Our Little Family - Fanfic Contest Submission

Our Little Family

Y/N opened the door slowly, unsure if the kids were in bed yet or not. It was a Friday night, but she'd been held up late at work and had had to text her husband, Simon, to let him know she wouldn't be back until after nine. It was now nine thirty and the only visible light was on the front porch.

It took extra careful care to put her shoes and jacket away quietly because her youngest, Alaska, had the front bedroom and was well-known for waking up whenever anyone came home. There wasn't a sound from behind her door, though, so Y/N poked her head in just to be sure. The sheets were tossed back, but there was no three-year-old child in the bed. She made her way back out to the hall to check her son's room, but as she walked down towards it she heard a faded laugh echo from the kitchen.

Following the sounds down the hall, she checked in Levi's room only to see the exact same scene. On a weeknight this was unheard of for Simon, and even on the weekend it was rare. The kitchen door was closed but the white light was shining from underneath it. Standing outside for a minute, Y/N listened to them all laughing and smiled to herself. She could remember when she first found out she was pregnant, as clearly as if it were yesterday, could see Simon's worried eyes and hear his fear.

"But what if I'm not ready to be a dad?"

"Trust me, Simon, you are more than ready to be a dad. Don't worry, we've got eight months to prepare ourselves."

Simon ducked his head away from her eye contact. "I'm just not sure that I'm cut out to be a dad. It's just hard for me to see."

"Babe," Y/N cupped his face in one hand. "Listen to me. It is not hard for me to see at all. You are going to do amazingly. Trust me." She stood on her tiptoes to press her lips to his and he finally closed his panicked blue eyes to kiss her back.

Y/N pushed the door open gently and slipped into the kitchen, hoping to be able to see what was going on before they noticed her, but was automatically hit by a tiny, blonde headed missile that wrapped its arms around her knees.

"Mummy!" Alaska cried out, squeezing Y/N's legs with her tiny hands. Y/N bent down and scooped her up into her arms, meeting Simon's eyes over her head and sharing a grin.

"Wow, what have we got here?" She asked, making her way over to the kitchen bench, where she could see a bunch of cooking utensils and a lot of flour.

Simon laughed when she used one finger to draw a line in the thick white covering. "I swear we'll clean it up." He promised. He turned to Levi, who was standing in front of the oven with a cheeky grin. "Won't we?"

The little boy didn't speak, instead gesturing with his hands that Simon bend down. When Simon was kneeling, he whispered something into his ear that made him grin again. "Okay. Of course, don't you worry."

Y/N shot him a questioning look and he smirked. "Levi says you have to leave, because we have to take dinner out and he doesn't want you to know what it is until it's served." He told her matter-of-factly, and Levi crossed his short little arms over his chest and nodded.

"Wow. Alright. I know when I'm not wanted," She laughed, and turned Alaska in her arms to look at her. "What are you gonna do, munchkin?" As she watched, Alaska's little mouth stretched into a perfect 'o' shape of a yawn, and she relaxed into Y/N's arms. "I'll take that as an 'I'm done here, mum'," Y/N told Simon, who smiled fondly and started to spray down the kitchen top.

"I'd say so. Now get out of here, so the boys can serve up your dinner."

Y/N smiled widely and mock saluted him. On her way out, she felt Simon smack her butt and she bit her lip with a grin. Every day she was thankful for the life she had been given, and this night was just another perfect example.

To pass the time, she took Alaska down to her room and tucked her in, perching on the side of the bed. It took her a while to pry her short little arms from around her neck but in the end she was just too tired to resist. She'd barely given her a kiss on the forehead, though, when Simon's voice echoed down the hallway.

"Your dinner is served, my love!" He called. Alaska's dark eyelashes fluttered and a tiny scowl formed on her forehead, the spitting image of Y/N when she was unhappy except for the pale blonde curls.

"Sleep tight, baby," Y/N whispered. She smoothed out the frown lines on her forehead, then made her way back to the kitchen, leaving the door slightly ajar.

As if like magic, Simon had cleaned up the marble top counter to the extent that she could hardly remember what it had looked like before. The sink, before only piled over with bubbles, had clearly been used as a scapegoat, as it was now overflowing with kitchen tools. On the middle of the table, however, was a very artistically plated up bowl of pasta. Beside it, Levi was sitting on the edge of the counter looking proud, Simon's arms tightly keeping him from falling.

"Wow! This looks amazing, boys!" Y/N cried, her face lighting up. She caught Levi's eyes, her own mirrored into a little round face, and saw that they were copying her expression exactly. "I'm so impressed, honey, thank you so much!"

She leaned over to her son and he pouted his lips for a kiss, which she gave him, then another on his forehead. "I love it so much, I can't wait to try it!" She told him excitedly.

Simon stuck one hand out for a high-five and Levi smacked it with as much force as he could muster. "Good job, daddy," he said proudly, his chest stuck out in five-year-old confidence. Simon laughed and patted him on the back.

"Good job, Levi. Time for bed, though, what do you think?" He asked. Levi nodded with a perfectly timed yawn, and reached his arms out to get lifted to the floor. When his feet touched the ground, he wandered straight out into the hallway and Simon followed him, stopping briefly beside Y/N. "I'll go get him into bed and you eat your dinner. Long day?"

Y/N nodded, exhausted again all of a sudden. "The longest." She replied, and Simon shot her a sympathetic look.

"I'll just get him sorted and then I can sort you." He pulled her in by the small of her back until their bodies were together, and kissed her for way longer than she expected. When they broke apart, she was breathing heavier than she should've been.

"Damn, you've sorted me already," she laughed, running her hands through her loose hair.

Simon grinned. "This is going to be easy, then." He told her, turning to the hallway.

"Wait, wait," she called to him, walking over again.

He raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Thank you for doing this. I love our little family. I love you."

Simon smiled widely with a quick glance to where Levi had been, then pulled her in again with a hand on her butt. "I love you too."