Alexandra into her cot, tucking her in gently. He swept a whisper light finger across her soft cheek and said a silent "good night" to his daughter. He tiptoed across her darkened room and tried not to be dazed and blinded by the brighter light in the hallway.
Before he returned to the lounge, he looked down at himself. If he could see splotches of spit up on his jumper, surely he smelled like it too. He detoured to their bedroom to exchange the soiled jumper for yet another of Nick’s hoodies and splashed some water on his face. Feeling more presentable, he headed to the lounge to join Nick.
Nick heard him approaching and turned to greet him from across the back of the sofa.
“Did Lexie go down alright?” Nick asked quietly.
“Yeah, no trouble tonight,” Charlie replied, tired but relieved.
“Let’s hope we get lucky and she only wakes up once or twice tonight,” Nick said, his fingers crossed on both hands.
“Gods, I hope so,” Charlie agreed, huffing as he dropped heavily on the couch. He turned his head and made kissy lips until Nick leaned over and kissed him softly.
Charlie looked at the coffee table for the bottle of wine they’d been drinking, to find it was gone.
“Did we drink that whole bottle?” he asked. He didn’t think they’d drunk all that much.
“No, I took it somewhere else,” Nick said vaguely as he stood. He reached out his hands to pull Charlie up. Charlie was not inclined to get up, since he’d just sat down and the long day was quickly catching up with him. Behind Nick, Charlie noticed that their coats were on the armchair, along with beanies and scarves.
Charlie's brow furrowed and he asked “Are we going somewhere? You do know there’s a baby sleeping in the other room, right?”
Nick just chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Yes, I am well aware. Now, come on, you,” he said and reached for Charlie’s hands to pull him up. “Just trust me and don’t ask any more questions.”
“Fine,” Charlie huffed and started putting on his coat when Nick handed it to him.
Once they were both bundled up, Nick grabbed the baby monitor and Charlie’s hand, then started guiding them towards the door to the back garden. Charlie realized that Daisy must already be in her crate for the evening, since she wasn’t immediately at the back door when Nick twisted the handle.
Nick shut the door behind them and pulled Charlie a little further into the yard. There in the grass, surrounded by a sparse ring of votive candles, was a blanket and several pillows. He spotted the missing bottle of wine, as well as a pair of cups and a plate covered by a tea towel.
“Nick,” Charlie breathed out, “I can’t believe you did all this! Did you set this up all while I was doing bedtime?” Charlie had been out here with Daisy after dinner, so he knew the setup had to be a recent addition.
Nick beamed and confirmed, “Yup. I had everything ready to go, so it didn’t take long. Come, sit down.”
They settled on the blanket together and Nick poured them each some more wine. As Charlie took a sip, Nick uncovered the plate and Charlie was delighted to see a plate of his favorite fudge brownies.
“Where were those hidden?” he asked incredulously. He had looked in almost every kitchen cabinet on his late afternoon work break today, looking for something sweet to nibble on. He still wasn't much of a snacker, but every once in a while, his sweet tooth popped up.
Nick laughed. “On a shelf in the laundry room,” he grinned, “so you wouldn’t get into them too early.” His husband knew him too well!
“Well, thank you for all of this, baby,” Charlie murmured, snuggling into Nick’s side. Nick’s arm automatically wrapped around his shoulders, by complete habit after all of these years.
“You’re welcome, love,” Nick said, before placing a gentle kiss on his temple. “Since we couldn’t really go out and do anything for Valentine’s Day, I figured we could have a mini date at home.”
Nick put a brownie for each of them on a napkin and they ate them slowly, making contented ‘mmmm’ sounds with each bite. After a few sips of wine, Nick took their glasses and set them off to the side.
“Lay down with me, Char,” Nick said quietly, unfolding a second blanket and pulling it over their legs. They shifted around a bit, until Charlie was settled on Nick’s shoulder, arms around each other, and they were covered with the warm blanket.
Charlie leaned over and kissed his husband softly. One kiss led to another and another, each one deepening. It never ceased to amaze Charlie how much this man still affected him, after all the years they had spent together. How just a kiss could fill his stomach with butterflies and set his nerves alight. He knew he would never, ever get tired of kissing Nick.
When they eventually came up for air, Nick laid his head back and whispered, “Look up.”
Charlie laid back on one of the pillows and looked up at the sky above them. It was a shockingly clear night for mid-February in the south of England. Stars were twinkling across the midnight blue sky and he detected the faintest hint of the Milky Way. The sky looked so big and expansive from their little spot on Earth.
Any time Charlie looked at the stars, it always made him feel both insignificant and a part of something bigger. Humans had been looking at these same celestial bodies for eons before him, and would continue long after him. They were endless and timeless.
“So beautiful,” Charlie said reverently.
“So beautiful,” Nick echoed, but there was something in his tone that made Charlie turn to look at him.
Nick wasn’t gazing up at the heavens, but at Charlie instead.
They were quiet as they gazed at each other, having one of those silent conversations that they’d been perfecting for years now. Their friends called it their ‘creepy love stare’, but Charlie thought of it more as their souls connecting in the silence. They could each see the depth of their feelings in each other's eyes.
“I love you so much, my darling,” Nick murmured. “More than all the stars in the universe.”
“Sap,” Charlie said, with an affectionate smile on his lips. Nick’s smile back was so tender that Charlie couldn’t help replying “I love you so much, too” back to his beloved husband.
Nick rested his forehead against Charlie’s and whispered “Happy Valentine’s Day, Char,” before leaning back in for another deep and loving kiss, under the twinkling stars.