Always Us

attention hogs

Tonight's episode left me distressed and confused. So I finished up this piece of fluff 🥺
_____

Spencer never complained. Not on the chaotic days. Not on the rough days. Not even on the days when he went completely ignored.

He just did what he could and waited his turn.

Patiently.

Well, sort of patiently.

"How was your afternoon?" Olivia asked while they sat in the living room, winding down from the day.

"Good, good," Spencer nodded, trying to act casual. Relaxed. Unbothered. "Meeting with JJ went well. Then lunch with Jordan, all good. How was yours?" He gestured nonchalantly from his spot on the couch.

"Busy," Olivia sighed, "it was a crazy one."

While she talked, he nodded as if he were taking in every word she said, but his mind was elsewhere, and his eyes were darting back and forth from her chest to her legs.

When he heard her pause, he came back from his thoughts to offer some assistance. "Tomorrow I don't have any meetings, so I can be here in the afternoon to help you."

"Thank you, Spencer," she replied softly, smiling before her attention drifted away from him, and he was left unattended. Again.

He gave the side of her head a tense smile and turned towards the TV.

Long gone were the days when he got to spend his evenings cuddled up with his wife. Now he had to accept that he was just a third wheel to her and their son.

Sure. It sometimes left him feeling some type of way, but Olivia was a great mother. The way she channeled all her energy into their children left him in awe. Especially when, day after day, through the constant crying and screaming, she somehow managed to shower them with nothing but unconditional love.

It was truly incredible, and he didn't want that twisted.

What he felt wasn't resentment. Not at all.

It was just that, with Olivia caring for their three month old son all the time, there was less time for her to care for him.

So he was just feeling a little... neglected.

Deep down, he knew that she wasn't ignoring him intentionally. Infants require a lot of attention. He understood that, so he was just going to have to wait it out.

_____

On the other end of the couch, with Jackson on her chest and Sienna aggressively scribbling in a coloring book by her feet, Olivia watched Spencer as he stared intently at the TV.

She knew he wasn't paying attention to whatever home renovation was taking place on the screen because no matter how hard he tried to appear invested, he was still an absolutely terrible actor.

Olivia had always been able to see Spencer for what he truly was—a moper. Sad eyes and moody looks were his go to. This wasn't anything new.

Many times in the past, this quality of his had been cute or even endearing, but this time it broke her heart.

It broke her because she could see how hard he was trying to be involved. To feel included. And while she tried to help him out, she could only do so much. Jackson had a clear preference, and that was Olivia. And to make things worse, Sienna wasn't taking it well and her jealousy was at an all time high.

There wasn't enough of her to go around, and her husband was taking the brunt of that.

She knew that he was desperately craving her attention, so she slowly pushed her toe into his leg.