"Mommy, I need some water."
"You just had a glass of water. Come on, it's bedtime." Oh dear, there was the bottom lip. Had he not learned yet that that trick didn't work on her? His dad might be an easy touch, but at four (and a half, he'd be sure to remind her), Ronan should really understand what was likely to work with which parent. "Nope, bedtime."
"Ple-e-ease?" he stretched the word out as far as he could. Good strategy, since it made for an extra few seconds before lights-off.
Annie shook her head.
"But Maggie got a glass of water!"
"And so did you, right after you brushed your teeth. If you drink any more, you're going to have to get up during the night to go potty." When had words like 'potty' reentered her vocabulary? She and Finnick had decided before Ronan was born that they weren't going to use baby talk. No, their children would grow up using the correct words, giving them a head start on school compared to less-devoted parents' children. Needless to say, that (as well as many of their other pre-baby decisions, including not using pacifiers and never ever swearing in front of the children) had disappeared within weeks.
Meh. They seemed to be turning out fine anyway, at least so far. And fuck was that at least so far terrifying.
Yes, but not the focus of this conversation. "I want to make sure you get a good night's sleep so you can have lots of fun at preschool tomorrow."
"But I'm not tired." Such exasperation. She was amazed such a little body could fit all of it. Though, really, Ronan wasn't all that little anymore. He'd definitely taken after Finnick in the height category, the lucky kid.
"Sometimes, we don't realize we're tired until we try really hard to go to sleep." Annie should feel ashamed of herself for telling complete and utter lies, but she really couldn't bring herself to care that much.
He blinked and pursed his lips, and she managed to stop herself from laughing. "But I already know I'm not tired."
"Give it another try. 'Night." She kissed his forehead and started out of his room.
"Will you tell me a story?"
She and Finnick had also made a commitment not to ignore their child when they spoke, as it had bugged the heck out of both of them when their own parents had done it. Naturally, that had been one of the few they'd actually stuck to (though Annie knew she'd broken it a few times, and she would bet just about anything that Finnick had too). "Not tonight, sweetie."
Ronan tried the puppy dog eyes again. "What about the one where you and Daddy meet?"
"That's a long story." She didn't realize until the words were out of her mouth that there was an implicit agreement to tell a shorter story in there. Wouldn't it be handy to be able to rewind the world five, ten seconds and kick yourself before you do something stupid?
"Yeah." Oh good, maybe he hadn't picked up on it.
"And it's one best left for another day." She blew a kiss to him this time, because getting anywhere close to that bed would result in being stuck for another half hour's-worth of questions, complaints, and requests. Then she flicked the lights off and retreated into the hallway and downstairs to the family room.
Finnick looked up from his book as she entered. "Was Ronan being difficult?"
"You know how he is about bedtime these days," she said, sitting down next to him. "What're you reading?"
He showed her the cover. "He's a little stinker, isn't he?"
"I wonder where he gets it from." Upstairs, she heard little feet, and she turned to Finnick with a sickly-sweet smile. "Y'know, sweetie, I think someone might need your help. Maybe some water, or to check under the bed for monsters, or…"
"He's been trying to get to sleep for hours," Finnick replied in mock-seriousness. He sighed. "You want me to cover this one?"
"If you want to still have a son after tonight, I think it'd be a good idea."
Finnick leaned against the doorway. "So," he began, "I heard you're having a hard time falling asleep."
Ronan nodded, very serious for a four-year-old. "I'm not tired."
"Good. I should have an easy time of this then." He navigated his way to the bed. "Scoot over."
"What's gonna be easy?" Despite his questions, Ronan scooted over so Finnick could lie down next to him. The bed would have been snug for Finnick by himself, but with the two of them together, it passed well into cramped territory. "Dad, what's happening?"
"We're having a race."
His son's face lit up at that one.
"We're going to see who can fall asleep first."
Well, that excitement ended quickly. "That's not a real race."
"You think so? Well, what if I told you that I'm the reigning champion?" He could feel Ronan starting to warm to the idea. "When I say 'go', we're both going to try our hardest to fall asleep. Whichever one falls asleep first wins. Get it?" A nod and no complaints. Excellent. "Go."
Ronan clamped his eyes shut immediately. Finnick went the more subtle route. He waited a minute or two to before he closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. Hey, this bed was pretty comfy. It wouldn't be hard to drift off and…
"You're not really sleeping. You snore when you sleep."
"I don't snore. Your mom snores and then blames it on me." That left only the main accusation to be addressed. "And you're right, I'm not asleep yet, but I am pretty close."
"I'm closer."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to see how this turns out, won't we?"
Annie slipped in a bookmark – Finnick always dog-eared the pages, which drove her nuts – before setting Plutarch's new history of Panem aside. It wasn't going to turn her into a history buff, but at least so far, it did have interesting tidbits here and there. Finnick would probably enjoy it more than she did.
He'd been upstairs for quite a while, hadn't he? She glanced at the clock, but quickly gave up. It was too late for mental math. He'd probably just gone to bed early. Annie turned off all the lights before trudging back upstairs.
She always checked on the kids before she went to sleep. It wasn't necessary; she knew that Ronan and Maggie would be just fine no matter what. Still, she liked to check. Maggie slept with her thumb in her mouth, red hair all tangled up around her face. It'd be a mess to work out the knots in the morning, but Annie had grown used to it. Annie was surprised her daughter had managed to stay asleep with the noise coming from next door.
The snoring only intensified when she opened the door to Ronan's room. Usually, when Finnick snored, she nudged him until he rolled over into a quieter position. Tonight, she refused to disturb the adorableness before her. Father and son had adopted the same position – on their back, right arm under the head, leaning to the left – and she considered going downstairs to grab the camera. Instead, she stood and watched for a moment more before blowing them both a kiss and shutting the door behind her, hoping it would be enough to block out the snoring.
