It's Been Six Months

So. 
I thought it was the husband who always forgot anniversary dates and such.  Not the wife. 
Well, guess who totally forgot that today marked our 'known each other for six months' anni...here's a hint:  it wasn't Eugene. 

I woke up around seven this morning, on my side with an arm tucked up underneath my head, the blanket tucked under my chin.  I quietly cleared my throat and stretched my legs out, wondering if Eugene was up yet, or if any of the girls were up (which would've been a rare surprise.  They've been sleeping in until nine or so for the past week; even the baby).  I got my answer; Eugene wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me up against him, giving me a 'good morning, gorgeous'. 
I grinned to myself.  "Morning, hon.  So...how long've you been up?" 
"Just a little bit.  Did you sleep okay?  You seemed to toss and turn a bit." 
I twisted around so I could see his face, which held a bit of concern.  "Yeah -- I didn't keep you up, did I?  Sorry!"
"No no, you're fine," he chuckled quietly.  "I was just wondering.  I guess the big mystery date for today isn't going to happen, since Casey just came here?  Just wanting to make sure, in case you're expecting to go somewhere and we don't." 
"Huh?  What're you...?"  I asked.  What was he even talking about?  Big mystery date?  What was today? 
"For our six-months-of-knowing-each-other anniversary.  We really need to find a better name for that, though, because it's a mouthful," he reminded me. 
OH.  Ohhhh no.  Great - just great.  I know he'd spent plenty of time planning it after Anna and Elsa's weddings, and he'd looked forward to today so much.  Gosh, I'D looked forward to it, too!  How dumb was it of me to forget and then blatantly ask him what the heck he was talking about?! 
I shot upright, giving him a horrified look.  "Oh my gosh.  Ohh my gosh.  I'm so sorry, I completely and utterly forgot, and I know you spent so much time planning to make a special day for us today, and I totally forgot, and I'm not even going to make up some stupid excuse, I just plain forgot...I'm so sorry!  Oh my goodness, what is wrong with me?!"  I blurted this all out in record time -- quietly, of course. 
He sat up, too, but he was smiling.  Good grief.  I completely forgot about the one day he'd spent so much time fretting over, and what does he do?  SMILE.  He smiles.  Wow.  "Hey, it's fine--"
"No, it's not, I-"
"You are perfectly fine, it's fine, and all I was doing was making sure you were okay with not doing anything today, because Casey just came home yesterday.  It's fine, sweetie, really it is," he reassured me, giving me that classicly adorable grin. 
I felt like crying, but then I would've been overreacting to the situation.  "Oh, gosh...I screw up and forget about all this, and you're still perfect and you don't get upset." 
He had to clap his hand over his mouth to keep from laughing loud enough to wake everyone.  When he'd calmed his urge to laugh, he once more grinned.  "No worries.  We just adopted another little girl, it's perfectly fine to forget about stuff.  I don't have to have some big date with you to enjoy our 'big-mouthful-I'm-not-gonna-say-again' anniversary." 
I giggled, and he gave me that 'gotcha -- made you smile' look.  Yes, he'd sufficiently managed to make me feel better about the whole situation...big surprise there.  He always did. 
"So...did  you ever think that in six months, we'd be married with three kids?"  My forgiving hubby put an arm around my shoulders and used the other to gesture towards the girls, who were all still sleeping. 
"No...Not even in my dreams could I have imagined all this," I couldn't help the smile that teased the corners of my mouth.  Then, I scooted around to face him, feeling the need to tell him this.  "So...um..this is probably gonna sound dumb, but...uh...well...out of the almost four years of my life, these six months of knowing you have by far been the best.  You make my day brighter...every day...and you're the sweetest doll I've  ever known.  You also helped me get over that idiot Flynn, and...basically everything.  And you're really sweet and kind and funny and you have great taste in music, and I love ya."  I ran the last sentence all together, suddenly getting embarrassed. 
Kudos to him - he didn't laugh.  Especially after that weird bit about music - why had that even come out?  It was true, though, but..still...
He took my hands in his, giving me a sincere smile before he pulled me into a sweet little kiss that somehow said everything.   I gave him a grin, settling back beside him and tucking my legs under the blanket again.  Pulling me close to his side, he planted another kiss on the side of my head before we sat and watched the girls sleep for a few moments.  He was the first to speak up again. 
"I can't believe it's been six months since I first saw ya.  Half a year since I met the beautiful and sweet girl that I still can't believe I can call my wife," he gave me a wink, and I grinned, leaning my head up against his shoulder...my face blazing red. 
"Not sure how you fell in love with me, seeing as the first time you talked to me, you were saving my scrawny neck from falling off the deck." 
He snorted in an attempt to not laugh, and I shoved him playfully.  At that moment, Jordan started fussing, so I got out of bed, reaching to help him up.  He ducked down to give me another quick kiss, snagging my shoulder before I could whirl away to go pick up Jordan. 
"I'll take care of her so you can get dressed," he said, and I glanced down at my nightie, nodding as he went past me to get Jordan. 

By the time I was dressed and my hair brushed and braided, Audrey and Casey were up.  I gave both of them a good morning, and asked how they had slept.  Audrey had clearly slept a full night's sleep, but Casey looked tired. 
"Casey, you didn't sleep well...did you?"  I asked when she didn't answer the first time.  She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders to her ears.  "Sorry to hear that...if you don't sleep well tonight, let me know.  I'll be happy to stay up with you, sweetie." 
She gave me an unsure look, but nodded.  With that, I left to get a book. 

It took but a minute to get a book.  Our shelf is literally right beside a shelf crammed FULL of books.  I snagged the first book in the Phantom Stallion series by Terri Farley, and then it took some yanking to get it dislodged from the other books (they were so tightly packed on that shelf...good grief.  I think Tangled Fan needs to get rid of some books before her shelf explodes.) 
And then I hurried to get back. 
Audrey's whole face simply lit up when she saw me with the book, and I had hardly moved the furniture around to sit on the floor, before she'd taken her place on my lap, grinning a toothy grin up at me.
Well, if that didn't melt your heart...
I gave her a kiss on the top of her head, and then invited Casey over to sit on my lap as well.  She hesitated, and for a minute, I thought for sure she'd come right over and sit.  And then she climbed up on the wicker chair and sat instead.  Pascal, who is still feeling quite bent out of shape, stayed far away from ALL of us, for some reason.  Eugene and Jordan sat down beside me and Audrey, and I flashed a glance towards Casey before I started reading the book aloud. 
We had read for about an hour, and weren't stopping -- every time I would pause, Audrey would give me a pleading look and I'd just have to continue --, Casey surprised us. 
She slowly made her way over towards us and then cuddled up against my side.  I didn't say anything, didn't embarrass her or make a big deal.  I just quietly put an arm around her, not even pausing with the dialogue in the book.  But on the inside, I was literally freaking out.  I know it's a small move, but still.  We continued reading until Audrey eventually got bored, which took a long time.  When we finished the end of chapter four and I had shut the book, she looked between me and Eugene. 
"Can I have a horse?  I want a horse," she gave us both a winning smile. 
"Um...er..."  Eugene stammered, giving me a horrified look over her head.  "We'll see."
Sure - Tangled Fan had tons of model horses, but she could easily get thrown and severely injured.  Just because they're not real life horses didn't mean you couldn't get hurt. 
She hurried away, not even glancing at Casey, and then commenced playing with Pascal. 
I glanced down at Casey, who had fallen asleep, and then pointed at her, catching Eugene's eye.  He smiled and nodded, quietly standing up and carrying a sleepy Jordan to go take a nap.  When he returned, he offered to take Casey to bed, but I shook my head.  I carefully scooped  her up into my arms, sitting on the wicker chair with her until she woke up an hour later. 

When she woke up, she glanced up at me shyly. 
"Did you have a good nap?"  I asked, wanting to hug her but not wanting to be obvious that I was excited that she hadn't immediately rushed away as soon as she'd woken up. 
She nodded.  "Sorry." 
"What for?"  I asked, confused. 
"For falling asleep on you.  You probably had things to do-"
I broke her off with a kiss on the cheek.  "Nope.  No biggie.  Did you enjoy reading, or were you bored by it?" 
"I thought it was fun," she said, flashing a shy smile. 
"That's good," I stroked the hair away from her face and smiled at her,  and then she left my lap. 

The rest of the day went by without any more groundbreaking-Casey-events.  She sat on the wicker chair by herself, and I could tell Audrey was getting frustrated by Casey's shyness.  But after today's progress -- already! -- I'm feeling pretty confident.  I hope.