(Untitled)

[little_moons]

There's a little girl with cornsilk hair and a pink pinafore dress screaming in the middle of the rec room. Flo and I sit staring with mouths agape. She doesn't do this often, not really, but last night was a bad night and today's not much better. Two days after their birthday and all celebration is fucking done, as far as she's concerned. She's

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[m_pinocchio]

"Sometimes I think you handle 'em better than me," Mike says, mostly as an aside, moving past them and dropping his coffee cup into the sink. He turns and looks at them, his little girls, not so little anymore.

Flo grins abruptly up at him and lightly smacks Max's side, chirping, "Looka doggie!" Mack just glares.

[little_moons]

"Always thought I was a bad influence," I say with a smirk, but it's not all that far from the truth. There might always be a part of me that thinks I'll only do harm to them. How could I not?

Mack's glaring face gets redder and redder, and eventually her eyes start to well up. Big crocodile tears, all for show. Her daddy's here now, maybe she can get some sympathy outta him too.

[m_pinocchio]

"Christ," he says, rolling his eyes when Mack's lip begins to tremble. "You are such a baby." But he crosses to her and scoops her up into his arms, kissing the side of her head. "A couple minutes," he says. "Then you gotta eat your veggies."

He gives Neil a significant look. "This been going on a while?"

[little_moons]

"All afternoon," I drawl, stretching a kink out of my shoulders and then getting up to find myself something to drink. I'm still covered in paint and baby drool, hair disheveled and my eyes heavy and tired, but I hardly seem to notice.

"I think it's Daddy's turn to get his ear screamed off, what do ya think?" I say, resting my fingertips on the top of Flo's head when she comes over to peer into the fridge with me.

[m_pinocchio]

As if in agreement, Mack lets loose a wail, but she quiets when Mike kisses her again and bounces her lightly in his arms. "Should've called me earlier," he says. "No one deserves to juggle the two of 'em alone. Not when this is happening."

[little_moons]

"What the hell was I gonna do, call you on the phone?" I ask with a smirk, grabbing a pitcher of ice tea someone's put in the fridge and pouring myself a glass.

"It's fine. You know I don't mind."

[m_pinocchio]

"Shut up," he says, amiably. "I'm around, you know what I mean. Pour me some of that?"

He kisses Mack's nose and lifts her over his head. "If I put you down, honey, you gonna scream?" Mack scowls again and barks, "No," but it's hard to know what exactly she's responding to.

[little_moons]

"Yes, darling," I mutter dryly, looking over my shoulder and asking, "Do you want lemon, too?"

I'm fucking with him now, sure. Because it's fun. Because sometimes these little moments of domesticity seem too surreal.

[m_pinocchio]

"Just plain, dearest," he says, shooting Neil a smirk, and, taking a risk, sets Mack back in her highchair. She grumps but doesn't immediately launch into more wails, which he figures is a small victory. He takes a seat by her and pushes the vegetables closer. "C'mon, carrots. You like carrots."

[little_moons]

I set the glass down in front of him and swoop in to press a kiss to his temple, my damp fingers slipping briefly through his hair before I take a seat beside him. I'm not down for more than five seconds before Flo's scrambling up into my lap.

"You gonna clean up the mess we left in the rec room?" I ask with a teasingly hopeful grin.

[m_pinocchio]

He gives Neil a Look, but it's not meant, and it vanishes into another grin as Mack finally downs a piece of carrot and grudgingly reaches for another. "Depends on what kinda mess we're talking about. You let 'em paint the walls again?"

[little_moons]

"Well, I didn't let them, but you know how willful they can be," I tease, reaching over to steal a carrot for Flo, who eats it without complaint. Tomorrow, things'll be reversed and she'll be the little monster child. 's just the way things go.

[m_pinocchio]

"Christ I think it says something that I'm not even sure if you're kidding," he mutters, closer to laughter than maybe he'd admit, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I'll do whatever needs doing, what the hell."

He picks up the glass and takes a long swallow, shooting Neil a teasing smile of his own. "This isn't gonna get any easier, y'know. There's still time to back out."

[little_moons]

"Yeah, I been tryin' to figure out how to tell you this, but I'm just not ready to be with a man with kids," I say, solemn and straight-faced, but the whole game's ruined by the arm I've got securely wrapped around Flo's middle, the way she fits so comfortably on my lap like I've done this a thousand times before.

And I guess I have.

[m_pinocchio]

"Yeah, pretty much saw that coming," he says, just as serious, leaning back against the chair and arching his spine until it cracks two or three times. "Guess Hobbes is gonna have to step it up now. He'll deal."

[little_moons]

Snorting out a laugh, I say, "I'm pretty sure he's already stepped up. You are the two daddies and all."