"Honey! I'm home!" Sam's voice called.
Taylor glanced at the clock on the stove. Only five o'clock. He was early. She grabbed a dish towel and dried her hands then walked into the living room.
"Sam...why are you so early?" she forced a small smile. Not that she wasn't happy to see him...it was just...odd. She noticed that both of his hands were behind his back and he was grinning broadly at her.
"I missed you today, so...I bring, a gift," he brought one hand out and handed her a dozen red roses (her favorites), "and dinner," he brought the other hand forward and showed her a large brown paper bag.
"Sam...this is just...wow..." she smiled.
"I brought Chinese home...chicken lo mein, egg rolls rice. I know those are your favorites," he smiled.
"Thank you," she kissed him softly. "What brought this on?"
"I love you, Tay. And I know things haven't been great around here lately, and a lot of that is because of my attitude. I'm sorry...consider this my peace offering," he explained gently.
She smiled again. "I'm sorry too."
"Where's Draco?"
"In his crib. He missed his nap earlier, cause he was too busy walking around the living room without my help," Taylor beamed.
"He walked? Alone?"
She nodded. "And his talking is getting better. He's using real words."
"I can't believe it..."
"Do you see why I want you around more? You're missing out on so much..." she told him quietly.
"Hey...let's not go there tonight, okay? Things are gonna change around here."
"I'll set the table so we can eat. You wanna get him into his highchair for me?"
Sam nodded then went into his son's room to find his son standing in the crib holding onto the bars.
"Daddy!" the little boy shrieked with a grin.
"Come on, kiddo. You hungry?"" Sam lifted Draco up and swung him onto his hip.
"Eat!" Draco clapped his hands.
For the first time in nearly a month, the Mullholands had a nice evening together. Sam and Taylor didn't snap at each other once. Rather, they enjoyed each other's company.
"Do you realize that you are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on?" Sam whispered as he and his wife lay in bed that night.
She smiled. "Sam, why are you being so....romantic and good tonight?"
"Well, you just killed the mood," he sighed.
She laughed. "I'm serious! You're not the romantic typ and you know it. You use to be when we first started dating, but..."
"Because I wanted to be. I felt like an asshole all day, and I wanted to do something nice for my wife."
"Why did you feel like an asshole? We didn't fight this morning..."
"Scott came down and he made me feel like an asshole for something that I said."
"What did you say?"
"Taylor, I don't wanna get into it and start a fight, okay..."
"No, it's not okay. Obviously you said something about me."
"It wasn't about you directly. It was just something that came out and I didn't think about it before I said it. Honest baby...it was nothing."
"If it was nothing, you wouldn't feel like an asshole and you wouldn't be treating me like a god damn princess to make up for it," she glared, then rolled over and turned off the lamp.
"Taylor,"
"Good night, Sam."