A/N: This story wouldn't exist without Manda, because Sariah is DS's daughter from Remembering Sunday and I have introduced another Humphrey child, Zachary. Huge thanks to Manda!
This fic is just capturing adorable DS family moments, so if you want more just review/PM me ideas of other scenes you'd like written out and I'll do my best :) Otherwise it's probably remaining a one-shot. Hope you have as much fun reading it as I had writing it! Please review, and I apologize it's taken so long to update my others - they're on their way!
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"MOMMYYY! My hair! You haven't put my hair up yet it's still loose! And Daddy said we're leaving soon!" Serena heard Sariah scream dramatically from her room. Running around the kitchen to get bottles, containers and baby food in order with her 6-month-old son on her hip, Serena tucked her own blonde locks behind her ear as she bent down to a cupboard.
"Baby, can you go do her hair?" She asked Dan who was packing and re-packing the esky for the second time.
"Please?" She added, when he looked at her with disbelief and confusion.
"You want me… to go and… honey I can't do her hair I don't know-"
"Dan! Just go get a little pink hair-tie from the second drawer in her bathroom, actually ask which one she wants she may want one of those cute yellow ones Vanessa bought for her the other day with the little bumble bees on them? Anyway just let her get a tie, brush her hair a little and then try to tie the tie around some of her hair. It doesn't matter what you do, just-"
"Okay okay I think I got it, don't worry" he chuckled at her fretful state. "Who knew my rambling was so contagious!" He added under his breath, walking out of the kitchen listening to his wife laugh out loud at his joke. He loved it when she laughed like that, it showed she was relaxed and content; which he tried to make sure was the case every day.
***
"Come on little miss", Dan found his little girl trying on Serena's latest purchase; a pair of simple olive green Manolo Blahnik pumps she bought for Blair and Chuck's engagement party. Sariah's tiny feet hardly filling a third of the shoe, she stood proudly in front of the floor-length mirror in Dan and Serena's walk-in-robe.
"Do you think these suit me daddy? They're very pretty shoes" she asserted, glancing between her Dad's smirking face and her own feet.
"They are very pretty, darling, but they're also mommy's and she hasn't even worn them yet so we should probably put them back okay. I think Grandma CeCe is taking you to buy a new outfit for that party tomorrow, so then you can have your own new shoes! What do you think of that baby?" He was now crouching down at her level, and quietly worrying that something awful was going to happen to the expensive footwear any minute.
"That sounds fun, thank you daddy" she responded politely. "But when is Mommy going to do my hair?" she ran past her father, concerned.
"MOMMY! You have to do my hair! Because-" she shouted out as her sandals made the familiar noise on the floorboards of the hall way to the stairs, a sound that Dan and Serena had loved hearing since the day their little girl could walk.
"Sariah it's okay daddy's going to do it for you" he almost caught up to her on the stairs.
"Daddy?" she chuckled a little. "Okay, but as long as mommy can fix it if daddy does a bad job!" the four-year-old blonde smiled at her smart comment.
"Come on, in to your bathroom cheeky girl" he ruffled her hair as she obeyed his command.
***
The sight through the partly open bathroom door gave the young mother the warmest, fuzziest feeling inside. The look of concentration on her husband's chiselled face and the mixture of concern and amusement on her daughter's pretty face made her smile. Having just put Zachary to sleep in the pram, ready to leave for their picnic, she stood at the pink door for ages just watching them without either one noticing.
"Owwww!" Sari over-dramatised as Dan obviously tried to comb through a knot.
"Oh sorry darling! Sorry sorry sorry, did I hurt you?" Dan patted her blonde head with his usually-so-soft hand.
"Yeah there was a knot, Daddy. You gotta be careful and comb real slow and gentle when there's a knot, okay?"
"Rule number one, avoid knots. Got it!" he said seriously as he slowly returned to comb through that bit of hair.
***
"Daddy, you're still pulling it too tight!" Sari whined as her little fingers tangled into her blonde hair and blocked the brush. Dan swore to himself that he would make Serena do it next time. He didn't like hurting his little girl.
"Please sweetie, move your hand now I'll be more careful. I promise," he begged his daughter who was just as stubborn as her mother.
"Okay daddy. But first… you have to pinkie promise." Sariah held her little hand out above her head for Dan to take in his own.
Pinkie promises were something Vanessa had taught her, just like she'd done to Dan when they were six. The memory made him laugh; to think that they'd all come this far. He could remember the little girl with dark corkscrew curls teaching him, that huge grin plastered on her face, and here was her goddaughter, Dan's daughter, asking him to do the same thing.
Locking his pinkie finger with his daughter's tiny one he kissed the top of her head before yet again attempting to do her hair. Sariah smiled warmly at the sight, her lips curling up on the sides. She watched as her daughter's face lit up like Christmas morning when her daddy managed to comb through all her hair without hurting her anymore.
***
"Daddy! You're doing better!"
Sariah cheered as Dan held all of her hair in one of his hands, the other combing from the front nice and neatly leaving minimal bumps, as her little brown eyes watched on intently in the mirror. All he had left was the final step of putting in the elastic.
"See Sari, maybe I can do this better then mommy!" Dan said proud of himself as he pulled the hair through the elastic for the final time, and backed away a little so she could look in the mirror.
Sariah stood up on the little pink and grey elephant stool that was permanently placed in front of the vanity in her bathroom. As soon as she caught sight of the job her daddy had done, her adorable little hand went straight to her mouth to cover up the giggles she couldn't control.
"Daddy! You did it all wrong! Look how high it is I look silly! And it's all on this side and there are bumps over here on top of my ear!" The giggles continued.
Just as Dan was about to step forward and pick her up off the stool to hold her in front of the mirror and try and explain that he thought it looked okay, the couple were interrupted by another sound of laughter coming from the door.
Serena's body was shaking with her laughter, her shoulders curling forward as she failed to keep her amusement unnoticed.
"Mommy! Look what Daddy did, isn't it a disaster?" Sariah shouted, pointing at the uneven ponytail on top of her head.
"Hey hey hey I wouldn't say disaster, w- w- would you, honey?" Dan's eyes were raised, hoping for support from his wife who continued to chuckle at the adorable sight, shaking her head.
"I mean it could be worse, couldn't it?" Dan tried, and Serena just scrunched her nose and smiled at him, showing him how cute she thought the whole thing was.
"It could be better too, though. Here, let me teach you?" Serena made her way over to Dan and Sariah turned to face her, reaching out for a cuddle.
"Hey gorgeous" Serena said as she squeezed her daughter's little frame tight within her's.
"Are you gonna teach Daddy how to do my ponytail now mommy?"
"I dunno what do you think, sweetheart?" Serena remained bending her knees so she could look her daughter in the eye, and Dan's hand rested on her lower back as he watched them converse about him.
***
She stood behind him just as he had done to her in the pool hall, her arms on his. Sariah watched in the mirror and smiled with her mouth open and little teeth visible as she looked on with fondness and excitement.
Removing the elastic gently, Serena felt a light kiss on her cheek before Dan's head turned to face forward and she settled her chin on his shoulder. She took the comb out of Sariah's hand as the little girl waited impatiently and Dan looked on intently. Dan watched Serena's long fingers work at their daughter's hair, and couldn't help picture Serena some twenty years ago in the same position Sariah was in now. His wife's soft words broke him from his daydream.
"Sooo the trick is to be firm without pulling. So when you – "
"Hear that Daddy?" Sariah interrupted loudly. "Firm without pulling!"
"Hey I thought mommy was the teacher, not you" Dan joked and smiled at his little girl in the mirror, who responded by cheekily poking her tongue out a little. She pulled it back in quickly when Serena looked up to the mirror, only to catch Dan doing the same thing.
"Hey no tongue poking!" Serena said slapping Dan's arm lightly with her hand.
"Just show me how to do the stupid ponytail, then." Dan smiled and sighed, turning his attention back to the head of hair that had been worked at for over twenty minutes by now.
***
"And then you juuust…" Serena let Dan finish the masterpiece with the final twist of the elastic. His inexpert hands pulled the ponytail through the loop, and with the finishing snap of the elastic, the Humphrey smile resonated across each of the family members' relieved and excited faces. Serena wrapped her arms tightly around Dan's middle as Sariah turned round, beaming, and gave her daddy a high five.
"Next time I'll do it all by myself, okay?" Dan bragged, still smiling.
Serena let her hands loose off his waist a little and turned him around to face her.
"Oh really, you will? You gotta hope Sari doesn't wanna leave the house then" she teased, leaning in and kissing his mouth that was wide-open imitating shock.
"My new sunglasses!" Sariah exclaimed loudly, interrupting her parents' kiss. But before either Dan or Serena had a chance to ask her "what about your sunglasses?", Sari had run out of the bathroom and into her adjoining bedroom.
"She is one cute kid, Serena." Dan said sincerely, still holding onto her waist.
Serena's voice softened as she took his hands in hers and laced them together loosely. Looking down, she sighed and then turned to look into Dan's eyes.
"We did pretty well, didn't we?" She couldn't help but smile contently. Dan lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles tenderly.
"Yeah" he whispered into her hand still, and Serena closed her eyes, relishing the feeling of his lips and breath on her hand; a feeling that no matter how many times she feels, never goes away. Dan dropped their hands and placed his hands on either side of Serena's face, letting his fingers entangle a little in her hair. He stepped forward and pulled her into him, closing his eyes as he grasped her top lip in between his.
***
They hadn't been kissing for long enough when the little blonde's sandals once again reminded them of her existence. Not that there was need for the sandals; Sariah had her mother's projection when she needed it, and was quite shameless in telling her parents what to do.
"Hey, are we going on this picnic or not?" Sariah threw her hands onto her hips as she stood in the doorway, her adorable face failing to look demanding or angry.
"Course we are honey, you all ready to go?" Serena let Dan's hands drop off of her and walked over to pick up her daughter.
"Yup! You ready daddy?" Sariah turned her head to face Dan behind them, causing a smile to wipe over his face.
"Of course I am baby, let's get Zachy and off we go!" Dan chimed as he placed one hand on Serena's back and followed her out through the door.
***
The August sun beat down through the gaps in the shade of the tree above them. Dan sat with his legs out in front, ankles crossed, leaning back on one arm, using the other to stroke Serena's blonde hair that lay in his lap.
"Daddy please can I have another sandwich?" The little girl stood up and held out the small pink plastic plate in query.
"Of course you can sweetheart. Just let me get you one from-"
"Daddy!" her whisper interrupted him, just like her mother's had so many times before. "Yes baby?" he whispered back, turning to see his daughter pointing her tiny hand in surprise at her mommy's head resting on Dan's lap. "Mommy's asleep! Look!" Dan couldn't help the beaming smile from spreading across his lips as he leant over and pulled a few strands of hair behind Serena's soft ear so as to see her peaceful face at rest.
"How come mommy's sleeping daddy? It's the middle of the day! Zachy's sleeping too but that's cuz he's a baby! Mommy's not a baby!" Sari sounded confused but excited that she knew part of the answer to her own question.
"No, no she's not. But you're right, Zachy is… oh" the sound of his son crying interrupted his sentence. "Sounds like Zachy isn't asleep anymore Bug, doesn't it?"
"Nope. Zachy's crying, Daddy. Help him!" Her voice had returned to its usual proud four-year-old tone, the sound that Dan was so used to waking up to himself.
"Okay. Now if I can just lift Mommy's head off my lap without waking her up," he attempted to lean over and thread his arm underneath her shoulder, when he saw her emerald eyes flutter open briefly.
"Sorry baby," he whispered to her, grabbing a soft folded blanket off of the rug and placing it under her head, kissing her cheek as he lay her back down. A soft satisfied "mmm" and warm smile was all he got in response, and all he wanted. If there was one thing Serena needed at the moment it was sleep. Baby Zachary was certainly not as blissful as Sariah had been, waking up for hours at a time in the middle of the night. The original plan was for the two of them to take turns in getting up and rocking him, but of course that plan was out the window pretty quickly; as soon as both realised they couldn't sleep without being in each other's arms anyway.
***
"Hey little man, how you going in there? Had enough have you? Come here" he muttered to the beautiful baby boy as he removed the cover from the pram and leant in to pick Zachary up. The baby wails softened, but nevertheless continued as Dan held him against his chest and rubbed his back and turned from side to side slowly. Turning around from the pram, his eyes settled on possibly the sweetest sight he'd ever seen. Sari had placed herself behind Serena on the picnic rug, where Dan had been. Sitting cross-legged, she used her soft little hand to rub Serena's blonde hair as her Daddy had done. She even paused and leant over every now and again to place a kiss on her mom's cheek; something that Dan realised he must have been doing earlier without even noticing. Now he wanted her to wake up. Although he was pretty sure she already had; Serena had felt enough of Dan's luscious kisses during his time to be able to tell the difference between that and the peck of a four-year-old. She opened her eyes to see him standing there holding their crying son.
"It's called a pacifier honey" she joked, giggling as soon as she said it.
"Well sor-ry! You just go back to sleep then Princess Humphrey and I'll-" Her laugh got louder as he joked back, and she turned her head back to find herself staring into the chocolate eyes of her daughter.
"Hello there gorgeous, thanks for rubbing mommy's hair! That was very sweet of you" She placed her delicate Tiffany-adorned hand on the child's lap.
"That's okay mommy! It's because Daddy was doing it, you see, but then Zachy woke up and started crying so Daddy had to stop so I did it instead." Serena loved that Sariah had inherited her father's rambling trait.
"Okay. Well it seems as though for once Daddy can't get Zachy to stop crying, and that can only mean one thing can't it gorgeous?" she looked up adoringly, addressing Dan who was still struggling to calm the baby in his arms. Serena stood up, and after placing a lingering kiss on Dan's lips, took her son out of his arms.
***
"Sari, honey, do you remember what we brought with us today? Something special Daddy packed?" Serena asked as she sat back down on the rug, reaching under her loose white shirt to unclip her bra at the front for Zachary to feed.
"The duckies! We brought bread to feed the duckies, mommy! Remember?"
Serena giggled at the delightfully excited face on her doll-faced toddler, looking up to Dan who was doing the same.
"That we did, Bug! Come on let's go do that while mommy feeds Zac" he crouched down next to Sari and looked into her face as he talked, his hand on her head, stroking her fringe back with his thumb.
"But can't mommy and Zachy come? Mommy please come help us!" she walked to Serena and put on her cutest Puss-in-Boots face.
"Sweetie I wish I could I just have to stay here with Zac and feed him, okay? Zachy didn't get yummy sandwiches for lunch like you so mommy has to feed him now, okay Bug?"
"Come on Sari give mommy a cuddle and we'll go feed the duckies together okay?"
"Okay," she did as her father told, kissing Serena's cheek and then placing her tiny hand on Zach's Bonpoint beanie. She used her delicate left hand to lift Serena's shirt higher above Zac's head exposing Serena's whole breast, in order to lean in and kiss her baby brother's cheek. As she did so her parents' eyes met, smiling at the naivety of their little girl and her affection towards her brother.
After her dad asked her if she were ready, Sariah walked to the other side of the rug and picked up her small pink Guess sunglasses she'd insisted on getting when they were out shopping for a new pair for Serena. Sariah always wanted to dress like her mommy; a wish both her Nana and Grandma CeCe enjoyed fulfilling for her. Checking to see Dan had the bread in his hands, she held out her hand for her Daddy, and smiled saying "Ready Dad!"
"Okay honey. Let's go then" he took her little hand in his, and turned around behind him to mouth "I love you" to Serena, who blew a kiss back in return, just the way she had that first night he'd told her the reasons why loved her.
***