"It's a start," Vicki murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. "And if it were just us, I would already have decided, love. Just so you know."

"It's going to be up to Emily, I think," he said, one arm going around Vicki to hold her close. There was no lack of affection between them or their children; they both made sure of that.

"I think you're probably right," she agreed, raising her head briefly to look over at the twins. "Chris, we do not eat bugs." As the younger of the twins obediently spat out the spider he'd been tasting, Vicki's attention returned to the playground and the elder children. "Ben will go along with anything Emmy decides is the right thing to do."

Jon smirked at Vicki's scolding of the younger of the twins, amused and appalled at the same time. "Those two are gonna be trouble," he said, glad they were still too young to wander off on their own just yet. At least, Bea was old enough that she wouldn't need the same kind of care that the younger children did, and she might even be of help. "I'm not sure how Emily will feel about not being the oldest," he said, turning his attention back to the conversation at hand, but keeping one eye on the twins,

"I think it all depends on how well she takes to Bea," Vicki answered thoughtfully. "She will probably have a few wobbles, if we end up going through with this, but the benefits of having a big sister will outweigh the prestige of being the oldest, I think."

"Maybe, but what about Bea?" he asked, just as thoughtfully. "I mean, I don't want her to think we just want to adopt her so she can be a built-in babysitter," he said. He'd said as much to Mataya, too, as it was something that was worrying him.

"So we'll spend some time with her ourselves, just us," Vicki said, still feeling her way through this as much as he was. "It's as much her decision as ours."

"That's a good idea," he said. "We all have to be in agreement." If they weren't - if any of them was unhappy about the possibility of adopting Bea, they'd have to figure out why and rethink their plans.

"Exactly. But this is a good start, Jon." She tilted her head to look at him, smiling with as much encouragement as she could muster. "A very good start."

"I'm glad you think so," Jon said, smiling back at her before leaning close to brush a kiss against her lips. It wasn't unusual for him to show his love and affection for her in public, but such affection was often accompanied by giggles from their children. Just as it was now, Emily and Ben giggling from the playground at their parents' smooching.

Smiling into his kiss, Vicki drew back to stick her tongue out at the giggling pair, surprised but glad to see that Bea then joined in the giggles. "I think we're being mocked by our children again, you know."

"They won't find it so funny if I tickle them," Jon said, loudly enough so that the children could hear him and take his threat seriously, even if it wasn't much of a threat. In fact, it would probably only make them laugh harder.

Of the three, only Bea hesitated, responding more to the tone than the words ....but when it became clear that the threat wasn't meant to upset or intimidate, her smile returned. As Vicki watched, she tapped Emily and Ben on the shoulders, bending to whisper something to them.

"Great, we made a conspiracy," Vicki murmured through her own grin.

"Good for them, bad for us," Jon said, though he was mirroring her grin. "And they outnumber us," he pointed out further. He wasn't sure what the trio was planning, but he had a feeling he was going to find out before long.

"We've been outnumbered for years, we can handle this," she said confidently. By chance, she glanced up, and let loose with a squeal as Ben suddenly pounced on her, knocking her backwards onto the blanket with a child's war-cry to get his tickles in first. And the girls" Well, Jon was undefended now.

Jon had just started laughing at Ben's attack on Vicki, when he was attacked himself. Emily was clearly not shy or afraid of her father, and didn't think twice about tackling him and tickling him before he had a chance to tickle her. He caught her in his arms, laughing as he fell onto his back with her atop him, careful not to fall on the twins.

Bea stood nearby, giggling as Vicki and Jon were attacked by their own children, the adults cackling with laughter along with the kids. It wasn't long before the twins joined in, Jon being their choice of target purely because he was bigger and there was more of him to tickle. Which meant that Vicki had an opening, and Vicki didn't think twice. With Ben pinned under one arm, she sat up and snagged Bea, pulling the little girl down onto her lap to hand out a few tickles herself. And the sound of little Bea's laughter, unrestrained, was a real privilege to hear.

It was a silly sight to anyone who didn't know them well, but to those who did, it was just another day in the life of Jon and Vicki's little family, filled with love and laughter, and today, shared with a little girl who had known so little of it in her own life. Before long, they were all gasping for air from laughing so hard, whether they were the one doing the tickling or the one being tickled.

Jon was the first to give up, raising a hand to call for a time out. "I quit! You win!"

The cheer that went up was bright and happy, laughing easing away into breathless grins. And Bea found herself wrapped in Vicki's arms, in Vicki's lap, with Ben's arms wrapped around her as well. Vicki grinned over at Jon and his armful of children, unaware of the surprised awe on the little girl's face as she realized where she was ....and how comfortable it was to be there.

Jon grinned back. So far, things were going even better than planned, but it was too early to tell if they would continue. Still, he was hopeful. Little Bea needed a loving home, and the Grangers had more than enough love to offer her ....so long as the children that were already theirs didn't object. "What do you say we have a little lunch now and go out for ice cream later?" he asked, knowing he was unlikely to hear any objections to that, at least.

There was no objection to that plan from the smaller children, but Bea hesitated. "Mr. Kieran said I can't go anywhere 'less he knows about it first," she offered in a defeated tone.

Vicki smiled, squeezing her gently. "Well, then, we'll just have to tell Mr. Kieran we'd like to take you for ice cream, won't we?"

"That's true," Jon said thoughtfully, a small frown on his face. "You realize the more we have her here, the more attached she's going to become. I don't want to break her heart, Vic," he confessed, though he knew it would take more than one afternoon to decide.

"So maybe we don't have her here too much," she said. "Maybe you and me go to join her for lunch somewhere, maybe we take her and Daisy to the aquarium or something. Little moments - not so much she gets deeply attached, but a taste of what being part of our family will be like."

"Is that for our benefit or for hers?" he asked, though it was probably for both. If they were going to adopt Bea and make her part of their family, they had to be sure everyone, including Bea, would be happy with that notion.

"It takes time," Vicki mused. "And there's a ten-week fostering period, just to make sure it is the right decision, before anyone signs any legal papers."

Jon sighed. "So much red tape," he murmured, though he knew it was for the good of the child. "Did Johnny and Liv have to go through all when they adopted Fliss?" he wondered aloud.

"No, it was fast-tracked for them because of her special circumstances," Vicki reminded him, pushing herself to sit up and open the picnic basket at last. "Fire child and a fire adult who could help her" Definitely fast-tracked."

"Do you think Bea has any ....special abilities?" he asked, looking over at the trio who were currently taking turns going down the slide. He didn't really know much about her background yet, other than the fact that she'd been one of Rhy'Din's street orphans before she'd ended up at the orphanage. As far as they knew, she was human, but even humans sometimes had special traits and abilities that weren't always obvious.

"If she does, they're the kind that only show up when she hits puberty," Vicki shrugged. "And if she's ours and that happens, she'll be in a better place to handle it."

"True," he agreed, though he doubted she possessed abilities anywhere close to those of the Storm and Rogers' kids. "So, I guess we'll see how the rest of the day goes and see if she wants to have another visit," he said. And see if their own kids are interested in her visiting again.

"That's the plan." Vicki tossed him a smile. "Go and wrangle the kiddies, it's food time." As she spoke, she was unpacking the basket - simple picnic food, but in all probability, this was going to be the first simple picnic Bea had ever been on.

"Yes, ma'am," Jon replied, smooching her cheek, just because. He scooped up one twin in each arm before setting off to wrangle the rest of the kids for lunch. They'd come a long way since that first date at the theater some seven years earlier. Saying yes to that first date was without a doubt the best thing Jon had ever done.