our future

home is wherever i'm with you

title: home by edward sharp and the magnetic zeros (i like the edith whiskers version more though just saying)
billie's pov
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i get to the hospital and go through the routine i've gone through one too many times for hopefully one last time; put on my hood and sunglasses, walk in and hope no one notices me, tell the too cheery receptionist my name and who i'm here for, give them my phone and my keys cautiously (i'll never get used to giving someone else my stuff even if in a situation like this, take off my sunglasses, look down at the floor so again, no one notices me, go through the tall white metal detector, put my sunglasses back on, sit down in a freezing, uncomfortable, light grey chair and wait impatiently, crossing one leg over the other with my hand between them to hopefully stop them from bouncing and my hands from picking at my skin as i do when i'm nervous. i'm looking down at the tiled floor hoping the time will pass faster so i can see my wife, when i here the door open.

my head jolts up and i see a nurse in light blue scrubs with yellow ducks on them walk in. she smiles at me, a clipboard in her hand, and i stand up. "hello again mrs o'connell. elle will be right out i just need you to sign this release form for me." she explains and hands me the clipboard. "i told you last time you can call me billie" i laugh and smile as i look down at the form, skimming over it before i sign it. "thank you mrs- thank you billie. i'll get elle out here in just a minute. take a seat" the nurse says with that most likely fake smile, though i'm sure it makes a lot of people feel better i'm sure she gets tired of putting that smile on just to please others. i know one or two people that feel that way too.

my leg is bouncing up and down and i put my hand on it, pushing down on it just a bit so it'll stop. i hear the door open again and i look up immediately to see my beautiful wife looking both exhausted yet ecstatic but sad all at the same time. i run over to her and hug her, kissing her cheek and burying my face in her neck right after. "hello my love" she giggles as i pick her up and spin her around. "i missed you so much" i tell her when i set her down. "i missed you too darling" she says and i pull away, holding her face in my hands and looking at her. her eyes are still the same gorgeous hazel color, her pupils dilating as she stars at me, a small green rim around that and a brown wheel with specks of yellow and more green circling the green and a blue brim surrounding the entire thing. she as small, defined bags below her eyes showing that she didn't get much sleep last night, most likely worrying about leaving her friends or coming home. maybe both. she has her hair up in a bun and it looks like she hasn't brushed it in several days. she's wearing the same clothes she wore when she came here, a big orange shirt that has  a car on it and grey baggy sweat pants with matching orange jordan ones, socks that match the nurse's scrubs hiding below her shoes, light blue with yellow duckies. i kiss all over her face, not a freckle, birth mark, eye bag, or anything else going untouched. i kiss her forehead again, then both her cheeks, then her chin, her nose and finally her lips. "let's get you home angel" i smile at her and hug her one more time.

on the ride home elle falls asleep and i stop at the store. i get her all her favorite snacks and a few stuffed animals i know the kids will steal so i get them some stuff too. we get home and i wake elle up, asking if she's ready to go inside. she smiles tiredly and nods, her eyes still closed as she stretches. i grab her stuff and the bags from the store and we walk inside. i hear the kids screaming and giggling, footsteps thundering around the house like a pack of rhinos is in my house. i put the bags in the floor and call out to the kids, yelling "boom boom boom now let me hear you say wayo" as we always do because i know they'll shout "wayo" back and i'll know where to go. i hear them all respond just the way i assumed, even finneas, claudia and will do too, and then them running towards us.

elle kneels down and holds her arms open and all four of the kids run into them. she hugs them tightly and kisses them all on the head what seems to be a million times. "hello my little munchkins" she says in a goofy voice, making them all giggle. she doesn't let go until they do and they come and hug me as well. "hi babies" i smile and kiss their cheeks. finneas and claudia are standing behind them and smiling as they watch us. elle stands up and claudia hugs her, rocking them both side to side and mumbling something about how much she's missed her. i hug finneas and he asks me about the trip down and i said it was alright, it's not that far. we trade and i hug claudia as elle hugs finneas, pretty much the same conversations happening once again.

after a few hours we're sitting on the back porch with food on the glass table and we're sitting in the spots we usually sit, me in the chair with the green padding, elle in the yellow one beside me, finneas in orange, claudia in blue and the kids at the smaller table a few feet away. "so when's our next podcast episode?" claudia asks, taking a bite of her food almost immediately later. "i was thinking next wednesday, maybe the one after just so we can give you two some time to settle back into routine and shit. you know?" finneas explains with his mouth somewhat full, waving his fork around as he speaks and looking at me, then elle, then claudia. "yeah that sounds good. what do you think babe?" i look over at elle and sip some of my lemonade. "i'm feeling really good. if i keep feeling this way i'm thinking we could record it on monday and put it out on wednesday like we usually do." she answers and i smile. "considering it's saturday today, how do we feel about us all putting those 'ask me a question' things on our instagram stories and we can just answer those like we did the first time?" finneas asks and we all nod.

once we finish eating we go get in our swim suits and i pick elle up and throw her into the pool, hearing her scream all high pitched like she usually does when i do exactly that. "how many fucking times are you going to do that?" she groans. "as many times as i please" i smile and cannon ball into the pool, splashing her when i do so. the kids all jump in and finneas and claudia follow as elle splashes me back. i dodge it and she ends up splashing finneas and he turns around and picks her up and throws her again. several seconds pass and finneas is pulled under the water. this turns into a big splashing war between all of us and after a few minutes i hug elle and she wraps her legs around my waist and we smile at each other. we look at each other for what seems to be an eternity but not nearly long enough and i kiss her, getting splashed by everyone just seconds after. "i've missed you baby"

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a/n: i've missed you guys dude! sorry for just disappearing for so long, i've been dealing with personal shit lately. i can't promise that i'll be updating as often as i used to but i'm going to try. there's just a lot going on with school and my friends and my girlfriend and theatre and shit so no offense but this hasn't been and most likely won't be a priority for... i don't know how long. but i do love you guys and i've missed you and um

I STILL DODGE DICK ON THE DAILY