Cody learns to love

The one chapter where Cody and Fives have a talk

  Cody woke up to the sound of a baby crying. He was so tired he could fall asleep right there even with the screaming child but he couldn't do that. He moved to get up.

  "I've got it, Cody. You can go back to sleep. I will take care of Boba, I promise." Cody was pushed back to his bed. He could feel someone adjusting his blanket. He didn't even know when was the last time someone tucked him in like this. It felt nice.

***

  Kote felt warm and content lying in his bed under a fluffy blanket, with gentle fingers cradling through his hair. The humming of a lullaby was also nice but it made Kote sleepy. He wanted to stay awake for a bit longer, so he could feel safe like this for a little bit longer.

  The lullaby ended. "Another song, please!" Kote begged. He was almost asleep but wanted to enjoy listening to the gentle humming until the very moment he fell asleep.

  "'Lek, Kot'ika." There was a laugh, Kote wasn't sure what was funny but he was too sleepy for it to matter. What mattered was that the humming started again. The ancient lullaby and gentle rubbing on his back and his head calmed Kote down.

  By the time the lullaby ended, Kote was so sleepy he almost didn't notice.

  Kote felt a gentle kiss on his temple, could feel his blanket being adjusted so it covered him whole. "Jate ca, ner ver'dika." Kote felt the soft touch of fingers in his hair for the last time. "Ni kar'tayl gar darasuum, Kot'ika."

***

  The next day, Cody felt more well rested than he has in ages. He started his day with sending a quick message to Obi-Wan to thank him for taking care of everything in the evening while he prepared breakfast.

  "What's gonna be for breakfast?" Kix asked.

  "Porridge," Cody answered. He knew that the kids preferred panckes or waffles but he could only cook stuff that didn't need him to be in the kitchen for the whole time. He needed to get the kids dressed at the same time.

  "Porridge? I want pancakes, we didn't have pancakes in a long time," Jesse said.

  "I know, Jesse. Maybe on the weekend when we don't have to rush, okay?"

  "Okay."

  Cody turned on the stove and set the timer for twenty minutes. It was time to get the kids out of their pajamas now. The task could be surprisingly difficult. He started by picking an outfit for Kix and Jesse. They could dress by themselves, they just needed Cody to give them the clothes. They were old enough to do it all by themselves but Cody could hardly tell them something when he still had to remind Wolffe to change sometimes.

  It was more difficult with the twins. He had to stand in their room and make sure that they didn't get distracted in the process, that their shirts weren't inside out and that they didn't dress their pants the opposite way.

  That particular day proved to be even worse than usual. First the twins decided that they wanted to match. It took Cody a while to find them matching t-shirts that weren't dirty but it was doable. Then Fives ecided he was feeling too hyperactive to get dressed and ran away in just his underwear.

  "Fives!" Cody shouted after him. "Fives, come back!"

  "No!" Fives yelled back and giggled.  Sometimes Cody just wished he didn't have any children. His life would be much easier. It would be lonelier too.

  "Fives! We don't have time for this!" Cody waited for a response but he didn't get any. "Fives, I hope you know that naughty children don't get candy! Naughty children eat vegetable all day!"