|
Post by Shava on Jan 19, 2012 21:48:00 GMT -5
Taranis woke up at his usual early hour before dawn, lying there with his arm around his wife's waist and snuggled against her back, his height allowing his head to still be above hers on the bed thus avoiding hair in his face. It had been an effort to learn to sleep that way, but he loved having her in his grasp whenever he awoke. He yawned, glanced around for a second and then his parental senses told him to get up. Slowly he managed to slip out from behind her, tucking the covers in behind her back to keep her warm, despite the window being open letting in the night air. The smell of the salt sea bribed him into taking a deep breath as he slipped into the jeans beside his bed. Stepping into the sitting room attached he opened the door and listened.
He heard laughter down the hall.
Moving quietly he made his way down a few doors to the kids rooms and noted the laughter from the living room down the hall before. Relaxing more, he turned and headed into the living room still bare chested and saw the two oldest sitting on the floor with magic markers. Cern had drawings all over his beck in scribbles and badly done artwork by her five year old hands. Silently stepping back he retreated to the office, got the camera, and managed to sneak into the room and focus the camera in his hands, getting a nice shot which his wife would congratulate him on later, even as she frowned that he hadn't stopped them first.
Setting the camera down carefully he swooped down on the two trouble makers, noting Keela had vague and no-patterned scribbles over her face and neck. The squeals of surprise mixed with cries of "DADDY!!!" as he tossed Cern up a bit catching him under his butt against his chest and keeping a hand on Keela's head. "What have you two been up to? My my, mommy's not going to be happy with your faces." With a grin he held out a hand and said "Keela? gather all of the markers and hand them to me, okay?" He tickled the three year old to keep him distracted while Keela collected them all and he put them on the table higher up for the moment. "Okay you two, come on, let's get you cleaned up." It didn't take but a few minutes before he had both in the tub merrily playing as he used an ink eraser from the Weasley's to get markers off their faces, chuckling as he worked on them both one at a time.
|
|
Rosalie
Friends
I write the songs...and anything else that comes to mind.
Posts: 61
|
Post by Rosalie on Jan 19, 2012 22:48:21 GMT -5
Rosalie opened her eyes, blinking a few times to bring the world into focus. She stretched languidly and then slid out from under the covers. Taranis almost never managed to stay in bed past dawn. Some things were too firmly ingrained she supposed, including the fact that Rose herself almost never woke up before seven A.M. This morning, however, a burst off chilled air that had rolled in from the ocean was enough to convince her it was time to get up. She went to the closet, took the long fluffy robe from its peg on the door, and wrapped it around herself tightly. Padding over to the window, she took in the seascape. No matter how many mornings she woke up to it, the view was still amazing.
What amazed her even more however, was how they'd come to enjoy the activity inside the house just as much. The sounds of her childrens' delighted laughter floated in from down the hall. How quickly she and Taranis had found themselves settled into this life. While the early years hadn't always been easy, Rose thanked Merlin (and whoever else might be listening) that she got to spend every day with her best friend. She opened the door, and caught the end of Taranis' sentence. Uh oh...she made her way down the hall and peaked around the corner. "What isn't mummy going to be happy abo-- oh my!"
Both her children looked as though they'd spent the day at a muggle carnival, particularly with a face painter. Rose had taken to the world of muggle things quite well as it turned out. Which was just as well, since she and Taranis had agreed from the beginning that their children would be well rounded in things both muggle and magical. Gran had fussed endlessly about their living so near a muggle village, but one look at Keela and the knowledge that there would likely be more grandchildren to come had assauged the elderly woman's battered sense of propriety.
She looked from Cernenus, to Keela, back again, and then met her husband's twinkling eyes. She shook her head, gave her husband a 'what am I going to do with you all' look, and smiled. When he volunteered to clean up the mess, Rosalie nodded, "I'll start breakfast." She looked at the children once more, taking them in. "Eggs and bacon all right with everyone?" Reaching a general consensus over food in their house was rarely easy, but breakfast usually didn't cause much fuss. She winked at her husband, before heading for the kitchen.
The sounds of Keela and Cern laughing as their father no doubt tried to help them reach some semblence of cleanliness brought a smile to Rosalie's face. She could picture them splashing about, dodging Taranis' attempts to bathe them properly and his laughing good humor. She pulled ingredients, and prepared herself to make two different styles of eggs. Taranis and Keela both liked boiled eggs, mashed up with a fair amount of salt and pepper. She and Cernenus ate them scrambled with cheese, though Cernenus usually managed to make a rather sizable mess of his first. She had been trying to teach him not to play with his food, but the concept wasn't sinking in. Rose smiled to herself, it probably didn't help that their father occasionally charmed certain dishes to dance about the table. The children loved it of course, but it was rather hard to convince them that meal times weren't a game.
She still preferred cooking the muggle way, and figured she'd have enough time since Taranis and the little ones would be occupied for at least a few minutes. She set the water on one eye to boil and a sautee pan on another so that the butter could melt. While she waited on the pans, she cracked the eggs she planned to scramble over a mixing bowl. As she stirred the eggs, she started humming, an old song from one of their first trips together. They'd been in Barcelona..or maybe Seville. Rose couldn't remember the exact location, but she remembered well the street singer who had talked Taranis into asking her to dance right there in the middle of the street.
She had waved him off at first, uncharacteristically shy in the foreign locale. They'd only been married a few months at the time, and the war had ony just ended. It hadn't taken long for her to give in. She'd taken one look at his pleading expression and melted much like the butter in the pan was doing now. So they'd danced, an off beat version of a tango. While Rosalie knew the dance, she'd never actually done it to Spanish music before. By the end, they'd been laughing so hard they couldn't dance anymore and they'd given the man a twenty pound tip. While they'd agreed to be frugal with their money from the beginning, they couldn't seem to help giving it to others. At present, they were debt free, had trust funds set up for Keela and Cern and enough to live generally as they pleased.
She hummed the melody now, swaying gently, unconsciously to the tune. She missed the sound of the kitchen door opening, and she blushed when she heard his voice. "Sorry love, I was just...reminiscing."
|
|
|
Post by Shava on Jan 19, 2012 23:40:49 GMT -5
The bathtub had never been a bad spot to either of their kids and they mostly enjoyed getting cleaned up. Once he had them clean though he had to towel them off as part of a game, keeping them contained at the same time, and then manage to pick her up as well as their clothes and chase his son back to his room slowly, threatening to pat his "little bare butt" as he squealed and she struggled laughing till he had them both dressed for the day before they headed to the kitchen. There, mama had done her usual excellent job of timing and hot eggs were ready to go. Getting both kids in their chairs and peeling the eggs for himself and his daughter he asked them both how they had slept. He had gotten good at the distraction part of having kids, keeping two busy at the same time other stuff happened. "So, Cern, why don't you ask mommy how she slept? Have you given her a hug yet?" Cern nodded and slipped out of his chair going over to where Rosalie was getting out toast and gave her skirts a big hug, the kind of unconditional love children just flowed with. As they returned with their breakfasts and the toast, Taranis had managed to get the eggs peeled and put in the bowls, one of which his daughter was happily smashing with her fork ineffectively. He heard his son ask "How'd you sleep, mommy? I slept nice." Capturing his daughter's fork he gave it a finishing mash and spiced it before handing it back to her and doing his own. "I managed a picture before you got there, thought it would be one to remember. And I didn't see anything except a little on the clothes." Both kids digging in had already stopped listening to the parents, concentrating on feeding tummies. Standing for a second he leaned over and got a kiss from his wife, a good morning smile in his eyes. Last night they had been talking about kids again, specifically babies. Seeing Cern grow bigger made both of them think about little toes and the delight of babies, not that it wouldn't make both sets of their parents happy as well. "Sleep well, love?" No matter how many times he kissed her or...whatever like last night, the knowledge that she accepted him entirely into her life still made his eyes dance with delight when he saw her. While they had started off best friends, he had to admit her grandmother was right when she had said everything would be great. Over on the side table he noticed the kids had left their favorite stuffed animals again and he shook his head slightly when he saw them. That mean they had been in here first before he got up; they were following his sleep patterns too well. He ate a few bites, caught his daughter's nose when she looked at him, caught a foot being swung by Cern to keep him from kicking the table leg, and finished off the rest of his food. "So kids, what shall we do today? Any ideas?" He winked at Rosalie since they had already talked a bit about how to get them into the plans for the day. It was always key to introduce an idea and see if you could talk them into it. Making them feel like they were having some input in their own days.
|
|
Rosalie
Friends
I write the songs...and anything else that comes to mind.
Posts: 61
|
Post by Rosalie on Jan 21, 2012 1:18:01 GMT -5
Rosalie watched her children covertly as Taranis got them settled. It was these moments of simply being together, enjoying simple things, that she cherished the most. She set to putting the finishing touches on breakfast, and had just gotten the last of it plated when Cern came up to give her her first hug of the day. Without hesitation, she sat the plate on the counter and reached down to pick up her son. She wrappped her arms around him tightly. She nuzzled his neck playfully, tickling him with her breath. He squealed and began to squirm. " 'at tickles" he admonished her. Rosalie kissed his cheek and lowered him so that he could regain his balance on the floor. Her heart melted. She remembered a time when she'd firmly believed Taranis to be the most charming man on earth, but their son had apparently inherited his father's ways and then some. She tweaked his nose softly. "Mummy slept very well too, sweetheart", she assured him. In truth, she and Taranis had been up a good portion of the night reminiscing about Cernenus and Keela as babies, and they'd even considered the possibility of having another one.
If someone had told Rosalie that she'd be married to Taranis Summerby, have two small children, and be contemplating a third, she'd have thought they'd taken one too many bludgers to the head. But, here she was, living a life that had turned out so much better than the one she had planned for herself. Not to be outdone, Keela marched over to Rosalie, head held high. "I slept good too mum", she announced. Rose smiled, her daughter reminded her so much of herself it was scary, but it was becoming more and more obvious that her oldest child had also gotten a fair dose of her father's determination and protective-nature. She reached down and plucked Keela from the floor. She would be to an age soon when Rosalie couldn't baby her this way, but Keela hadn't quite outgrown the desire to be coddled yet, and Rose had resolved to enjoy it as long as she could, within reason of course.
Rosalie shook her head at her husband's words. 'A little on the clothes', might mean there was a small spot on the collar, or it might mean an entire sleeve had been colored purple. If there was one thing she'd learned about her husband over the years, it was that he tended to understate things. She returned his kiss, reveling in the moment's warmth that still enveloped her senses. While they weren't teenagers anymore, there was no doubting that Rose was still extremely attracted to her husband, who had only improved over time in her opinion. The kiss hadn't lasted more than a second or two, but it was still long enough for Keela to pipe in. "Eww mummy and daddy are kissing!" This got the attention of Cern, who stopped piling his eggs in the middle of his plate with his spoon long enough to correct his sister. "'At's what mummies and daddies are supposed to do Kee". He spoke with so much authority that the words were almost comical. Rose and Tarnis shared a knowing look over the children's heads.
Rose nodded emphatically, "always", she assured him softly. "I get to spend every night with my favorite pillow." It had become their running inside joke over the years, a reference to something Rosalie had said when they were first starting out. It had been true then, and was even moreso now. Though it had taken some getting used to, she couldn't imagine sleeping without him now, it would feel too...odd. "What about you? I noticed the window open this morning." They opened the window in their bedroom often and for several different reasons. Sometimes it was just to let air into the room, but other times Taranis liked to sit in front of it and watch the ocean when he couldn't sleep at night. She hadn't felt him get up, but then she generally slept too deeply these days to notice much of anything save for the sound of one of the children crying. Both children turned to the sound of their father's voice. Rose, for her part, hid a smile behind her hand. She had planned to take the children to Gran's today, but while Keela didn't seem to mind normally, Cernenus didn't have much patience for the atmosphere in the big house. Largely, Rosalie thought, due to there being so little for a toddler to do.
Rose took a deep breath and crossed her fingers. "Would you like to draw pictures to take to Gran today?"
|
|
|
Post by Shava on Jan 21, 2012 10:07:07 GMT -5
He chuckled, amused at the fact his daughter was grossed out by the kissing more then his son when usually it was the other way around with kids as they grew up. Just one more sign of how specials theirs were, he guessed. When he looked at them (even just having caught them before breakfast at trouble) he still felt a lot of pride over what they could do, how quickly they learned. "Slept fine, if you didn't then I must have opened it with a sleepy head." Sometimes when things got too warm in the bedroom (which sometimes happened when your floors were heated slightly) they had both been known to get up and open a window in their sleep on the way to the bathroom, never remembering. The screens weren't open, so it wasn't like anything could get in, not to mention 'see' the house.
Being that both kids had been drawing on each other already this morning, Taranis was rather suspecting that art would be the hit subject and Rosalie's careful mention seemed to get them interested. "Yes, you know how she loves your artwork. Maybe you can draw her a dolphin, Cern, you are so good at those." He never tried to influence his daughter's subject for a picture as she was headstrong enough to do something totally different without warning, just to choose her own thing. Her mother had far more influence there on that. Cern nodded his agreement having missed the word today in the sentence while Keela tilted her head to some side considering it and what she might do. "If mommy wants to get the markers from the bookcase in the living room and help you both get started, I'll start cleaning up in here," he added as he stood.
As Rosalie led her two off to go find the markers, Taranis got the dishes all cleaned up and the pans scrubbed and hung up to dry. It didn't take long, as he did try and stay ahead of dishes; at least they didn't pile up like dirty clothes did from the kids! Who would have ever imagined so much laundry could be created in such a short amount of time during a week? They always had stuff out on the line. Of course, it could and often did get cleaned by magic, just to stay somewhat caught up, but putting the clothes on the line to dry gave them a wonderful natural smell which was hard to resist. Besides, might as well take advantage of the warm heat on a spring day like this. Once this was all done and the kids distracted, Taran slipped downstairs and out the door, making his way up to the farm as normal. If he mentioned the farm the kids often insisted on going to see grandma and then it was harder to get things done and he needed to get some breakfast down for some hungry animals!
As he exited the white door he found himself already with an audience of four, munching grass nearby. "Morning Snowbell, Morty, Cliff, and Dog." Letting the kids name some of the alpacs was clearly a mistake, but there were only a few ones that you had to deal with. He should have known to expect "morty" since his daughter loved the comic strip so much and "dog" was clearly a trick by his son to get one. You would think cats in the house would be enough animals, but both kids seemed to think dogs were 'the pet' to have. After giving each named Alpaca a scratch behind the ears he walked around to the front of the barn and inside, followed quickly by a large number of animals who knew what this meant. As they used their own entrance to quickly fill in stall boxes (males on one side, females on the other) he scooped up feed and filled the trough on the few males first and then locked the collars on the females as he gave them a much better mix in larger quantity.
Then again, they were used to being treated with more love and attention. He named each one as he set down a milker beside each (giving them a pat on the rump so they knew he was there of course) which magically began the process making it so much faster for him. By the time he reached the end of the line it was time to pick the first ones up and unlock collars, though few had finished eating yet. They liked the freedom however. Loading up a cart with full machines, he wanded them into the second half of the barn into the cooler room first, replacing their tops with caps, and putting the top nozzles in the sink to soak down before he cleaned them off later. With the easy part done, Taranis decided to cheat and appirated back to the house lawn, slipping back inside having been gone no more then fifteen minutes or so.
It was sometimes depressing that even though he had been gone, the kids had been distracted enough they hadn't missed him.
|
|