A/N
I still go with the shorts because the longer requires a longer and deeper attention span. And the last thing I wrote on here was angst and I personally needed some fluff right now. I like to imagine this to be the same universe as my previous oneshot "Loved Ones", but there is no need to have read that one to read this one. Just a piece of family fluff.
"Hey kiddo, where's your mom?" Alex asked as she wiped her hands on a towel.
"She's in the garden. Are you making cookies?"
"Oh dear, what gave me away?" Alex asked, grinning as she surveyed the kitchen counter; flour, eggs, sugar, everything that came out when it was time to make the good stuff. But Henry surprised her by pointing straight at her.
"You've got flour on your face."
She felt her cheek with one hand and realised he was right. Discreetly licking the corners of her mouth, she realised that she also had traces of chocolate sauce there. Thank God Henry hadn't spotted that.
"Wasn't mommy going to read to you while I was in the kitchen?"
"Yeah, she was… but she fell asleep."
"She fell asleep, did she?" Alex asked, sounding somewhat smug. Henry nodded in that exaggerated way kids did to prove a point. "Was she that tired?"
"She said you kept her up late last night," Henry said and Alex nearly choked on sudden laughter. Yeah, that was one way of putting it.
"Well, to be honest I think it was your mommy who kept me up late last night," Alex said. "Tell you what, let's go and wake her."
"With cookies?"
"No sweetie," Alex said, sounding somewhat absent-minded. "A little bit more direct than that."
"Why are you smiling like that, Alex?"
"No reason. Let's just say your mom defeated me in a pillow war and I want revenge… and this is just the perfect moment. Just trust me and do what I say, okay?"
She bent down and held out her fist, and he bumped it with his own, not sure what she was planning but not caring either because he knew it wouldn't be too mean (Alex loved his mommy, there was no question about that), and also because there would probably be cookies at the end of this afternoon, and nobody made better cookies than Alex… not even his mom.
JJ sat in the backyard, leaned as far back into the sunchair as she could, with her head rolled back and her mouth slightly open as a light snore emitted from her throat.
And she complains about me snoring, Alex thought, but affectionately. JJ was dressed in black runner's shorts and a blue bikini top, and her blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail that was slowly coming undone. She was barefoot, and in one hand she still clutched the book she had been reading; The Tale of Peter Rabbit.
Alex nodded to Henry, and the boy snuck forward, towards his mother, and took the book out of her hand, then backed away and gestured to his mother's fiancée that his task had been accomplished. Alex grinned and made the thumbs up; no way she would have literature being collateral damage if she could help it. Then she nodded; he may proceed to step two.
"Mooooommy…" Henry said.
"Mmh," JJ murmured. "Yeah buddy…"
She began to take a deep breath, trying to wake herself up from the pleasant slumber in the afternoon sun… when all of a sudden the full brunt of the garden hose hit her from behind.
"What the f… Jeez, what the…" she gasped, tumbled out of the chair which folded into itself at her sudden writhing and departure, first aiming her glare at her laughing little boy, and then realising that something bigger and much more sinister was behind this prank. "Oh Alex I swear to God," she began and twirled around, charging blindly in the direction of the water spray. Alex saw what was coming, gave a surprisingly girly squeak as she made an attempt to get away, tripped herself and fell into the growing pool of water. As she was trying to get back up on her feet, JJ tackled her and held her down with, growling playfully in her ear.
"You wanna play dirty, huh?" she purred. "I'll hose you down, lady."
Alex giggled so hard she could barely catch her breath. Henry came running out of nowhere and joined the pile, efficiently pushing the remaining air out of her lungs.
"Oh God Henry," she gasped, still laughing, and turned to remove him from her ribcage. "I'm on your team, no need to get me!"
"I thought we were all on the same team," he replied, laughing out loud.
"Yeah, so did I," JJ remarked in good humour before giving Henry a glance and a nod. "Let's tickle her."
"No, no, no!" Alex screamed and tried in vain to get away.
"That's what happens to traitors," JJ laughed.
"Traitors!" Henry agreed and climbed back onto Alex, who for the moment resembled Baloo the bear when Mowgli unintentionally tickled him. Only Henry most definitely did this intentionally.
Alex rolled back and forth on the lawn and resorted to the only hope she had of them quitting before she dropped dead;
"I made cookies! There are cookies!"
That did make them stop.
Eventually.
