There's a soft squeal from a tiny voice. Riley looks up from his laptop and grins. He kneels down on the floor with open arms, laughing when his child launches himself in his arms. The toddler squeals again when Riley starts poking his chubby belly.

Lottie can't help the huge grin on her face at the sight of her boys.

Riley's been working his butt off on his new album and he hasn't been able to spend time with his family. It kills him but he's managing.

Riley picks his son up and pops him on his hip, walking into the booth. He sits him on the wooden barstool then slides the headphones over his ears, chuckling as he adjusts them. He says something to him then their son starts singing his little heart out to his daddy's song with Riley.

His little voice.

This boy is the center of their lives.

They had no idea what the fuck they were going to name him until Lottie woke up in a hot flash. They originally wanted to use Riley as the middle name but nothing really goes well with it.

"C'mon, baby." Lottie smiles, taking her son's hand to pick him up.

Sam's tiny hands wrap around his mother's hair. He drops his head on her shoulder, his big blue eyes closing. Riley smiles, rubbing his back.

"We should get goin' on home." Lottie whispers with a smile. "It's past his nap time."

Riley smiles back. "I'll be home in a couple hours." Lottie leans up and kisses him then they're on their way back home.

+++

Riley is home later than he was expecting. He's home past dark and he's totally exhausted.

All he wants is to curl up in his bed next to his wife but it looks like he'll have to make other plans.

Sam is cuddled up against Lottie, the oversized sheets practically swallow him and Riley grins. He kicks his jeans off and pulls a clean t-shirt on, sliding in next to his family, his heart smiling.

If someone were to ask Riley Green what he thought his future looks like, he would've never pictured this: the girl he's been in love with for his whole life as his wife and their child- their boy, sleeping peacefully between them. He probably would've said something along the lines of a house on a lot of land, maybe a wife and kid or two, and his guitar.

Check, Check, Check.

If Lottie was asked the same question, her answer would be completely different. She never in a million years thought that in her twenties, she'd be a wife and a mother. She's always told people that she's a rolling stone but here she is with her husband and son.

Lottie hums as she stirs, her eyes flutter open when she feels the bed shift. "Hey." She whispers.

"Didn't mean to wake you." He whispers back.

"I missed you."

His blue eyes run over her face. "You are so beautiful."

She blushes and looks down at their boy. "We did fuckin' good makin' him."

Sam is the perfect blend of Riley and Lottie. He's got some shoes to fill when he's older and they both know he's going to be a great kid.

Sam wriggles around in their bed. He reaches up and wraps his arms around his daddy's neck. He grins and rubs his back, looking over at Lottie who has fallen back asleep. Within seconds, Sam is asleep too.

His is his mother's son.

He rolls Sam back to Lottie and he almost instantly cuddles against his momma's side. Riley sneaks a quick picture before finally dozing off himself.

+++

Riley snores himself awake. He runs his hand over his face as he sits up. He's met with empty but warm sheets and the sound of the radio coming from the kitchen. He yawns as he cracks his back, pulling a t-shirt on before he heads down the steps. He smiles when he sees his wife holding their son on her hip as she makes breakfast.

"Mornin'."

"Mornin'." Riley responds, leaning over to kiss his wife's lips before their boy's cheek. He takes Sam and sits him on the counter.

He turns and takes his wife's hand, spinning her in a small circle, his hand on the small on her back. Sam squeaks and reaches out for his mom. Lottie picks him up, pops him on her hip then continues dancing with Riley.

This is the life.

This is the life Lottie had no idea she's wanted until she had it. Now, she'd do anything to keep them.

+++

Lottie shakes her head to herself as she scribbles out ink in the middle of her words. "That's fuckin' stupid." She mutters, crumpling it up before launching it at the trash can by the door.

She's been trying to put out a couple new singles to keep herself in the mix of things but she's really hitting a wall. She has a bunch of really good sentences but when they're up with everything else written, it sounds dumb.

Riley put himself in charge of babysitting. He's a little nervous because his wife isn't home but he knows him and his boy are going to party.

Nothing screams party like animal crackers, apple juice, and reruns of the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Lottie is worried about her boys but she has confidence in Riley. He's been a father for three years now and he's a kick ass one.

Riley sits Sam on the couch and hands him some crackers. He sits next to him and smiles to himself. He's taking good care of his son.

He looks down at Sam when he goes quiet and sees he's fast asleep.

He scoops him up and carries him to his bed, tucking him in under his little camo blankets.

Riley returns to the living room and kicks his feet up after getting himself a beer. When he's halfway through, the door opens revealing a very distressed Lottie.

"You okay?" He asks, opening his arms for her to join him on the couch.

"It's- I hate everythin' I've written." She huffs, dropping her head on his shoulder. She's beyond frustrated that it's driven her to tears. "When the hell did this get so damn hard?" She borderline whimpers, her bottom lip trembling. "Fuck."

"Let me see whatcha got. Where're your notes?" She silently empties her bag out onto the coffee table then drops herself back on the couch. Riley flattens a few of the balled up papers and reads over the words scrawled in smudged black ink.

"But, I came to life when I first kissed you. The best me has her arms around you. You make me better than I was before. Thank God I'm yours..."

Lottie glances between the wrinkled sheet of paper and her husband's handsome face. Her lips pull at a smile. "You're good." She takes a deep breath as she produces a folded paper from her back pocket. "I wanted to try somethin' different." She says, unfolding it. "Maybe a little sultry? I dunno, I don't think I've done somethin' like that before."

Riley looks at her pouty lips then nods. So many thoughts roll through his head. Once they finally got comfortable having sex with each other, the moves came naturally. Then before they knew it, they couldn't keep their hands off each other.

"We got a pretty good shot at makin' it to the drive and baby, maybe if we're lucky, we'll make it inside. You know we'll be droppin' cotton and stumblin' over the couch. Yeah, we'll be shakin' these walls, breakin' everything in this house..."

Lottie giggles to herself. A new mother writing something like this makes her feel slightly ashamed but this just means her and her husband are still intimate- unlike some parents.

Riley bites his lip as he looks over at her. "Y'know, Sam is asleep."

"What're you sayin', Riley Green?"

"I think you know what I'm sayin', Lottie Green."

Riley stands and holds his hand out for Lottie. She takes it and the two are swiftly making their way up the steps to their bedroom, giggling, to get hopefully a good half hour in before their son wakes up.

+++

"I won." Lottie mumbles, looking over a letter in her hands. She has her elbows on her knees as she's hunched forward on the couch. "I won."

"Whatcha win?" Riley asks, pushing his graying curls out of his face.

"Female singer of the year. Album of the year- holy shit."

"Congrats, baby!" He grins as he looks away from the baseball game on tv. "I told you your album was good."

"Yeah but you're my best friend so you kinda, kinda gotta say that." She mutters, waving him off.

He stops at her words. Did you just friendzone me?" She doesn't say anything. "Lottie! You know I have a kid with you, right?"

"Potato, pohtatoh." She shrugs, standing. "Y'know, I'm glad we skipped that whole award show bullshit. Crowds aren't really my thing." She tosses the letter in the trash then slices the box it came with open. She pulls out two awards then sighs. "You know I was up against Morgan's Double Album, Michael's Hixtape album and yours. I- I really don't deserve this-"

"Oh stop it, Lot." Riley says. "Stop sellin' yourself short. You are a helluva lot better than you think you are." She huffs and nods after a bit of silence. "Now, where're we gonna put these?"

"Trash?" She jokes and Riley shoots her the fatherly look he's come to be a pro at. "Don't give me that look, Riley Green."

He picks up the awards only for them to be snatched by Lottie. "Don't you dare toss 'em!"

"Don't tell me what to do!" She shouts back, disappearing into the kitchen, Riley hot on her heels.

"Lottie-"

She says nothing as she holds them above the trash can. "Take one more step and the awards get it." He can't help the snort that comes from his mouth which ultimately makes her laugh too.

Lottie reaches up and sets them on top of the fridge. "There. Happy?"

He leans over and kisses her. "As birds in the spring."