Always Us

tiny dancer

Olivia was walking down the hall to her bedroom when the scene inside her daughter's room caught her attention. Not wanting to be a distraction, she stood off to the side of the doorway, trying to hold in her laughter.

"Spin, spin, spin," Sienna shouted as she ran circles around her father, spinning him along with her as she held onto his index finger.

"Hold up, baby girl, I don't know if this was part of the choreography" Spencer pleaded, "I'm getting a little dizzy."

"And curtsey!" the four year old was out of breath, but didn't let that stop her from her grand finale. Spencer, on the other hand, fell back onto her pink bed, passing on the last move all together.

Once she was through waving to her imaginary audience, Sienna turned her attention back to Spencer, poking his arm to get his attention. He feigned sleep for a few seconds before grabbing her and throwing her up in the air, her high-pitched giggles bringing a smile to Olivia's face. Letting them have their moment, she continued her walk to her room to wait while Spencer put their daughter to bed.

Thirty minutes later, Olivia was sorting through some articles when she heard Spencer's footsteps.

"Couldn't you have choreographed something a little simpler?" Spencer grilled her as he walked into their room, dropping down onto the bed.

"How much simpler can it get?" Olivia laughed, not looking up from the story she was reading.

"I don't know, maybe less spinning for a start," his hand rubbed his forehead, hoping to soothe the residual nausea his daughter had brought on.

"I didn't choreograph any spinning into the piece. The number is called 'Daddy Daughter Dance,' not 'Passing Out Dads.' The spinning was all her."

"Ok, well maybe you should run that by her before tomorrow afternoon."

Tomorrow was Sienna's first ever dance recital. After watching Olivia's old dance videos, Sienna begged her mom to enroll her in classes. One thing led to the next, and Olivia volunteered to help choreograph dances for the class. When it came to final number, she put Spencer front and center, much to his chagrin.

After skimming through her last article, Olivia realized Spencer had been oddly quiet for the past ten minutes. She looked over to find him watching the instructional video she had made for the daddy dance tomorrow. Before interrupting him, she watched as he stared intently at the video, restarting it from the top when it came to an end.

"Spencer James, are you nervous?" she teased, moving over to his side of the bed and sliding behind him. Her long legs snaked around his waist as her hands found their place on his chest. She leaned her cheek on his shoulder.

"Nah, I just like to be prepared," but his voice deceived him.

"You've played in the freaking Super Bowl, you can handle a little daddy daughter dance."

"I don't want to mess up and disappoint her," he admitted.

"There's no way you're going to disappoint her. That little girl cherishes the ground you walk on," she comforted him, rubbing her hands along his shoulders.

Spencer relaxed under his wife's touch, but it wasn't enough to prevent him from restarting the video on his phone again.

"Come here," Olivia held her hand out as she slid off the bed and stood up next to him, "let's walk through it. I'll be Sienna." 

He eyed her cautiously before joining her in the middle of their bedroom. Patiently, she held his hand as she counted out the beats, eyeing him to make sure he hit his marks, correcting him when he stuck out his arm when it should have been his leg. On their fourth go around, she could sense his confidence growing. By the fifth, he nailed it.

"C'mere woman," he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around, her legs kicking as she screamed.

"Shhhh, don't go waking my girl up before her big day. She needs her beauty rest," he joked as he dropped Olivia on the bed, hovering his body over hers.

"You're the going to do great, and I'll be right there cheering you on," Olivia encouraged before pulling his face down for a kiss, "you'll be the best daddy on that stage."

Spencer cocked his eyebrows at her choice of words, "what you tryna say?"

"Go to sleep, Spencer," she laughed, rolling out from under him and getting up to go brush her teeth.

"Just say it one time for me," he called, watching her walk into the bathroom.

"Bye, Spencer."

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The next afternoon, Olivia stood in the wings as she watched Spencer take his place next to Sienna on the stage. She'd been running around backstage all afternoon making sure the girls were where they needed to be. Sienna had shined in the earlier ballet and jazz numbers; she hit every move, not missing a beat. Now it was time for the finale, and Olivia found herself more nervous than she'd been for the other two dances.

The curtain went up, and her eyes followed Spencer's every move. His smile hiding the nerves she knew he was feeling. The music faded out, and the audience burst into applause. He did it, not a single mess up. As she let out a sigh of relief, she realized she hadn't looked at Sienna even once during the dance, but her daughter didn't need to know that.

Her heart overflowed as she watched Spencer pick up their daughter and kiss her cheek, both of them turning to wave at the cheering audience. Once all the age groups had their turn to bow, the curtain came down. Sienna's first dance recital was a success.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy," Sienna ran straight into her legs, "did you see me?!"

"Of course, I did baby girl," Olivia picked her up, hugging her tight, "you did AMAZING!"

"Did you see daddy?!"

"Yes, I did," she turned to see Spencer making his way over to them, trying his best not to trip on any of the little kids running around.

"You did great, daddy!" Sienna exclaimed, releasing her legs from Olivia's waist so that she could get down and join her friends.

"Yes, you did, daddy," Olivia winked at him as he intertwined his fingers with hers, kissing her amidst the backstage chaos. 

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A/N: So I started writing an actual story, and I have a couple chapters drafted which I'll post soon. It's definitely a lot more challenging to write a continuous story because there's more to think through, but I'm excited for you guys to finally read it!!

And as always thank you guys for consistently reading!! The votes and comments make my day.