Their clothes were weighed down with heavy mud that streaked their hair and coated their exposed skin. Her cargo pants were brown, no longer army green under the thick sludge. Thanks to their case, they were filthy and exhausted. Olivia and Lincoln trudged up the front driveway, leaning into each other as they approached their front door, ready for a shower, food and then a hopeful collapse into bed.
The front door swung open with them, as they stepped in, boots heavy on the floorboards, the smell of curry drifted from the kitchen to their noses, dragging the agents in before removing their shoes.
Their hearts were lifted with the swelling sound of ruckus filtering through the hallways, filling the empty spaces of their home that had not been empty for years. Olivia turned to her husband, smile suddenly heartfelt at the remembrance of what they had waiting at home. They relaxed finally at the sight of Trevor sitting at the kitchen bench, his grandmother across from him singing a song he had once learnt in kindergarten.
Skidamarik a-dink, a-dink,
Skidamarik a-doo,
I love you.
His sister, Vera, was in her highchair, wooden spoon in hand as she smashed it against the tray, sending her cheerios vibrating with her percussion. Marilyn looked up, smelling the drying mud before she even noticed that her daughter and son-in-law were in the house. 'What happened to the two of you?' She asked, sightly amused at their dirty state. She only got a shrug in response as Trevor exclaimed for his parents, jumping off his stool and running to his father. Lincoln didn't hesitate about his dirty clothes, he picked up the boy mid run and crushed him to his chest, pressing a kiss to his forehead.
Olivia moved towards her daughter, kissing the dark hair on her head, hoping not to leave behind any trace of her day. The woman smiled softly at her mother, shoulders slumped with exhaustion. 'Bad day?' Marilyn asked.
'Just a long one,' Olivia shrugged, her smile real but tired. The case wasn't particularly rough, but their suspect made them chase him down, through a muddy forrest where not only Olivia, but Lincoln too, and their perp, lost their footing more than once. It would be funny to look back on, in fact, even at the time, suspect handcuffed and in a patrol car, Lincoln had kissed her muddy cheek with a heavy laugh, tears in his eyes with glee.
Vera watched her mother with wide, expectant eyes, her arms held above her head, little fingers grasping the air, begging, in a silent way, to be picked up. Olivia only took her daughter's hands, between her own fingers, and played with her little fists instead of picking her up. The little girl whined. Lincoln copied Liv's actions with her daughter, his thumb and forefinger taking hold of Vera's little fist as he held onto Trevor with his other arm, the little boy chatting easily in his father's ear.
There was dirt, already, on the side of the boy's face, gripping onto his ear. Olivia rubbed at it, tutting to her husband as she noticed three of them were dirty instead of just the two. She shooed them away easily from Vera, saving the little girl in her gentle lilac clothes from mud.
Lincoln already had Trevor's shirt off, attempting to struggle his own off in the process of carrying the five-year-old towards the guest bathroom, the promise of a bath and shower on his lips.
Olivia stood in the kitchen, one hand on the bench, the other on her dirty hip as she watched her boys disappear down a hallway, leaving mud on whatever had interrupted their path. Marilyn gave her daughter's hand a squeeze, the both of them trying to ignore Vera's incessant babbling to be picked up. 'Not you too, Vera, baby.' Liv tickled her daughter's chin. 'Someone has to stay clean.'
Olivia sighed, exhaustion weighing down on her spine. 'Go,' Marilyn shooed her daughter like Liv had shooed away the boys, pushing with both hands on her child's back towards the master bedroom and accompanying ensuite. 'Take a bubble bath, unwind, I'll clean up, and Miss Vera can wait for her 're exhausted, Liv, take a minute to yourself. The fort is being held down.' Olivia offered her mother another lazy smile, nodding as she did so before she disappeared from the kitchen herself.
She emerged an hour later, skin clean, scrubbed clear of mud and smelling like the bubble bath she rarely got to use.
The house was quiet, a soft rumble came from the living room, telling Liv that in the least, the TV was on. Rubbing a hand over her tired face she followed the soft noise. Lincoln was curled up on the couch, hair still wet, clean pyjamas on. Trevor sat behind his father's knees, as the man himself drifted in and out of sleep. There was a Mantis movie playing, something that didn't surprise Liv at all. Vera was on the floor, blocked into her play pen purely for the safety of their home when both adults were not available to watch her.
She squawked at her mother, hands flying above her head, grabbing for the woman. This time, now clean, Olivia complied to her daughter's wishes. Moving around the couch she swooped her daughter up, cuddling the six-month-old just tight enough for comfort as she kissed Vera's little fingers.
Olivia moved for Lincoln next, crouching down beside his half asleep face, with her right hand, she ran her fingers through his hair, pulling at the ends lightly. Lincoln grumbled, not at her touch, but at Vera's rough hands, jabbing at his face. 'Has Mom left?' She asked him quietly, not interrupting the sleepy mood of the room. He mumbled a soft 'no' which rewarded him with a kiss to the forehead.
Vera in tow, searched the house for her mother. The woman was busy in the laundry, shutting the lid on what was her last load for the day. 'Thank you, Mom.' Olivia opened, exhaustion still holding tight to her throat, pulling her words out in a quiet tone. Marilyn shrugged.
'Yours and Lincoln's muddy clothes are in the wash, you'll need to put them in the dryer. Everyone's been fed, but you, your plate is still hot on the stove, the left overs already in the fridge.' Olivia smiled, hugging her mother before they moved out of the laundry. 'C'mon,' she pushed her daughter and granddaughter into the kitchen, 'I'm not going home until you've eaten.'
Olivia complied only with a small huff, knowing full well that Lincoln would report anything to her mother if Marilyn so much as hinted that Olivia wasn't eating properly. She ate quickly, trying to save her food from the grumpy little girl who was awaiting her bedtime. It would have been easy to palm the child off to her mother, or stick her back in the living room, but Vera sensed every moment her mother tried to put her down. She was a loud protestor. Instead, Olivia ate over her child's head, dodging grabby fingers skilfully until she finished.
Content that her daughter was fed, and clean Marilyn kissed both Liv and Vera on the cheek before she went in search for Trevor to say goodbye.
'C'mon, buddy, time for bed.' Liv announced, hand tapping the top of her son's head. Trevor groaned, complaining that his movie hadn't finished and he wanted to watch it to the end. Olivia bit back the comment that he had seen it a thousand times. 'Bed. Don't fight it, champ.'
'But, Daddy,'
'Daddy's asleep.' Liv chuckled, watching her husband's face with an amused grin. Trevor threw himself down on his father's back, closing his eyes, and grabbing a fist full of the man's shirt, quickly whimpering that he wanted to sleep there, on the couch, on top of Lincoln.
Vera's small amount of patience hit the wall, her annoyed grumbles turned into shrieks that were quickly becoming tears. 'This isn't over,' Liv stared Trevor down, the boy blinking up at her, small smile on his lips. She knew, in the quiet solace of Vera's bedroom that the little girl would feed and fall asleep against her mother's breast. With one child down, she could tackle Trevor with both hands.
The infant settled easily, her eyes drooping as she stared up at her mother in the gentle light of her bedroom. Vera, thankfully, was an easy sleeper, so long as she was settled correctly and had her mother do it. The girl slept less when she was put to bed by others. Olivia still marvelled in the differences between her children, and knew she would continue to as the years go by. Trevor was unlike his sister, he never slept. Too scared that he was missing out on the world around him. He, however would fall asleep easily for his father, but still, never without a fight.
Olivia lifted her heavy baby out of her lap, the child limb in sleep. She had a little arm dangling in the air, the other holding tight to a long strand of her mother's red hair. Slowly, gently, she kissed her daughters forehead, and lowered the small girl into her crib. Untangling her hair from Vera's grip, she kissed her daughter's fingers, and lowered her hand as well.
Creeping out of Vera's bedroom and back to the living room, Olivia found the space empty. The TV was off, Trevor was gone, and Lincoln was no longer drooling on the couch. She backtracked to the hallway her children's bedroom's shared. Ducking her head into Trevor's room, Olivia found the little boy sleeping peacefully, stars glistening on his ceiling, thanks to glow in the dark stars. She crept in, kissed his cheek and whispered goodnight before leaving the room, intending on bed, herself.
Lincoln was in bed, awake, flicking through his tablet when she found him. The bedside lamp the only light in the room. Slowly, with heavy, languid movements Olivia climbed across the bed. She kissed her husband lazily, smile tickling at her cheeks as she did so. 'I don't know what consists of more work; our jobs or coming home to those two.'
'Definitely those two.' Lincoln laughed, pecking her lips. They saved the world, and somedays it sucked. Somedays they got no recognition, or the work was tedious, gritty and horrible. But, with Trevor and Vera there was always humour, always laughed, sometimes tears. There were bad days where someone cried, Olivia included, but at the end of the night they got to cuddle their babies and see how much they had grown since they had seen them at breakfast. That was a lot more work, a lot more energy than reporting for duty.