Jon's stint as Ben Weatherstaff had ended a few nights ago, after the final curtain fell on The Secret Garden. The play itself had gone well, but as always it had taken him a few days to relax and get back into Daddy mode after being in actor mode for the last month or so. The play had given him a few things to think about, but nothing overly worrisome. Working with children had been an interesting experience and one he was hoping to repeat sometime in the near future. In fact, he and Mataya had been discussing doing something for Children's Week, but they hadn't decided just what as yet. Now that work was done, it was time to switch gears, and though Jon loved the theater, there was one role he loved even more and that was that of husband and father.
It was just as well he loved it, given that Vicki was back full time at the Shanachie now. She loved her children, but it was a relief to speak to people her own age during the day and not be at the mercy of a toddler and her increasingly ambulatory little brother. As it happened, she was late home today, stopping in the study to say hello to Humphrey and Cosmo before heading upstairs to the suite of rooms she shared with Jon and their terrible twosome. "Honey, I'm home!"
"In here!" Jon called when he heard his wife's voice announcing her arrival home. Some might think the tables were turned, with Jon playing Mister Mom while Vicki was away at work, but Jon enjoyed these occasional breaks from the theater to spend with his children, and as crazy as their schedules were, it worked for them. He was currently found in the living room bouncing Ben on his lap while Emily was curled up at his side, the three of them watching Frozen for what had to be the millionth time.
Hearing the unmistakeable sound of that film, Vicki paused just inside the door to wince before moving into the living room to join them. "Well, hello, my intrepid band of marauding princesses," she teased them, bending to kiss Jon, then Ben, and finally to be virtually throttled by Emily in a hello hug. "And how are we this evening, hmm?"
"Mommy's home!" Jon exclaimed with a grin, pausing the movie a moment so Emily could tackle her mother with a hug. Even Ben, who'd been perfectly content on his father's lap a moment ago, was reaching for his mother's arms and whining for attention. "Have you eaten" I saved you some dinner," he told her as he got off the couch and handed Ben over to greet his mother.
Laughing as she was handed the children, Vicki hiked Emily onto one hip, and Ben onto the other, smothering both of them in ticklish kisses for a long moment. With the two of them giggling insanely, she offered Jon a warm smile. "You are a life-saver - thank you, stud muffin," she nodded. "Lucius somehow managed to lose the finalized blueprints for the next rep production, so we had to scramble to get them made up again."
"Nothing my amazing wife can't handle, I'm sure," he replied, rescuing her from at least one child once they'd said their hellos. "All right, you two little imps. Finish up with Anna and Elsa and then it's time for bed," he said, plunking first one child and then the other on the floor in front of the movie. "Give your mother a chance to breath."
Having been allowed to strain their mother's arms to breaking point holding both of them at once, Emily and Ben didn't offer much in the way of argument as they were sat down in front of the movie once again. Vicki rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself as she lost her children to Frozen. "If only there was a way to distill what that film does and have it in a form we could dose them with," she mused playfully, moving to wrap her arms around her husband. "How have you been today?"
"I think they're already dosed," Jon remarked as the two small ones settled right back into watching the film. Ben's thumb went right into his mouth and he leaned over to rest his head against his big sister's shoulder. "I tried to talk her into watching something else, but she insisted," Jon whispered back. He - perhaps like other fathers with young daughters - couldn't wait until Emily discovered something else to obsess about besides Anna and Elsa. It wasn't that he disliked it exactly; it was only that he'd seen it so many times he could recite it from start to finish.
"I'd forgotten how tiring it is chasing after a couple of kids all day," he remarked honestly, though he was smiling. "How do you feel about alfredo' I had the cook save some for you." Apparently, they had eaten with Humphrey that night, so Jon hadn't had to worry about cooking.
Vicki chuckled, kissing his chin affectionately. "Right now, love, I think I'd eat a horse if you could get it onto the plate in bite-sized chunks," she told him with a grin. "It feels very good to be home tonight." She glanced at the cuddling duo on the floor. "At least they're not trying to kill each other."
The only member of the family that was missing was Cosmo, who was downstairs keeping the Old Man company. "No, you wouldn't," he said, chuckling. Jon had learned early on that Vicki was a strict vegetarian. It had been a bit of a challenge at first, since he was not, but they'd managed to sort that out, too. He snorted at her remark as he started toward the kitchen. "You should have seen them earlier. Ben got a hold of one of Emily's dolls, and you'd have thought the world was coming to an end."
She laughed. "I can imagine. I swear she flips a switch and turns into a vengeful Fury until she thinks all is right with the world again." They'd both been blessed with Emily's tantrums from time to time, and Ben's, too. Vicki didn't think she was ever going to forget the visit to the funfair that had almost ended in disaster when they both won a game and both wanted the same toy. "I think I would rather have been here than at work, all the same," she chuckled quietly. "You have no idea how weird it is to have Mataya in full costume and make up panicking over your desk at you while you're trying to work."
Jon couldn't help but laugh, especially about that bit about Mataya. "On the contrary, darling, I have experienced that more than once." He peeked into the living room once to make sure Frozen was still occupying the children before going to the oven to retrieve the fettuccine that he'd been keeping warm. "But you want to keep working, don't you?" he asked curiously. He knew what it was like to feel torn between family and career. It wasn't easy to juggle them both, and it would only get harder if they ever decided to have more children.
"I would, yes," Vicki nodded, easing down into a seat at the table. She frowned a little as she looked through the door to where the children were sitting. "I should talk to 'Taya about reducing my hours, though. Once the initial briefs are done for each production, I'm not needed at the theater all day every day. I should work out when I'm needed, and present her with a work schedule that would suit all of us better."
"I'm sure 'Tay would be agreeable about that." As agreeable as he was with Liv and her schedule. She and Johnny were in New York visiting family right now, and Jon never begrudged her that time away from Rhy'Din. The truth was, despite the success of the Fifty Shades... series and the Oscar he'd won the year before, he hadn't received any movie offers recently that tempted him much. Jon slid the fettuccine onto a plate before setting it on the table in front of her, along with a napkin and fork. "Coffee, tea, or me?" he asked with a smirk, as he reached for a cup.
It was just as well he loved it, given that Vicki was back full time at the Shanachie now. She loved her children, but it was a relief to speak to people her own age during the day and not be at the mercy of a toddler and her increasingly ambulatory little brother. As it happened, she was late home today, stopping in the study to say hello to Humphrey and Cosmo before heading upstairs to the suite of rooms she shared with Jon and their terrible twosome. "Honey, I'm home!"
"In here!" Jon called when he heard his wife's voice announcing her arrival home. Some might think the tables were turned, with Jon playing Mister Mom while Vicki was away at work, but Jon enjoyed these occasional breaks from the theater to spend with his children, and as crazy as their schedules were, it worked for them. He was currently found in the living room bouncing Ben on his lap while Emily was curled up at his side, the three of them watching Frozen for what had to be the millionth time.
Hearing the unmistakeable sound of that film, Vicki paused just inside the door to wince before moving into the living room to join them. "Well, hello, my intrepid band of marauding princesses," she teased them, bending to kiss Jon, then Ben, and finally to be virtually throttled by Emily in a hello hug. "And how are we this evening, hmm?"
"Mommy's home!" Jon exclaimed with a grin, pausing the movie a moment so Emily could tackle her mother with a hug. Even Ben, who'd been perfectly content on his father's lap a moment ago, was reaching for his mother's arms and whining for attention. "Have you eaten" I saved you some dinner," he told her as he got off the couch and handed Ben over to greet his mother.
Laughing as she was handed the children, Vicki hiked Emily onto one hip, and Ben onto the other, smothering both of them in ticklish kisses for a long moment. With the two of them giggling insanely, she offered Jon a warm smile. "You are a life-saver - thank you, stud muffin," she nodded. "Lucius somehow managed to lose the finalized blueprints for the next rep production, so we had to scramble to get them made up again."
"Nothing my amazing wife can't handle, I'm sure," he replied, rescuing her from at least one child once they'd said their hellos. "All right, you two little imps. Finish up with Anna and Elsa and then it's time for bed," he said, plunking first one child and then the other on the floor in front of the movie. "Give your mother a chance to breath."
Having been allowed to strain their mother's arms to breaking point holding both of them at once, Emily and Ben didn't offer much in the way of argument as they were sat down in front of the movie once again. Vicki rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself as she lost her children to Frozen. "If only there was a way to distill what that film does and have it in a form we could dose them with," she mused playfully, moving to wrap her arms around her husband. "How have you been today?"
"I think they're already dosed," Jon remarked as the two small ones settled right back into watching the film. Ben's thumb went right into his mouth and he leaned over to rest his head against his big sister's shoulder. "I tried to talk her into watching something else, but she insisted," Jon whispered back. He - perhaps like other fathers with young daughters - couldn't wait until Emily discovered something else to obsess about besides Anna and Elsa. It wasn't that he disliked it exactly; it was only that he'd seen it so many times he could recite it from start to finish.
"I'd forgotten how tiring it is chasing after a couple of kids all day," he remarked honestly, though he was smiling. "How do you feel about alfredo' I had the cook save some for you." Apparently, they had eaten with Humphrey that night, so Jon hadn't had to worry about cooking.
Vicki chuckled, kissing his chin affectionately. "Right now, love, I think I'd eat a horse if you could get it onto the plate in bite-sized chunks," she told him with a grin. "It feels very good to be home tonight." She glanced at the cuddling duo on the floor. "At least they're not trying to kill each other."
The only member of the family that was missing was Cosmo, who was downstairs keeping the Old Man company. "No, you wouldn't," he said, chuckling. Jon had learned early on that Vicki was a strict vegetarian. It had been a bit of a challenge at first, since he was not, but they'd managed to sort that out, too. He snorted at her remark as he started toward the kitchen. "You should have seen them earlier. Ben got a hold of one of Emily's dolls, and you'd have thought the world was coming to an end."
She laughed. "I can imagine. I swear she flips a switch and turns into a vengeful Fury until she thinks all is right with the world again." They'd both been blessed with Emily's tantrums from time to time, and Ben's, too. Vicki didn't think she was ever going to forget the visit to the funfair that had almost ended in disaster when they both won a game and both wanted the same toy. "I think I would rather have been here than at work, all the same," she chuckled quietly. "You have no idea how weird it is to have Mataya in full costume and make up panicking over your desk at you while you're trying to work."
Jon couldn't help but laugh, especially about that bit about Mataya. "On the contrary, darling, I have experienced that more than once." He peeked into the living room once to make sure Frozen was still occupying the children before going to the oven to retrieve the fettuccine that he'd been keeping warm. "But you want to keep working, don't you?" he asked curiously. He knew what it was like to feel torn between family and career. It wasn't easy to juggle them both, and it would only get harder if they ever decided to have more children.
"I would, yes," Vicki nodded, easing down into a seat at the table. She frowned a little as she looked through the door to where the children were sitting. "I should talk to 'Taya about reducing my hours, though. Once the initial briefs are done for each production, I'm not needed at the theater all day every day. I should work out when I'm needed, and present her with a work schedule that would suit all of us better."
"I'm sure 'Tay would be agreeable about that." As agreeable as he was with Liv and her schedule. She and Johnny were in New York visiting family right now, and Jon never begrudged her that time away from Rhy'Din. The truth was, despite the success of the Fifty Shades... series and the Oscar he'd won the year before, he hadn't received any movie offers recently that tempted him much. Jon slid the fettuccine onto a plate before setting it on the table in front of her, along with a napkin and fork. "Coffee, tea, or me?" he asked with a smirk, as he reached for a cup.