The morning Octavia and Lincoln left was hectic, to say the least. Octavia was like a tornado, going through the house grabbing this and that and leaving a mess behind her. Lincoln reminded her twice to grab her passport and she still almost forgot it. Nick started crying when it really hit him that his parents were going to be gone. As a result, Octavia felt so bad that she almost called Indra to cancel. Lincoln assured her that the kids would be fine. They had both been gone at the same time before, and even though it wasn't easy to leave, both their kids did fine without them. Octavia knew he was right but still prolonged leaving as long as possible.
Bellamy drove them all to the airport, where both the kids had a long hug and a reminder to "be good" from their parents. Octavia gave Bellamy a hug and another thank you, and Lincoln gave him a clap on the shoulder. Octavia, always strong unless it came to her family, started tearing up when Nick started crying again, but eventually both she and Lincoln made it to the line through security. Bellamy stayed with the kids until both their parents were all the way through, and with a final wave they were alone.
Nick was still sniffling when Bellamy lifted him up and gave him a tight hug.
"Are you going to be okay, little man?" He asked softly, bending down and pulling Audra in the hug for good measure. He knew that while Nick was young and emotional, Audra was aged well beyond her years. She was always good at hiding her feelings when Nick was upset because she didn't want to put more stress on anybody. She gave him a small smile and he kissed her cheek.
"I otay," Nick whispered against his shoulder.
They left the airport, Bellamy inwardly cursing at all the traffic, before going back to his apartment.
"Alright, munchkins, what should we do today?" He asked them after unloading their small suitcases. Audra's had a tree spanning the front and Nick's was clad in a scene from outer space. It was just after two o'clock in the afternoon, so Bellamy knew he had to entertain them for several more hours before dinner, and after that he could start winding them down to go to bed. "I have Netflix, arts and crafts, or games."
Audra looked at Nick before speaking up. "I think we should play a game."
His nephew's head perked up a bit, and Bellamy was grateful that his older sister was so tuned in to how he was feeling.
"I made up a game a couple days ago, if you want to play that. It's really fun," he emphasized. At Audra's shrug and nod he continued. "Alright, so it doesn't have a name, but you guys can help me come up with one of you want. The object of the game is to build Mount Olympus on the couch. You have to pull a name out of the hat and then go get a pillow from my room and bring it back like the person would." They still looked confused, so he decided to elaborate. "Its just like the zoo animal game we play. But instead of acting like an animal, you act like whoever is on the card."
Audra nodded, "Okay, Uncle Bell. We can play that."
He smiled, even though he wasn't sure how enthusiastic they really were, and instructed them both to carry the couch cushions to his room while he quickly wrote down some names of Greek figures and put them in one of his hats. He knew he'd have to help them understand who all the figures were, but he'd resolved that they would learn something over the course of the next two weeks. It was partly the professor in him, but he also knew it would drive Octavia crazy to know her son and daughter were now interested in "the most boring topics in the world, Bell, seriously".
The returned and were waiting to start as he finished writing. "Okay, who wants to go first?"
Once again studying her brother, Audra raised her hand and picked a name. She handed it to Bellamy to read, since she was only just starting to learn.
"It says Cyclopes. They were big, one-eyed creatures. So now, you have to act like a cyclopes and go get a pillow to bring back. We can start stacking them and making a Mount Olympus fort. That's where the gods and goddesses lived."
Audra seemed more sure of the game now, and since she was dramatic like her mother, she was getting more and more excited. Bellamy laughed as she stood on her tiptoes, closed one eye, and brought her arms out to make herself seem bigger. She also growled and made "monster noises" on the way to his room. Even Nick was smiling by the time she was placing a pillow on the couch.
"Your turn Nick," Bellamy told him, holding out the hat. After he had picked one Bellamy read it. "Aphrodite. She was the goddess of beauty and love. She was very pretty."
Nick thought for a minute before smiling and doing a runway walk to Bellamy's room. He even waved his arms, which Bellamy thought was supposed to act like Aphrodite's hair. He was walking back with a big pillow and even held it in a pose at the end of the hallway before toddling to the couch. Audra and Bellamy were howling with laughter, since Nick's dramatic side showed much less than Audra's
"Nicky that was so funny!" Audra said between breaths when he came back over to stand with them. "Now it's your turn, Uncle Bell!"
He pulled a name "Mine says Chronos. He was supposed to represent time." He smirked at his niece and nephew, glad that they were beginning to have fun with the game. Walking down the hallway at a normal pace, he suddenly stopped and started walking in slow motion, after a couple of steps he sprinted the rest of the way to his room, grabbed a pillow, and went back on the hall. Once again, halfway down the hall he started to move in slow motion, exaggerating with a deep voice saying "Auuuddraaa… Niiiicckkkk… Taaakkeee iiitttt" holding out the pillow. Audra was almost doubled over in laughter as she took it from his hand and also started moving a slow motion towards the couch. Nick joined in with them, laughing at his slowed down arms and legs.
They're game continued for several more rounds. Audra pulled Adonis, and showed her own rendition of Nick's previous runway walk. Nick pulled Cerberus and growled and barked his way to the room on all fours. Bellamy's favorite to pull was Morpheus, god of dreams. He pretended to be asleep, snoring and sleepwalking all the way down the hall. When he didn't come out of his room immediately, Audra and Nick went to investigate and found him sprawled on top of his bed, snoring theatrically.
"Wake up Morpheus!" Audra yelled and they both jumped on him.
He chuckled. "Okay, okay. I'm awake. But this is that last pillow. How about we finish our fort and then I'll start dinner?"
They nodded and the three of them left the room, emitting loud snores.
The fort was pretty nice, if it was up to Bellamy. They ended up rearranging the pillows to the middle of the couch and Bellamy draped a sheet over them. They had used all his bed pillows too, so the middle of the tent was pretty high. The other sides of the sheet were tucked behind the couch and pulled to the floor, making a sort of cave around the couch. Bellamy brought out some of their toys so they could play while he cooked. He couldn't help chuckling along when he heard them giggling under the sheets.
Dinner was uneventful, Bellamy made pasta because he had it on hand. He was going to take them grocery shopping soon, so they could plan meals and help him cook easy foods.
Afterwards, the three of them crawled into the fort and he turned on his computer. The side of the fort facing the TV was closed off, so he was browsing through Netflix for something to watch. Audra had a headache, but insisted they watch Mulan, and luckily Nick wasn't opposed to it. Within thirty minutes their lyrics had drifted to quieter hums and they both began to curl into Bellamy.
His heart swelled as he wrapped his arms around them and gently kissed them each on the head. After the movie was over he picked both of them up- a difficulty since he still had to climb out of the fort- and brought them to the guest room. He had pushed the desk against one wall and brought in two small cots for the two weeks they would stay with him. Placing each one on their respective bed, covering them with blankets, and giving them one more kiss, he turned on a night light.
"Goodnight, my munchkins," He whispered.
He didn't stop smiling for the rest of the night.
