𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐍𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐌𝐒, k.jacobs

SIXTEEN.

SIXTEEN ;
want you around

real life !

Marley typically didn't mind babysitting her younger siblings, but as five o'clock grew closer and closer, she was starting to wish she had told her mom the truth and gotten out of it. It wasn't like they were especially difficult kids or anything, but they out numbered her and usually Karl was there to help even things out.

When she arrived at her parents house, she was kind of surprised to not find her brothers outside waiting for her. The excuse she had fed her mom was already on the tip of her tongue considering she one hundred percent expected to have to tell them immediately.

Her mother met her at the door, a wide smile on her face as she brought Marley into a hug. "Are you feeling okay, mars?" she asked, lightly grabbing her face in her hands. "You look like you're getting sick or something."

Marley waved her off, "I'm fine, mama. Just tired, that's all."

The older woman didn't look convinced, but didn't push any further. "You can spend the night here, if you'd like. I'd rather you not drive home when you look like you're running on a few hours of sleep."

Before Marley could say anything, her mother frowned and looked around her front yard with a frown. "Where's Karl?"

Marley was surprised it had taken her so long to notice his absence. In fact, she had been under the impression that would have been the first thing her mom asked about.

"Something came up with work...sorry, I must've forgotten to mention that," she answered with a shrug, refusing to look her in the eyes. "Stop looking at me like that, mama. I'll be fine watching them by myself."

"Are you guys fighting?" she finally asked as they made their way into the house. "His mom messaged me the other day and was concerned that you guys were."

Marley sighed and went to respond, but was quickly interrupted by a few loud knocks on the door behind them.

They glanced at each other before Mars slowly opened the door, revealing an extremely out of breath Karl Jacobs. He was red in the face and his hands were on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"Karl?" Marley started with a frown. "I thought you had...work plans?"

He hesitated before finally looking over at her and shrugging, "They got canceled last minute. Figured it would be kinda messed up to ditch you here."

"You didn't have to," she muttered, watching as his smile fell slightly. "I don't mind."

"Well I for one think it's great you showed up," her mother said, lightly brushing past Marley so she could hug Karl. "It's been too long since I've seen you, Karl Jacobs."

He offered her a sheepish smile, "Sorry...you know, my mom told me the same thing."

"Great minds think alike," she hummed, before gesturing towards the house. "We should probably head inside before the hooligans kill each other. They're being suspiciously quiet in there and i'm starting to get worried."

Karl laughed and held the door open for them, "that's actually kind of terrifying, to be honest."

"Maybe Lanie tied the twins up somewhere and is just enjoying the silence," Marley suggested, earning her a light slap to the arm from her mother. "What!? I was just saying that's not a very unlikely thing to happen."

"I mean...not wrong," Karl said, amusement evident in his voice. "Although I think Luca and Kai could probably win if they tried hard enough."

Marley scoffed as they made their way into the living room. "Kind of sad they have to try super hard to win against a four year old, don't you think?"

"to be fair, Lanie is kind of an evil genius. My poor boys never stood a chance," Karl said, fondness dripping off of every word.

When they finally found the youngest Langdon, she was sitting against the twins bedroom door, staring up at them with a grin.

"Karl!" Lanie exclaimed the second she noticed them. Immediately, she ran away from the door and threw herself at his legs. "Missed you!"

The door she had been pressed against immediately flew open, revealing the twins who were booking it across the room towards Karl. They stopped right in front of him, identical scowls on their face as they realized he was holding Lanie on his hip.

"You know you don't have to hold her," Kai started with a roll of his eyes. "She's four years old now."

"That means she's not a baby anymore," Luca chimed in as he crossed his arms. "She's old enough to do taxes, you know that right?"

Karl let out a surprised laugh before reaching over to ruffle each boys hair. "Well it kind of feels like you guys want me to hold you and if little lanie isn't a baby anymore then doesn't that make you two practically adults by now?"

The twins glanced at each other before looking back at Karl with narrowed eyes. "No, we're not old like Mars!" Kai shouted as he pointed towards his older sister.

"I'm older than your sister," Karl shot back, raising his eyebrows. "Are you calling me old?"

Marley stepped back next to her mother as they watched the youngest members of the family interact with Karl.

"They adore him," her mother noted with a gentle smile. "We all do. I'm truly so glad the two of you found each other, Mars."

She tried not to wince at her words, despite them feeling like a stab to the heart. "Me too, mama. Me too."

•

That night, after they had finally put the kids to sleep, Marley was beyond exhausted. She had practically thrown herself down on the couch as she debated on spending the night there or not.

Karl had been tasked with getting the twins to sleep, and he had been a lot luckier than she had. He was already sitting on the couch, anxiously tapping his fingers on his thigh as he scrolled through his phone.

"I appreciate you showing up," Marley started as she stared blankly ahead. "You didn't have to...but i'm glad you did."

Her words startled him considering he had convinced himself she wouldn't say a word to him after the kids were asleep. "I did, though. We both agreed to watching them months ago and it would be a real dick move to just not show up."

Marley shrugged, "Things were different when you agreed, Karl."

"Doesn't change the fact that I had already said i'd be here," he shot back, before hesitating. "Listen, I actually am sorry for just showing up without saying anything. I'm sure you don't want me around too much until I get my life together and that's so fair actually, but I couldn't just abandon you here when I know they're a handful. I debated showing up for like four hours and If I didn't I think I literally would have gone insane."

Marley glanced at her feet, ignoring the tears in her eyes. "That's where you're wrong, though. I love you, Karl. What's going on between us hasn't changed that. I just...I guess we both need time to get our shit together and even if we don't—," she sniffed and wiped at her eyes, "even if we don't ever get back together, i'm never not going to want you around."

A/N
I am back from the dead hello