Balance

The smooth sailings at home made Jenny's catch-up trajectory go more smoothly than she could have hoped. Ending her long days, that went on even past dinnertime, in just a few short weeks instead of the long three months she had anticipated. The change in her schedule, was a welcome change for all but most of all for little Charlie. Her having no more extra classes and no more exams to make up was allowing her to spend more time at home and Charlie, who had worked hard to stay strong in the days that she couldn't be around much, was glad to have her back.

Though he had Jason and his grandparents to distract him and keep him company for the past weeks and had learned to appreciate that for their own benefits but he missed Jenny all the same. Still preferring her over all others causing him to try to compensate for her presence during the weekends. Not leaving her side for even a minute once she was home to stay and even trying to sleep in her and Jason's bed instead of his own whenever he could. This was all much against Jason's wishes and caused him much annoyance. But there was nothing he could say to make him stop clinging to Jenny and 'interfering' in their time together. But, now that she was around more, he could finally spread out his want for attention from her a bit more over the remaining days of the week. Giving Jason back some of his quality time with Jenny, which he felt was long overdue. He too had most certainly not been unaffected by her diminished presence and was the first to claim whatever remained of her free time after Charlie's cut once there was more to claim.

Jenny too was happy to have more balance in her life and to be able to spend more time with her little family. Enjoying the moments with just the three of them very much. One day when she returned home on a Friday, ready to start a weekend at home, she looked for Jason and Charlie and found them both on the couch. While Jason was deep asleep, Charlie was enjoying some animated movie that was playing on the tv. Jason, who was leaning against the backrest of the couch, was holding papers in one hand while carrying Charlie in the other. Charlie had his little hands wrapped tightly around Jason's shirt and the other around his neck to keep himself from falling. But when he saw Jenny walking in, he immediately forgot about all of that as he held out his arms, wanting to be picked up and held by her.

Jenny chuckled as she gave in to his wishes. She carefully lifted him up and gave him a big kiss on his cheek, which he returned with an equal amount of force. "Hello my handsome boy. How have you been? Did you have fun tiring daddy out like that, hmm?" She said before turning her attention towards Jason, who was so fast asleep that he hadn't even noticed Jenny taking their son from his arms. Jenny brushed through his hair as she let out another chuckle. She gently stroked the side of his face and the area underneath his eyes that had turned a bit darker than the rest of his skin. Letting Jenny know that combining childcare, his two majors and the office work, was taking its toll on him. Which wasn't very surprising. She turned back to Charlie and said, "Let's let daddy sleep for a bit more, while we go see what's for dinner."

After that she grabbed a soft blanket from the corner of the couch and draped it over Jason. She carefully grabbed the papers from his hand and placed them on the table in front of him. Once she had covered him and was convinced he was comfortable, she bent down to give him his 'welcome home' kiss as well and headed towards the kitchen. But this appeared to be the final little push he needed to be awakened as he held out his hand and grabbed hers gently. "Jenny?" He asked with a sleepy voice. "Did I wake you?" Jenny said in a whisper. "Go back to sleep. I'll take Charlie with me so you can rest for a bit. I'll wake you once we start dinner." Without opening his eyes or letting go of his hold of Jenny's wrist, he said, "My kiss..." Jenny chuckled at the greed her lovable husband was displaying. "I already gave you one but I'll be happy to give you another one." She said before lowering herself and giving Jason another soft peck on the lips. Just as she was about to unlock their lips and take their son to the kitchen like she said she would, he placed his other hand at the back of her head and used it to pull her back for a third time before he was satisfied and let her go.

While Jenny looked at him with a look of surprise, glancing back and forth to him and Charlie, who had even less of an idea of what was going on, Jason crawled back under the fleece blanket and did what Jenny had told him to do. After blinking a few times, Jenny straightened herself back up and left the room while shaking her head and letting out a soft chuckle as another day away had ended and her day at home had started.