Ivan peeked around the corner, searching his living room for any sign of his little sunflowers. Kumajirou was curled up sleeping on a huge pile of blankets in the middle of the floor. The blankets twitched, confirming what Ivan already thought; one of them had burrowed into the blankets to hide. Grinning, Ivan moved forward slowly, calling their names again so whoever was there wouldn't realize they'd been found until it was too late. "Matvey... Irina... Lucian~" He nudged Kuma out of the way and grabbed the edges of the blanket. He snatched the blanket up, exposing the Canadian huddled underneath with their children curled against either of his sides. Irina stared up at her отец, eyes wide in shock, for a moment before they all burst into a fit of giggles for absolutely no reason at all. Ivan collapsed beside his sunflowers.
"How did you find us this time?" Lucian asked as soon as his giggling had subsided, his voice slightly whiny. Hiding in the blankets had been his idea, and he had been sure that his Russian father wouldn't find them.
"Kumajirou gave you away. He was sleeping on you." At the sound of his name the polar bear pounced on Ivan playfully, landing on his chest and curling up there to finish his nap. "And someone moved." Ivan picked the bear up, careful not to wake him again, and set him to the side. He leaned over to whisper in Matthew's ear. He had an idea. "Remember how we used to make blanket forts all the time? We have never done that with them. We should teach them, да?" Matthew's eyes lit up. He missed making blanket forts. The kids were definitely old enough to learn.
"Да! Okay, guys get up. We're going to show you something~" Matthew stood, lifting Kuma with him and taking him to the kids' room out of the way. When he returned, Ivan had Lucian and Irina standing on one side of the room and had thrown all the blankets onto the couch. The couch had been turned around and Ivan had taken all the cushions from the couch and both chairs and put them on the floor against the back of the couch so that they made what would be the floor of their fort. Matthew grabbed one of the chairs as he walked back in, putting it a few yards away from the couch, back to back. Ivan did the same with the other chair. Then they took the biggest blanket from the pile and stretched it over the furniture. Matthew told Irina to help him put the next blanket over the left side of the couch, stretching it between there and the chair so that it hung down to the floor. He looked up and saw Lucian and Ivan doing the same on the other side. Matthew got the rest of the blankets, except the one they would need to cover the 'door' and threw them inside the fort.
"In you go~" Ivan sing-songed, shooing the kids into the little shelter. Once they were in and settled down, Ivan and Matthew grabbed the last blanket and draped it over the chairs. Matthew flipped the bottom up and bowed slightly to Ivan.
"After you, mon amour." Matthew giggled as Ivan poked his belly on his way into the fort. Matthew crawled in last and, careful not to drag the blankets down on their heads, pulled the blanket down so that they were completely surrounded by blankets.
Inside the fort was surprisingly spacious. Ivan could almost stretch out to his full height. The other three had plenty of room. Ivan was laying on his side, and Matthew was curled against his chest, so that Irina and her little brother had most of the area to themselves and the tickle war that had broken out.
"Matvey," Ivan whispered, draping his arm over Matthew's waist and pulling him close, "Я тебя люблю." He pressed a gentle kiss to Matthew's temple. Matthew twisted around in Ivan's grip, "Je t'aime aussi." He stretched up to peck Ivan on the nose.
"Ewwwww!" Their attention was drawn to the fact that they were being watched. Matthew laughed and kissed Ivan's nose again before rolling over quickly and pinning Lucian to the ground and tickling him, only to have Irina jump on his back with a cry of, "Do not worry, mon frère!" She began doing everything she could to get Matthew to let her precious little brother go. That is, until Ivan pulled her off of him and started tickling her. Everyone was laughing, with the occasional squeal from the kids. One of these squeals woke Kumajirou up, and since he'd been sleeping, he had no clue what was going on. He thought one of the kids was in trouble. He bolted out of the bed he'd been sleeping on and out to the living room, up onto the couch and over the back of it - right onto the roof of the fort and Matthew's head. The blankets collapsed, trapping everyone.
"Ce qui- Kuma!" Matthew yelled, struggling to get out of the blankets without hurting anyone. When he finally got free he then helped Lucian, Irina and then Ivan get free of the mass of blankets. Once everyone was out, he snatched Kumajirou up and held him at eye level. "What the holy maple was that about?"
The bear met Matthew's slightly irritated gaze with his own lazily concerned one. "Heard screaming. Worried." Then he squirmed out of his owner's hands to the floor and lumbered over to where Ivan and the kids were sitting and sniffed both children thoroughly.
"They are okay~ We were just tickling them." Ivan patted Kuma on the head reassuringly. Lucian threaded his fingers in the bear's fur, leaning against him as his mouth stretched wide in a yawn. Irina scratched under the bear's chin, then crawled in to Ivan's lap, her eyes drooping closed already. Smiling at his daughter, Ivan laid on his side, curling around her. Matthew crawled over and pulled their son to him, laying in front of Ivan so that they were curled around Lucian, Irina and Kuma. The children and Kuma curled up in the space between Ivan and Matthew. Ivan's knees touched Matthew's, and their hands found each other between the already sleeping children and polar bear. They quickly fell asleep in the warm nest of blankets.