As much fun as the New Year’s party with the kids had been, Rowan can’t deny how much better this is. They’d taken it upon themselves to turn the clocks ahead around eight and played footage from the 2019 ball drop on TV, letting Maddie jump up and down and scream a countdown at the top of her lungs before throwing around a few handfuls of confetti and planting a big kiss on both her parents when she got to zero and let out a shrill ‘Happy New Year!’ She’s only four, so she doesn’t really understand the premise of the holiday but she likes to be included. Plus, she’d crashed almost immediately after, leaving her already tucked into bed and snoring when the babysitter arrived a few hours later. Rowan makes a mental note to double check all the clocks when she gets home to avoid a potential disaster when she wakes up at nine tomorrow thinking it’s somehow one in the afternoon --- the thought almost makes her snort, though. As if Benny’d let her sleep that late.
Two glasses of champagne have her already feeling just a little giddy which she kind of judges herself for. But nine months of pregnancy and a year of breastfeeding have almost tanked her tolerance so who can really blame her? She exchanges her empty glass for a full one, taking an extra for Andy before making her way across the floors of the Harris house, weaving in and out of the crowd. Andy’s not hard to find -- still where she left him fifteen minutes earlier and it doesn’t really surprise her. He’s never liked things like this; never been big on the crowds and extravagant social events like this --- if she’d suggested they stay home tonight he probably would’ve jumped for joy, but she’s glad to see it looks like he’s at least enjoying himself. A fleeting thought of whether or not he’s just pretending seeps in, but she dismisses it just as quickly --- they’ve been together so long, been through so much at this point, she can always tell. When the genuine enjoyment of the night passes and his social meter hits zero, Rowan’s always the first to notice and quick to make an excuse for them to get out of there. The fact that they got to go out for a kid free evening at all is enough of a win in her book, and if they make it to midnight? Well, that’s just a bonus. Though, Becky had said she was okay to stay all night if they needed and she can’t say the idea of getting a hotel room and sneaking away isn’t just a little bit tempting --- it’d be refreshing to not have to double check that they’d locked the door three times.
"Next one’s on you, then it’s my turn to stand here and look pretty.” Though pretty isn’t the word she’s been using to describe him most of the night, but she has made a point of telling him how good he looks at least six times since he got dressed a few hours ago. She greets him with a small smile, handing the glass over before her now free hand moves to attempt to brush away some of the glitter lingering on his suit, surely left behind from the dress she’s wearing. “Christ, it’s like I marked my territory or something,” she laughs when it refuses to move and she hates to think what the interior of the car, or the couch, or the floor of their bedroom looks like. The glitter is gone from her mind within seconds though, one arm moving around his middle and she leans into him somewhat -- partly because that’s just who they are, but she’d be lying if she didn’t say it wasn’t also for selfish reasons. Blue eyes glance down at the current bane of her existence, a pair of four inch heels she’d somehow convinced herself that she’d be able to go all night wearing and she wonders if they’d get kicked out if she decided to forego them and spend the rest of the night barefoot. Maybe in a few more drinks she’ll be at that point. “You over here plannin’ your next decade?”
