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Mike and Will are sat in their car at the drive-in movie theater. Between work and taking care of their daughter, it's the first time they've been out on a date in months. Don't get them wrong, they love Finley, and they love their jobs, but it is nice to go out every once in a while.
They decided to go out tonight to watch Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Last year they had gone to see Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and they liked it, so they figured they should watch the second one as well. Of course, they still think the books are better, but the film adaptations are interesting to watch.
As the movie starts, Will reaches his left hand over the center console to hold Mike's. Immediately, Mike brings their hands up to his lips and kisses Will's ring finger, right above his wedding ring. The ring that has 'Mike's Cleric' engraved on it.
The two stay like that for most of the movie. Just simply holding hands. Then, somewhere around the halfway point, Mike climbs over the center console– which is a little awkward because of his long legs– and sits in Will's lap, resting his head over Will's heart.
"Oh– hi." Will laughs, pressing a kiss to his husband's head.
Mike lifts his head up just enough to softly kiss Will's neck. "This is much more comfortable." He whispers.
"Yeah?" Will asks, sliding a hand over Mike's waist.
"Mhm." Mike mumbles, turning just enough to see the movie.
When the movie is over, both of them are too comfortable to move, so they just sit there for a bit, talking while finishing off the popcorn and soda.
Mike leans in for a quick kiss, then says, "I love you."
"I had no clue," Will teases, pulling him into another kiss. "I love you too."
"I love you more." Mike says.
Will laughs. "You're such a dork."
"Yeah, your dork–" He holds up his left hand with his wedding ring on it, "–forever."
"Oh my god." Will groans and kisses Mike again. "You're so lucky that I love you."
"So fucking lucky." Mike says, like a lovesick idiot. He lays his head back on Will's chest, "I wish we could stay here forever."
"Me too, but I think we should get back to our daughter." Will tells him.
"But it's only–" Mike looks down at his watch, "Shit, Holly's going to be so mad at me. We were supposed to be back an hour ago."
Will groans, "Let's just hope she got Finley to sleep."
Mike sighs, "I doubt it." He scrambles to climb back in his seat, buckles his seatbelt, and finally turns the car back on. 9:32pm, the clock says.
"Daddy! Papa!" Finley exclaims as Mike and Will step through the front door of their house. She runs up to them at full speed, almost running into Will's leg.
Will leans down to pick her up, balancing her on his hip. "Hi, sweetheart, did you have fun with Aunt Holly?"
"Yes, daddy, we had so much fun!" Finley tells him, way too energetic for nearly ten o'clock at night.
"Holly." Mike scolds, "How much sugar did you give her?"
"Oh, so you think this is on me?" Holly retorts, flicking her pink and blue dyed bangs out of her eyes. "Do you know how tiring it is to chase her around the backyard all day long?"
"First of all, yes, I do, and second of all, you were only here for three hours." Mike argues.
Holly rolls her eyes. "Potato po-tah-to."
Will wants to laugh at how similar she is to how Mike was at her age.
"Whatever," Mike says, "I'll just ask my child, who doesn't even know what lying is yet."
A look flickers across Holly's face, like she knows she's going to get in trouble.
Mike turns to Will and Finley, taking her out of Will's arms. "Finley, what did you and Aunt Holly do today?"
Finley grins. "Oh, Papa, it was so much fun!" She tells him, "First, we played Xbox games, then we played outside with Zelda," (Zelda is their dog's name. She's an Australian shepherd and looks a bit like a goddess in dog form), "And then for dinner, we ate cake!"
"Holly gave you cake for dinner?" Mike questions, putting on a fake happy tone.
"Yeah!"
"Great..." He hands Finley back to Will, and turns to Holly. "Honestly, why did you think cake for dinner was a good idea?!"
"It's not like you had much else!"
Mike raises his eyebrows. "There are literally chicken nuggets in the freezer. What, you don't know how to microwave chicken nuggets?!"
Will decides to take Finley to her room before this argument goes any further and she gets traumatized or something.
"Is Papa mad at Aunt Holly?" Finley asks as Will sets her down on the floor of her bedroom.
Will sits down next to her and holds her tiny hand. "A little bit." He tells her, "Cake for dinner is not good for you, okay?"
Finley nods, her fluffy brown curls falling into her eyes. "Is Papa mad at me?" She asks.
"No, sweetheart, it's not your fault." Will says, brushing the stray curls out of her eyes with his free hand.
"Okay, daddy." Finley says, smiling up at him. Though, something makes Will feel like she doesn't totally believe it.
"Do you need a hug?" He asks her, reaching his arms out incase she does.
Immediately, Finley walks over to Will, resting her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her, doing his best to make sure she feels alright. Both he and Mike suffered horrible childhoods, and they agreed to raise their daughter in the nicest way possible. They don't restrict her from anything, they let her be a kid of course, but they try not to yell around her or anything like that.
Somewhere down the hall, the front door slams shut– probably from Holly making a dramatic angry exit. It doesn't bother Finley in the slightest and she doesn't flinch at all– Will really wishes that he could be that unbothered by loud noises.
Mike enters Finley's room a little later and sits down on the floor, next to Will. Finley turns her head to look at him.
"Hi, Papa." She says.
He smiles at her and boops her little nose. "Hey, Finley, you okay?" He asks.
Finley nods and pulls Will's arms away from her so she can reach out for Mike.
"You little traitor." Will teases, but he says it with a smile.
Mike stands up while holding Finley. He balances her on his hip and starts to notice her smile fading. "Hey, sweetheart, what's wrong?"
Finley doesn't meet his eyes, and she doesn't say anything either.
Mike starts to worry. He doesn't know what he did wrong, and he doesn't know how to fix it. His leg starts bouncing and his thoughts start racing, so he looks at Will for help.
Will stands up from the floor and rubs a hand over Mike's back to calm him down. "She thinks you're mad at her," He supplies. "I told her that you're not, but I think she needs you to prove it."
"Oh, Finley, I'm not mad at you." Mike tells his daughter, "I'm mad at Aunt Holly for being irresponsible."
"Okay, Papa." Finley nods, then she yawns, finally getting tired.
"You ready for bed?" Mike asks her.
Finley nods. Thank goodness Holly managed to be responsible enough to get her changed into pajamas, Mike thinks.
Mike walks over to Finley's toddler bed in the corner of the room and sets her down. He pulls the covers over her and presses a soft kiss to her forehead. "Goodnight, Finley." He whispers.
"Goodnight, Papa, goodnight Daddy." She whispers back, closing her eyes and nearly falling asleep as she says it.
Will flips the light switch to turn off the lights. "'Night, Finley." He says as Mike joins him and shuts the door.
"Well, that was easier than I thought." Mike says.
Will nods, agreeing with him. Then he grabs Mike's hand and drags him to their bedroom so that they can get ready for bed as well.
As they change into pajamas, they steal a few glances at eachother, and share a few kisses. Then as they brush their teeth together, they make funny faces in the mirror, trying to get the other to laugh.
Finally, Mike lays down in bed and pulls Will over to lay down with him.
"Holly is never babysitting again." He tells Will, "Unless it's an emergency."
Will runs his hand through Mike's long black curls, almost scared to ask, "What did she do besides give Finley cake for dinner?"
"She tried to get me to pay her since we were late!" Mike exclaims, clearly annoyed by his younger sister. "Like, first of all, she was the one who offered to babysit Finley, and second of all, she didn't even do a good job! So, no, obviously I'm not going to pay her!"
"That's why she slammed the door?"
Mike nods. "Mom never should have let her do theater in middle school."