A/N: For any readers that are interested in a 8 Days of Boo/The House of Boo trilogy...I actually do have a rough plot-line in my head (I thank Swarek24 in advance for the title of that one when it actually does come to pass).
Unfortunately, I just don't quite have the time and energy to devote to multi-chapter fic writing at this point...
In the meantime, I'll be posting some random and non-sequential one-shots under the guise of this: Swarek Family Things. This little chapter is the first. Each one can be read independent to any other.
All credit to radleyboo (aka sourgummysharks) for inspiring #swarekfamilythings and having the patience to compile everything we've said about the family so far. Big thanks also to a host of others over on Twitter, including; CaliRBFG, Catelyn788, dcj, amrawazeer, evelinav, MEDougans14, LissaM_13, missraquelb and the wonderful StayRBFG who is super good at throwing ridiculously cute and appropriate images up on pinterest for me to fawn over. (If I've missed any credits, I promise to pick you up next time around!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Rookie Blue
Sunday, Soccer, and Sunshine.
One sunny Sunday in the year 2020.
"Make sure you stir it up good, princess." Sam smiles over in the direction of his 5 year-old. "Mommy likes her tea really sweet."
She's been helping out in the kitchen all morning; slow preparations for a lazy Sunday morning breakfast before the family has to rush around the rest of the day.
So far, Bella has helped with serving up Noah's cereal, as well as her own. She has also retrieved all the spreads for the second course;
"Toast?" Noah enquires eagerly, Sam and Andy's two year old holding his spoon aloft and pointed in the direction of the implement that he's anxiously awaiting for browned bread to pop out from.
"Soooooon, No-ah," Bella sing-songs, rolling her eyes as she continues on with her task at hand. She scoffs the next part of her response. "Daddy only just put the bread down."
"Oh," Noah replies with a shrug, apparently content with the explanation his sister has just given as to why his favorite meal of the day is taking so long.
"Little less 'tude toward your brother thankyou, miss B," a freshly showered Andy interjects, meandering into the kitchen. "Just because your brother doesn't have the cooking calculation skills that you do right now, doesn't mean that his questions are silly, okay?"
She reaches into Bella's thick pony tail and runs her fingers through the length. "I think we might have to braid this mop before you hit the fields today."
"Daddy'll do it," Bella informs casually, pushing the cup of tea in the direction of her mother. "He said he wants you to relax."
Andy quirks an eyebrow and directs it at Sam. She circles the bench he's standing behind and taps her hand light on his backside. "Your daddy is a wonderful man," she confirms to their children, pushing up on her toes to retrieve a kiss from him.
Sam gives her what she's after, a quick one on the lips. He follows it up with another close by her ear. "Feelin' better?" he asks softly.
Andy nods, takes a sip at her tea and then sighs. "This'll help too."
"I can do the initial running around this morning," Sam offers up. "Come back and get you when it's time for the appointment."
Bella peers at them suspiciously. Noah does too. "What appointment?" the little girl asks, her eyes narrowing. Her interrogation style is similar to Sam's; not a whole lot of mucking about.
"I have to go get a check-up at the doctor's," Andy replies, a reassuring small smile on her face.
"Doctor Joe?" Noah pipes in with a babble, a big dimply grin on his face.
"Doctor Joe is yours and Bella's doctor, little man," Andy replies, leaving Sam's side to go wash her son's sticky face. "When mommy feels sick, she goes to see the nice lady doctor that works at the same place as Doctor Joe."
"Ahh," Noah replies, the sound a whole lot like the grunt of agreement that Sam often gives.
Andy wipes some more at the mix of runny nose and milk that's spread over Noah's top lip; then plants a soft kiss on the forehead of their son. When she's done with that, she turns her attention back to Bella.
"You got everything you need in your bag for today, B?"
Bella nods, her gaze fixed on the toaster. "Three, two, one," she countdowns with precision timing, winks at her father when the toast pops up on cue. "I've even got change of clothes," she grins in the direction of Andy, not forgetting the question her mother just asked.
"Good girl," Andy smiles warmly. "Because Aunt Gail doesn't like you dragging mud through her house."
"Ick," Noah interjects again, even louder this time.
Sam makes a serious attempt to swallow his smile at Noah's nickname for Army-boy. Studiously butters the toast while Andy tries to correct the toddler for the 98th time:
"Nnnnnn" she starts, mouth half open so Noah can see where she puts her tongue.
"He knows his N's," Sam huffs, absentmindedly. "Can say his own name."
(Sam is mildly suspicious that their little boy likes to give Nick a hard time because he's got some sort of crush on Peck. Either that, or he's picked up on Sam's residual animosity over GI Joe being Andy's break-up buddy that time Sam dumped her like the douche that he was).
"Nnnnick…Unnnncle Nick," Andy continues, ignoring Sam's jab. "That's right, baby. You and Bella are going to stay with Aunnnt Gail, and Unnnncle Nnnnnick for a little while after soccer. Give you a chance to play with Charlotte as well."
Sam catches the eyeroll Bella just gave, assumes the best friends are…not that…for whatever today's reason might be. "Bella," he says calmly, "you and Charlie fighting again?"
(Gail and Nick's daughter is only a few months younger than Bella, the pair are generally like peas in a pod. They're both feisty though, so…well, things can get tricky sometimes).
"She cut off all Callie's hair," Bella snorts, in a similar fashion to the way Andy does.
"Ohhhh…" Sam sighs, smearing Noah's toast with some of the strawberry jam the kid likes. "That's not…nice?"
(Sam can't really ever predict what Bella thinks might be good or bad consequences regarding the events that befall her favourite doll, but he guesses the thing losing its hair isn't so great).
"No!" Bella gasps. "It's horrible, Daddy! Short hair doesn't suit Callie at all!"
Sam pushes the plate of toast in Andy's direction, suggesting she take over from there.
Andy has something to say about the Callie incident before she feeds their son though. "But you and Callie did get an apology from Charlie, remember? Written and all."
(Sam's seen the scrawl actually, can't avoid the damn thing. It's up here on the fridge. More flowers than their front garden in spring. Bunch of reverse R's and a whole lot of pink too.)
Bella puts one hand on her hip and raises an eyebrow at her mother, a miniature reflection that brings a smile to Sam's face. "All the 'sorries' in the world won't bring her hair back, mommy." The little girl even mimicked Charlotte's lispy 'sowwwy' when she delivered the line.
Andy does a relatively good job of not bursting into a cackle, Sam not so much. His laugh is pretty damn loud. He likes to watch the interactions between Bella and other kids for this very reason: his daughter has an answer for everything…just like her mom.
His laugh is cut short when Andy shoots him a glare, one hand still on her hip. She's pursing her lips and holding herself together like a trooper, but Sam can tell it's almost too much. Sam'd like to tease her to make sure the laugh comes out, but not today –
He's not 100% sure how her mood might hold up.
Instead, he pulls out 'dutiful Daddy'; aka serious Sam.
"Sorry…uh." Sam stutters, schooling his features and dropping his chin to his chest to give a stern look to Bella. "Bell. C'mon, Charlie's your best friend. You know it's not nice to be mean."
Bella blows out a breath, carries on with the business of eating some toast. "I guess," she says through some mouthfuls that suggest she's spent too long hanging around Oliver Shaw. "I can forgive her this once."
Sam bites inside his cheek again, winks at his daughter. "Forgiveness is a very, very good trait."
"I know," she continues, chomping into the bread. "You and mommy have had to practice it a lot."
Andy does laugh then, softly though. Just in a way that reassures their children that she does think forgiveness is truly divine. She walks back over to Sam, picks up the conversation from earlier. He assumes she does it to get things moving along...
Doesn't stop him from interrupting her with another kiss though; he hasn't had a chance to get a good look at her since they got out of bed. He's pretty sure his wife gets more beautiful every day.
She dips her fingers down the waist of his jeans, holds on to the band. "I'm fine," she chirps. "I want to come see her play...it's a big one, you know."
Sam grins, puts down whatever utensils he's still holding and runs his hand up her back. "If they win this, they're in the grand final..." He glances over Andy's shoulder, watches on proudly as their daughter starts to help tidy things up. "Told you I'd get 'em there..."
Andy smacks at his chest lightly and snorts. "So would've I."
(She had to quit soccer-coaching duties of Bella's team in the early part of the season – the timing for practice sessions conflicting with some of the work she's been doing. Sam stepped up, even though he knew not that much about the game. He's a quick learner though; read all the books...watched as many games as he could with Andy and Bella on either side of him, running commentary and all).
He rubs his hand a little lower, squeezes her ass. "Not if your performance as water-girl is anything to go by."
She laughs bright, pretty head thrown back and shaking about. "I told you, it was Gail that laced the refreshments with red cordial..."
(It happened 3 weeks ago – the team may have won...but their parents did not. The kids were uncontrollable the minute they all left the field).
Sam smiles with his tongue in his cheek; knows that his wife is often in cahoots with the devious plans of Gail Peck. He loves McNally's laugh and lets her roll with it though, even manages a tickle up her side to keep the sound coming out –
"Come on, you two," Bella bosses. "We'll be late. And you still need to do my hair."
Sam gives a final kiss to Andy's chin and then releases himself from her grasp. "Okay, okay...but you see what was happening there, Bell? You're mom was distracting me with how pretty she is."
Bella rolls her eyes good-naturedly, a little blush and smile on her face at the affection between her parents. She shakes her head and giggles as she yanks the tie out of her hair and passes it over to Sam.
He definitely earned big points from McNally though. As he seats his daughter and tugs at her locks, he catches the look on his wife. He recognises the trawling gaze as the one that's often accompanied by getting him back into bed.
He grins and winks over at her. 'Later,' he mouths.
A quick tidy braid, and family clean-up of the kitchen later, the McNally-Swarek's are all in the truck.
It's a relatively quiet trip, compared to their normal fanfare.
Sam's caught up in his own thoughts, as are the rest of the group no doubt. Probably Bella is thinking tactics regarding today's soccer, probably Noah can't wait to get back home already and just play with Boo.
(The dog would normally come with them, but is today keeping company with their elderly neighbour who just had a friend pass away).
He chances a sideways glance at McNally; his wife has been staring out the passenger side window from the moment they reversed. He wants to tell her it'll all be okay –
Their plans always seem to have unexpected bumps in the road...
He doesn't want to worry the kids though, they're likely to latch on to his words and not quite understand... and besides, they don't know for sure –
"Did you know we cleaned the truck yesterday, mommy?" Bella enquires quietly.
Sam looks to the rear vision mirror as he pulls into drive. His daughter has the pointy eyebrow expression going on again so Sam follows her doe-eyed gaze...
He smiles small, realizes Bella is trying to give Andy a subtle clue without coming across too smart-mouthed.
Andy turns her head, looks to the back seat, then looks back at herself. They've been through this before. Bella is a bit of a neat freak, is not generally impressed anytime anyone makes any kind of mess.
It's McNally's feet on the dash that are the problem this time. She does it often, but since the truck was washed and detailed just yesterday, well –
Sam can feel Bella's cringe.
Andy's brow furrows. Sam's pretty sure she had to bite her tongue from telling their daughter she'll do whatever she damn-well wants with her feet...
He empathises completely. For as much as he likes the truck clean, he also has fond thoughts whenever McNally has her legs in the air –
"Remember what we said about Mommy relaxing?" Sam butts in, making the firm decision to side with his wife on this one.
"Yyyesss," Bella replies slowly, but her changing expression lets Sam know she is quickly catching on. "Okay, sorry Mommy..." she says quietly, going back to the business of being more concerned with her upcoming soccer game.
"S'okay, sweetheart," Andy smiles. "I'll do my bit by wiping it down when we get out of the car."
With the close-call resolved and harmony restored, Sam decides it's time for some music. He presses a few buttons, and declares loudly: "I think it might be time for a family sing-along."
Noah claps his hands immediately, dimples digging deep into his cheeks. Andy and Bella are both at war with their own smiles, not wanting to give away just how much they both enjoy this regular occurrence of the family car rides:
But by the time the first verse is underway, they're all singing and waiting for Bella's solo...
'And your friends, they all come crawlin',
Slap you on the back and say,
Pl-eeeeeaaassse, Pl-eeeeeeeassse'
Which incites a series of giggles and whoops from the rest of the family, completely foolish grins on every face in the truck.
Andy keeps her eyes on Sam as the song finishes up, gives him some of her own moist doe-eyes as she mouths an: 'I love you' that he gives her right back.
The cabin goes back to silence again not long after, a relaxed one with a touch of anticipation for the great game of soccer ahead.
Sam spends the next half hour splitting his attention between the game, and watching Andy run up and down the sidelines like a crazy person –
Noah was left on Gail's hip long ago, the two women taking it in turns to make sure the little boy didn't wander off to parts unknown like he's been known to do.
Andy's barking orders under the guise of "it's about water, Sam…seriously."
Sam lets her, generally reserves dishing out his own instructions until the timing is right.
He catches her around the waist at one point though: "take it easy, McNally…don't want your blood pressure scoring the goals…"
She scowls back at him, flicking her ponytail. "My blood pressure is fine, Sam." Wriggles out of his grasp and practically jumps on his hips when Bella scores the winning goal. She screams in his ear, flings her arms in the air.
Sam just holds on. Doesn't want to drop her at least. He'd remind her winning isn't everything except for the fact that when he opens his mouth she cuts him off with a hot kiss.
"We're in the grand final!" she hollers, sliding down his body until her feet hit the ground.
Sam just looks on bemused, kicks at a few stones as he follows her toward Bella to give their daughter a hug.
With the team wrap-up done, and reminders for next week dished out to other parents, Sam wanders over to McNally and Peck.
"Seriously, they can stay the night if you want…" Gail is saying to Andy. "If you and Sam want some time to yourselves."
"Ugh, you kidding?" Andy teases, wrapping an arm around Sam. "Dad's coming over tomorrow night to babysit while Swarek takes me to some fancy restaurant. Got to save up my stories, or we might have nothing to talk about on our date."
Sam snorts, tugs McNally into his chest. "I'll remind you of that later tonight when you're talkin' my ear off again."
Gail puts her hands over Noah's ears promptly. "Ew. C'mon guys, the kid and I don't need to hear about your nocturnal activities, okay?"
Andy rolls her eyes, beckons to Bella and Charlotte who are arguing over something near the goal posts. Whatever it was, they're over it by the time they race one another to their parents, big smiles on their faces.
"See you in a couple of hours, honey bees" Andy says, leaning in to kiss Noah and Bella goodbye. "I love you. Be good."
The ride to the appointment is even quieter than the one to soccer, except for the grinding of Andy's teeth.
"Gonna be okay…" Sam says softly, not taking his eyes off the road. "Whatever happens."
Andy fidgets a little next to him, puts her hand on his leg. "I know…I just…the timing's out…again…" She blows out a breath. "I've just started in this position, and Bella will need some extra attention when she heads off to school…and I need eyes in the back of my head with Noah…"
"We'll work it through," Sam states, voice still calm, as he puts a hand on top of hers and squeezes. "We always do." He clears his throat; "You know you can take your pick with the department…they know you're the best psychologist they've got…and I'll be there for Bella and Noah, take time off when we need."
"But you love your job…" Andy whines.
"Love you guys more…" Sam argues, laser-beaming one dimple her way.
"God," Andy huffs. "That's how we keep getting ourselves into this mess."
Sam raises his eyebrows, tamps down the grin –
(Distinctly remembers the number of times she's told him to give her another baby, or else.)
"That so?" Sam replies, real casual, but with a smile overtaking his face. He does look at her then, silly grin of her own as she bursts into fits of giggles and tells him:
"Shut up."
Sam keeps grinning, knows for a fact that McNally is not really averse to the idea of another baby – unplanned or otherwise. She loves being a mom. And while he might've momentarily freaked out at the thought of becoming a dad the first (and second) time around, he's pretty much beside himself at how things have turned out.
He keeps a watch on Andy for as long as he can; wonders whether this one will be like Bella and Noah…each a unique and perfect mix of Sam and Andy themselves.