"....down came the rain and washed the spider out; out came the sun and dried up all the rain, and itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again!"
Piper glanced up from her laptop as Dylan's by-now-familiar squeal of laughter erupted at the end of the nursery rhyme, not needing to look to know that Lyneth was tickling her baby brother to within an inch of his life again. She smiled fondly to hear them playing together, sliding her glasses down from her nose as she leaned back to look through the kitchen door to where the two little people were on a soft quilt on the living room floor under their father's supervision. "Are we having fun in there?"
"Why don't you take a break and come join us?" Des called from the living room. He was sorting through their movie collection for something to amuse at least one of their children. He had flatly refused to let them watch Frozen again, insisting there had to be something else that would interest them. He didn't say so, but he thought Piper might be able to help.
"I'm saving now!" Piper called back with a chuckle. She'd been working on the next manuscript for a couple of hours, but that was all she would allow herself over the course of a day at the moment. Dylan was too small to be left for long, and to be honest, she enjoyed her time with Des and their children too much to sacrifice it for work. Snapping the computer closed, she tucked her glasses back into their box, and rose to her feet, laughing as Loki crept out from under the table with her. "Oh, you daftie, I didn't even know you were there," she told the Malamute fondly, bending to scratch his ears as they made their way into the living room.
The big dog immediately loped over to lick Lyneth's cheek, taking advantage of Knip not being around to chastise him for it, making the little Fae giggle wildly as she wiped her cheek dry. "Mummy, Daddy says we can watch a movie, but not Frozen," Lyneth piped up, dropping Des right in it as usual with her charming smile.
As much as he loved his daughter, he didn't think he could bear to watch it again, but he was willing to compromise. "Lyneth, you've seen it a million times," Des argued. "Besides, I'm taking you to see the ballet, remember?" He had been informed that The Snow Queen ballet was based on the same story as Frozen, but for a few important differences. "Your friends Maggie and Doran are in it, I think." How did he know all this" Simple ....Piper had told him. "You don't want to get sick of it before we see the ballet, do you?"
"Can we tell Maggie when we're goin' so's she can come and see us in the indy-well?" Lyneth asked hopefully, one hand in Dylan's grasp as he sucked on her fingers. No matter what her little brother wanted to do, she was more than happy to oblige him, which had admittedly taken a good deal of the pressure off Piper and Des when it came to entertaining two children of very differing ages.
Piper grinned, leaning against Des' back to look down at the boxes in his hands. "I'll have to remember that one," she murmured against his ear. "Jon's fallen down the indy-well again."
"You mean the intermission?" Des asked, tossing a few more possibilities into a small pile in an attempt to narrow the movie selection down to a few. "Of course, you can tell Maggie!" He looked over at Piper, knowing who wore the pants in the family. "When are we going?"
"The indy-well, yeah," Lyneth nodded absently, wiping her now wet hand on Dylan's t-shirt as he flailed and kicked on the quilt next to her. "I fink Dylan did a poo."
Piper rolled her eyes with a smile, kissing Des' cheek. "You're going on Saturday, in the afternoon," she reminded him fondly. "I'll deal with the stinky bottom."
"On Halloween?" he asked, wondering if that was such a good idea, though it would keep a certain little miss busy until it was time to go Trick or Treating. He wondered if the stinky bottom might be easy to deal with than picking a movie. "Okay, I've got it narrowed down to these three," he said, spreading the three movies out on the floor for Lyneth to choose from.
More than happy to let Mummy handle Dylan's stinky bottom, Lyneth came pottering over to Des to inspect the movies he had narrowed down for her, one arm slung about his neck to prevent him from standing up again. "Not that one," she immediately dismissed Winnie the Pooh. "Dylan's too little to sing along and he likes Poohbear." Leaning into Des, she considered her other options. "What's that one?" she asked, pointing to The Princess Bride. Her reading still wasn't quite up to snuff, but they were getting there slowly. She was only just coming up to four, after all, despite her physical appearance.
"That is The Princess Bride," he replied, picking it up so she could have a better look at the cover. "Have you seen it yet?" he asked, unsure if she had or not. "I think you'd like it. It's got romance and adventure and comedy. No fairies, though," he warned.
Lyneth frowned thoughtfully. It wasn't that she wasn't adventurous when it came to watching and reading new things; it was more that she was rebelling against the colder weather keeping her inside so much for the next few months. "Is it a good one?" she asked her father hopefully, turning those beautiful turquoise eyes on him for his opinion.
"I think so. Tell you what, we'll watch it for a little while and if you don't like it, we'll switch to something else. How's that sound?" he asked, thinking it would probably only take her about ten minutes to get hooked.
The little face looked thoughtful for a moment longer before she nodded, a smile creasing her features as she hugged him affectionately. "And it's Dylan's nap time, so I get you and Mummy all to myself!" she declared happily. As much as she loved her little brother, she did resent how much time he got with their parents right now, as any child would. A frown crossed her face. "Daddy ....why hasn't Nanny come to see me again?"
Desmond frowned at the question, gathering up the rejected videos and reaching over to return them to the shelf where they belonged. He had heard her refer to Tiernan as "Nanny" enough times to know who she was referring to. "I don't know, sweetheart," he replied honestly. He had been wondering the same thing. "Maybe he has and you just haven't noticed," he suggested, knowing her half-brother had the ability to change form, though Desmond wasn't sure what forms he could change into.
"Maybe." She bit her lip, still frowning. "I hope the horribubble hunty man didn't get him, 'cos that's mean," she said worriedly, one hand clinging onto Des' shoulder as he tidied up. "Should I try and talk to him, like with the birds and stuff" 'Cos he can be a bird and a woof and maybe he got stuck like he said he might if he stayed not a human for too long."
"Hunty man?" Des echoed, arching a brow as he straightened and turned to draw her into his lap. Whoever the "Hunty Man" was, it didn't sound good. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe if he knows you're worried about him and you miss him, he'll come to visit." Now Des was worried. Though Des hardly knew Tiernan, he was Lyneth's brother, and he had risked his own life to defend them against the Fae threat.
Piper glanced up from her laptop as Dylan's by-now-familiar squeal of laughter erupted at the end of the nursery rhyme, not needing to look to know that Lyneth was tickling her baby brother to within an inch of his life again. She smiled fondly to hear them playing together, sliding her glasses down from her nose as she leaned back to look through the kitchen door to where the two little people were on a soft quilt on the living room floor under their father's supervision. "Are we having fun in there?"
"Why don't you take a break and come join us?" Des called from the living room. He was sorting through their movie collection for something to amuse at least one of their children. He had flatly refused to let them watch Frozen again, insisting there had to be something else that would interest them. He didn't say so, but he thought Piper might be able to help.
"I'm saving now!" Piper called back with a chuckle. She'd been working on the next manuscript for a couple of hours, but that was all she would allow herself over the course of a day at the moment. Dylan was too small to be left for long, and to be honest, she enjoyed her time with Des and their children too much to sacrifice it for work. Snapping the computer closed, she tucked her glasses back into their box, and rose to her feet, laughing as Loki crept out from under the table with her. "Oh, you daftie, I didn't even know you were there," she told the Malamute fondly, bending to scratch his ears as they made their way into the living room.
The big dog immediately loped over to lick Lyneth's cheek, taking advantage of Knip not being around to chastise him for it, making the little Fae giggle wildly as she wiped her cheek dry. "Mummy, Daddy says we can watch a movie, but not Frozen," Lyneth piped up, dropping Des right in it as usual with her charming smile.
As much as he loved his daughter, he didn't think he could bear to watch it again, but he was willing to compromise. "Lyneth, you've seen it a million times," Des argued. "Besides, I'm taking you to see the ballet, remember?" He had been informed that The Snow Queen ballet was based on the same story as Frozen, but for a few important differences. "Your friends Maggie and Doran are in it, I think." How did he know all this" Simple ....Piper had told him. "You don't want to get sick of it before we see the ballet, do you?"
"Can we tell Maggie when we're goin' so's she can come and see us in the indy-well?" Lyneth asked hopefully, one hand in Dylan's grasp as he sucked on her fingers. No matter what her little brother wanted to do, she was more than happy to oblige him, which had admittedly taken a good deal of the pressure off Piper and Des when it came to entertaining two children of very differing ages.
Piper grinned, leaning against Des' back to look down at the boxes in his hands. "I'll have to remember that one," she murmured against his ear. "Jon's fallen down the indy-well again."
"You mean the intermission?" Des asked, tossing a few more possibilities into a small pile in an attempt to narrow the movie selection down to a few. "Of course, you can tell Maggie!" He looked over at Piper, knowing who wore the pants in the family. "When are we going?"
"The indy-well, yeah," Lyneth nodded absently, wiping her now wet hand on Dylan's t-shirt as he flailed and kicked on the quilt next to her. "I fink Dylan did a poo."
Piper rolled her eyes with a smile, kissing Des' cheek. "You're going on Saturday, in the afternoon," she reminded him fondly. "I'll deal with the stinky bottom."
"On Halloween?" he asked, wondering if that was such a good idea, though it would keep a certain little miss busy until it was time to go Trick or Treating. He wondered if the stinky bottom might be easy to deal with than picking a movie. "Okay, I've got it narrowed down to these three," he said, spreading the three movies out on the floor for Lyneth to choose from.
More than happy to let Mummy handle Dylan's stinky bottom, Lyneth came pottering over to Des to inspect the movies he had narrowed down for her, one arm slung about his neck to prevent him from standing up again. "Not that one," she immediately dismissed Winnie the Pooh. "Dylan's too little to sing along and he likes Poohbear." Leaning into Des, she considered her other options. "What's that one?" she asked, pointing to The Princess Bride. Her reading still wasn't quite up to snuff, but they were getting there slowly. She was only just coming up to four, after all, despite her physical appearance.
"That is The Princess Bride," he replied, picking it up so she could have a better look at the cover. "Have you seen it yet?" he asked, unsure if she had or not. "I think you'd like it. It's got romance and adventure and comedy. No fairies, though," he warned.
Lyneth frowned thoughtfully. It wasn't that she wasn't adventurous when it came to watching and reading new things; it was more that she was rebelling against the colder weather keeping her inside so much for the next few months. "Is it a good one?" she asked her father hopefully, turning those beautiful turquoise eyes on him for his opinion.
"I think so. Tell you what, we'll watch it for a little while and if you don't like it, we'll switch to something else. How's that sound?" he asked, thinking it would probably only take her about ten minutes to get hooked.
The little face looked thoughtful for a moment longer before she nodded, a smile creasing her features as she hugged him affectionately. "And it's Dylan's nap time, so I get you and Mummy all to myself!" she declared happily. As much as she loved her little brother, she did resent how much time he got with their parents right now, as any child would. A frown crossed her face. "Daddy ....why hasn't Nanny come to see me again?"
Desmond frowned at the question, gathering up the rejected videos and reaching over to return them to the shelf where they belonged. He had heard her refer to Tiernan as "Nanny" enough times to know who she was referring to. "I don't know, sweetheart," he replied honestly. He had been wondering the same thing. "Maybe he has and you just haven't noticed," he suggested, knowing her half-brother had the ability to change form, though Desmond wasn't sure what forms he could change into.
"Maybe." She bit her lip, still frowning. "I hope the horribubble hunty man didn't get him, 'cos that's mean," she said worriedly, one hand clinging onto Des' shoulder as he tidied up. "Should I try and talk to him, like with the birds and stuff" 'Cos he can be a bird and a woof and maybe he got stuck like he said he might if he stayed not a human for too long."
"Hunty man?" Des echoed, arching a brow as he straightened and turned to draw her into his lap. Whoever the "Hunty Man" was, it didn't sound good. "Maybe," he said. "Maybe if he knows you're worried about him and you miss him, he'll come to visit." Now Des was worried. Though Des hardly knew Tiernan, he was Lyneth's brother, and he had risked his own life to defend them against the Fae threat.