Chapter Text
Penelope Bridgerton had seen her fair share of poor London weather, but snow in late April was downright ridiculous. She never thought she would be the kind of person longing for summer and its hot, sticky nights, but as she trudged through the slush of George’s school campus to make her way to the infirmary, she prayed for warmer, but more importantly, drier days.
“What’s going on?” she asked as soon as she burst through the doors.
The nurse was speaking to another student, who appeared to be in good health, so she turned her attention to the panicked mother.
“A head cold, I presume,” the nurse stated calmly. “I gave him some medicine.”
They walked together to the back room where George was resting on a cot, a blanket with the school emblem draped over his small body. He was asleep.
“He said his throat was a bit scratchy this morning,” Penelope admitted. “But I thought it was just the cold weather.”
“Hmm. It has been unseasonably chilly this week.”
“There were no other signs, I swear. I’m normally very on top of my children’s health,” Penelope stammered out.
The nurse waved her off. “No judgement here. Raising four children is quite a lot. George will be fine. Colds happen.”
Penelope breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“You should probably keep him home for a few days. He’ll need to rest.”
“Of course.”
The nurse returned to the student in her front office so Penelope could sit down next to her son. She stroked her fingers softly through his auburn locks.
“Georgie, sweets. It’s mum.”
George stirred. “Mummy?”
“C’mon, love. Let’s get you home and into some pyjamas. We’ll pick up soup on the way.”
They stopped at a cafe they frequented on their way home, picking up food for the whole family for dinner. At this rate, given the work she would need to make up later on, she certainly wouldn’t have time to cook.
Once George was settled on the sofa, Penelope settled back in her office and called her husband.
Colin answered hastily. “I’ve got like thirty seconds, love.”
“George is home sick.”
“Shit. Is he alright?”
“He’s got a cold. He’s sneezy and stuffy, but he’ll live. Got him on the couch with some juice and cartoons.”
“Right. Okay, thanks for telling me.”
“There’s more.” Penelope hit the spacebar on her laptop, bringing the screen to life. Her heart sank at the number of emails in her inbox. She really needed to be more on top of things, or her publisher and editor were going to have a conniption. “I need you to do school pickup today.”
Colin groaned. “It’s really not a good day for me. I’m completely swamped.” She knew being Editor in Chief was busy, but some days wished it was less so when she needed Colin to step in.
“I’ve been behind too and I had to get George from school which just put me even further behind. Plus, now I’m going to have to change my meeting tomorrow from an in person to a Zoom to stay home with him and you know how Charlotte hates that.”
“Can you call my mum?” Colin asked. She could sense he was frustrated and trying not to let it show. Voices filtered in from the background. Colin must have turned to speak to whomever was waiting on him, because she could hear him sounding more faraway from the phone saying “One minute. Start without me.”
“She’s still at Romney with El.” Penelope sighed heavily. “There’s no way you could make this work? Just for today?”
“Okay, shit. Let me think. Daph can probably get Aggie with Caroline. I’ll call her.”
“And the others?”
“Try Sophie.”
Penelope leaned against her desk, pressing her forehead into her hand. “Mhmm. Yeah. Will do.”
“Pen, I’m sorry—shit—I’ve gotta go. Give Georgie a kiss from me?”
“Yeah,” she said to the dial tone. “Will do.”
Sophie agreed easily, which didn’t surprise Penelope. She’d worked for Colin at Next Level for a few years, even making it to Senior Editor of the celebrity vertical, but after she and Benedict had their third son, she decided to stay home. Sometimes Penelope lamented how much easier her life would be if she were a stay at home mum. It wouldn’t suit her, though. She knew that.
Colin texted her a few minutes later letting her know that Daphne agreed to pick up Agatha. Having four children of different ages at different schools was challenging at face value, but it was quite a relief to have multiple cousins in each of those schools as well.
Penelope made great progress on her emails, responding to the feedback on her latest book outline. She was correct to assume that Charlotte would not be pleased to hear she couldn’t come into the office tomorrow. But a sick child was a sick child. By the time the middle two came clamboring up the front steps, she hadn’t even touched the latest edits she was desperately behind on incorporating into her final draft. Her deadline had already been pushed back once before. She couldn’t do it again.
Their house was always loud, but Penelope had gotten used to it. That was life with four kids between the ages of thirteen and seven.
“Thomas, your turn to put the cat out. Then homework, and no, I don’t want to hear any complaints from either of you.”
“Can you help me with my maths, mummy?” Jane asked as she unloaded her backpack at the table. Penelope groaned. Even at a ten year old’s level, maths was not her strong suit.
“Dunwoody! Psst psstttt,” Thomas called.
“He’s in here!” George called from the living room. “He’s watching Spider-Man with me.”
Dunwoody only had three legs and much preferred his time curled up with the children on the sofa or nestled up in his cat tree. But the vet recommended fresh air, so now, he went out to the garden each evening until it started to get dark.
Penelope brought her laptop into the kitchen to supervise while the children did their work, heating up another bowl of soup for a still sniffly George.
Daphne dropped off Aggie not long after, and Penelope officially gave up on making any of her edits as the requirements of motherhood pulled her deeper into their grasp.
“Can I have a sleepover with Caroline next week?” Aggie asked.
“We’ll have to see.”
“She was going to have some of our friends from school over. I don’t want to be the only one to miss it.”
Penelope burned her hand on the tray she was heating up and cursed in her head as she ran it under cold water. “Aggie, can we talk about this when dad gets home?”
Her newly teenaged daughter just smirked at her from the other side of the island where she was sitting. “He’ll just say yes.”
Penelope rolled her eyes as she made attempt number two at getting this tray into the oven, carefully grasping it in a dish towel this time.. “He’ll say he needs to talk to Aunt Daphne and Uncle Simon.”
“They always say yes too!”
“There will be no sleepovers if your homework isn’t done. Don’t you have a science exam tomorrow?”
“It’s just a quiz, I’m good.”
Penelope tossed the dish towel onto the counter and raised her eyebrows. “Oh yeah?”
Aggie sat back and crossed her arms. “Test me.”
“Where’s your book?”
“Don’t need it. Here, I made flashcards.” She handed her mother a stack.
“Colour coded? You really are my daughter.”
Aggie laughed. “Yeah, you’d never really know it, otherwise.”
In addition to having her mother’s organizational skills and sarcasm, Agatha was the spitting image of Penelope in almost every way. Her eyes, however, were dark blue like her father’s. She also had his confidence and audacity.
Halfway through their quiz, Colin finally made his appearance.
“Sorry I’m late,” he said, kissing his wife on the cheek and greeting his children. “How can I help?”
“I’m reheating food from the cafe. Maybe see if Georgie wants more tea? He’s upstairs now.”
The routine of weekday evenings in their home continued with its usual level of chaos, an additional thread of stress and concern woven throughout their typical rhythm. George was cranky and didn’t want dinner, so Colin allowed him to watch more cartoons in the living room, which earned protests from the others that he promptly shut down.
After dinner, Penelope cleaned up while Colin checked on George and made him take more medicine. Thomas was usually allowed to play video games after he finished his homework. He begged his dad to play with him.
“Not tonight, mate. George can keep you company.” The younger brother did love to watch, but wasn’t exactly skilled enough to take part in the more advanced games.
Jane curled up with a book while Agatha locked in for her allotted hour of laptop time at the kitchen island. Penelope had initially protested when Colin bought her the shiny Macbook Pro for her thirteenth birthday, but he stipulated his plan that she was only allowed to use it downstairs and supervised for an hour a night until she was sixteen, where they would reevaluate. Penelope relented, and so far, it had been going just fine. They trusted their daughter. It was the world they were a bit more skeptical of.
“Sit with me?” Colin asked, gesturing to the now empty dining room table. He’d even put the fireplace on. “I’ll get the good wine.”
Penelope sighed. “I have so much work to do. I’m insanely behind and Charlotte is going to tear into me tomorrow.”
“You can’t spare ten minutes? C’mon, I’ve barely seen you this week.”
“No, I don’t have ten bloody minutes,” she snapped, trying to keep her voice down so Aggie didn’t overhear.
Colin recoiled. She pressed her fingers into her eye sockets and took a deep breath. “I just… I need you to take care of the kids and make sure everyone gets to bed. Yeah?”
He nodded stiffly, his jaw tense. Penelope grabbed her laptop from the kitchen counter and retreated upstairs, deciding to get into bed and do as much as she could before passing out.
A few hours later, she’d managed to make some decent progress with her updates. Rae gave lengthy notes, which Penelope usually loved, but she found them tiring today. She didn’t get through as much as she’d hoped, but it was enough that she felt would appease her team when they met tomorrow.
Colin came in quietly at some point and changed into a T-shirt and sweatpants. It was still too cold for his preferred boxers-only sleep uniform. He plugged his phone into the charger on his nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed, his back towards his wife.
“You’re upset with me.” It was a statement, not a question.
Penelope sighed and closed her laptop. “I’m not. I’m sorry about before.”
Colin pulled back the covers, sliding inside and turning to face her. “It was a long day.”
“So long. I feel awful for George…”
“I know.”
“And maybe I’m a terrible mother—”
“You’re absolutely not.”
“—but it’s just so inconvenient to have a sick kid.”
“It really is. He’ll be alright, though, and things will get back to normal.”
Penelope eyed him.
He relented. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more helpful today. We’ve got this huge deadline for a big influencer partnership proposal. It’s a big priority for the board, and most of the senior staff hate the idea, which means it’s my job to convince them and placate the board at the same time.” She could tell by the way his shoulders sagged that this weighed on him.
“Col, just because I work here, doesn’t mean I’m the default parent.”
He frowned. “I know that.”
“Whenever I say work from home, people just hear stay at home mum and that’s not what I am. I’ve got deadlines too.”
Arguing was not something the Bridgertons did. It felt foreign. Colin rubbed his eyebrows, pressing his fingers into them deeply. “I know, Pen. I couldn’t get out of it today. I’m sorry.”
She sighed, an uncomfortable pit taking hold in her stomach. “I’m tired. George is always up early when he’s sick, so I need to get some sleep.” She placed her laptop on the nightstand, turned off her lamp, and slid down under the covers until her head was resting on the pillow. Even though she wasn’t mad at Colin necessarily, she couldn’t help that her body automatically turned to face away from him.
“I told him to wake me up if he needs, so I hope he doesn’t bother you,” Colin said quietly. It was a nice gesture, but they both knew that the children always wanted their mum when they were sick. It wasn’t as though Colin wasn’t a hands-on parent, but there was just something mystical about being sick that always made a kid want their mother. Colin turned his lamp off, plunging the room into darkness.
George woke Penelope up around 3:30, silent tears streaming down his face. She quietly ushered him out of their bedroom, administering another dose of cold medicine, and bringing him to the sofa with her to cuddle and watch cartoons together, stroking his hair to comfort him in his irritability. He dozed off again in her arms at some point, and as hard as she tried, she wasn’t able to fall asleep again. On top of everything, she would be a zombie for her meeting with her editors today. Brilliant.
Eventually while George slept on the sofa, she got up to make breakfast for the rest of the family. Colin crept down the stairs to find her before his shower.
“Fuck. Did he—”
“Yep,” Penelope mumbled as she tiredly cracked eggs. “Can you please just make sure the others are up and dressed after you get ready?”
He walked over to her, concern etched in his features. “Pen.” He placed a kiss on the side of her head.
She rebuffed him. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
In almost fifteen years of marriage, Colin and Penelope knew each other’s cues pretty damn well. After a lifetime with a tendency to keep things in, Penelope needed to learn to share things with her husband. And she did. But she also reserved the right to state when she didn’t want to talk about something. And Colin knew better than to push. She would open up when she was ready to.
So, instead of hashing it out, Colin sighed heavily and disappeared up the stairs. Twenty minutes later, he came back down, showered and dressed for work, with three dressed and tired children on his tail.
“Tommy, you’ve got football practice tonight?” Colin asked as he prepared mugs of tea.
“Yeah, Liam’s mum is taking us there from school and mum is supposed to pick us up after.”
“I’ll do it. Six, right?”
“Right.”
“I’ll be there. You’ve got your boots?”
“Got em. Mum packed them in my backpack.”
Penelope overheard, but didn’t comment as she was busy focusing on not burning the pancakes. She gave them a final flip before piling them on a plate and serving them to her family.
“Dad, can I sleep at Caroline’s this Saturday? Mum said we needed to ask you,” Aggie said around a mouthful of eggs.
Penelope rolled her eyes at the mischaracterization. Colin furrowed his brow as he sipped his tea. “I’m sure that’s fine, but I’ll check with Aunt Daphne first.”
After tossing the dirty pans in the sink to be dealt with later, Penelope went back upstairs to shower, assuming that by the time she got back down, Colin and the older three would be gone. However, they were still in the entryway gathering their schoolbags and jackets when she reappeared.
“Bye, mummy. Feel better, Georgie!” Jane called as she and Aggie headed out the door towards the car.
“Hey,” Colin said in a low voice, catching his wife’s eye as Tommy shoved a notebook into his bag. “Call me today. If you need anything. I won’t let it be like yesterday, I promise.”
Her heart clenched in her chest and her eyes closed sluggishly for a moment. She couldn’t hold him at arm’s length. It wouldn’t work. That wasn’t them. “I know. I heard you and Tommy before, and honestly that’s already a huge help.”
He reached out to cup her cheek, concern taking over his features again. “You’re exhausted.”
She shrugged and tried to offer a lighthearted smile, despite feeling the complete opposite. “I’m a mum. Comes with the territory.”
“Pen—”
“I’m fine. I just need to get through this meeting.”
Colin’s chest deflated as his hand fell back to his side. “When Aggie’s home later this afternoon, leave her in charge for a bit and go upstairs to take a nap.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“Okay, okay. I’m ready,” Thomas said, sliding his bag over his shoulders and messing up his chestnut curls, so like his father’s. “Bye mum.”
“Bye, love.” And he was out the door. She looked back up at her husband. “Drive safe, there’s still some snow on the ground.”
Colin seemed to hesitate for a moment, before leaning forward and planting a soft kiss on his wife’s lips. “Love you.”
“Love you too,” she whispered. “I’m fine. I promise.”
Colin huffed out a breath and nodded before leaving to get the kids to school. As much as Penelope would have loved to squeeze in a few edits before her meeting, she knew that the longer the pans sat in the sink, the harder they would be to scrub clean. Her anxiety would mount and the edits would be shit anyway. However, to her surprise and relief, when she returned to the kitchen, the sink was empty and the counters were sparklingly clean.
As expected, Penelope’s day was absolutely grueling. Rae was a great editor, but Charlotte was the real muscle as the Publisher and she had a few strong words to share with Penelope regarding her recent delays on the sixth book in her latest romance series.
“We don’t usually pay authors what we pay you, but we know you can deliver. And yet, you haven’t delivered.”
“I have,” Penelope groaned. “I know it’s been slower. I’ve just had some setbacks. But we’re getting there.”
“Well, get there faster. Also in person next time.”
“Sick kid, Charlotte,” Rae reminded her.
“Well if we hadn’t already rescheduled twice we might have been able to do so again. Alas, here we are.”
“Okay, that’s fair. I can get you the rest by May 12th, though. I promise.”
“You won’t have a choice. We’re already planning the release and a book tour for you in autumn.”
“Autumn? I can’t do a book tour when my kids go back to school.”
“This is part of your contract.”
“Yes, but—”
“Why don’t we put a pin in this,” Rae interrupted, ever the mediator. “Charlotte, we can speak to the marketing team to better understand the release schedules and promos for the end of the year so we can give Penelope some options.”
Charlotte pursed her lips. “Very well. We’ll get in touch with Agatha when we know more.”
Agatha Danbury, Simon’s godmother and a prolific literary agent, took Penelope on when she finished her first novel and brokered one hell of a contract on her behalf. The day she secured Penelope, a debut author, a four book deal with an option to extend, Penelope jokingly swore to name her first born daughter after her. Eventually delirious after twenty six hours of labour, she stuck to her guns that she quite liked the name, and Colin agreed.
She did her best to answer a few emails for the rest of the afternoon, mostly Agatha’s team trying to coordinate some local book signings over the few months, which were always good for loyal readers. Eventually, she managed to make a few clerical edits to her latest draft, but accepted that she was far too exhausted for any true inspiration to strike her, or for her writing to come out as anything resembling legible at this rate.
George was ornery too, which proved a challenge in its own right. He didn’t want more soup, but she managed to get him to eat a cheese toastie, and a little extra cough syrup put him down for a very long nap, of which Penelope was insanely jealous.
After picking up the older kids from school later, she did manage to take Colin’s advice and squeeze in a nap of her own. Agatha, always the perfectionist, was more than happy to help.
“I’ll make sure Jane does her homework. As long as you and dad let me sleep at Caroline’s this weekend,” Agatha said as they unloaded their school bags.
“We don’t negotiate like that in this house, young lady.”
Agatha rolled her eyes, which prompted Penelope to roll hers as well. A proper clone, Aggie was.
“You can ask dad when he gets home later if he’s had a chance to arrange it. Until then, you’re still an older sibling with older sibling responsibilities and that doesn’t come with strings. Understood?”
Agatha huffed. “Yes ma’am. Can we have something to eat at least?”
“Theres fruit in the fridge, crisps in the cupboard.” And she was gone, her eyelids drooping heavily as she ascended the stairs to her inviting bedroom.
Even napping for an hour and a half made Penelope feel like a new person. It was almost six o’clock by the time she made it back downstairs.
“Oh, shoot,” she said when Dunwoody greeted her at the bottom of the stairs, rubbing the soft tri-colour fur of his body back and forth against her legs. “I’m sorry, kitty. Did we forget to let you out?”
“No, I just let him back in,” Aggie said, pulling plates out of the cupboard. “Jane fed him too and I made George another toastie.”
Penelope sighed and walked over to her daughter, pressing a kiss to her hair. “Thanks, sweet girl.”
“Forks and napkins, Janie?” Agatha said, prompting her sister to jump up and begin collecting the items.
“What are you—”
“Dad called, he asked me to set the table. Said he and Tommy are picking up dinner.”
Penelope drummed her fingers across the countertop. With nothing to do, she made her way into the living room and curled up on the couch with her youngest. He moved instinctively to her side.
“Are you feeling any better, love?” Penelope asked, brushing his hair off of his clammy forehead.
“Maybe a little. I don’t wanna go to school tomorrow, though.” He scrunched up his face. Even with auburn hair, he did look so very much like his father.
Penelope couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, darling. I don’t think you will. But after the weekend, you’re going back Monday.”
George shrugged. “Okay.”
Shortly after, Colin and Thomas came home with dinner. Colin smiled as he pecked his wife on the cheek and squeezed her shoulder. She offered a reassuring smile as they unpacked the takeaway containers and sat at the table as a family. Tommy rattled on about his football practice, animatedly describing his favourite drill in incredible detail, and Colin confirmed that Agatha’s sleepover with Caroline and their school friends was on for Saturday.
Penelope poured herself into bed at nine, grateful that Colin took care of getting the kids tucked in and ensuring George took more of his medicine. She was fast asleep before he got to bed. They barely spoke all day.
When Penelope stirred to life in the morning and reached over to check her phone on the nightstand, she breathed a sigh of relief that they’d made it to Friday. The rustle of sheets behind her alerted her that Colin was awake as well. Before she could say anything, his body moved to press up behind her, the comforting planes of his torso cradling the curve of her back. The sensation of his warm lips pressing a delicate kiss to her neck sent a shiver down her spine.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice still raspy and thick with sleep.
“I’m good. Relieved that George made it through the night this time.”
Colin chuckled, his warm breath fanning across her skin. “Nah. I begged him to wake me up this time. Offered a bribe.”
“Oh.” She rolled over onto her back so she could look at him. “Did he?”
Eyes still closed, Colin sighed. “Mhmm. S’fine, though. Got him some water and more cold medicine and he went back to bed.”
Penelope’s heart fluttered in her chest. Parenting was hard, especially to four children, even more so when one of them was sick. It was times like this she couldn’t be more grateful that her partner in crime for all of this was Colin.
“Thank you,” she whispered, reaching out to stroke the side of his face, grazing the stubble she loved when he grew out.
His eyes opened and he grinned, turning to kiss her palm gently. “I wanna hear about your meeting with Charlotte.”
Penelope laughed and leaned forward kissing him softly. “Later. Gotta make breakfast.”
Colin groaned. “Oh, yes. Those kids of ours. Still eating three square meals a day, are they?”
“Unfortunately,” Penelope said with a laugh. “They take after their father.”
“Hmmph.”
She kissed him again. “Go shower. I’ll see you down there.”
And so continued the rhythm of the Bridgerton way of life. Busy children, busy parents, always an obstacle to overcome.
By the time school let out, Penelope was starting to feel a bit better and had gotten a significant amount of writing done throughout the late morning and early afternoon. She brought George to the market with her to pick up ingredients before they collected the others from their schools. Penelope actually loved to cook, but it was often out of necessity versus a creative endeavor. Tonight felt different.
Agatha helped chop vegetables while Thomas and Jane shucked large ears of corn.
“God, that smells incredible,” Colin said as he came bursting through the door and scooping up Jane to throw over his shoulder. She giggled incessantly.
“Mum’s making tacos!” Tommy exclaimed. “She said I could have as many as I want.”
Penelope shrugged as Colin eyed her. “They’re not that big,” she whispered. “Got these cute little street taco shells.”
Colin laughed as he set Jane down. “Love, I’m gonna need like forty of those.”
“Shut up!” she laughed. “I’ve got bigger ones too, but thought the kids would like those. Go wash up.”
There was almost nothing Penelope loved more than family dinners on Friday nights. The weekend was on the horizon and they usually spent the remainder of the evening squished together on the sofa watching a movie. It was Jane’s turn to choose tonight.
Penelope curled up on the sofa with George leaning into one side and the cat stretched across her thigh on the other. She stroked his soft fur and sighed as Colin queued up a film about parents who said yes to everything their kids wanted for an entire day.
“Fiction, children. Friendly reminder. Carry on,” he said as he pressed play.
The thing was, life was busy and it was hard sometimes and sometimes she had to take on more to get through the day. But no matter what, she would come home to her family and her husband and know without a shadow of a doubt that all of the struggling was worth it. This was the dream she’d always had, from the moment she walked into this house sixteen years ago.
They put the kids to bed and Penelope held back tears as they passed by the boys’ room, listening to Thomas assure George that he could always wake him up in the middle of the night if he needed anything instead of going to mum and dad. “That’s what big brothers are for,” he said.
“I told him to say that,” Colin said as they closed their bedroom door behind them. “We had a chat yesterday on the way home from football practice. I asked him to step up a bit. He’s twelve now, after all.”
“Well, it was sweet. I’m glad to hear him say that.” Penelope brushed her teeth, pulled on her pyjamas, and climbed tiredly into their bed.
“Georgie looked better today,” Colin said as he climbed in behind her. “More colour in his face and he didn’t feel warm.”
“Yeah,” she sighed. “He’ll be good to go back to school Monday.”
Colin reached out to stroke the side of her face. “Come kiss me.”
She smiled softly and leaned forward to meet him halfway, pressing her lips to his. “Dunwoody’s due for his vet appointment soon.”
“I don’t want to talk about the cat right now.” Colin pressed another kiss to his wife’s lips, soft, but urgent. Light and coaxing.
“You love that cat,” she said against his mouth.
Colin chuckled helplessly. “He chose us. How could you not love that?”
She giggled and pressed his shoulder until he was lying flat against his pillow.
“I still wanna hear about your meeting.”
Penelope turned off her lamp and snuggled back into Colin’s chest, letting her eyes flutter shut. “Tomorrow. Promise.” Her breathing evened out as sleep took hold of her.
Saturdays could usually go one of two ways. Relaxing and comfortable, or exhausting and overplanned. Penelope spent the week taking things day by day and hadn’t managed to check the schedule on their shared app. After she took a shower and checked her phone, she furrowed her brow in confusion.
“Colin,” she called out as she descended the stairs and rounded the corner into the kitchen where her husband was preparing their morning tea. “My diary is blank for the day. What’s going on?”
“About that,” he said with a smile. “You’ve actually got an appointment in a bit.”
“An appointment?”
She could hear the kids playing video games from the living room, which was usually allowed on Saturday mornings before noon.
“So here’s the thing,” Colin said, pulling out a chair for her at the dining table, urging her to sit. “Daphne’s taking Aggie, and Tommy and Jane are sleeping at Benedict’s with their cousins, which they are ecstatic about. They’re all getting an early start of it, so Georgie and I are doing the drop offs in a little.”
“You are?”
A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “And you’re going to the spa.”
“I’m what?
Colin slid a folded piece of paper across the table towards her. She opened it to see the name “Dorchester Hotel and Spa, Mayfair” scrawled across the top. He’d booked her the full luxe package. Hot stone massage, hydrating facial, body scrub, manicure, pedicure, the works.
“Daphne said this one is the best in London. And I think the relaxation will be good for your writing. Clear head and all.”
Penelope shook her head as her eyes watered. “This is really sweet.” She reached across the table for Colin’s hand. He flipped it over so they could entwine their fingers together. “Thank you.”
“You deserve it. Best mum in the world.” He leaned over and pecked her lips. “Best wife too.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not been that much of a good wife lately.”
Colin frowned. “Please don’t say that.”
She eyed him pointedly, tilting her chin down. They both knew she was referencing the fact that their busy lives and schedules had prevented them from having as much sex as they’d usually liked lately. It was just a rut, she told herself.
“Drink your tea, but don’t eat. You’re getting brunch at your spa appointment.”
“You spoil me.”
Colin stood up and leaned over to place a kiss on her forehead. “I’m just still madly in love with you, Mrs. Bridgerton.”
A few moments later, Colin ushered the kids up to get dressed, pack any overnight bags needed, and marched them out of the house after they all kissed their mother goodbye.
Penelope made her way to the Dorchester with time to spare, and spent the next several hours enjoying what could only be described as a transcendental experience. She was a new person. Reborn. She made a mental note to go back there with Colin at some point, perhaps for their anniversary.
When she arrived home, there was a note on the counter letting her know that Colin had taken George to the park to spend some time on the swings, insisting that a bit of fresh air would do him good.
In her renewed and relaxed state, with a quiet house to herself, Penelope headed upstairs to her office and spent what she thought was about an hour editing and writing her latest novel, but a quick check on the clock above her door told her that it had been close to three hours.
“Oh fuck,” she muttered.
By the time she made it downstairs, she found Colin on the sofa with George, who was napping with Dunwoody. Colin had his laptop out, typing away as a football game played on low volume on the large television screen across from him. He was a lifelong Chelsea fan, though some years were more painful than others. They were in the middle of a strong run, much to her husband’s delight.
“Get any good edits done?” he asked quietly so as to not disturb their sleeping son as she sat down next to him.
“Loads. Finally.”
“Been blocked?”
She shrugged. “Maybe a bit. Been a hell of a week.”
“I know.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side. “I’ve got the little guy tonight. If you wanted to go out and see any friends or just have some quiet time to yourself… whatever you need.”
Penelope sighed and pressed her face into his neck. “I just want you.”
Colin smiled and leaned his head against hers. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Even though it wasn’t a totally child free evening, going from four to one was a piece of cake. Their seven year old son went to bed at eight, aided by some strong drowsy cold medicine again, and Colin and Penelope got to spend a rare evening watching a film that was specifically geared towards adults.
“What a treat,” Penelope said as they cleaned up their wine glasses before bed. “I don’t think there were any cartoon characters in that.”
“And I think I heard the F word a few times. How scandalous!” Colin joked.
On their way up to their room, Colin poked an eye into George’s room, silently closing the door behind him and giving Penelope an exaggerated wink and an ‘ok’ sign with his hand.
When Colin headed into the en suite to brush his teeth, Penelope decided to take advantage of not being tired and feeling rejuvenated after such a restful day. She found her favourite mostly sheer nightgown, thanking the heavens above that it still fit, even if her breasts spilled out of it almost completely, but that was even better.
Colin stopped short when he re-entered the bedroom at the sight of his wife sitting at the edge of the bed, her legs crossed in front of her.
“God, you’re so fucking hot.”
When he reached her, he dropped down to his knees and leaned forward to kiss her. She spread her thighs to accommodate him, sliding her hands behind his neck and pulling him closer.
“What do you want?” he asked, his voice gravelly.
“Absolutely anything.”
Colin looked wrecked at that. “Fuck. Can I eat your pussy?”
She bit her lip and nodded. “I might only have one in me, though. Are you good with your selection?”
“Can I still fuck you after?” he asked, almost looking even more pained.
“Of course.”
He pressed a wet kiss to the inside of her thigh, spreading them wider, groaning at the sight of her pink and glistening in front of him.
The second his tongue made contact with her folds, she jumped. God, it really had been a while.
“Please,” she whispered, her fingers carding through his hair.
Colin grinned up at her smugly and licked a flat stripe up her center, his tongue dragging through her sensitive folds as he landed on her clit and began a series of soft licks. Penelope threw her head back with a moan. He smirked against her and flattened his tongue, adding more pressure, but only slightly.
“That all you got?” She loved egging him on.
“Brat,” he murmured as he teased her clit with the tip of his tongue. That shut her up as he flicked intently back and forth.
“Fuck.”
“Mhmm. Tastes so good. Lay back.”
She listened to instructions as he began to lick her in earnest, building up to the pattern of sucking, circling, and flat licks that he knew so very well after sixteen years together. Her entire body tightened as she felt the beginnings of an orgasm starting to crest. It tingled at the base of her skull.
“Colin, Colin,” she chanted, her thighs beginning to shake and squeeze around his ears. He hummed against her, the vibrations against her throbbing clit sending her spiraling into the abyss, a choked off moan escaping her lips as she gushed onto his tongue.
“Ahhh, oh god,” she moaned as his lips dragged across her sensitive center, pressing featherlight kisses across where she was still pulsing and shivering with aftershocks.
“Beautiful.” He kissed the insides of her thighs, smearing her wetness around. “Perfect.”
“Still wanna fuck me?”
He stood up and tugged down his sweats and boxers in one go. “More than anything in the world.”
Penelope smiled and turned over lazily. She knew her husband and didn’t need to question how he would want her. She was proven right when Colin groaned and leaned over her, pawing at her nightgown.
“Get this off,” he grumbled, pulling the material over her head and latching his mouth to her shoulder as his hands cupped her breasts from behind, thumbing at her pebbled nipples. “Fuck. Fuck.”
He slid his cock back and forth between her sticky lips for a few moments to coat himself. She whined in anticipation, getting even more turned on just at the idea that after all the years together, Colin could still get so hard and desperate for her.
The last thought that crossed her mind before he pushed inside was how nice it was that he’d been shooting blanks ever since she had George. Sex became significantly less stressful after they’d decided their fourth would be their last.
He was better at dirty talk than she was, but she’d learned over the years how to coax him to completion, especially when he was already hanging on by a thread. The romance novelist in her knew she had the ability to step it up as long as she stopped feeling so embarrassed. He was her husband anyway, for god’s sake.
“God, you’re so hard. So fucking hot, baby.”
Colin pistoned into her, his knees hitting into the edge of the mattress.
“Bet you can fuck me deeper, can’t you?”
He moaned outright and sunk his teeth into her shoulder. The sting felt incredible. She clenched her muscles around him, feeling his cock swell inside of her as his thighs slapped against her skin.
“Gonna fill me up with your cum, aren’t you baby?”
“Pen.” He was wrecked. “Goddamn it.”
“Just like that,” she moaned. Even if she was sure she couldn’t come again, that didn’t mean sex didn’t still feel good. Great, even. There were no downsides here. “Harder. C’mon, fuck me like you mean it.”
“Fuck, fuck!” Penelope clenched her muscles around him one last time and sent him spiraling. He jerked against her, skin sticking to the backs of her thighs as he filled her up with scorching hot spurts, trickling out in what felt like endless bursts.
“Shit,” he groaned, panting against her shoulder. His lips stuck to her skin. “That was a big load.”
Penelope giggled breathlessly and pressed her face into the mattress, relaxing her satiated body. “It’s okay. You know I can take it.”
Colin pulled out, rolled her over, and laid his body against hers, finding her lips in a melty kiss. “I think we really needed that.”
“Mhmm.”
“Sorry.” He peppered kisses down her neck, trailing his tongue across her collarbone.
Penelope kissed him again and then dragged him into the shower, needing to spend a few minutes cleaning herself out as his cum dripped out of her. He couldn’t hide his smug smile as he helped, swiping it up with the loofa designated for such occasions.
By the time they climbed tiredly back into the bed, this time, wearing more sensible and cozy pyjamas, Colin pulled her to his front, spooning her from behind. He kissed behind her ear.
“Are you still upset with me?” he asked timidly.
She sighed and squeezed his wrist where his arms were wrapped around her middle.
“I never was.”
“It’s okay if you were.”
“It’s not. And I wasn’t.”
He pressed his face into her hair, nuzzling until his mouth cleared space and pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. “I wasn’t helpful.”
“You were busy.”
“So were you.”
“Col,” she huffed, rolling over to face him. “It’s fine. It was just a rough day. You’ve long since made up for it.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “So you were mad at me?”
She scoffed. “No! I was frustrated with the situation. That’s all.”
“You don’t always have to be so diplomatic with me, you know.”
Pressing her thumb slightly into the crease between his brows, trying to smooth it out, she leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. “Raising kids is hard, sometimes. Especially when your overzealous husband wants four whole ass children and one of them gets sick.”
He blushed at that. She’d have been content with two or three, but Colin had his heart set on a big family, and she really didn’t take much convincing after she saw what incredible babies they made. Penelope was completely love drunk. She’d have had a hundred of his babies if he really wanted. In many ways, Colin never fully understood the power he held over his wife.
“I guess it bodes well for us that we ended up with a cat instead of a dog, then. Less work.”
“Not this again…” she grumbled. He wrapped his arms tighter around her.
“I’m just saying. Labradors are amazing. But Dunwoody is fine too…”
“Fine? You love that cat. Bawled like a baby when he had his leg removed.”
Colin grumbled. “He was just so tiny!”
Penelope smiled and ran her fingers through Colin’s hair, watching as his eyes fluttered shut.
“Besides…” She kissed his eyelid and rested her head on his chest. “You’re my labrador.”
Colin snickered and squeezed her hip.
“Woof.”