#playfulpatrick

He didn't dare move or speak from fear of disturbing the perfect scene that he saw before him, Shelagh sitting on the settee with her hands resting gently upon Angela's tiny waist as she brought her up over her head and blew playful raspberries onto her soft belly through her nightgown. Their precious little girl giggled infectiously as she writhed in her mother's hold, Shelagh's own gentle giggle muffled into their little girl's nightgown before she brought her back down into her lap and tickled her sides lovingly. He watched them play together for several more minutes before the urge to join them became too strong to ignore, a loving smile forming upon his lips as he made his way into the sitting room and Shelagh turned to meet his gaze with a breathtaking smile of her own. 'Who's this?' Shelagh giggled gently as Angela began to flail her arms around in excitement at the sight of her father, Patrick smiling when he slid his arms around his daughter's waist and lifted her onto his hip before she nuzzled into the side of his neck.

He smirked down at his wife as she leaned back against the settee and her soft brown hair was cascaded over her shoulders, her beautiful blue eyes sparkling as she beamed up at him. 'Mmm, it really seems like you're trying to get her settled for bed.' He chuckled as he ran the palm of his hand gently along the curve of Angela's back and allowed her to bury her tiny face further into the side of his neck, her silky blonde curls tickling against the sharpness of his jaw before he turned his head to press a warm and tender kiss into the soft hair that covered her crown. Shelagh only shrugged with a beautiful giggle before he sat down slowly beside her and brought Angela to cuddle against his chest, wrapping his free arm slowly around his wife's shoulders and bringing her close in order to kiss her temple warmly. 'My beautiful girls.' He sighed as Shelagh settled her head down upon his shoulder and brought her hand up to caress the warm skin of their daughter's cheek, Angela cooing in contentment while her eyes fluttered closed.

Ever since the first giggle had come forth from their precious little girl after she had hit the three-month-old mark, Patrick and Shelagh had fallen completely in love with the sound, finding new ways to cause it to happen so that they could fall all the more in love with the beautiful baby girl that they had been blessed with. Even though she had started out her life as somebody else's daughter and even though she hadn't been created through their own efforts to conceive a child, Patrick and Shelagh knew that they still loved and cherished her just as much as they did Timothy. Ever since they had brought Angela home from the adoption agency, Shelagh had found that the yearning for a child of her own wasn't as strong as it had been before she had gazed down at the perfect baby girl that Patrick had eased into her arms. It was still there, of course, but every time she kissed Angela's face or rocked her to sleep in her arms, the pain became slightly more bearable. Angela was hers by law, and it was the most incredible feeling.

'I can remember doing this with Tim after Marianne passed away.' Patrick's gentle voice was what brought her back to the present a few moments later, Shelagh registering his fingers combing softly through her hair as she was snuggled up to him and Angela was now sleeping peacefully against his chest as he stroked her blonde hair slowly. 'He was too young to understand what had happened, but he knew that something wasn't right. I'd sit with him for hours when he was around this age, holding him against me as his sleep schedule was messed up and he cuddled into my chest.' She tilted her head back slowly on his shoulder, rubbing his upper chest with a loving smile upon her lips before he kissed her forehead lingeringly. 'We didn't have much of a bond at all until I stopped being a complete idiot and realized that I had feelings for you, because then he started to find ways for me to try and explain to you how I felt. He was like my little wing-man.' They giggled gently together, allowing their foreheads to touch tenderly.

'I love you, Patrick.' She whispered. 'So much.'

'I love you too.' He kissed the tip of her nose as he held she and their daughter slightly closer. 'My perfect girl.'

Shelagh's gentle giggles filled the bedroom when she and Patrick were laying together beneath the covers of their bed a short time later, his lips brushing a feather-light trail of kisses across the sweet skin of her neck and collar bones whilst he tickled her sides teasingly through her nightgown. He always became playful towards her whenever she was about to drift off at night, starting by leaving a tender nip to the base of her neck before kissing his way up to her jaw and beginning to tickle her gently as he smirked against her skin. He would always manage to wake her up again after a short while, her perfect squeals and child-like giggles making him adore her all the more as they laced their fingers together at either side of her head. She would stop him after a while, reminding him that their baby girl was only at the end of their bed as she slept and that she didn't want to wake her, the two of them settling down in one another's arms as they read the Lancet together until they both started to gradually drift off.

Considering Shelagh would always be the first one of them to fall asleep, since she was always the one who got up at five in the morning with Angela, Patrick would lay with her in his embrace and begin to think deeply about the many different things that he loved about the beautiful woman that was his wife. There were always far too many things for him to name them all, but he knew one thing for certain.

Her laughter was the one thing that he would cherish until he took his last breath.