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Joel Miller has never really been a morning person.
Before Sarah was old enough to wake herself up, he practically dragged himself out of bed. He absolutely could not function without a cup of coffee in his system, which still stands true but now he rather savors the flavor than haul it down his throat to wake up and get going.
As the years went by Sarah eventually went to college and found love. Which soon enough led to her starting her own family with their own early mornings. Whilst it hurt him to see his baby girl grow up, he was happy for her. Joel even cried when she announced that she was expecting. Cried even more when the little baby boy arrived.
Lord knows how much Tommy would pester him to settle down with someone “now that Sarah was off to college”. Which really only increased once Joel laid eyes on you that one fateful night in a shitty bar that Tommy dragged him into. You couldn’t have thanked Tommy enough for introducing him to you. Which was by basically pushing Joel towards you, forcing him to make a move.
Whilst he was very rusty at the whole dating thing, you couldn’t have been more infatuated by him. He still had his Miller™ charm despite being a few years out of practice. What really sold the deal for you was seeing the paternal side of him when he was with Sarah. Their shenanigans being so endearing that you couldn’t help but fall in love.
It took a little over two years before you moved in. He blames it on Sarah still being in college at the time and not wanting to upset her by having his girlfriend living with them once she finished school. But in reality it was that Joel didn’t wanna fuck it all up.
Sarah’s mom and him got married and bought a house basically as soon as the two lines appeared. It was rushed and it ended as soon as it started. Leaving him alone with his little baby girl and the house, that in all reality he bought for them and their future.
He didn’t want that with you.
He wanted to take it slow with you. Learn what makes you tick. What your all time favorite movie is. How you like your coffee in the morning. Make sure that it wasn’t rushed this time. That he could be enough for once. ‘Cause fuck . He’ll be damned if he lost the most perfect woman he’d ever met.
Even though he wanted to wait for you to move in, you practically already lived there. You were paying for an apartment you rarely stepped foot in. Your closet was nearly empty since most of your clothes had already found a home next to his.
You were the one to officially ask him on a late Saturday morning, bodies entangled together after your morning escapades. Your head was resting on his chest whilst your fingers softly danced over his patchy beard that you loved so much. Not that it took much convincing for him to agree that it was time. Especially since Sarah moved in with her boyfriend a few weeks earlier.
Living together was easy enough. On days you had work, it was usually 50/50 on who would wake up first. However as the years went by, Joel was the one to wake up first. It may have been his internal clock kicking in after all the years or his body having a pavlovian response of getting caffeine by a certain hour. You however were still in bed for at least an hour more, determined to get your seven hours of sleep before tackling the day.
Eventually you two moved to a quaint little house outside the city, beautiful pieces of empty land surrounding you. The porch out back adorned a little table and two chairs facing out towards the lawn. With said lawn being full of toys, evidence of you being grandparents to a toddler, whose eyes were identical to Joel’s. During the late summer nights you would find yourself in your separate chairs, his guitar in his lap as he softly strummed a soft melody for you.
Now, at nearly six am, he sat in his designated chair on your back porch, a nearly empty cup of black coffee in hand. The sun was set to rise soon, the darkness slowly lifting around him rendering the porchlight unnecessary. After a short while he heard the telltale sound of you opening the sliding door and walking out to him, your own cup of coffee in hand.
“Morning, darlin’.” He greets as you close the sliding door. His southern drawl ever so present as he looked up at you with a soft smile. You couldn’t help but smile back. The way his face lit up at the mere presence of you, made you all happy and giddy despite having spent a little over a decade together.
“I put on a new pot for us.” Your voice still laced with sleep but affectionate nonetheless. Even though you missed waking up next to him. Seeing him with his, most likely third, cup of coffee waiting for you to wake up, made up for it.
You softly shuffled towards him, sitting down on his lap. Wrapping your arm around his shoulders as you both look out over the growing field in front of you. His calloused hand finding its home on your thigh, unconsciously caressing in a slow and soft movement. You take a sip of your coffee before placing it next to his as you softly speak again.
“Did you talk to Tommy about this weekend? I figured I’d go to the store after work to get the rest.” You turn your head to look down at him only to be met with his soft gaze already on you.
“Yeah, he said he and Maria will be here by six at the very least.” His eyes admiring you as if he doesn’t do it every single day.
“Good.” You lean down to softly kiss him which he doesn’t hesitate to act upon. His thumb softly rubs your thigh in a loving manner, making you softly hum into the kiss in content. Your eyes open as you pull away, meeting his eyes that’s swimming with love for you.
You turn your head back to look out as the sun peeks out from the horizon. Your wedding ring clinking against the porcelain as you pick up your coffee with a dash of milk, Joel’s eyes never leaving your face.
Fuck, was he lucky to have you.
He managed to not only find a perfect woman but also managed to marry her. What the two of you have is exactly what he wanted, domestic and so full of love. You were even a perfect mother figure to Sarah despite not having a child of your own. You never judged him for anything and you showed actual interest in him. You made him feel loved and appreciated — which you still do, every single day.
His mornings consisted of his left hand holding his coffee cup, stained after years of use. His right hand softly touching you whether it be your thigh or hand, as you either listen to the soft chirps from the small birds in the surrounding trees or the radio softly playing in the background, your favorite channel always on.
Joel Miller may not really have been a morning person. But sitting here with you in his lap, his wife, clad in his warm flannel as both of you watch the sunrise. He realizes that maybe, just maybe , he was a morning person after all.