Work Text:
Chrissy Cunningham always wakes up early.
And she is not really sure at this point in her life, if that's because she's just a morning person by nature, or if it's because she’s lucky if her mother lets her sleep in till 8 a.m., even on the weekends and school breaks.
Regardless of the reason, the result is that even on days when her mother isn't there knocking on her door to wake her up well before the alarm on her nightstand that Chrissy never bothers to set, Chrissy still wakes up unusually early.
Sometimes, this becomes a problem when she spends the night at a friend’s house.
All of Chrissy’s friends are much better at sleeping in than she is, and she has spent many a morning bored and uncomfortable in their rooms waiting for them to wake up.
It’s never a problem when she is staying over at the Munson's trailer though.
Even though Eddie can sleep in later than anyone else she’s ever known some days, Chrissy finds that she is never bored or uncomfortable in the small trailer.
She always manages to find something to do, and she never feels awkward or unwelcome here.
She’s found that, without the overwhelming feeling that she’s trespassing or crossing invisible boundaries (a feeling that she often feels pretty much everywhere else), she actually quite likes having some time to herself in the mornings.
Eddie has a lot of books.
They aren’t ones she would have ever picked out herself, or ones she would have been allowed to bring home even if she did, but they’re good. She finds she quite likes them.
And Eddie has never gotten mad at her for reading them. In fact, every time he’s woken up to her curled up in bed beside him reading one of his books he seems really, genuinely, happy about it.
He’s even offered to let her take them home with her, so she can keep reading, but she always turns him down. Always insists that she likes leaving them here to read when she visits.
Chrissy has spent the night here enough times that she knows Eddie and Wayne’s schedules without Eddie having to tell her them, but she appreciates that he does it anyway.
It’s maybe a little stupid, but it makes her feel more welcome in their space to have that reassurance that Eddie is consciously deciding to allow her there even when Wayne will be home or when they have other stuff going on.
Chrissy reads in bed, feeling warm and safe tucked into Eddie’s arms until it gets close to the time that Wayne will be home from his overnight shift.
Then she sets the book down and slips, quiet as can be, out of Eddie's arms and out of his bedroom, closing the door with a soft click behind her.
She makes her way down the short hall to the trailer’s little kitchenette and sets about getting breakfast started.
She knows that even if Eddie is not awake by the time food is done, Wayne will still be home soon and he will appreciate the hot food. And Eddie will grab his share whenever he does end up waking up.
The Munson's have a small radio in the kitchen. She knows she could probably turn it on with the volume set to low and not wake Eddie, but she decides not to, just in case.
Just because she can’t sleep in, doesn’t mean that she can’t be considerate of others who can. She doesn’t want to be like her mother, who always wakes up at five and thinks everyone who doesn’t is being terribly lazy.
Instead Chrissy hums along to the song that’s been stuck in her head for days, swaying along to the music in her head as she pulls ingredients from the fridge.
Though she has learned to have an appreciation for the kind of music Eddie likes, her favorite music is still firmly oldies.
Eddie teases her for having the same taste in music as his uncle, sometimes calling her a little old lady in disguise, but there’s always something in the sound of his voice and the smile in his eyes that tells her that he doesn’t mean it in a mean way.
The smell of bacon sizzling in the pan seems to have been enough to rouse Eddie from his slumber this morning and he shuffles out of his bedroom looking sleep rumpled and still wearing his pajamas.
He shuffles over to where she stands in front of the stove and wraps his long arms around her, pressing a sleepy kiss to her temple.
“‘Morning beautiful.” He mumbles, his words muffled into her hair.
Chrissy smiles, placing her hands over his arms and basking in the warmth of his body behind her.
“Good morning Eddie.” She says, feeling a blush rising on her cheeks and the happy warmth in her chest burn a little brighter.
Eddie stands with her for a few minutes, just holding her and resting his head on top of hers. When she needs to go back to more actively tending to the food on the stove, he shuffles off to sit at the counter with one more kiss pressed into her cheek.
A few minutes later the door to the trailer opens and Wayne comes in, finally home from a long night of working.
Wayne, Chrissy has come to know, is a stoic sort of man. And he’s not overly accustomed to showing his emotions to anyone. But he still gives her a small smile and a nod of his head before he heads back to his room to get changed out of his work clothes.
Chrissy goes back to humming as she finishes up with the cooking and starts plating the food.
Eddie, resting his head in his hand with his elbow on the counter, smiles wide and happy at her even though she knows he doesn’t recognize the song.
Wayne though, when he emerges from his bedroom in fresh comfortable clothes and takes a seat at the counter besides Eddie has a knowing look in his eyes when he thanks her for the plate full of food she hands him.
And she knows then that he’s recognized the melody she was humming.
Chrissy’s face feels hot with her blush this time, and she must be bright red because as he takes the plate she’s handing him Eddie blinks at her confusedly then furrows his brows as he looks back and forth between her and his uncle.
“What?” Eddie asks. “What’d I miss?”
“None of your beeswax.” Wayne says gruffly, as Chrissy takes her own plate and settles into the seat on Eddie’s other side. “Eat your food.”
Eddie pouts at them both. Wayne just rolls his eyes exasperatedly at him as he continues to eat. Chrissy knows there’s no chance of Wayne giving in and telling Eddie, which is reassuring even if she is still embarrassed to have been caught.
Despite her embarrassment, the song stuck in her head keeps playing…
“Eddie my love, I love you so
How I've waited for you you'll never know
Please Eddie, don't make me wait to long”