The Alpha and his Omega

Play Dates [Parenthood 9]

"Farlan, stop being picky and eat your peas."

For someone who looked remarkably like his father, the toddler certainly had very different habits when it came to things like eating. Levi might have found certain things like fungi or truffles distasteful because of how they grew, but he still ate them. The alpha might not always pick dishes with them, but he wasn't dead-set against them either. It just depended on the use and taste, and whenever Eren used such ingredients, his mate would consume them without a complaint. Farlan, on the other hand, would refuse to eat things he didn't enjoy. It was difficult to cajole the toddler away from engaging in his picky eating habits, but when it came to Levi, his son was a little more cooperative. At least he hadn't learned Isabel's pea flicking habit with a spoon. Yet.

The dark-haired male was currently making a show of persuading their son to eat it by saying that if he didn't, Farlan wouldn't grow to be as tall as his father. It was cute seeing the father-son interaction, and Eren knew that his partner would never have used that example had it been anyone else but their children. It seemed to work, as the small toddler reluctantly scooped up the small green vegetables and popped them into his mouth with a disgusted face. After hurriedly chewing, the dark-haired boy quickly swallowed and put down his spoon.

"Done!" The young Ackerman was about to get up before Eren stopped him. The toddler struggled in his arms while he wiped off the mess around Farlan's mouth. "Mm – mommy!"

"There. Now you can go play."

Without a backwards glance, their son dashed off onto the field where the rest of his friends and sisters were currently engaged in a game of tag. Instead of a proper game of tag, it resembled children shrieking and a lot of laughing. The omega wasn't even sure if half the kids there even understood the rules, or if they were just running around tagging one another. It was difficult for Eren to imagine his husband as a child running around in the grass, but likely that had more to do with Levi's unorthodox childhood than anything.

They were currently at a picnic-barbeque in one of the state parks outside of Trost along with a few other families. Turns were taken amongst the adults to supervise the children since there was no need for five plus pairs of adults to watch all the kids all the time. And a particular dark-haired alpha would definitely not want to be around the children when they started playing in the playground with sand. Eren and Levi had been in charge of cooking, clean-up, and anything related to the food. Right now Gunther, Mina, Hange, Nanaba, and her husband were overlooking the group of ten or so children running around on the lawn, leaving the couple free to do whatever they wanted for the next hour or two.

Cleaning up the table and tossing the trash into giant plastic bags only took a matter of minutes, largely due to lots of practice with his alpha's habits. Casting one last glance at his children who were happily playing in the field, Eren grabbed some of the remaining supplies and made his way towards the parking lot to pack the extras away. Levi had already wandered off before him with an even larger load.

"My knight in shining armor."

Grabbing the icebox from his omega, Levi clicked his tongue, at his husband's theatrics as Eren pressed a hand to his heart and pretended to swoon. The damn thing wasn't that heavy, but the unsteady way Eren was holding the box piled with other things such as the extra wood made the alpha nervous. As much as he enjoyed cleaning, it was better if a mess could be avoided. Before the dark-haired male could walk any further, a set of familiar arms wrapped around him from behind.

"What are you doing, Eren?" Levi grunted when those arms refused to release him.

"Recharging." There was a satisfied hum as Eren nuzzled him from behind. The alpha let out a deep sigh. Although Levi was typically fine with his mate's spontaneous embraces, it put him in an awkward position. His hands were full holding the icebox and dishes he had taken from the brat, making it difficult to shake the little shit off.