After Lover for Pay: ONESHOTS

Office Hours

It was the middle of July and London was happy to have everyone home for the summer. There was more than one thing he loved about summer, too, and that was always to see his family had made it one more year. He and Marbell celebrated their six-year anniversary the way he always did, off the coast of Greece, and when they returned, it was time to put preparations towards the birthdays of all their children.

They hadn't quite put the math together all those years ago when they decided to have kids, but somehow Ben's, the twins, and Ozzy's birthdays all line up perfectly at the end of June. So now Ben was six, the twins were five, and Ozzy was three. London loved celebrating their birthdays together, and it never failed to make him a little emotional watching each of them blow out their own candles. Another year, another dream come true.

Now that it was summer, the family fun times were boosted, and London couldn't wait until Marbell got home from the office. After tonight, Marbell would be going on vacation for two weeks. With that in mind, they all were going to take a trip to Bermuda for a little while. The beaches were outrageously gorgeous, and just being able to have his family around him while everyone was happy...made London happy.

Since they were leaving tomorrow, London got to packing everyone's luggage. Starting with Ben's he moved about the room with his son, folding and piling what clothes he wanted to wear, what few toys he was allowed to bring, and made sure he brought an extra strap for his glasses just in case the other one got lost. When he was finished with the luggage, he placed it beside the door, but before he left the bedroom, Ben tugged at his father's jeans, and said, "We're going to the beach again, right?"

"Yeah," London answered, "You liked playing over there last time, didn't you?"

Ben nodded, "But...Papa...I was watching TV with Uncle Henry yesterday, and statistically speaking, sharks are more prone to attack people in shallow water. Are there going to be sharks at that beach, too?"

London furrowed his brow after hearing his son words, "Statistically speaking? Prone?" he said, "Jeez, you're smart. But, Ben, you don't have anything to worry about, I'm not going to let any of you out of my sight, and no sharks are going to get you. More people get hurt tripping over their own feet than getting bitten by sharks. You'll be fine."

"What about shallow water blackouts?" Ben asked next, "That's when you dive under water that's about five meters deep, and when you've been holding your breath for too long, your brain gets scared and you pass out underwater. It's called ce-cereb-cerebral hypoxia."

"Ben," London almost wanted to laugh, "You can't swim without your floaties, and there's no way you're going to dive five meters underwater. You'll be fine, stop worrying. Remind me to never let you watch TV with Henry again."

Leaving Ben's room when he was done, London went into the twin's room next where Layla and Naomi were taking an afternoon nap. He went into the closet quietly, taking matching clothes out and placed them on Naomi's empty bed since she was asleep beside her sister. When he had everything folded and ready to go, he zipped it all into their suitcases and set them beside the door.

"Papa?" Layla called in a sleepy voice, she had the blanket pulled up to her chin and she looked fatigued, but not the usual fatigue that came with sleep. "My head hurts, Papa."

London neared her bedside and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. "You're burning up."

"I have boogers in my nose, too."

"I'll get you some medicine, okay? Hopefully it will make you feel better by tomorrow."

When Layla nodded, London went ahead and carefully picked up Naomi and placed her in her own bed so he wouldn't get sick. He got some water from downstairs, and medicine from a cabinet in his bathroom before giving it to his daughter. She hated the taste of it, but hated being sick more than the disgusting taste of "cherry"