Generations: The Long Game

We're Chained

Reece yawned and stretched as he stood from his place on the floor in their little boy's room. "Em mummy will be home soon. Daddy is going to start dinner. You play in here for a bit." The little blond looked up at him with a smile. "Bye bye daddy." As he padded down the hallway in his socks, he reached out to open her door and got a little zap. Muffling his response, he checked on the little brunette still asleep in her crib. He grabbed the monitor from the room and secured the gate on his way down the stairs.

As he busied himself in the kitchen, he chuckled at the noises his son was making coming through the monitor. Marjorie's first week back was coming to an end and with him off today he had opted to keep the children home. He was spending so much time at the restaurant lately he felt like he just didn't get to see their little faces near enough. He placed her favorite casserole in the oven and pulled out all of the ingredients he needed to make his chocolate tarts. Washing his hands, he moved the monitor not realizing the little boy had gone silent.

Meanwhile

The little boy bashed two dinosaurs together. "RAWR!" He looked around the room. He stood and pulled the little plastic pots and pans from the drawer and placed them on the little cooktop triggering the toy burner to go red and make a sizzling sound. He pressed the plastic bread into the wooden toaster and placed the three hard plastic bacon slices in his little fry pan. He pressed down to initiate the sizzle sound again with a broad smile.

As he placed the bread and bacon on a plate, he heard her whimpering cries. "Uh oh!" He toddled out to the hallway hoping to see Reece coming up the stairs but went as far as the gate with no sight of him. Making his way back to her door he debated what he should do. The rules were very clear, if they were upstairs, he was to stay in his room and play. He stared at her door for a moment, but as her whimpers turned to wails, he turned the knob and walked in. "Ror it's 'kay." He wedged his feet in between the railings of the crib one after the other and hoisted himself up. He hung by his belly over the top of the railing before working out how to shift his weight and dropped, head and arms first into the crib with the little brunette. Giggling he settled into a seated position; she grappled at his jumper trying to stand with her bottom lip still quivering. "Emmy here Ror it's 'kay." The little blond patted her softly on the backing trying to mimic the action his mum and dad had done many times to settle her.

Marjorie pulled up in the Peugeot trying to settle herself. If she walked in flustered, he would jump to conclusions. The truth was she had masked the exhaustion all week but also felt more herself than she had that whole previous year. As she pulled her keys from her bag, something caught that last bit of sunlight in a glimmer in the winter jasmine. Turning to inspect it, she pulled the plastic bag out. As she entered the foyer, she pulled the heels off and left them on the bench ready for Monday morning. She padded off toward the kitchen following the rich smells that never failed to draw her to him. As she swung the kitchen door open, he looked up, a smile spreading across his face. "You alright gorgeous?"

Her eyes scanned the kitchen and landed back on the tall blond. "Upstairs. Emery is playing in his room and Rory is still napping. He's actually been quiet for a bit. Maybe he has fallen asleep as well." She sat at the island sleepily looking up at him when her eyes landed on the monitor. "Reece! The monitor is switched off!"

She scrambled up the stairs with him right behind her. She passed the door to Rory's room and stilled herself outside of Emery's room. She didn't want to startle him if he was just playing. As she realized the room was empty, panic set in. "Reece where is he?" The blond's brow furrowed before turning back to the little girl's room. He swung the door open with caution and grabbed the brunette around the waste as she tried to pass him entering the room. He pressed a finger to his lips indicating for her to be silent as he pulled her into him.

"I gonna win! No, I gonna win!" Rory's giggles echoed down the hallway and brought bright smiles to their faces. "You can't beat me!" Her giggles continued as she watched the little blonde hold his hands together allowing his own two thumbs to fight for dominance. "Yes! I win!" He held up his left hand raising his thumb in true winner's fashion. Rory left out a belly laugh that caught them in the moment and made the four laugh, releasing all the tension of the day.

As they noticed them in the doorway, a sea of mummy and daddy flooded the bedroom as each was lifted by a parent. The fear replaced with pride; Marjorie beamed down at her son. "You really love your sister, don't you?" As she looked up at Reece, she saw the tears glistening in his eyes. For a moment he hadn't seen Emery making Rory laugh. In the moment he had imagined all the many times he made Autumn laugh just to reassure himself that she was still capable of happiness in a world that hadn't been kind to them.