14

The Beginning of Child's Play

What seemed to have started out well was turning into a nightmare very quickly for Will. He was watching their eighteen-month old twins while Deanna had a late night in her office. His nerves started to fray as the twins pulled him in two different directions.

"Willy, put that down!" he shouted as he tried to catch his agile son.

The stout little boy giggled as he ran off with his mother's vase from Betazed. It was special because Will bought it with muktok on their honeymoon. The musical flowers were long since gone, but the vase held memories for them.

"Your mother is going to have us both if you break that!" Will yelled again as tried to grab the vase out of the dark haired child's hands, but missed it because his son was too quick.

Suddenly Kestra, who was sitting on the floor with toys, started crying. Her large dark orbs became slits as she screamed.

"What now?" Will mumbled with frustration and then he suddenly perked up with realization as he looked at the miniature version of his wife. "Oh, I know! I haven't given you dinner yet." When he picked up Kestra, she became quiet, and he continued, "Humm… How about some mash potatoes, spinach, and zwieback?"

"Ye!" Kestra giggled joyfully.

Will heard shattering glass and realized he forgot to get the vase from Willy. "Oh great! We're dead."

He placed Kestra back down on the floor and let her cry as he began to clean up the broken glass.

"Willy, let Daddy do this," he told his son as he held him back with one hand.

"Dada doodoo."

"Yes, dada do this."

Realizing he was not getting his point across to his father, Willy began to pick at the back of his diaper as he repeated the words, "Dada doodoo."

"Yes, da…" Will paused from picking up the glass and sniffed the air. "Oh, no. Not that." Will suddenly dreaded the thought of changing a messy diaper, "Alright, hold on until I clean up this mess."

Now it was Willy's turn to plop down on the floor and start crying. He had two crying babies and was completely flustered as to what to do.

"Willy, I have to… Oh never mind, the ship can clean itself," he said as he dropped the pieces of glass that he held back onto the floor. "Let's clean you up little bugger and get you two fed."

He quickly went to get a diaper and wipes while his two children cried on the living room floor. When he returned he laid Willy down on his back so he could change him. As he removed the diaper and wiped his son's behind clean he grumbled, "It's the twenty-fourth century, why can't they come up with something better than changing diapers all the time?"

All of a sudden a fountain came rushing up and hit Will in the face.

"ACK! WILLY!" he complained as he dropped his son's legs, grabbed another wipe, and began wiping his face. As he continued to wipe his face he looked down at a laughing little boy, "Why did you do that?"

Kestra stopped crying when she saw what her brother did and began to laugh with him.

Willy continued to laugh as he said, "Dada fun!"

"Oh yeah, right," Will finally grinned at his son while Kestra decided to get up and walk away. "You think that was funny, do ya? Well, let's finish cleaning you up and… Kestra no! Stay out of the glass."

Will scrambled over to snatch his daughter away from the glass before she got hurt.

"Now sit down here beside your brother and me while I finish putting his diaper on," he said as he placed her down on the floor beside them and sat back down on the floor again.

Only Kestra did not stay. She ran into the twin's room. When she returned, her father was still struggling with the diaper he was trying to put on her brother.

All of a sudden Will had something land on his head and a more laughter from his children.

"What's this?" Will pulled the soft material off his head and examined it. "OK, it's blue." He glanced at the diaper he was putting on his son and suddenly felt like an idiot. "This one has little pink flowers on the edges. No wonder I can't get it on your brother! Yours is a bit smaller too, isn't it, Kestra?"

Kestra just stood and grinned proudly at her father.

"How did you…" He paused and then smiled. "Well, you're a smart girl, just like your mother. Thank you, Kestra."

This time Will had an easier time of putting the diaper on his son and when he was finished he said, "OK now, let's try getting dinner again."

"Up!" Kestra insisted with her arms raised upward when her father stood again.

"No I have to fix dinner, Kestra."

"UP!" She insisted a little louder.

"Oh, alright," he said as he picked her up into his arms and then adjusted her on his hip so he could use his other hand. "I guess I can do this with one hand."

Will ordered the food from the dispenser and within seconds two plates appeared.

"Wee," she squealed as she tried to reach for the zwieback on the plate Will pulled out of the replicator.

"Now hold on and I'll sit you down in the high chair," he told her. "OW!"

Kestra giggled at the reaction she saw from hitting her father on the head with the hard cracker.

"Kestra, that's not funny," he said as he put the plate down on the table and then rubbed his head with his free hand. "That hurt."

When he finished rubbing his head, he sat her down in the high-chair, belted her into it, and slid the tray on in front of her. "Now where is your brother? Willy, where did you go?"

Will turned his back on Kestra to scan the room, "There you are!" he said as he walked over to the coffee table and knelt down on to the floor to look under it. "Now let's get out from under there and have some dinner."

"No!"

"Willy, you have to eat."

"No!"

"Now come on Willy, get out from under there," he said as he reached under the table to grab the wiggly toddler.

"Whaa!" Willy cried when he bumped his head from all his squirming and game playing with his father.

Will got him out from under the table and cuddled him, "I'm sorry, Buddy. Are you alright?"

There were tears running down Little Will's face as his father rubbed his head. He sniffled a bit as his dad check him over to see if he was alright.

"You got a little bump on your head," Will said in a sympathetic voice and kissed him on the lump. Then Will saw Kestra climbing out of her high chair. "Kestra, no! Don't climb…"

Kestra was out of her high chair and on the table where her father left her food. As soon as she felt comfortable she plopped herself down near her plate, barely missing it, with a loud giggle.

"How does your mother do it? She manages to deal with both of you without any problems."

"Eat!" Willy cooed.

"Oh now you want some food?"

Willy grinned as he hissed through the saliva running out of his mouth.

"OK, let's get you and your sister situated and we'll try this again," their father said as he put Willy in his high chair and then he reached for Kestra still on the table and put her in her chair.

"Now, here's your food, Kestra and I'll get yours, Willy."

As fast as he turned his back to get Willy's food he heard a loud angry shriek from his daughter. Their father quickly turned back around to see his son with Kestra's cracker and he obviously was not going to give it back.

"Willy, that was your sister's!" He exclaimed with surprise. "Here, he said as he took the Zwieback off Little Will's plate and gave it to Kestra.

Now Willy cried angrily because he saw his father give his cracker to Kestra and tried to reach for it.

"Willy, you took hers, she gets yours. Seems very fair to me."

Willy continued to scream furiously as he reached for the other cracker. His face turned bright red as he continued to scream.

Suddenly Kestra smacked her brother over the head and grabbed his hair.

"Hey, you two!" Will said as he tried to get Kestra to let go of her brother's hair. He attempted to pry her fingers out of Little Will's hair. "Let go, Kestra. Let go of your brother's hair."

She finally released her brother and Will scooted her over so he could sit between them. "Now, can we eat dinner?"

Kestra reached her hand into her mashed potatoes and placed a fist full of them in her mouth.

"Kestra, use your spoon," Will said with distain as he reached for her spoon and tried to give her a bite of food. "Now, for you Willy. That is how your mother does it right?" He turned his body slightly to see Willy's face and shirt covered with mash potatoes. "Oh, Willy!" Will buried his face into his hand and sighed.

The two toddlers laughed as they continued to cram the food into their face.

Will looked at his children and said, "You two think Daddy is funny don't you?"

They shrieked with laughter.

"Here, try some spinach, Willy," Will offered as he scooped up some spinach onto the spoon and tried to get his son to eat it.

At first Willy refused by turning his head away, but then he finally took a bite and spit it at his father.

"WILLY!" Will grabbed a napkin off the table and began to wipe his face with it. Then he felt something splat onto the back of his head and turn toward a laughing Kestra. "What did you throw now?"

He reached up to feel what was on the back of his head and when he looked at his hand, he saw mash potatoes. "Oh this great! When is your mother getting home? Guess I'd better get a wash clothe and clean us up before you touch anything."

Will went to get a wet wash clothe from the bathroom expecting his twins to stay where they were, but when he returned, the high chair belts were dangling and there were no babies.

"Kestra? Willy? Where did you two go?" Tossing the wet rag onto the table with obvious frustration he added, "Why do I feel like I've been had by two toddlers?"

Bending over and lifting the table cloth he looked under the dining table and saw no children. He then rose to his full height and scanned the living area, including under the coffee table. Still no children.

"Oh God! Where could they have gone?" His heart started to pound as he ran to his and Deanna's room, only to see they were not there either. "Kestra! Willy!"

Will rushed into their room and still did not see them. "Think Will! Think! Where would twins hide, especially one year old twins?" He demanded of himself as he strolled back out into the living area and then he glanced at the doors. "Oh no!"

Running out of their quarters, Will rushed to his left and still did not see his little boy and girl as he stared down the corridor to his left. "OH GOD!" His heart started pounding faster as he turned to run back down the other direction and slammed into his big burly Antican officer who had a toddler on each hip. Will looked up to the tall man as he regretfully said, "Sorry, Ensign."

"Looking for these two, Sir?" His deep baritone voice echoed through the passage-way.

"Pwetty!" Kestra said as she petted the Antican's face.

"Um… Yes. Where were they?" Will asked as he sighed with relief taking Willy from the Antican.

"Not too far from home, Sir," he replied as he removed Kestra's hand from his face. "I was just heading back to my quarters when I saw them trying to run down the corridor."

"Thank you, Ensign Mawk," Will said as he retrieved his daughter from the officer with his other arm.

Mawk started to wipe the potatoes and spinach off his uniform sleeve with his hand, "Not to sound too forward, Sir, but you may want to clean them before letting them play out here. You don't look too good yourself either, Sir."

"But I…" Will watched Mawk walk away from them toward his quarters and then disappeared inside. He felt about ten inches tall now as he remembered that he still had potatoes in his hair. "There's nothing like having mash potatoes in your hair, while one of your officers tells you how to deal with your children, especially one who has just recently graduated from the academy."

"Kitty?" Kestra asked curiously.

"No, Kestra, he's not a kitty. He's an Antican." Hiking one child and then the other higher on his hips as he spoke to his children, "Come on you two. Let's go home."

Luckily home was only a few feet away and as they walked through the doors their dad continues to talk to them, "Don't ever scare me like that again! No telling what could have happened to you two."

"Dink!" Kestra demanded as the doors closed behind them and her father placed her on the floor long enough to push buttons on the wall panel. She and her brother watched intently as their father fingered the little black buttons.

"OK, no lecture," Will rolled his eyes as he remembered to set the doors so they would not open for the twins again. "I'll have plenty of chances to give you a lecture, I guess."

"Dink!" Willy restated what his sister already said as his father finished, squatted down, and lifted Kestra onto his side again.

"Yes, well this time I'm not putting you down until I'm ready to get your cups," he told them as he walked over to the replicator. "Now let's see. Oh, how about some juice? Computer, two sippy cups of uttaberry juice."

When the cups appeared Will put Willy down first, grabbed a cup filled with a dark-green liquid, and handed it to his son. Then he got Kestra's cup, handed it to her, and then put her down on the floor.

With a heavy sigh, he plopped down in the nearest chair and watched his children drink their juice. "I wish your mother would get home. I don't know how much more I can take of this."

He slouched down in the chair and closed his eyes briefly as he took a few deep breaths.

"OW!" Something hard hit his head and he opened his eyes to see his son poised to hit him over the head again with his cup.

"Up, Dada!"

"I wasn't asleep, Son," he said rubbing his head and noticing a purple stain trailing down the front of Kestra's clothes, which led to a puddle on the floor. "Why are you two giving Daddy such a hard time tonight? You think you could give me a break long enough to clean up all this mess?"

Releasing a heavy breath out of his nose, Will stared at his food stained children wondering how Kestra got juice all over her. Then he noticed the lid was off the cup and laying on the floor approximently a foot away from her. He just shook his head, sighed, and pondered what to do next to keep his children out of trouble.

"I know! We haven't had dessert yet," he told his children. "Why don't we all three have ice cream while I read you two a story?"

"Ice ceem!" his children squealed.

Then he heard a "Chaw Chaw!" from his daughter.

He looked at her and laughed, "Just like your mother!" Rising from the chair he continues, "OK chocolate it is."

When he reached the food dispenser with two little people hurrying behind him, he requested, "Three bowls of chocolate ice cream."

Kestra and Willy bounced up and down anxiously.

"Might as well let you keep your dinner on you for now. I'm sure you'll get a little ice cream on you too," he said as he carried the ice cream over to the coffee table.

The twins hurried behind him to get to the ice cream while Will grabbed a children's book off a near by shelf. "Dr. Seuss!" He smiled at his children. "He's been around for a very long time."

Will sat down on the couch and grabbed a bite of ice cream. "Oh guys, use the spoon!"

The two looked at their spoons for a moment, picked them up, and then threw them at their father.

"Kids!" He shouted as he ducked the flying spoons only to be hit with ice cream from his son. "Willy!"

He ran to get the damp towel off the dining table and tried to wipe the ice cream off his shirt sleeve, "You're quick, Son. I'll give you credit for that, but this has to stop."

Kestra threw ice cream in Will's direction, but he was too far away for her to hit him and it landed on the carpet.

"See that?" he asked as he looked at his son and pointed to the ice cream on the floor. "You're teaching your sister bad manners."

Bending over Will tried to get the ice cream off the floor, but before he knew it, the twins had ice cream everywhere. Even his melting bowl of ice cream was not safe from their little hands.

"Kids! Give me that bowl of ice cream!" Will growled at his daughter as he took the ice cream from her and put it in the recycler.

Kestra sat down on the floor screaming and throwing toys; hitting her father with one of them.

"Kestra…" Will started to scold as he got down on the floor again to clean more ice cream off the floor. Suddenly an icy cold wet feeling along with a dome landed on his head as he rose to his knees and roared, "DEANNA!"

Their quarters quickly became quiet as Willy ran to his room as fast as his little legs could carry him; leaving a trail of ice cream on the wall from his tiny hands.

The doors to their quarters slid open, "Will, what's wrong?"

Will did not say a word as Deanna's eyes roamed the room and examined her children. Food and toys were everywhere as ice cream rolled down Will's face. Her children were brown, purple, green, and white from the food and drink they had while she was gone. Slowly a smile crept over her face as she began to laugh.

"It's NOT funny, Deanna!" Will shouted as he got up off the floor.

"Yes it is, Will," she cackled with amusement.

"Did you notice your vase yet?"

Deanna suddenly gasped as she glanced in the direction Will had pointed. The humour of the situation rapidly changed to a hint of irritation, "I think it's time you learned some parenting skills."

"Me? I'm fine with children. It's these two that drive me crazy." Will removed the bowl from his head and sat it down on the table.

"How did you let one of them get a hold of the vase?"

"I don't know, ask your son." Will looked like he had lost his mind as he looked at her with wide-eyed exasperation and chocolate ice cream all over his face.

"Well, if you didn't love them, they wouldn't drive you crazy now would they?" She asked rhetorically as she picked up Kestra off the floor and followed the trail of ice cream to the children's room.

"What?" He asked with dismay as they entered the room to see Willy sitting in the corner with a sad look and his head against the wall. "Deanna, don't use your psycho-babble on me!"

"Alright, then answer me this: When did Willy become exclusively my son?" She asked as she grabbed the scared little boy by the hand and took him and his sister to the bathroom.

"Dada mad!" Willy informed his mother.

"When he poured chocolate ice cream over my head!" He replied as he followed the three of them.

"Dada mad!" Willy moped.

"Honestly Will, you're acting like a child. Close the door."

"What?"

"Come in and closed the door behind you."

"Mama sad," Kestra stated with her lower lip curled out and a pout on her face.

"OK." He was completely confused as he stepped into the bathroom and pushed the button for the door to close. "But I am not acting like a child!"

Deanna refused to respond to Will as she released Willy's hand, gave them each a toy to play with, and got a wash clothe. Then she placed the clothe on the side of the tub and started the bath water. She tested it with her hand and when she was satisfied, she took Kestra's clothes off, placed them in the clothes bin beside her and then removed Willy's clothes. Afterwards, she placed them in the tub of shallow water one at a time and began to bathe them.

"Yes, Daddy is mad and Mama isn't very happy with him right now."

"Fase broke," Willy stated remorsefully.

"You shouldn't have played with the vase, now should you?"

"No," Willy whimpered.

"This is how you do it?" Will asked as he watched Deanna relate to the children.

"Most of the time, yes," she told him as she glanced up to her husband.

"And they don't give you problems?"

"I didn't say that. Sometimes they do, but," she tried to refrain from laughing as she looked at her ice-cream soaked husband. "Not as badly as they did you."

"Funny!" both twins chorused together as they pointed at their father with big grins.

Will rolled his eyes, took off his shirt, placed it into the bin, and began cleaning himself in the sink.

Once Deanna was satisfied that Kestra was clean, she started cleaning Willy.

"You make it look so easy," Will stated as he grabbed a towel and began drying himself off with a towel.

"It's not bad if you learn a few little tricks to keep one occupied while you deal with the other."

"Yes, but you manage to not only keep them clean, but our quarters too," Will replied. "I don't see how you do it."

Deanna got a towel to wrap around one of the twins, lifted one of them out of the water, and handed him to Will, "Here, take YOUR son and dry him off while I dry Kestra."

"Dada mad!" Willy screamed and wiggled as he clutched onto his mother and buried his face into her chest.

"It's alright, Willy. Daddy's not going to hurt you."

"I guess I deserved that one," Will stated as his son conceded and went reached for him cautiously.

"I manage," she finally told him as she got another towel to dry her daughter. "You just have to out think them. OK let's get them dressed for bed."

"Don't they need their cups or something though?" He asked as he followed her out of the bathroom with their son still wrapped in a towel and in his arms.

"They'll get some milk while we clean the living room," she informed them as they walked into the twins' room.

"But Deanna, they'll run all over the place!"

"No they won't," she insisted as she laid Kestra down on the changing table to dress her for bed.

"Oh this I gotta see!" Will exclaimed sarcastically.

"You will."

"There is one thing I want to know," he asked as he watched Deanna get a diaper. "How did she know which ones were her diapers and which ones were her brothers?"

"Isn't it obvious, Will?"

"Actually…" he began, "I'm not really sure."

"His are blue and hers have flowers."

"Oh, that's what I thought," Will blushed feeling like an idiot again as Willy bounced and kicked with glee at his father's side; cooing through his saliva again.

"Trade me," she said when she finished with their daughter.

Will took Kestra in his other arm as he handed Willy to his wife. He watched her skilfully dress their son.

Willy grabbed the blue diaper from his mother as he kicked his legs joyfully and screamed, "Mine!"

"Yes, it's yours," she told her son as she took the diaper back and started to put it on him. "Now Mama needs to put it on you and get your dressed."

When she finished she gathered him up in her arms and headed into the living area with Will following behind her to the replicator.

"Two sippy cups with milk. Here," she offered a cup to Will after they appeared.

Will took it from her and gave it to their son, who anxiously grabbed it and popped it into his mouth.

Deanna grabbed the other cup and handed it to Kestra, "Let's put them in their swings while we clean up the living room."

The two parents fastened the twins safely in their swings and began cleaning the living room as their children nursed on their cups and swung contently.

Once the living room was spotless Will collapsed onto the couch with a big groan, "Oh, Deanna, I don't see how you do it, especially when I have to work late."

"You learn," she replied as she sat down beside him and tiredly laid her head on his bare chest.

Wrapping an arm around Deanna, he glanced over at their children Will smiled, "They're asleep."

The twins' arms dangled down at their sides and their heads cocked toward each other as though they had fallen asleep conversing with each other. The cups had fallen down into their laps and rose up and down with their breathing.

"They look like angels when they are asleep." Will was still smiling.

"Um humm," Deanna agreed as she smiled and watched their children sleeping.

Will held her tighter and kissed her, "I'm sorry if I ever thought you had it easy with these two when I'm not here to help."

"You know," Deanna said as she wiggled out of his embrace, "We still need to put these two in their cribs and get the ice cream off the walls in their room."

"It'll wake them if we clean in there tonight," he replied teasing her with kisses. "Why don't we put them to bed and go to bed ourselves. Their room can wait until tomorrow."

She moved slightly away from him and with a mischievous grin she said, "Isn't this how we got the twins in the first place?"

"Yeah, um… Now that you mentioned it, I'm kind of tired too."

"We'll put them to bed and go to sleep ourselves."

"Sounds like a plan," he agreed with exhaustion suddenly hitting him as he tried to get off the couch. He fell back down on the couch and yawned, "I am tired. I didn't realize it until now."

"Well, if we sleep when they do, we'll be ready for them tomorrow," Deanna grinned.

"Tomorrow?"

"Mm humm," Deanna nodded with a sly smile, "And every day for the next several years."

"Oh," Will sat staring at the floor relieved that she was not asking him to take care of their children by himself again. Finally he spoke again, "Now I know why you aren't in the mood very often anymore. I'm suddenly not in the mood myself. I guess kids in themselves can make for good birth control if you spend anytime with them."

Deanna laughed and then went to get daughter to put to bed.

Will tiredly followed her with Little Will, laid him in his crib, and then wrapped his arms around his wife as he whispered, "I'm sorry about the vase."

"It's alright. It was probably bound to happen anyway," she told him sadly.

"No, it's not alright. That vase was a remembrance of our honeymoon."

"Will," she said as she looked up at him, "That's just it. It's just a symbol. It's not us. We're more important than any vase."

Holding her close and breathing in her floral scent, Will thought for a moment, "I guess you're right. We are more important than an old vase. I love you, Imzadi."

"I love you too," she replied as she laid her head down on his chest again.

After a few moments of holding his wife with her head resting against him, Will announced, "I think I need a shower after all of this."

"Yes, you still have food in your hair," she said as she raised her head and began picking at his sticky and matted hair.

"That's one of the things I didn't wash when we were in there earlier." Will reluctantly let her go and headed to the bathroom for a sonic shower. When he was finished he headed for their bedroom to find Deanna dressed for bed.

"I'll be back," she told him softly as she headed for the bathroom. The day's activities started to show in her voice as she walked out of the room without energy.

Upon her return they both quietly crawled into bed, kissed each other good night, and fell asleep almost as fast as they hit their pillows.