Burn Us Down

Gently rubbing circles into her bump, Olivia carefully lowered herself down onto the sofa, her stare drifting towards the clock on the opposite wall. She knew that Gerard wasn’t running late. She had made sure, when she’d moved to start getting ready, that she had allowed herself some extra time, not wanting to be halfway through getting dressed when Gerard walked through the door, but still she couldn’t quite work up the excitement that she knew that Gerard felt about the date they’d planned for that night. That night had been earmarked for a while. It was their fifth anniversary and both Gerard and Olivia had been keen to mark it by going out and doing something together, but now that the night had arrived, Olivia wasn’t quite feeling up to it, something she hadn’t found a way of telling Gerard before he’d headed out that afternoon.

She wanted to celebrate. The fact that, after the year they’d had, they had made it to their fifth anniversary was something which she was keen to mark, but the prospect of heading out for the night was one which had grown less and less appealing throughout the day. She was tired, her back hurt, and all she really wanted to do was climb into bed and fall asleep in front of a film, but she didn’t want to let Gerard down. He hadn’t been able to stop talking about it. Whenever she had seen him that day, he had been almost bursting from excitement, and Olivia didn’t have the heart to tell him that she didn’t want to go. It was clear how much that night meant to him and whilst it wasn’t entirely what Olivia wanted, she was sure that she could sit through dinner for a couple of hours if it meant keeping that bright smile on his face.

Leaning her head back against the couch cushion, she allowed her eyes to flutter closed before she felt the flutter of gentle kicks against her stomach, causing the corner of her lips to curve upwards. “I’m not falling asleep” she mumbled, her fingers skirting over her bump “Just resting my eyes for a few moments before your papa gets back. Surely you can allow me that?” she teased happily.

The little kicks continued, something which made Olivia laugh before she blinked her eyes open, allowing them to look up into Gerard’s blues which peered down at her, crinkled slightly by the soft smile he wore. “Do you talk to them a lot when I am not here?” he asked.

Olivia felt her cheeks warm as she lifted her head. “Maybe” she mused “It seems to calm them down. It might just be a coincidence, but…” she trailed off, shrugging her shoulder bashfully.

Gerard leant down, kissing the top of her head gently. “It’s cute” he mumbled into her hair.

Olivia held onto him for a second, inhaling his familiar, comforting scent, before she leant back into the couch, allowing Gerard to crouch down, pressing a kiss against both sides of her bump. “Was your mama trying to fall asleep again?” he cooed, his palm settling flat against the front of her dress.

“No” Olivia replied with a roll of her hazel eyes as she guided his hand around to where she could feel the kicks.

Gerard grinned up at her boyishly. “You look like you’re starting to get comfy” he quipped.

Olivia shook her head. “I was just sitting down for a minute” she mused “I had a long day at work, and you know how long it takes me to get ready to go anywhere nowadays. I just needed a little bit of a break, but I am ready to go whenever you are” she added, trying her best to force some kind of enthusiasm into her voice.

If Gerard knew that she was forcing it, he didn’t let it show as he stood up, leaning over to press a quick kiss against her lips. “I just need a few minutes” he mused “Will you still be awake when I come back?” he added impishly.

Olivia scoffed playfully, but nodded her head. “I promise” she mused.

Gerard flashed her another bright smile before he ducked out of the room, allowing Olivia to tilt her head back again. Gently stroking her bump, she allowed her eyes to flutter closed again until she heard Gerard’s footsteps wandering back towards her. Letting out a little sigh, she picked her head up to look at him, her tired expression melting into a small smile when she caught sight of what he held in his hands. “What are you doing with my pyjamas/” she asked.

“Giving them to you” Gerard replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world “I figured you’d probably not want to go back up the stairs again” he added.

“We have dinner plans” Olivia replied “You’re excited about them” she added.

Gerard lifted a shoulder in a shrug, his grin unmoved. “Did you consider it was maybe the company that I was excited about?” he quipped “Or the occasion?” he added.

Olivia looked up at him softly. “You’d really not mind?” she asked “Because all I really want to do right now is sit here, drink a mug of tea, and probably fall asleep ten minutes into a film, but if your heart is set on going, we can. I can brave it out” she added.

Gerard grinned down at the bundle of her clothes he held in his hands. “You’d need to brave out dinner with me?” he joked.

Olivia glared at him playfully. “You know what I meant” she noted.

Gerard nodded his head before he stepped towards her, gently pressing the clothes into her hands. “I’ll go and make you that tea” he mused “But I am going to find something for us to eat. You might not be that hungry, but I bet the twins are” he added as he wandered out of the room.

Olivia just grinned after him.

~#~
“Can you pass me that bowl?”

Gerard laughed, watching as Olivia tried, and failed, to reach over her bump towards the bowl of crisps that sat on the table ahead of the two of them. It hadn’t been the night he’d planned. Dinner had gone out the window the moment he’d wandered into the living room to find Olivia struggling to keep her eyes open, but he hadn’t minded it as much as he had thought that he would. They had had their anniversary dinner planned for a while. They’d chosen a restaurant that they’d frequented throughout the early part of their relationship, planned to take a walk through the neighbourhood where Olivia had lived before she’d moved in with Gerard, and he had thought that he would hate missing out on it, but the night had still be a good one. It’d probably been one of the best they’d had in a while.

“I thought you weren’t hungry” Gerard chirped, easily leaning forwards to get the bowl for her.

Olivia took it out of his hands, eagerly popping a few of the crisps into her mouth as she shrugged her shoulders at him.

Gerard let out another laugh before the room fell quiet aside from the soft noise of the television in the background. They allowed the quiet to linger for a moment, until it started to feel just a little bit awkward, before Gerard leant forwards picking up his glass of water and Olivia’s mug of tea. Turning, he deposited the handle of the mug into Olivia’s hand before he bought his own glass towards it, tapping them together. “Five years” he mused.

Olivia’s lips lifted into a soft smile. “Five years” she repeated.

“To many more” Gerard said with a hesitant smile. He had just about stopped himself from saying something about wanting more years that were better than they last one they’d been through. It was the truth, of course it was, but he didn’t want to bring the mood down.

Olivia nodded and smiled at him, but allowed the quiet to creep back in for a few moments, something which was only broken when she let out a soft noise, her spare hand moving to cover her bump. “They seem to agree” she cooed.

Gerard hesitated for a split second before he set his glass down, allowing him to place both hands on her stomach. Allowing Olivia to move them around slightly, he grinned when they found the kicks. “We’re going to have to find a babysitter next year” he quipped, breaking the silence again.

Olivia’s smile was somewhere between excited and awed. “Yeah, we will” she mused.

“Can I veto Melissa now?” Gerard chirped impishly “I’m still not convinced that she’ll allow me into the room when they come along, and I don’t know that she won’t try and turn them against me if we let her babysit” he added, grinning to show Olivia that he was only teasing.

Olivia shook her head, laughing. “I’d like to see her try and keep you out of the room when I am in labour” she mused.

“She won’t be able to” Gerard replied “I don’t care who else is there, but I am going to be right next to you when these two come along. I promise you that” he added, the teasing fading out of his voice as his eyes met hers.

Olivia blinked before a slow, tender, smile spread across her lips. “I wouldn’t want anyone else” she said.

Gerard allowed a hand to stray away from her stomach, using it to cup her cheek before he leant in and kissed her.

Olivia melted into it, one hand gripping his t-shirt to keep him close, before she gently broke the kiss, smiling up at him. “I love you” she mused “I know the last year has been…”

Gerard kissed her again, stopping her thought. “We don’t need to do that” he murmured between lighter kisses “We do enough of that with Eleanor. Let’s just let tonight be what it is, a celebration of us. Five years, Livy” he gushed.

Olivia ran her fingers back through his hair as she smiled up at him. “Five years” she repeated.