Closer 2

167.

Elise was only satisfied after having seen Benjamin as well, making sure he was okay at Nainai's house. Thankfully he was, assuring both the dads and the big sister.

"What do you wanna do now, then?" Brett asked his daughter after they had hung up with his mom. They had curled up the three of them on the couch while talking to the grandmothers with Elise ending up in Brett's lap eventually.

"Uhmmmmm..." Elise said as she thought about it, looking over at daddy to see if he had an opinion on the matter. He didn't seem to, as he only awaited her response.

"It can be anything you want. We can go to the park, or to the mall, or we can draw..." Brett suggested, stroking her back a bit. "Or we can listen to some music, if you want?"

"Wannaaaa..." Elise began, looking like she was trying to remember a word. "... Play vi'lin!"

"Ohh, you wanna practice, huh?" Eddy asked with a grin. She nodded eagerly, clapping her hands. It had been so long since she played!

"Let's go find your violin, then," Brett smiled, kissing her cheek and getting up with her sitting securely on his arm. "Maybe you wanna play for us upstairs, hm?"

Eddy gave Brett a questioning look, not understanding why he had suggested that Elise would come upstairs to the loft space at all. That was their filming space, and definitely wasn't suitable for the kids. Sure, all of them had been there occasionally, but they had usually cleaned it up first.

"Yeeeahhh!!" Elise grinned widely. She loved getting to go upstairs and see all the weird stuff baba and daddy kept up there. She kicked her legs a little, too excited to sit still.

"Okay, wanna go get your violin, then?" Brett asked her, lifting her down to the floor. She nodded, running off to do so the moment her feet touched the wooden floor.

Brett leaned over to kiss Eddy's cheek with an innocent smile.
"I thought we could film her while she practices," he explained softly. "With some proper lighting and stuff, so we can see her progress."

...

"May mine?" Ray asked, knocking lightly on the bedroom door. He had already been out and gotten the cake, getting back slightly sooner than he had expected but still after the alarm he had set for her. It was difficult not to feel a bit guilty about having to wake her when he found her curled up looking all comfortable, though.

"Love?" Ray asked her softly again, walking over to her and placing a kiss to her forehead to wake her gently.

"Hm? Ray?" she asked groggily, confused still in her half asleep state. She blinked her eyes open, looking up at him. It took a second for her to process everything. "Oh shit, I'm s..."

"Don't worry about it, love. We have some time," Ray assured her softly, interrupting her apology before she had finished it. "It's time to wake up, though, if you feel well enough to come."

"I'm okay, I'm okay. I'll be quick," May sighed, sitting up in bed. "I'm sorry."