The morning sun; it was that great big yellow orb in the sky keeping all life on earth fully functioning. It was an important part of every day but Nick couldn’t help but resent it sometimes. In both houses he slept on the side of the bed closest to the window, and again in both houses the morning sunshine managed to make its way through the curtains directly into his face.

He groaned and tried to shut out the brightness behind his eyelids. He’d dreamt again that night; about Alaina. His mind just wouldn’t stop racing with images. It was one of the hazards of having a creative mind. The only way he could avoid slipping back into the dreams was to stay awake, so it was far too early to be disrupted from his already upset slumber.

With a grunt Nick rolled over towards Holly’s side of the bed and away from the offensive light. He couldn’t see her features through the curtain of hair that had fallen in front of them so he reached out to push it back; away from her face and behind her ear.

He nearly jumped when her eyes opened suddenly and they were face to face.

“What are you doing?” Holly asked in a sleep heavy voice.

“Looking at you,” he answered honestly, letting the ends of her hair slip through his fingers.

“Why?” she croaked, her eyes drooping from open to closed.

Nick chuckled, “I’m weird, remember?”

The edges of Holly’s lips lifted slightly, “Don’t I know it.”

It seemed like she had every intention of going back to sleep and Nick running his fingers lightly through her hair didn’t appear to help keep her awake. He sighed, running the back of his knuckle over her sleep reddened cheek. Last night had been awkward to say the least. He couldn’t stop thinking about Alaina’s appearance outside the house, and he was worried that she would make another appearance. That had left him jumpy for the majority of the evening. At the same time Holly was acting really bizarre; as if she was flirting with him, which had been very uncommon in recent months. She was acting almost like her old self, which Nick found completely suspicious.

“Stop it,” Holly’s chuckled jovially.

“Stop what?” Nick asked in return, playing dumb though he knew exactly what she meant.

“You know what,” she stated confidently.

“I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he flirted, wondering how long she would let it go before she cut off his playfulness.

Brown eyes met blue and he didn’t see that flirty, mischievous, expression that he wore returned to him.

“You’re really annoying sometimes you know that?” Holly asked flat out and Nick couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“To love me you must love me at my most annoying,” Nick informed her, curious as to what her response would be. He couldn’t really remember he and Holly sharing anything as personal as an “I love you.” Sure they’d said it before, to other people, but it didn’t mean very much at the time. The only time they really heard each other speak the words was when they were directed towards their daughter.

“Ha! That’s highly improbable,” she said, and although he was certain she was joking he couldn’t help but take it personally.

“Of course,” he nodded, “That wouldn’t happen because you don’t love me.”

Holly suddenly turned serious, and despite her intentions to continue her sleep she sat up in the bed quickly. She pushed her messy hair back and turned to glare at Nick who was still lying back against the pillows, “What are you going on about?”

“I’m just saying,” he shrugged, playing with the top of the sheet that covered them, “It would be improbable for you to love me for my idiosyncrasies because you don’t love me at all.”

“Where do you get off saying something like that?” she questioned.

“I don’t get off, not with you, not ever with you,” he stated, “I just don’t know how you do it.”

“Do what?”

“Stay married to someone you don’t love.”

Holly looked away and was quiet for a moment. Nick had been holding these feelings inside for a while and he wasn’t entirely sure why they decided to rear their ugly head now. He wondered what was going through her mind and was surprised when she turned back to him with tears in her eyes and on her cheeks.

“Sometimes I hate you,” Holly told him, taking a ragged breath as her chin quivered, “But I’ve always loved you. I think that’s what makes me hate you more sometimes... how much I care about you.”

“I don’t believe you,” Nick snapped, sitting up next to her. He looked her straight in the eye, feeling a sudden surge of anger pump through his veins, “I don’t believe you love me. How terrible is that? I feel like the only reason you’re here right now is to keep up appearances to Olivia and I hate that. I don’t want to be here...”

“Then leave!” she near-yelled, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Let me finish!” Nick growled, leaning in towards her, “I don’t want to be here if I’m just playing husband for you so that you can feel like we’re normal. I want to be your husband in all senses of the word not just for show, not just for Olivia.”

“You are!” Holly cried defensively.

“No, I’m not!” Nick ran his hands through his hair roughly, shaking his head at her, “I’m just here for your convenience! You tell me what to do, when to do it, you rule my life down to the millisecond and I don’t get anything in return...”

“Why does it always come back to sex with you?”

He grunted out of frustration, “I didn’t mean sex, I meant credit! I never get credit for anything! While we’re on the subject though sex is kind of important in relationships! It’s really not just the sex, or lack thereof, it’s everything! You never touch me, or kiss me, or compliment me, or talk to me like I’m a real person!”

Holly’s eyes were wide hearing his revelations and she nearly laughed with amazement, “You’re some woman aren’t you?”

“Excuse me?” Nick was shocked.

“I never compliment you? I don’t talk to you like you’re a real person? What the hell Nick? That sounds like complaints some ‘50’s housewife has!”

“It’s true,” he said, crossing his arms firmly across his bare chest, “You try to control me. You think you’re better than me.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way, Nick,” Holly said and for the first time Nick felt she was being genuine, “All I’ve ever wanted to do is help you. I didn’t want you to be overwhelmed trying to take care of Olivia during the day on your own. You know better than anyone how anal I am, and how I like things done my way so I figured I would spare us any arguments down the road by giving you an itinerary. I don’t even know what I’m trying to say here,” she sighed, leaning her head in her hand, “I think this is the first time I’ve ever been speechless.”

“You make me feel like I’m the child,” Nick said in a small voice, “You talk down to me like I’m not as good as you, not as smart as you... I am as smart! I went to college too, remember? I just don’t feel like we’re in a relationship. I feel like we’re roommates that just happen to sleep in the same bed. You keep thinking that I’m only concerned with how much sex we’re having but it’s not about the sex, it’s about intimacy, it’s about, well, romance, as clichéd as that sounds.”

“It’s impossible to deny that you have a way with words,” Holly chuckled lightly, turning her face up to catch his eye.

“It’s just a little something I do,” Nick picked at the sheet in front of him before meeting her gaze.

Holly sighed, “Can I be honest with you?”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” he told her, turning so they were actually facing one another.

“It’s not that I’m not attracted to you,” she swallowed hard; “I’ve been so stressed out with this job. They put so much on me, and then they’re telling me I’ve got to do all this travelling, and I just wasn’t prepared for all of this. This has been the first time in my life since grad school, since we first got together that I’ve felt like a fish out of water. I love what I do, don’t get me wrong, but I’m finding this really hard. It’s kind of left me... without much of a sex drive. I don’t know if it’s the stress but sex is the last thing on my mind. It really isn’t you.”

“I understand, I just wish you had told me all of that before,” Nick reached out and once again tucked her hair back, “Don’t feel stressed about work though, you’re great at what you do. I’ve never met anyone as passionate about their career as you are. I know you’re sort of just starting out compared to everyone else but you’re amazing at it.”

“I love it,” Holly nodded, “but I’ve got it easy. I could never do what you do.”

“Sit in front of a computer and have writer’s block?” he joked.

“No, that may be your career but it’s not your job. You amaze me every day Nick because I could never be as good, or as attentive a parent as you are.”

“You are,” he said instantly, “Where would we be without you organising the house?”

“Being anal and overanalysing everything is just what I do, you do the hard stuff, and I will never be able to tell you how much I appreciate you.”

Nick was stunned now; he never saw this conversation coming. Just when he had convinced himself that he didn’t need Holly she did a complete flip and was now telling him things he wished she would have said years ago.

“What do we do now?” he asked, surprised when Holly took his hand and ran her thumb across his knuckles.

Just as she opened her mouth to speak Olivia’s call for her parents rang out through the room and they shared a silent smile before getting out of bed to start the day, his question left unanswered.

~*~

“Let’s stay an extra day!” Holly’s voice broke through the night and Nick turned his head from the scenic sunset before him.

“What?” he asked blankly, wondering what had inspired her to think aloud.

“Let’s stay,” she repeated, “We can head home Tuesday afternoon instead of tomorrow morning.”

“Why?” Nick kept his questions to one word, not wanting to let on that he was secretly disappointed at the thought since he was supposed to see Alaina at the park on Tuesday.

Holly shrugged and gave him a once over. He seemed so relaxed sitting out on the deck, feet up on the railing with a beer in his hands, she thought he would appreciate a little more of a break from reality back at home, “Because it’s beautiful, and it’s supposed to be nice for another couple of days. I figured we could take advantage of the weather.”

“Isn’t it kind of late for you to be asking for vacation?” he wondered, trying to think of reasons why they should go home.

“I’ll call in sick,” Holly answered easily, leaning her head against the back of the chair.

“You’re not sick though, that would be unethical.”

“Unethical?” she laughed, “I’ve never called in sick a day in my life yet I watch all these other people call in for hangovers, or just because they don’t feel like coming in, I didn’t even have time off after I gave birth for crying out loud. I deserve to have a day where I just don’t give a shit and call in “sick”. Since when are you the ethics police? As I seem to recall the last time you had a job you got fired for not showing up.”

“I was in the middle of writing a crucial chapter,” Nick defended, remembering the day he was so lost in himself he didn’t even realize he hadn’t showed up for his last menial job at a waffle house, “I couldn’t just leave, it would have destroyed my train of thought and I would have never been able to pick back up again.”

“You’re so dramatic,” Holly teased, shaking her head at him. It was getting difficult to see him in the fading light but she continued to look in his direction, his features lit only by the lanterns they had up on the deck’s awning, “Let’s stay.”

He knew he couldn’t argue the point against her, she would inevitably win, but he figured he could at least keep trying, “Olivia probably wants to get home.”

“Is Mittens here?” Holly asked dryly and Nick couldn’t deny the fact that the beanie cat was currently squished between the mattress and the wall at that current time, “Then Olivia doesn’t care where she is. I’d really like to stay Nick. It’s my vacation, my sick day, and I want to spend some time with you and with Olivia. I don’t know why you’re fighting me on this you’d think you were anxious to get home for something.”

“I’m not,” Nick answered, borderline defensively.

“Is there a baseball game on or something that you’re missing?” she asked honestly, not knowing of any other reason why he would want to get home.

“No, I just worry about leaving the house for this long with no one checking in on things. Maybe I should go back tomorrow and pick you guys up on Tuesday?”

Holly let out a heavy sigh and ran her fingers through her hair which had just been pulled down out of its bun, “I’d really like it if you didn’t do that,” she said and reached out to put her hand on his propped up thigh, “I want you to stay with us until Tuesday afternoon. The house will be fine for an extra day. I want you to be here.”

Nick sighed and put his hand on top of hers, looking up at the sky where the stars, free of the smog they normally saw covering them, were shining bright, “Alright, you win, we’ll stay until Tuesday.”

In the most unexpected move of the summer Holly squealed with delight as she hopped out of her chair and wrapped her arms around her flabbergasted husband. It took him a few moments to realize what was going on before he hugged her back and wondered how he was going to get a message to Alaina that he wouldn’t be there to meet her when he said he would. He only hoped she didn’t come looking for him.