Nathanial Rhys Shepherd sat sternly on the foot of his bed, arms folded over his chest, his bottom lip stuck out and he looked rather serious. Addison was kneeling in front of him, she didn't know what to do, he was being stubborn, and a trait she insisted he had inherited from his father. The five year old was determined not to falter in his decision but Addison knew she could sway him. Laughter could be heard from downstairs; Derek was playing with their 3 year old daughter Charlie. Nathanial had stormed off upstairs after his younger sister had taken his favourite toy. She hadn't done it intentionally she was after all only three but Nathanial didn't like having to fight Charlie for his toys, and Derek had told him to just let her play with it and of course he did not agree with this decision.
"Come on dinosaur she's your little sister, she'll give you back your toy" Addison said looking into her sons green eyes, pleading with him.
Nathanial remained sitting with his arms folded over and didn't say anything. "Nate you have plenty of other toys to play with"
"But mommy Charlie took my favourite toy. I loves playing with that one and she wouldn't give it back" Nathanial continued to pout and his curly locks of auburn coloured hair covered his forehead. Addison brushed the stray hair away and held onto his hands. When her son was acting like this there was no way of getting through to him, he was going to be a handful in his teenage years.
There was a knock on the door frame, Addison turned around only to see Derek holding Charlie in the doorway. Derek gently put his daughter down on the floor and watched as she toddled over to her big brother's side. Nathanial looked away but she tugged on the hem of his shorts. Addison rose from her kneeling position and went to stand by Derek as they watched Charlie interact with her older brother.
"Derek do you have anything to do with this?" Addison whispered.
"No, Charlie was upset when Nate ran off and she wanted to apologise" Derek replied quietly as Nathanial helped his baby sister up onto his bed. Even though he was mad at her he still had the desire to look out for her. Firmly held in one of her small hands was Nathanial's toy, she placed the action figure in his lap and looked up at him, her big blue eyes looking into his. He tried to remain serious but his features softened up when he saw Charlie looking up at him. Picking up the toy in his lap he pouted slightly at his sister, she smiled and crawled into his lap.
"Tanial I's sorry for taking your toy" Charlie had never been able to pronounce her brother's name properly so instead she created her own shorthand. "I din't wanna make you mad, I just wanted to play with you" Nathanial was unable to stay mad at his younger sister any longer, he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly, the three year old reciprocated affectionately. Addison and Derek sighed, both amazed by their children's ability to resolve problems.
"Mommy hug?" Charlie looked over at Addison, her eyebrows arched high. Addison was unable to resist her daughters charm and moved over to the bed, grabbing both her children in her arms. Derek watched from the doorway and decided to get their attention. "What about me huh? I was just going to take you out to the arcade this afternoon but I don't know anymore" He pretended to be hurt and it worked because Nathanial pulled away from Addison and ran over to his father. His arms wrapped around his dad's waist and he looked up at him with a small smile. Derek placed a hand on his head and ruffled his hair.
"We're going to the arcade are we?" Addison said standing up with Charlie in her arms.
"Pleaaaaaaaaaaase mommy" Nathanial pleaded, he got down on his knees and proceeded to beg.
"He learnt that from you" Addison shot Derek a look and he chuckled. "Alright alright you got me, we'll go to the arcade but you need to clean up your toys in the living room first, both of you" Nathanial bounded out of his bedroom and down stairs, he was eager to go to the arcade. Charlie climbed out of her mothers arms and followed her brother, wanting to help him clean up so they both could get to the arcade sooner.
Five minutes later Nathanial and his sister joined their parents in the kitchen, both had toothy grins plastered on their faces. Derek looked down at them and couldn't help but smile. "All our toys a cleaned up" Nathanial said confidently, Addison arched an eyebrow and looked at him questionably. "Really, I'll think we have to inspect" Addison stood up and ushered Derek into the living room where both of them inspected their children's efforts.
"Okay this looks good; I think we can go now. Dinosaur can you please get Charlie's shoes on while Daddy and I pack the car?" Nathanial nodded and took his little sister upstairs with him to help her get ready. Addison and Derek both began getting things together to take with them to the arcade.
"Kids are you ready?" Derek's voice was carried upstairs and soon Nathaniel emerged from upstairs, holding Charlie on his back, she was giggling fervently as he carried his sister downstairs with him. Derek smiled and walked over to the base of the stairs to meet his son and daughter, he looked his son once over and his gaze stopped at his son's choice of footwear.
"Nate why are you wearing gumboots?" The bright red gumboots with spider-man printed on the side clashed with his Hawaiian printed board shorts and yellow t-shirt.
"They're my favourite pair and Charlie asked me to wear them" Charlie's brown pigtails bounced up and down as she nodded in agreement and Derek just rolled his eyes as he lead the kids out to the car.
As soon as the family arrived at the arcade Nathanial took the lead and ran inside, heading straight to the racing games, Charlie followed not wanting to be left alone and joined her brother in the racing games. Addison and Derek followed their children and watched as Charlie struggled to reach the peddles, Nathanial on the other hand was persistent and sat on the edge of his seat just so he could reach the peddles, didn't help much considering he could barely see over the steering wheel.
"Iss not fair daddy" Charlie turned around in her seat and pouted at Derek, he leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on her forehead.
"What's not fair Gummy bear?" He was intrigued by what she had to say, she sat back down in her seat, and the pink tutu she was wearing bunched up around her legs. Addison couldn't get her to change into anything more practical so the tutu had remained on.
"Tanial is gonna win coz he can reach the peddles" Derek looked off to the side as if to show that he was thinking of a solution to his daughter's dilemma. Derek picked Charlie up and sat down in the racing chair with her in his lap. "Alright Gummy bear you steer the car and I'll push the peddles"
Charlie nodded and her focus changed to the game, her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth and her head lurched forward as she began to concentrate. Every time she crashed the car she would let out a shrill squeal. Nathanial looked over at Derek and Charlie who were now winning and he looked over at his mother for assistance. She understood immediately, his look was one that he had inherited from her. She sat down behind him and pulled him onto her lap, she took over control of the peddles and he began driving.
"Hey that's not fair he could already reach the peddles" Derek exclaimed.
"What's wrong Dr Shepherd afraid that we're going to beat you" Addison's competitive nature began to shine.
"That's not going to happen Addi, you know I'm a better racer than you" Even thought Charlie was intent on driving she still nodded her head in agreement to what Derek was saying. Nathanial stuck out his tongue and blurted at his younger sister, Addison poked him in the side of the ribs and he went back to driving, realising that taunting her wasn't the right thing to do.
"Well just have to see about that, Dinosaur and I are going to win" With that both teams went back to driving competitively, the race soon finished and Addison and Nathanial did in fact win. Charlie was about to cry but Derek began tickling her when he saw her once enormous grin suddenly drop into a frown. Her laughter erupted and he carried his daughter on her shoulders. Nathanial received his tickets from various games and decided to be very noble; instead of buying the soccer ball he had wanted he bought Charlie a stuffed SpongeBob SquarePants teddy.
Addison commended her son for his generosity and decided that a round of fudgesicles was in order. As the family proceeded to walk around the arcade, Charlie slowly working her way through her fudgesicle on Derek's shoulders, they came to the infamous Dance Dance Revolution game. Nathanial raced over to the game and started jumping around on the dance mat. Charlie began to squirm in Derek's grip and he put her down, wiping the chocolate off her face with a napkin before she joined her brother on the opposing dance mat. Addison approached the game put a dollars worth of coins into the game. The screens flashed and instructed the children, Nathanial took the lead and began stomping his feet on the appropriate controls.
Charlie tried to copy her big brother but she was finding it harder, her legs were a lot shorter than his and therefore she had trouble reaching some of the controls. She would have to run around the dance mat to reach some combinations but she was having fun. Both children weren't particularly good at the game, they would occasionally get perfect dance combos but generally speaking this game was better left for people with longer legs. Eventually their credits ran out and both Nathanial and Charlie were out of breath, their energy stores were running low and they needed a rest. Addison was ready to pick Charlie up when Derek took her by the hand and lead her onto the dance mats.
She looked at her husband quizzically when he paid for another game. "Derek what are you doing?"
"Beating you at Dance Dance Revolution" The J-pop began to play and Derek fumbled over the dance moves that the screen prompted. Nathanial and Charlie stood watching as their parents began playing the game, Addison was still hesitant but she wasn't about to let Derek win so she began nimbly moving around the dance mat.
"Oh if you think you're going to beat me then you are sorely mistaken" Derek was well aware of his wife's competitive nature and her tendency to become overly passionate when posed with a challenge. He would look over at her every now and then and smile, he loved the way her tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth, the same as Charlie's did when she was concentrating extremely hard.
"Go Daddy! You can win!" Nathanial roared as he now stood behind his father's dance podium, Charlie raced over to Addison's side and was doing her own versions of the dances. Time was counting down and Addison was only just in the lead. They weren't outstanding at the game but then again they weren't half bad. Neither of the world renowned surgeons were used to dancing in this manner, so fast and random. They definitely would not be repeating these dance moves on the dance floor.
"C'mon Mommy you're nearly there!" Charlie squealed as she laughed at the sight of her parents playing the addictive dance game.
"You won't get away that ea-" Derek was cut off when he heard Addison start yelling.
"Haha I win! You lose! Told you that you would be sorely mistaken" Addison began doing her victory dance, picking up Charlie and spinning her around as she did so. Nathanial looked at his dad for a sign of reaction and both father and son looked each in the same way. As if to say 'they're nuts'. Derek stepped off the dance mat and took his son's hand and waited for his wife and daughter to finish boasting.
A stop at McDonalds and an ice cream trip later a sleeping Charlie was placed into the back seat of the family car alongside her irritable brother. Nathanial always got irritable when he was tired, it wasn't a regular occurrence so much these days but every now and then Addison and Derek would be left to deal with the temperamental five year old. When the family finally arrived home Derek took Charlie upstairs to her bedroom while Addison wrestled with Nathanial who had fallen asleep in the car on the way home. "Nate we're home, wake up sweetie"
She ran her fingers through his hair gently and he began to stir, his eyes flickered open moments later and he rubbed his eyes groggily. His lips contorted into a grumpy frown and he nodded his head in disagreement. "I guess I'll have to carry you inside then" Addison sighed and unbuckled his seatbelt and picked up her son and carried him inside. Derek came downstairs just as Addison was coming in, he moved out of her way and followed her upstairs to Nathanial's room.
"Didn't he feel like walking?" Derek asked as Addison laid Nathanial down on his bed, pulling the superman covers over his small body. His spider-man gumboots placed at the side of his bed.
"Why did you let him wear those?" Addison said closing his bedroom door on the way out. "And you know how he is when he's tired, just like you are"
"Charlie asked him to wear the gumboots, and hey I'm not that bad when I'm tired" Derek said defensively, placing one hand on his chest to protect himself.
"Well you're not the one who has to deal with you when you're tired. It's only a phase, I hope, he is not wearing gumboots on his first day of school"
"He'll find some way to wear those boots. Today was fun" He smiled at his wife as they headed downstairs to the living room to relax.
"It definitely was, beating you at video games is fun" She placed a soft kiss on his lips.
"You know I'm going to buy Dance dance revolution now so I can practice and beat you" His hands held her around the waist and he kissed her again.
"That's what you think. The truth is Dr Shepherd, I win, at everything"