(Untitled)

[ooh_lily]

OFten, lately, Lily has thought that it might be useful to sprout an extra pair of hands. Eddie's brilliant, and Jim's ever-present, but, inevitably, there comes a point where the guys are both doing the things that they need to get done on a daily basis, and Lil's got Dill and Emmy on her own. Today, they're doing laundry

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[anger_sideways]

One of the skills you picked up as an eternal bachelor was an intimate knowledge of laundromats, and Hawkeye found it sort of reassuring that despite the island's technological advancement, some things were still the same. He'd gathered together his dirty clothing and brought along a book to read while he waited, but as he entered the room, it looked like the entertainment was already provided.

"Need a hand there?" he asked, setting his box of clothing down.

[ooh_lily]

"If you could help Emmy put the laundry into the machine, Hawkeye, that'd be excellent," says Lily, smiling despite the fact that she looked a little frazzled. "Dill's having a fussy five minutes and I haven't actually worked out how to sprout extra hands. Should get working on that, eh?"

[anger_sideways]

"My offer to transplant on some spare arms still stands," Hawkeye said cheerfully as he moved round and crouched down to push the clothes back in the machine again.

"Now then, clothes go in a washing machine when they're dirty, and we only take them out when they're all clean again," he said to Emmy, trying to gently shoo her away and keep her from sabotaging this important operation. "And if we don't get them clean you're gonna end up all stinky, and you wouldn't want that. Right?"

[emilyiris]

Emmy thinks about this for a moment, like she's actually weighing up the pros and cons of the thing.

"Yes?" she sounds, but she doesn't sound certain.

[anger_sideways]

"Right!" Hawkeye said, hoping that that 'yes' was a 'yes, Hawkeye, you're correct' and not a 'yes, actually, I do want to end up all stinky'. It was hard to tell with kids.

He slammed the washing machine door shut, and decided to leave the rest to Lily, seeing as he didn't know which settings she favoured. Crossing the room, he picked up his own box and headed towards a free machine.

"Now, are you going to help me with mine?" he said to Emmy, opening the machine door. "Remember, dirty laundry goes in."

[emilyiris]

Emmy considers it for a moment, hands resting on her little hips before she bends over and picks up a handful of Hawkeye's washing.

"In?"

[anger_sideways]

"In," Hawkeye repeated emphatically, and demonstrated for her, wondering at which age children were actually generally capable of understanding the concepts of 'in' and 'out' (child development not having been an area he'd ever taken more than a passing interest in). Never a bad time to learn, though.

He glanced up at Emmy, wondering how she was making do with her own armful of trouble.

"This is much harder work than it looks, isn't it?"

[ooh_lily]

"Laundry or child-rearing?" asks Lily, kissing the top of Dylan's head, inhaling the scent of his scalp. She never really gets tired of it. "I think I'd still rather be a Mum than do laundry; I hate laundry."

[anger_sideways]

"At least laundry goes where you want it to," Hawkeye said, heading off to grab a box of washing powder. "My dad used to say the best dog is a friend's dog - you can enjoy taking it for walks and throwing sticks for it, but you don't have to feed it or clean it or take it to the vet. I think I'm like that about kids. They're fun, but I couldn't handle the responsibility of having one around all the time."

It was the work of moments to put powder in the machine and set it going, and that done, he headed up to look at Dylan, giving the kid a wave. Not that he was anywhere near old enough to understand the concept of waves, but he gathered that it was just generally how you greeted babies.

"Growing up fast, isn't he?" he said.

[ooh_lily]

"Well, so does Dill," says Lily, grinning, bouncing the little boy against her chest. Hawkeye waves and Dylan just stares at him dumbly. He dribbles a little bit.

"He is. It's almost like you can watch them grow at this age. It slows down later."

[anger_sideways]

"I may not be a paediatrician, but I do know that," Hawkeye said. He always felt a little envious of kids at that stage - you didn't have to do a thing but lie around having everyone say how adorable you were.

"And what about you, Emmy?" he said, turning back to look at the other kid, making sure she wasn't sabotaging his washing behind his back. "How are you getting on with your new brother?"

[emilyiris]

Emmy's being a good girl, pushing all of the laundry into the machine. She finishes with a big shove and then turns back to Hawkeye and her Mum. She gives it as much thought as it deserves; it's an important question.

"Okay," she says, solemnly. "He's a baby."

[anger_sideways]

Well, you certainly couldn't argue with that logic.

"He won't always be a baby, you know," Hawkeye said, inwardly feeling glad that as an only child, he'd never had to deal with having the limelight stolen from him by a new arrival. "Before you realise it he'll be walking and talking and messing up all your things. You'd better be prepared."

[ooh_lily]

"She'll cope," says Lily, leaning back against the machine. "There might only be two of them but I'm the oldest of five. We'll get them through okay." She reaches down to ruffle her little girl's hair. "Which doesn't mean we don't expect scuffling."