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Terri stretches up to grab the big bowl they use for popcorn from a high shelf. She gets her fingers to the edge of it just as two hands encircle her waist, under her sweater, on her bare skin. She yelps in surprise, retracting her arm and turning her head to be met with Emma’s twinkling brown eyes.

“Sorry sweetie,” Emma mumbles, her chin on Terri’s shoulder. “I just wondered if you needed some help reaching it.”

Terri scowls good-naturedly.

“I can reach it just fine, thank you,” she retorts, stretching up again and snagging the bowl, offering Emma a smirk over her shoulder as she brings it down onto the counter.

It’s Saturday night which, in the Del Monaco-Pillsbury household, means movie night. The popcorn is popping away, milk for hot chocolate is bubbling on the stove…and the kids are fighting over which movie to watch. Just a normal Saturday night.

Terri sags back against Emma as she hears a particularly indignant squawk from the direction of the living room.

“Who do you think will be through here first?” she asks, as the microwave beeps.

Terri opens it and pulls apart the bag, pouring the popcorn into the bowl. Emma drops a quick kiss on her neck and lets her go, moving to the stove to finish off the hot chocolates.

“Well, it’s Belle’s turn to choose the movie, which probably means Livvy is gonna be through here in approximately 20 seconds complaining that whatever she’s chosen is too girlie,” Emma says.

Terri nods, chewing on a piece of popcorn. Right on cue, a little voice pipes up.

“Mommy! Mama! You guys gotsta tell Belle that we’re not watching stupid Beauty and the Beast, again,” Olivia appears in the kitchen doorway, wearing a hugely disgusted expression. “Just cuz that girl in the yellow dress has the same name as her. It’s booooring.”

Before Emma or Terri has a chance to respond, Belle appears behind the four-year old, holding the DVD case aloft.

“Tell her it’s my turn to choose,” she demands, looking between her parents with plaintive brown eyes. “She got to watch Transformers last week and I don’t even like that a little bit.”

They both place their hands on their hips and stick out their lower lips in a perfect imitation of Terri’s pout. Emma raises her eyebrows at Terri.

“Honey, you wanna take this one?” she asks.

Terri sighs. She looks at both girls and bites her lip. On the one hand, it is Belle’s turn to choose the movie. On the other, Livvy’s right, they have watched Beauty and the Beast an inordinate amount of times.

“Okay, girls, now when your mommy and me decide to watch a movie together, do you ever see us fighting over what to watch?” she asks.

“Yes,” both girls answer, in perfect unison, their little faces serious.

Terri hears Emma disguise a laugh as a cough and silently curses her.

“Well, no…we talk about the different options and then we decide together which movie we both want to see,” Terri explains. “Sometimes it’s one that Mommy likes more than I like, and sometimes it’s one that I like more than Mommy likes. But mostly we try to find one that we both like. And that’s called a compromise.”

Isabelle and Olivia look at each other sceptically. Isabelle turns back to Terri.

“So, we should look for something with stuff that we both like?” she asks, slowly, testing out the idea.

“Yes!” Terri agrees with a smile. “Try to find something with dancing, and also explosions.”

Olivia nods, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” she says. “ A promrocise is good.”

“Com-pro-mise, honey,” Emma sounds out, still stirring the hot chocolate.

“Com-ro-cise,” Livvy says, grinning up at Emma.

“Close enough,” Terri says. “Now go and find something, the popcorn and hot chocolate are nearly ready and we have nothing to watch!”

From:

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The girls scamper away into the living room and Terri turns to Emma with a bow.

“I’ll accept my applause now, thank you,” she says, with a wink.

Emma nods.

“Yes, it was very impressive, sweetheart,” she agrees. “And I’m really not sure I could’ve sat through another viewing of Beauty and the Beast,” she adds with a sheepish grin.

“Me neither,” Terri says, wrapping her arms around Emma’s waist as Emma pours the rich, milky mixture into mugs set out on a tray.

Footsteps behind them make them both turn around, Terri’s arms still loosely around Emma’s waist. It’s Olivia. She’s standing in the middle of the kitchen, holding the ‘Beauty and the Beast’ dvd and looking around.

“Sweetie,” Emma begins. “Did you and your sister pick a movie?”

“Yep,” Livvy says, still glancing around the kitchen. “We picked Lilo and Stitch, cuz she likes the singing and dancing and I like Stitch.”

Finally her eyes land on a low drawer and she opens it and slips the DVD inside.

“Livvy,” Terri says. “What are you doing?”

The little blonde looks up with a smile.

“Jus’ hidin’ Belle’s DVD so we don’t have to watch it for a while,” she says, innocently. “You know, like how you hided Mommy’s one with the big boat in my toybox.”

She flashes her parents a smile before heading back through to the living room, yelling to her sister that the food is coming. Emma turns to face Terri, her mouth open in shock.

“Terri Del Monaco-Pillsbury…I cannot believe you did that!” she says, jabbing Terri in the chest. “You told me you’d loaned it to someone at work!”

Terri holds her hands up in surrender.

“I did loan it to someone! Then they gave it back to me and I…just thought a little bit of a longer break from it wouldn’t be a bad thing,” she explains, feebly.

Emma huffs indignantly and turns her back to Terri, picking up the tray with the hot chocolates and walking to the living room, scowling over her shoulder. Terri sighs and picks up the popcorn, trailing behind her.

*

The food and drink are long finished and the movie’s almost over. They’re all piled together on the couch. Belle’s seated between Terri‘s legs, Terri’s running her fingers through her hair as they watch. Livvy is asleep in Emma’s arms, cradled against her chest, her thumb in her mouth in a throwback to an early habit that she had long since stopped while awake. Emma’s head is nestled on Terri’s shoulder, although it’s taken longer to settle there this week than it normally does.

When the credits roll, Belle yawns and stretches. She turns around and plants a kiss on Terri’s lips.

“Night mama,” she says, before stretching her neck up to kiss Emma. “Night mommy.”

“Night sweetie,” Emma says. “Your jammies are all laid out on your bed.”

“Sleep tight, honey. Remember your teeth,” Terri calls after her, stretching her own cramped muscles as best she can.

Emma lifts her head up and looks down at the bundle in her arms.

“I think she’s out for the night,” she murmurs.

Terri nods and pushes herself up.

“Here, gimme her, I’ll take her to bed,” she says.

She leans down and gently takes the sleeping child from Emma. Emma brushes Olivia’s hair out of her eyes and places a kiss on her forehead.

“Night baby,” she whispers.

Terri stands up, hoisting Olivia with her. She heads in the direction of the hallway but Emma’s voice stops her.

“Terri?”

She turns.

“What, honey?”

“You do know which movie we’re watching tonight, right?” Emma says, an eyebrow raised, daring Terri to challenge her. “You can pick it up when you’re in Livvy’s room.”

Terri sighs.

“Yes, honey.”

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February 2013

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