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Charlie swore under his breath as he read the text update from British Airways. “Our flight is cancelled, and the next rebooking isn't until tomorrow afternoon.” If that didn't get cancelled as well, of course.
Nick groaned. “But we already got Violet all packed up at Mum's house and the Uber is supposed to be here any minute!”
“I'll cancel the Uber,” sighed Charlie. They'd spent the morning cleaning and packing and generally running around trying to get everything done before leaving on vacation, and now their flight was cancelled. Or postponed. Whatever.
“I…” Nick ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated. He sighed heavily. “I just really wanted to be on a beach in Menorca with you, note at home juggling a bunch of travel details in house with no food because we were supposed to be gone for the next two weeks!”
“I know, sweetheart,” said Charlie. Nick was clearly more frustrated with the delays and changes to their schedule than he was. “But Icelandic volcanoes don't read the itinerary.”
“Should we go pick her up? Since we're still here? It was already going to be the longest time we've spent apart from Violet, maybe we could make it a bit shorter?”
“Nick, love, think about it. For the first time since we brought her home, we have an entire night alone in the house by ourselves. Your mum already planned on having her tonight. We can order takeaway, and watch a show that doesn't have obnoxiously catchy music about brushing your teeth, maybe even better loud when we have sex.” Charlie wrapped his arms around his husband's waist, pulling them close together. “Just imagine the possibilities.”
He could feel Nick's tension as he rubbed his hands up and down his back before playfully grabbing his arse.
“I mean, there's no Spanish tapas, but I guess this is what I was really looking forward to. Time with you, that is.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Nick leaned down to kiss Charlie.
They lost themselves in the heady joy of uninterrupted affection, Nick's fingers tangled through Charlie's inky curls, Charlie's hands cupping Nick's muscular arse. Their hip pressed together, but there was no urgency driving them to the next step as quickly as possible. They broke apart, Charlie tucking his face against Nick's neck.
“Let me call the hotel to cancel the room tonight, and you sort us out something to eat?”
“On it,” replied Nick.
By the time Charlie finally got off the phone with the confused clerk, and made sure only one night was cancelled, not the entire stay, Nick was settled on the couch watching the most recent series of Bakeoff.
“I thought we were watching something that didn't have incredibly catchy music,” joked Charlie.
Nick grinned. “There you are!”
Charlie curled against his husband who promptly tucked him under the blanket that lived on the couch for this exact purpose. He felt the tension leaching from his body, with nothing else to fix or clean or do. No messes were being made every time he looked away, no emails needed and urgent response. He could just breathe. He gave a happy sigh, and Nick kissed his curls automatically.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“How long until food gets here?” asked Charlie.
“15 minutes. Why?”
“Wanna make out some more?”
Nick answered by maneuvering their bodies to a more comfortable position and kissing Charlie deeply. They got lost in the moment until Nick's phone buzzed, wedged between them.
“Right. Food,” said Nick, slightly breathless.
“What did you order anyway?” asked Charlie. After years together, he trusted Nick to know what he liked, unless he was having a bad food day.
“Greek. Souvlaki just sounded really good, and I got us salad before you ask about vegetables.”
“We really are getting old.”
“My knees certainly think so,” said Nick.
They are in front of the TV, not having to set a good example for their daughter.
“I forgot about garlic breath,” said Nick.
“We have toothbrushes,” said Charlie. “It's not like we're stranded in an airport without our luggage, we're in our own home.”
“I love my brilliant husband,” said Nick. “But we probably should digest first.”
“Also a very smart idea,” said Charlie with a chuckle.
It was his turn to be a human pillow, and he softly stroked Nick's hair, noticing the threads of silver mixed in with the strawberry blonde strands. He remembered when he used to be obsessed with watching Nick push his hair from his forehead, when he'd still thought it was a hopeless unrequited crush. The times he brushed it back taking care of Nick when he was sick, after Nick finally learned that accepting Charlie's help wasn't failing to support him. Their wedding, where nervous Nick had used far too much product to try and keep it neat and tidy for photos. Nick's obsession with Charlie's curls had always been obvious, but Charlie was just as obsessed with Nick's hair in his own way.
He looked down to see Nick struggling to keep his eyes open. “Are you tired, love?”
“Huh? No, what? I'm fine. Just resting.” A yawn undermined Nick's attempts to feign alertness. “Besides, we were going to spend quality time together and enjoy not having a kid in the house. We can finally do all those things we can't do when she's home. We could watch… a scary movie? We could do a puzzle! We could have sex! We could…” Nick paused, searching for more ideas.
“We could sleep…” Charlie shrugged.
Nick stared at him as if he'd never heard a more brilliant idea in his entire life. “We could sleep? We could sleep!” Suddenly, Nick had turned to climb the stairs two at a time, before barging into their room and falling face first into the bed. By the time Charlie caught up to him, he could hear his husband snoring. He chuckled as he changed into pajamas and brushed his teeth, swiftly following Nick into slumber.