A mess of a life

Some things are better unspoken but not relationship

Before you ask, yes, I did get the title from a magazine about mental health.

***

That night, Cody let the kids play well past their regular bedtime. It was at after 11 pm when he told them to get dress, which apparently took even longer in a larger group, as if Fives didn't protest against socks or a t-shirt he magically stopped liking on daily basics. But they got there. He also got them brush their teeth, a smart way to keep them from eating more sweets and drinking more soda than they already have at least for the night.

And because Cody wasn't new to getting children to sleep, he was well aware a seven years old with this much shugar in his blood has more energy than most adults. So he initiated his plan. Mindful of Kix who was probably studying or asleep, he closed all the doors before he collected all the blankets and pillows he collected earlier and tossed them onto the living room floor. "You know what we are going to do?" he gave the kids and Wolffe who decided to join them a wide smile. "We are going to build a fortress."

"Fox is gonna be delighted when he comes from his night shift and finds a blanket fort," Wolffe snorted.

"I would like to see that too," Cody returned the chuckle. He imagined Fox, enthusiastic as he always was, the only thing keeping him awake being coffee and cigarettes, and tripping over a blanket fort full of children at 3 am. He would very much like to see that. "But unfortunately, when he heard there will be an additional child, he decided to stay in the barracks."

"That's a shame," Wolffe said. And it indeed was a shame. Fox's reaction to see his beloved carpet in the living room occupied would really be worth it.

"Can we build the fortress already?" Anakin asked impatiently.

"Sure. But we need to be really, really quiet. Because there are monsters upstairs," Cody whispered dramatically. "And if they hear us, they will come for us. And without a fortress, we don't have where to hide."

His mission of actually pulling the children in the game turned out succesful. He pretended not to see Wolffe hiding his laugh behind cough. It wasn't like the teenager will believe him, Rex also didn't but he was still easier to convince to play along being still pretty much a kid.

Cody let the children mostly work by themselves, only helping them when needed. But that was rarely necessary as Wolffe also engaged. Cody knew Wolffe would never admit it but he did enjoy the building.

"That's so cool! We actually did it!" Fives yelled.

"Shhh!" Echo silenced him. "The monsters will hear you."

"Then you better get inside the fortress. They can't get to you there," Cody adviced and smiled as the kids, even Rex, followed the advice without as much as a blink. Wolffe gave him an amused smile but followed after the younger kids. Cody considered if the fortress was big enough and then he joined them too.

"Now what?" Anakin asked.

"Now that we are safe from the monsters, we can watch some movie, what do you think?"

"Yes! A film!" all the kids yelled at once.

"Shhh!" Cody silenced them.

"But the monsters can't get us here!" Fives protested.

"But angry Kix can and thats a fate far worse than monsters," Cody said. And he wasn't joking. Kix, especially without his coffe of which he drank even more than Fox, could be pretty terrifying.