Yeah I'm hard to love and even harder to live with
And I know there's days when you just want to up and quit
But when it comes to lovin' me
Baby you make it look so easy
You're my compass when I'm lost
My anchor when I get tossed
And the right way when all I can do is wrong
Sometimes I drink 'til I fall down
but your arms save me from the ground
And hold me 'til all the hurt is gone
I got a hard head, I was born that way
And that makes me wrong more than I say
But I thank God you got a hard head too
I guess he must have known you'd need that
To get us through
'Cause when it comes to lovin' me
Baby you make it look so easy
-You Make it Look so Easy, Eric Church

···

The alarm clock broke the silence with its shrill blaring, and Sharon groaned, flinging her arm out to make it stop before burrowing closer to the warmth of the body next to her.

"We have to get up," she said halfheartedly, and she didn't have to be looking at Brenda to know that the little blonde was pouting when she answered, "Five more minutes."

"That's what you said twenty minutes ago," Sharon answered with a grin, kissing the soft skin of Brenda's shoulder before slipping out from under the sheets and onto her feet.

Brenda grumbled something unintelligible and made no move to get up, so Sharon did the only thing she could think of.

She grabbed the blankets and pulled them off the bed.

Brenda sputtered as she stared up at her, trying to be angry, but all Sharon could think was how adorable she looked with her hair all in a mess and her nightgown askew on her slender frame.

"You're impossible," Brenda muttered, and Sharon just grinned.

"If you want a shower you better get it now," she said, turning on her heel and heading for the bathroom, pulling off the shirt she'd slept in as she went.

The offer of a shared shower never failed to get Brenda's attention, and the blonde was on her feet the moment Sharon turned away, shrugging out of her clothes as she followed her.

Sharon smiled as Brenda stepped into the shower behind her, draping herself over Sharon's back and kissing the place where neck met shoulder while her hands traced patterns on the dark-haired woman's stomach.

"Big day today," Brenda murmured in her ear, and Sharon's smile grew.

She turned and wrapped her arms around Brenda, pulling her close and kissing her thoroughly. It should have surprised her, how easy this was. They'd been through hell in the beginning, and there had been times when Sharon was completely certain that there was no way the two of them would ever make it work. And yet Brenda was beside her when she woke up more often than not, and little moments like this no longer felt stolen. They had earned this happiness for themselves, and now they were enjoying it.

Enjoying it quite a bit, Sharon thought as Brenda's mouth began to wander down Sharon's neck.

···

"Ok, ok, just one more!" Sharon cried, and Brenda and Lee groaned in unison.

"We're gonna be late!" Brenda complained, and though that particular threat was usually enough to get the Captain to do whatever it was Brenda wanted, her dark-haired wife was having none of it.

"Just one more," she said, gingerly placing the camera on the bookshelf before running to stand beside her wife and son.

"Smile!" she said, wrapping an arm around Brenda's waist, and the blonde couldn't help but do just that.

"You're ridiculous," Brenda murmured in her ear, and Sharon squeezed her closer.

"It's his first day of school. The girls would kill me if I didn't get a good picture."

The timer on the camera ran out and the light flashed on the happy family in the front hall of their expansive home.

"No more pictures?" Lee asked suspiciously, staring over his shoulder at them, and Sharon nodded.

"No more pictures. Now go get your bag! We're gonna be late!"

Lee rolled his eyes and trotted off on his sturdy legs to find his backpack. Sharon's arm was still draped across Brenda's waist and the blonde turned, tilting her face up for a kiss. Sharon happily obliged.

"I told you we'd be late," Brenda said smugly, and Sharon leaned in, nibbling on her lip.

"It'll be worth it," she said.

Lee returned and the two women separated. Brenda kissed them each on the cheek and waved from the porch as they clambered into Sharon's car and pulled out the drive. She went back inside to make her coffee and check her phone to see if anyone from the squad had tried to reach her, but Sharon's words echoed in her mind.

It'll be worth it.

And as Brenda looked around their house, at the pictures from their wedding and Lee's birthdays and parties and beach trips and all the little moments that had been their last five years together, she couldn't help but think that yes, it had been worth it after all.