The house seemed strangely quiet without the children and the dog to fill it with noise. But it was a quiet Liv was happy to indulge in, for a little while, at least. Vicki Granger had appeared on the doorstep at exactly five o'clock, a large grocery bag hanging heavy on her arm, to collect Fliss, Alexei, Maria, and Bella with promises of do-it-yourself dinner and a game of Twister planned already, exactly as she had promised Johnny she would. And it hadn't been such a wrench to send them all off for the night as Liv had expected it would be. She trusted Jon and Vicki with their children, as much as they trusted Johnny and Liv with their own, and it gave her a chance to put Mummy to bed for once and just be Liv, for the first time in a long time.
"So ..." she asked as she rolled out the dough, flickering a grin over to her husband. "What exactly are we putting on this pizza, anyway?"
"Anything but anchovies, you name it!" he replied with a grin. Now that it was just him and Liv, Johnny felt more relaxed than he'd felt in a very long time. As much as they adored their children, tending to three kids and a dog didn't leave a lot of time for themselves and they'd agreed they needed an adult night every now and then to reconnect as a couple. Thankfully, Vicki had agreed; after all, it had been her idea to begin with. And now that they were alone, they could choose to do whatever they wanted and eat their pizza however they liked it, too, without having to watch the kids make a face or pick the ingredients off the top.
"Anything?" she asked with a low laugh. "Even pickled gherkins?" The counter-top was covered with vegetables, meats, even some fish - they hadn't been able to decide straight off what they wanted to top their pizza with. Spooning the tomato sauce on and playing with the mozzarella was easy enough; it was the rest of the toppings that were hard to decide on. "I'm going to make you decide, you know. I made the dough, you get to top it."
"Anything within reason," he replied with a grin. "I'm not seven months pregnant, like some people. How about gherkins on the side?" he suggested, as he greased the pan in readiness for the transfer of dough.
"How about a smiley face made out of pepperoni?" she countered with a giggle. It had been a while since she'd been this silly over making dinner; as much fun as constructing dinner with the children could be, there was always an element of alertness necessary to keep accidents from happening. With only Johnny, the only thing that might happen was that she might get distracted for a little while. "With ....pineapple chunks for teeth, and red onion for freckles - diced, obviously - and ....I don't know ....does spinach work on pizza?" She flashed him her bright grin, one elbow nudging at him teasingly.
He chuckled at her suggestion, glad to see her relaxing and having fun for once. "I can live with that, so long as there are no anchovies or gherkins!" Once the pan was prepared, he let her spread out the dough, and he spooned the sauce on top. "We should do this more often," he said, not referring to the pizza making - that was a fairly regular occurrence in the Storm household - but the time alone and away from the craziness of their little family they so adored.
Liv nodded, sighing softly. "We should," she agreed, leaning against his arm, her head on his shoulder comfortably. "It's not that I don't love our mad house, but this is long overdue. I can't believe we didn't work it out for ourselves. Pregnancy brain is only supposed to affect me, not you." She giggled, kissing his shoulder affectionately.
"I've had a lot on my mind," he admitted, smiling softly over at her as she leaned her head against his shoulder. Once the sauce was spread pretty evenly across the dough, he started adding the cheese. "It's not that I don't love the kids, but it's nice to have a little time alone together sometimes."
"I know what you mean," she admitted, reluctantly easing away to start slicing various bits and pieces to go on top of their pizza. It had to be said, though, that taking her maternity leave sooner than she had expected to had done wonders for her mood, especially first thing in the morning. She was nowhere near as tense just three days after that chat with Jon than she had been a day before it, and it showed. "We should make this a regular thing. Maybe not overnight every time, but a few hours that belong to just us."
"Well, we do have a few hours while the kids are in school," he reminded her. He would have nudged her arm, if she hadn't moved away to start slicing and dicing up veggies. Instead, he worked on sprinkling the mozzarella evenly over the sauce. "You know, we still need to discuss names. Vicki suggested getting the kids involved, but I don't know. She said we can have some of Ben and Emily's old clothes if we want, too, once we know what we're having." Though that wasn't likely to happen until after the baby was born.
"She's very generous," Liv smiled, glancing at her husband. "As for names, well ....why don't we come up with a list, and then ask the kids which ones they prefer of the ones we chose" That way we're not going to end up with a son or daughter called Ruprecht or something disastrous like that."
"Rup-what?" he echoed, chuckling. He'd been doing a lot of laughing lately, his whole mood changed since his talk with Vicki and since he and Liv had decided to take some time off. Money wasn't really an issue, so long as they were honorary Grangers, though neither wanted to take advantage of that. "What would you think of a Johnny, Jr.?" he asked, just throwing that out there. He would have suggested Steven, but he wasn't sure if Steve and Lucy were planning on having a Junior of their own someday.
"Ruprecht," she repeated innocently. "It's a silly name that comes up in Radio 4 comedy programs in England." Giggling, she slid the mixed selection of meat and veg toward him, moving to tidy up easily. "Would you want to have a Johnny, Jr?" she asked curiously. "I'm not wholly against it, but as far as I'm concerned, there's only one Johnny Storm. And he's wonderful."
"I'd like to have a Steve Storm," he replied, though as soon as he said it, he knew it didn't really sound right. Steve Rogers had a ring to it; Steve Storm didn't. "Hmm, maybe not. Maybe we should just pick a boy's name we both like and not worry about trying to honor anyone with it." He picked up a couple of slices of pepperoni for eyes, debating what to use for a nose, but that wasn't nearly enough pepperoni for a whole pizza.
"If we have a boy, we could give him Steven as a second name," she suggested, letting him play with the toppings as she tucked her arms about his waist from behind, her chin on his shoulder. "Or Stephanie, for a girl. But I'd like to give a girl Margaret as a second name. I know Steve and Lucy would probably like to have a Peggy of their own at some point."
"Stephanie Storm," he echoed with a smile. "I kind of like that, but I thought you might want to name a daughter Elizabeth after your mother," he suggested quietly, feeling strangely content with her head on his shoulder and her arms around his waist, both of them savoring the quiet simplicity of the moment.
"I hadn't thought of that," Liv admitted quietly, quite happy to loll where she was and let him make a masterpiece of their dinner as she hugged him contentedly. "I like Elizabeth. But I like Stephanie, too. And what about your mother's name" Mary?"
He frowned a little at the mention of his mother. "Yeah, but we already have a Maria," he pointed out. And that had been purely accidental. "We don't have to decide today, but we should probably make a list." He continued distributing various meats and veggies across the top of the pizza until there was little room left for more. "You sure this won't give you heartburn?" he asked, giving the pizza toppings a second look.
"So ..." she asked as she rolled out the dough, flickering a grin over to her husband. "What exactly are we putting on this pizza, anyway?"
"Anything but anchovies, you name it!" he replied with a grin. Now that it was just him and Liv, Johnny felt more relaxed than he'd felt in a very long time. As much as they adored their children, tending to three kids and a dog didn't leave a lot of time for themselves and they'd agreed they needed an adult night every now and then to reconnect as a couple. Thankfully, Vicki had agreed; after all, it had been her idea to begin with. And now that they were alone, they could choose to do whatever they wanted and eat their pizza however they liked it, too, without having to watch the kids make a face or pick the ingredients off the top.
"Anything?" she asked with a low laugh. "Even pickled gherkins?" The counter-top was covered with vegetables, meats, even some fish - they hadn't been able to decide straight off what they wanted to top their pizza with. Spooning the tomato sauce on and playing with the mozzarella was easy enough; it was the rest of the toppings that were hard to decide on. "I'm going to make you decide, you know. I made the dough, you get to top it."
"Anything within reason," he replied with a grin. "I'm not seven months pregnant, like some people. How about gherkins on the side?" he suggested, as he greased the pan in readiness for the transfer of dough.
"How about a smiley face made out of pepperoni?" she countered with a giggle. It had been a while since she'd been this silly over making dinner; as much fun as constructing dinner with the children could be, there was always an element of alertness necessary to keep accidents from happening. With only Johnny, the only thing that might happen was that she might get distracted for a little while. "With ....pineapple chunks for teeth, and red onion for freckles - diced, obviously - and ....I don't know ....does spinach work on pizza?" She flashed him her bright grin, one elbow nudging at him teasingly.
He chuckled at her suggestion, glad to see her relaxing and having fun for once. "I can live with that, so long as there are no anchovies or gherkins!" Once the pan was prepared, he let her spread out the dough, and he spooned the sauce on top. "We should do this more often," he said, not referring to the pizza making - that was a fairly regular occurrence in the Storm household - but the time alone and away from the craziness of their little family they so adored.
Liv nodded, sighing softly. "We should," she agreed, leaning against his arm, her head on his shoulder comfortably. "It's not that I don't love our mad house, but this is long overdue. I can't believe we didn't work it out for ourselves. Pregnancy brain is only supposed to affect me, not you." She giggled, kissing his shoulder affectionately.
"I've had a lot on my mind," he admitted, smiling softly over at her as she leaned her head against his shoulder. Once the sauce was spread pretty evenly across the dough, he started adding the cheese. "It's not that I don't love the kids, but it's nice to have a little time alone together sometimes."
"I know what you mean," she admitted, reluctantly easing away to start slicing various bits and pieces to go on top of their pizza. It had to be said, though, that taking her maternity leave sooner than she had expected to had done wonders for her mood, especially first thing in the morning. She was nowhere near as tense just three days after that chat with Jon than she had been a day before it, and it showed. "We should make this a regular thing. Maybe not overnight every time, but a few hours that belong to just us."
"Well, we do have a few hours while the kids are in school," he reminded her. He would have nudged her arm, if she hadn't moved away to start slicing and dicing up veggies. Instead, he worked on sprinkling the mozzarella evenly over the sauce. "You know, we still need to discuss names. Vicki suggested getting the kids involved, but I don't know. She said we can have some of Ben and Emily's old clothes if we want, too, once we know what we're having." Though that wasn't likely to happen until after the baby was born.
"She's very generous," Liv smiled, glancing at her husband. "As for names, well ....why don't we come up with a list, and then ask the kids which ones they prefer of the ones we chose" That way we're not going to end up with a son or daughter called Ruprecht or something disastrous like that."
"Rup-what?" he echoed, chuckling. He'd been doing a lot of laughing lately, his whole mood changed since his talk with Vicki and since he and Liv had decided to take some time off. Money wasn't really an issue, so long as they were honorary Grangers, though neither wanted to take advantage of that. "What would you think of a Johnny, Jr.?" he asked, just throwing that out there. He would have suggested Steven, but he wasn't sure if Steve and Lucy were planning on having a Junior of their own someday.
"Ruprecht," she repeated innocently. "It's a silly name that comes up in Radio 4 comedy programs in England." Giggling, she slid the mixed selection of meat and veg toward him, moving to tidy up easily. "Would you want to have a Johnny, Jr?" she asked curiously. "I'm not wholly against it, but as far as I'm concerned, there's only one Johnny Storm. And he's wonderful."
"I'd like to have a Steve Storm," he replied, though as soon as he said it, he knew it didn't really sound right. Steve Rogers had a ring to it; Steve Storm didn't. "Hmm, maybe not. Maybe we should just pick a boy's name we both like and not worry about trying to honor anyone with it." He picked up a couple of slices of pepperoni for eyes, debating what to use for a nose, but that wasn't nearly enough pepperoni for a whole pizza.
"If we have a boy, we could give him Steven as a second name," she suggested, letting him play with the toppings as she tucked her arms about his waist from behind, her chin on his shoulder. "Or Stephanie, for a girl. But I'd like to give a girl Margaret as a second name. I know Steve and Lucy would probably like to have a Peggy of their own at some point."
"Stephanie Storm," he echoed with a smile. "I kind of like that, but I thought you might want to name a daughter Elizabeth after your mother," he suggested quietly, feeling strangely content with her head on his shoulder and her arms around his waist, both of them savoring the quiet simplicity of the moment.
"I hadn't thought of that," Liv admitted quietly, quite happy to loll where she was and let him make a masterpiece of their dinner as she hugged him contentedly. "I like Elizabeth. But I like Stephanie, too. And what about your mother's name" Mary?"
He frowned a little at the mention of his mother. "Yeah, but we already have a Maria," he pointed out. And that had been purely accidental. "We don't have to decide today, but we should probably make a list." He continued distributing various meats and veggies across the top of the pizza until there was little room left for more. "You sure this won't give you heartburn?" he asked, giving the pizza toppings a second look.