mikhail nikolaev ❄️ bucky barnes (wintersldr) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2019-02-20 22:52:00 |
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It wasn't until Lucy was slinging her purse over her shoulder, her car in park in her usual spot in the lot of her work in DC, that she realized that she had left her laptop at Mikhail's. Though she knew it was fruitless, it didn't stop her from looking everywhere, slipping a hand under the passenger seat as though it could have somehow slid there when she wasn't looking and patting all around around Yuri's carseat in the back should it have magically shrunk to some impossible size. And while she had known it wasn't the end of the world as any documents she might have needed were all accessible on any of the other network laptops, it hadn't stopped her from blowing out a frustrated sigh. Lucy had packed up Yuri and taken him over to Mikhail's the night before for some quality time as she plucked away at some work emails, with every intention of heading back home before the evening was through. But when their son had fallen asleep and neither parent had been willing to rouse him enough to strap him into the carseat to make the trip across town, they had just stayed the night. Lucy had left her laptop sitting on the kitchen counter, sure that she wouldn't forget it before leaving in the morning to hurry back home so she could change and get ready for the drive into DC, clearly underestimating her observation skills before 8AM. The workday went by fine with Lucy using one of the spare laptops and soon enough she was making the drive back to Dunhaven, picking up Yuri, and then going home. Though she'd had every intention to make her way over to Mikhail's herself to retrieve the forgotten technology, she wasn't sure if she would be able to convince her feet to slip into another pair of shoes after she kicked her heels aside. Instead, she sent her fiancé a text message (There's a back rub in it for you if you return my laptop to me.) and settled into the normal evening routine, which mostly consisted of feeding Yuri and finding the least soul-sucking bit of reality television she could find as she waited for Mikhail. If he were perfectly honest with himself, Mikhail would have made the trip over to Lucy’s with or without the promise of a back rub. And, even more candidly, he found himself more into the idea of giving the back rub rather than receiving it because he knew his fiancée had had a long day and because she was Lucy. He didn’t need more reason than that to want to dote on her. Besides, there was hardly a moment that ever went by that he didn’t miss her and their son when both were settled back into her home rather than his. Forgotten laptops aside, the nights that she just stayed were hands-down his favorite. He’d had to stay longer at the office that night than he really had wanted to, so it was already pushing a late dinner time when he finally drove back into Dunhaven, takeout securely in the passenger seat, and steered his car toward Lucy’s place. It was a testament to their relationship that Mikhail no longer had to knock when he came over and he realized it was little details like that that made him happy. Had anyone asked him a year ago if he’d be comfortable enough in a relationship to share keys, he’d have scoffed at the prospect, but he was glad for that comfort now, glad that Lucy had staying power. “It’s me,” he called out so as not to startle Lucy, but quiet enough that he wouldn’t suddenly wake Yuri if the boy was currently asleep. When he found her on the couch, he held up the laptop for her to see him set the case by the coffee table, and then held up the takeout next. “Sandwiches from that deli by my office. Hungry?” Lucy looked up from her position on the couch as soon as she heard Mikhail's voice, her feet propped up on the coffee table and her knees bent as Yuri slept peacefully on her chest with a quilt draped over them both. She smiled as he approached, one of her hands making lazy movements to allow her fingers to brush up and down their son's back. He was fast asleep, one of his hands curled around the necklace she wore; normally she would have put him in his crib once he had dozed off like he had, but she had waited, knowing that Mikhail would be over and wanting to let him see their son, even if sleeping, once he got there. "You're a saint," Lucy said in a hushed tone so as to not disturb Yuri, the thought not even close to an exaggeration in that moment. She sat up slightly, motioning toward the sleeping baby she was holding. "If you wanted to put him to bed, I can get us something to drink?" The sight of Yuri sleeping steadfastly against Lucy was something Mikhail would never be able to get over. A smile split across his face as he nodded in agreement and crouched down to pull Yuri to him, his son’s head resting against his shoulder. He’d never be able to get over this, either, and Yuri grew so fast every single day that Mikhail was already worried for the day that his son would be too big to do this anymore. Hopefully the time between now and then wouldn’t go as quickly as everyone told him it would. Once he’d put Yuri in his crib, made sure the boy stayed asleep, and lingered a bit longer just to soak in being here with him, Mikhail made his way back into the kitchen where Lucy was grabbing glasses. He walked up behind her, pressing his palm against the small of her back as he leaned around to kiss her. Moving away, he leaned back against the counter. “So other than the forgotten laptop, how was your day?” "Nothing all that exciting to report, I'm afraid." Lucy set the glasses down, then slid in closer to Mikhail. Her hip leaned against the counter next to him, while her arms slipped around his torso in an embrace. "I did a lot of tweeting and attended so many meetings. But someone brought in donuts this morning, so it wasn't a total loss." She tipped her head forward, letting her chin rest on his arm as she looked up at Mikhail. "What about you?" The whole scene was decidedly domestic in a way Lucy wouldn't have imagined enjoying and craving, even a year ago. A year ago, she had just found out that she was pregnant and had to tell this man, a man that she had been seeing in what could only be called a textbook definition of casual, about it. She remembered how nervous she had been, not knowing how he would react to the news and where her life was going to go from there. It turned out that her life was only going somewhere good -- amazing, even. Lucy Lyon of a year ago might have balked at the idea of asking someone about their workday and wanting to be near them simply because she loved them that much, but the current Future Lucy Nikolaev savored every second of it. Mikhail shrugged noncommittally. “Eh, it was fine. Nothing too exciting. I’m glad to be home now.” He thought about that for a moment because he wasn’t actually home--he was at Lucy’s place, not his--but maybe it still made sense because he was with her. That was why he’d asked her to marry him, after all, because she was his home. “Did everything go all right with Sonya today?” "Our child was an angel, as per always." Lucy grinned at the assessment, if only because both of them knew it wasn't the entire truth. Yuri was, as she had been told, a rather good baby when it came to fussing, but that didn't mean he didn't have his moments. Being able to find and hire Sonya had been a minor miracle; she was good with Yuri and as local as can be, which had been important to Lucy when they were looking for someone for when she returned to work. Now that she didn't text Sonya constantly, it was even better. "Also," she added, her grin toning down as her expression turned fond, "I'm glad you're here, too. It feels empty without you." Mikhail snorted. “You know, we joke about that, but I’m pretty sure he takes more after you than me when it comes to being an angel. I was a terrible child, very needy.” Then, lifting a hand to brush back Lucy’s hair, he said, “My least favorite time of the day is any time you and Yuri aren’t with me.” That was a sentiment that Lucy could understand all too well. Though her anxiety at being separated from Yuri had eased, she still found herself counting down the hours to when she got to leave work and getting to see him again, no matter how much she loved her job. As for Mikhail, even back before they were Lucy and Mikhail and before they had started on their journey to parenthood together, she always got excited when she'd get a text from him and looked forward to seeing him in a way that was normally unusual for her. It wasn't all too surprising that it had evolved into this, at least with the hindsight Lucy now had. "Same here, love." Her hand caught his and she laced their fingers together. "It feels like all I really do during the day is look forward to when I'm with my boys under one roof again." Lucy smiled, then chuckled softly. "It's a wonder I get anything done. You're very distracting to think about." Mikhail leaned down and pressed a kiss to Lucy’s temple, then smiled. “You know, I’d apologize, but you’re very distracting to think about, too, so I think we’re even.” He thought about that, though, because he agreed with her. He hated the nights they spent apart. Those were the nights he lost sleep thinking about her taking care of Yuri alone--not because he thought her incapable of doing it, but because she shouldn’t have to. There shouldn’t have been a night when she had to wake up every time Yuri did because he was there and willing to be as much a part of raising their son as she was. And there was the simple fact that, when they spent nights apart, he felt the separation from his family like a tangible thing. “What if we just stayed under one roof? Instead of operating under two?” Sure, he’d only just bought his house, but he didn’t care so much about that as he cared about his family being together. And once they got married, it seemed impractical for them to live separately, anyway, so combining households seemed an inevitability. “Why not now, instead of later? It was a thought that Lucy had entertained more than once in the recent months of their relationship, particularly since Yuri was born. The nights spent apart weren't easy on her, especially early on when their son woke so frequently in the night; little could truly be done given that so many of those nightly cries were due to hunger in the first place, but it wouldn't keep her from wishing that Mikhail might have been there for moral support, even if she didn't want him losing sleep either. Now, though, it was more than wanting help with Yuri. That might be a nice byproduct, but Lucy simply wanted to be near Mikhail. "I'd like that a lot." Lucy shifted her stance, moving over to lift her arms and allow them to rest on Mikhail's shoulders in the start of an embrace. "It makes sense -- logistically, I mean. But, also…" She hesitated, smiling almost bashfully. "I sleep better when you're next to me." Mikhail couldn’t stop himself then from pulling Lucy a little closer to him and leaning down to kiss her. God, he loved this woman, so much more than he’d ever thought was really possible for him to love someone other than himself. In such a short span of time, she had taught him that he had the capacity for far much more than he’d ever anticipated, and it showed in not only his relationship with his fiancee and their son, but in his relationships with his siblings, too. He could never truly tell her just how much she had changed his life in the very best ways. Pulling back and resting his forehead against hers, he said, “I’ve been thinking about it ever since Yuri was born. I could sell my house to Zoya--I think she’ll be able to make good use of it soon enough, anyway--and move in here with you and Yuri. What do you think?” A small part of her was more than just a little relieved at his suggestion of moving into her house; Lucy had bought her house not long after finishing her education, giving her roots in Dunhaven that she had more or less been in denial of for years until she had found herself pregnant and willingly giving up her apartment in DC to truly settle into the picturesque house she'd settled into. In many ways, she felt the same way about the house as she did Mikhail himself. They were home to Lucy. The house represented the start of her accepting this life that she had now made with him. Maybe they would stay there until they were old or maybe they would move somewhere else as they inevitably expanded their family; whatever the case ended up being, they would be together and that's all that mattered. "I think that's a great idea." Lucy's eyes fluttered closed, just enjoying this moment and the new shift in their relationship. She thought about those other moments of their past -- the first time she stayed the night in his room at the B&B instead of slipping out in the dead of night, when she told him she was pregnant, their first real date, exchanging declarations of love, seeing him hold Yuri for the first time, his proposing to her -- and knew this would fit in just nicely with all of those. Tipping her head back, Lucy opened her eyes and lifted one of her hands to cup Mikhail's face. "I also think that I love you so bloody much." |