OH GOSH! It's almost been a month since my last update and I am so incredibly sorry for that, guys! The muse has been very low since I started working. My kids have been keeping my on my toes and I just get home absolutely exhausted, so writing's been the last thing on my list. However, here's an update. I'm not too happy with how the chapter came out so please forgive me for that. I needed to get some things set up and that's what the chapter was for, hopefully it set up right. Thank you so much for your continued support! It makes me so happy! Next update shouldn't be too long away!
The following few days were pretty slow. The days were spent at home becoming accustomed with the change in everyone's life. The children spent a lot of time playing in the backyard and playroom with Bobbi and Lance. Since their explanation about what had happened to their mommy and daddy, the children – mainly Ellie and Ben as Kenzie still hid under tables most of the time- would ask when they were coming back. Bobbi and Lance would have to remind them of what happened in The Lion King. By the end of day 3, as Lance and Bobbi tucked Ellie and Ben in, Ellie whispered, "Mommy and Daddy awe in da staws…" Ben had nodded in agreement. Neither of the two mentioned the subject again.
Whilst Kenzie hid under the table with "Fwoggy", Lance would usually lay next to her, though not underneath the table because that would just be silly. He had a lot of reading to do, for Kenzie's sake. He wanted to make sure they did everything they could to help their little girl. So, he spent all the time he could get during those few days doing his research. Kenzie liked the company. Lance was quiet and she liked silence more than loudness. Loudness hurt her ears and head. Sometimes he would read to her what he was reading about, even though he knew she couldn't really understand. Kenzie would listen. And when she was tired of listening, she'd place Froggy on Lance's stomach and pretend he was walking up his chest and then she'd take away the book and say "No mowe." Lance understood those words loud and clear. So he'd coax Kenzie out, change her diaper and take her to the playroom to play. Often times she was okay with it, but sometimes she would complain about having to leave her living room safe haven.
Lance and Bobbi's backyard was half grass and half concrete. Though the two were now rethinking the concrete part and were considering putting something softer there for the children. Day two, they'd taken the kids out to play in the backyard. They had balls and hula hoops along with a bunch of fun toys for three active three-year-olds. But Kenzie has screamed at the top of her lungs when her toes had touched the grass, despite the fact that she had sneakers on. Turned out she was terrified of grass. An odd fear in Lance's opinion, but he let her be. Kenzie settled for sitting underneath the patio table on the concrete part of the large backyard.
The children were getting to know Lance and Bobbi as well as the two adults were getting to know the children. They were quickly learning that Lance was the silly one and Bobbi acted a lot like mommy. They both would take time to play with the children and give them cuddles whenever the children asked for them, but they also knew to leave them alone. They could tell that Bobbi and Lance loved each other very much, though they'd notice that Lance was much more open and goofy about it than Bobbi…
They finally gathered the courage to take the children out with them on day five. Mainly because everyone was getting cabin fever. Thus found Lance trying to get Ellie into her ladybird backpack leash, but the little girl was watching the "Fresh Beat Band" and wouldn't stop dancing around, making the whole process a lot more difficult than necessary. Stupid Fresh Band. He turned Ellie around and pleaded, "Just for one second, love," and then quickly put on the backpack and fastened it around her small body.
Ben had already put on his and Bobbi had fastened it, so he sat on the couch with a book, all ready to go. Bobbi gently coaxed Kenzie out from under the table and put her kitten bag on her and fixed her pink tutu which had gone lopsided. That was what Kenzie had chosen to wear that day, who was she to tell her otherwise?
All ready to go, Lance exclaimed, "Onwards!"
The children blinked, obviously not understanding the Doctor Who reference. Bobbi rolled her eyes at him while he scowled and she translated, "It means we can go now… C'mon. The mall awaits us."
As they walked to the car, Bobbi holding onto Kenzie and Ben and Lance holding onto Ellie, Kenzie looked up at Bobbi and mumbled, "I pwetty dance pwincess kitty." She gave Bobbi a smile.
Bobbi beamed. Kenzie had slowly began warming up to her. She would now give her brief hugs and cuddle up to her if she was very sleepy, she also would have moment where she would follow her around the house while Bobbi got things done, just like a faithful shadow on a sunny day. Lance and Bobbi had slowly began to notice where Kenzie was developmentally delayed. Apart from being sensitive to loud sounds and not knowing how to react to new people or being taken out of a common environment, her motor skills were behind as well. That was normal though, and Lance and Bobbi had vowed to help her develop those skills soon. The main purpose for their outing was to get the children used to going out with Bobbi and Lance, getting more books and getting them to the park to burn off some energy. The couple had also been talking about signing the kids up for sports and the like.
After getting them all buckled into the back of the car, -Lance had gone out and bought the three car seats, and then gone to the fire station to have them help him install the bloody things after he'd spent four hours trying to do it himself- they handed each child something to keep them entertained during the ride. Ben got a book, Kenzie got "Fwoggy" and Ellie got music, which was provided when the car was turned on. The drive had been uneventful. Ellie tried to sing along to every song that came along on the radio but failing quite a bit. She picked up the melodies and chorus pretty easily, but butchered the rest of the words.
Lance reached his right hand over during the drive and clasped it around Bobbi's left, which had been resting on her thigh. He squeezed it gently and winked at his wife momentarily at a red light, a slight smirk on his face. Bobbi simply rolled her eyes at him and looked back at the children. It wasn't long before they'd arrived at the shopping centre and they got their brood out of the car, keeping a tight grip on the leashes. Somehow, Lance ended up with both Kenzie and Ellie this time. Kenzie was eating Ellie's hair again, for whatever reason and Ellie was singing some song she'd made up on the spot. Bobbi held onto Ben's lead as the little boy hopped in place excitedly. "We goin' on a'vent're!" he exclaimed.
Some people who had been walking by, looked at him when they heard his exclamation and laughed quietly, cooing at how cute he was. Ben blushed and hid behind Bobbi shyly. Bobbi laughed and picked him up, swinging her large bag over her right shoulder. She didn't used to carry a bag, but now she was forced to. Where else would she keep the children's snacks, Band-Aids and antiseptic, as well as Kenzie's pull-ups, wipes and medicine? Okay, so maybe she was carrying around a purse turned diaper bag; maybe she should look into getting a proper one while they were shopping. Or maybe she should just pack less?
The leads proved to be extra helpful when they walked into the large building. There were many people there, and no matter what kind of toddler someone had, they all tended to run off at one point or another. Ben had attempted to do so when his eyes landed on Book-topia across the way and he gasped. He'd sped off, but Bobbi's grip on his leash kept him from going too far and falling back when he'd reached the end of his slack and falling on his butt. Ben blinked a few times and looked like he would cry, one hand reaching out toward the book store as he sniffled. Bobbi got to him and picked him up, "Do you want to go to the bookstore?"
He nodded quietly, rubbing his eyes and sniffling. She smiled, "You're in luck, that's where we're heading. But no more running off, alright?" her tone was firm toward that last request. Ben nodded again.
...
Four hours and five shops later, the cranky children implied to Bobbi and Lance that it was time to go do something that wasn't so mind numbing. Four hours was a long time and they were surprised they'd held out that long. It was nearing three in the afternoon, and with lunch had, the five headed to the park so the children could blow off some steam. Kenzie was having a tantrum though. She wasn't happy. She was exhausted, it was nearing time for her medicine which Bobbi and Lance were completely forgetting despite it being inside of her bag and she wanted to be held. But a cranky toddler wasn't that good at words, so she was simply crying and screaming the entire way to the park. She didn't want to go anywhere else, she wanted to go home.
"Shhh, Kenzie," Ellie said to her little sister as she screamed through the entire car ride to the park.
Bobbi looked to Lance and she asked, "Maybe you can try to calm her down when we get there?"
Lance nodded and parked the car near the park. Bobbi quickly got out and got Ellie and Ben out of the car. She led them to the park as Lance got Kenzie out. He cuddled the little girl close and held her tight, "Easy love, calm down…" He began rocking her and humming. Kenzie was still crying though.
She wanted to go home. She'd thrown Froggy at some point during her tantrum, and now she was regretting it. She wanted Froggy. Her head hurt, and so did her eyes and her legs and her arms. Her small hands found Lance's ear and she began playing with it as he soothed her outside in the parking lot. She could hear the kids playing and it made her a bit sad. She wanted to play with the kids too, but she was tired. She didn't know what she wanted to do anymore. Mackenzie gave up and began crying again. Lance felt like a fish out of water. He didn't know how to calm her down. He wasn't sure she could be calmed down.
The crying escalated and she began screaming for her mama; like a mantra, over and over as she cried. Lance felt an unfamiliar sense of guilt wash over him. He couldn't help her. His new daughter was crying and in pain and he couldn't do anything to soothe her because her mother was dead and she wasn't ever coming back. Lance wanted to cry along with her. So, Lance held Kenzie just a bit tighter to his chest and he rubbed her back, swaying softly with her and kissing the side of her head.
It wasn't long before her cries slowly died down to whimpers again and she dozed off, though every so often, she still cried out for her mama. Lance swallowed hard and wondered in that moment if they could really do it. If he and Bobbi truly had the strength to look after these kids and give them the family and love they needed and deserved…
It wasn't long before Kenzie had cried herself to sleep. Lance felt terrible that he hadn't been able to console her and as a result she had cried herself to sleep! It was cruel! As her father he should've been able to… Do something. Then again, was he really her father though? At this point the children had spent so little time with them that, she probably just saw him as silly "Wance". He found his way over to an information board outside the park entrance and looked on it. He found that they held "soccer" football Lance corrected in his thoughts, three times a week for ages 2-4. That would be great for the kids and it'd help Kenzie get over her fear of grass, hopefully. Lance took a picture of the flyer with his phone, since his other arm was occupied with a sleeping child before he walked into the playground where Bobbi was playing on the swings with Ellie and Ben.
Bobbi still had the instincts of a spy, naturally considering she'd spent the majority of her adult-life glancing not over her shoulders for an enemy waiting to attack. Now she had three precious, tiny lives to guard and she was more alert than ever. She couldn't let anything happen to these children. She'd surveyed the area when they walked in. There were three children on the jungle gyms, two hiding underneath it, four playing in the sandbox and one other child on the swings. Ten kids. Adults there were 4, three women and a man, he was there with the four children playing in the sandbox. He was their father. It was a safe area. She was glad for that. Ben and Ellie squealed happily and clapped as she pushed them on the swings. Lance joined them a moment later and she smiled a bit, "She fell asleep. Is she okay?"
"She cried herself to sleep while screaming for her m-a-m-a," Lance said quietly to Bobbi as he rocked her slightly.
Bobbi frowned, "Oh…" That broke her heart as much as Lance's face told her it did him. "Should we head home?"
Lance shook his head, "Let's leave Ben and Ellie a little while more. She's already asleep anyway. Maybe ten more minutes? They need to have a nap as well," he pointed out.
Bobbi nodded and agreed.
That day, the two learned that nap time was never to be delayed or skipped considering the meltdown Ben and Ellie had leaving the playground. Kenzie was fast asleep through it all. By the time they'd gotten home, Ellie and Ben had fallen asleep in their car seats. Bobbi and Lance got the children upstairs and in bed. It was as Bobbi unpacked the purse where she'd kept snacks and such for the children that her hand came into contact with Kenzie's seizure medicine bottle. Her hand wrapped around it and she lifted it out and stared at the bottle. She felt dread overwhelm her stomach when she realised she'd forgotten to give Kenzie her medicine in the craze of the day. Oh no…
She'd opened her mouth to call for Lance when he beat her to the punch. From the living room, she heard her husband call frantically, "Bob! Bobbi!"
Bobbi put everything down and rushed into the living room. The dread in her stomach was confirmed, causing her stomach to squeeze impossibly and as a result, she felt like throwing up.
...
After they'd settled the children upstairs to sleep, Lance had decided to keep Kenzie downstairs with him since she was probably due to wake up soon anyway. Besides, he was still worried about the way she'd cried herself to sleep earlier that afternoon so he wasn't ready to let her go just yet. He'd settled into the couch with one of the parenting books and Kenzie asleep on the couch beside him, her small feet against his leg. As he flipped the pages to where he had left off, Bobbi had said something about unpacking her purse and setting up the new diaper bag they'd bought. He'd simply nodded vaguely.
Kenzie had let out a weird, strangled noise and Lance looked up and over at the little girl who was sleeping on her stomach. He frowned at the look on the little girl's face. She looked like she was in pain. Lance reached out to wake the toddler, afraid she was maybe having a nightmare. But when he touched her shoulder, he found that she was stiff and just as he went to turn her over, she began shaking. Her entire tiny body was tense and shaking, her skin was pale and she was crying out, her tiny hands fisted tightly while her eyes fluttered open and they looked so distant. Lance's heart stopped. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move and all he could think to do was to call Bobbi.
Luckily she came running almost immediately. Kenzie's body was still shaking though and she was still making noises as if she was in pain and all Lance wanted to do was hold her, make it better, take the pain away… Bobbi swallowed hard and managed to keep her head about her. She tried to remember the seizure first aid she'd learned years back and prayed that they applied for children as they did for adults. "Okay, everything's going to be okay. Let's not move her off the couch, but let's make sure she doesn't fall off either. She doesn't need anything in her mouth because she won't swallow her tongue, uhm…" she tried to keep track of all of her thoughts.
Bobbi knelt down beside where Kenzie was seizing and she gently stroked the girl's hair, softly whispering that she was okay, that everything would be alright. "Lance and I've got you, sweetie," Bobbi said to the unconscious three year old. "Lance, make sure you're timing it." She gently cleared Kenzie's mouth when she saw a bit of drool and foam coming out.
It was the longest three minutes of their lives. Lance's gaze would shift between Kenzie, his wife and his watch, watching slowly as the second hand ticked by. Finally, Kenzie's body relaxed considerably and the little girl's eyes closed and opened a few times, though she still looked a bit dazed, Bobbi's shoulders sagged, "Okay… She's back," she whispered. That was when she allowed the overwhelming guilt to wash over her. This was her fault. Had she remembered to give Kenzie her medicine, then… Now wasn't the time. Maybe tonight. Now she needed to focus on the girl.
Lance swallowed, "Should we get her something to eat or water?"
Bobbi shook her head, "No, we'll just watch her for now. I'll call her doctor in a second. If she has another one we'll have to go to the hospital though," she said quietly.
Lance reached out and squeezed Bobbi's hand, the one that was resting on Kenzie's small back and he whispered, "Wasn't your fault, love."
She just shook her head at him and went back to focusing on Kenzie, stroking her hair, watching her closely. The little girl shifted a little bit on the couch and rolled onto her side. She smiled a bit at Bobbi and Lance and mumbled, "Hi."
"Hello there, beautiful. How are ya feelin'?" Lance asked her softly, reaching out and poking her nose gently.
Kenzie managed a small giggle and then closed her eyes again. She was sleepy. Opening her eyes again, Kenzie realised she wanted to be held. She wanted someone's arms holding her tightly. She felt scared right then, despite the smile and small giggle. Her tummy felt weird. She held her arms out to Bobbi, surprising all three of them and Bobbi nodded, gently picking Kenzie up and holding her close to her chest, "Alright pretty girl. How about we get you some medicine and then you and I can take a nap together, hmm?" she kissed the top of Kenzie's head.
It'd surprised her that the little girl had wanted her. She was very aware of the fact that Kenzie hadn't fully warmed up to her, however, she very much welcomed the surprise. She kissed Kenzie's head again as Lance walked off to get the medicine after Bobbi had mentioned it, and she sat down on the couch, holding Kenzie close. Kenzie's thumb went into her mouth instantly and she mumbled around it, "Fwoggy?"
Bobbi reached out beside her and grabbed the bear and presented it to Kenzie. The little girl held it between her and Bobbi as her head rested against Bobbi's chest and the rest of her small body was curled on Bobbi's lap. Once they'd given Kenzie her medicine, it wasn't long before the little girl fell asleep to Bobbi's humming.
Looking over at her husband, Bobbi whispered, "That can never happen again. I know it was my fault for forgetting to give her the medicine and…"
"We're both to blame, darling. I could've remembered too," Lance sat down beside Bobbi and kissed her lip softly, "Easy now. She's fine. We'll call her doctor and… We'll set up alarms on our phones to remember and everything's fine." He was just remembering how to breathe, but yes, everything was fine…
Bobbi nodded and chose to believe Lance. Why not?
...
The instant Ben and Ellie woke up from their naps, they ran downstairs, both remembering where they were and the fun things that Bobbi and Lance had for them. Their target was the playroom, naturally, with no regard to the fact that they had to go potty and they were feeling a bit hungry. Ellie stopped short when she walked into the living room though, finding there Bobbi on the couch, cuddling Kenzie who didn't look very good. Kenzie was staring off at the TV while holding Froggy. Ben ran into Ellie's back because he hadn't noticed she'd stopped short, causing Ellie to tumble forward. Ellie gave Ben an annoyed look and she pointed toward the couch. Ben looked up and noticed Kenzie there with Bobbi and Froggy and he too realised the same thing Ellie had. The triplets were connected in various ways; knowing when one was sick or unwell was one of those ways.
Ellie and Ben neared their little sister and climbed up onto the couch. Bobbi looked at them and was about to speak to them, but she noticed that the children hadn't even acknowledged her. They did, however, snuggle up against Kenzie while Ellie was stroking her baby sister's hair affectionately. Bobbi slowly got up from the couch to give the toddlers a moment and Ben took where Bobbi had been sitting and hugged Kenzie as well, his little arms wrapping around her little stomach. Bobbi kissed their three heads and said to Ellie and Ben, "Careful with Kenzie, okay?"
The two older ones nodded and mumbled, "Kay…"
And Bobbi walked into the kitchen where Lance was making dinner just as her phone rang. Before she could say anything to Lance, she answered the FaceTime call from Skye. Bobbi ducked into the downstairs office and had to grin at the excited greeting Skye gave her, "How are you guys!? I see you're still alive. So your new little monsters haven't killed you yet?"
Bobbi laughed, "No, they haven't. Not for lack of trying through. How are you guys over there?"
"The usual. Fitz and Jemma are still poking at that rock thing. Fitz is convinced it's going to eat someone, Jemma says he's being ridiculous. May and Coulson have been spending way too much time together. The other day Coulson was saying something and he gave me that look May gives when she's very unamused… It was a little creepy," Skye shuddered over the camera.
Bobbi shook her head at Skye and laughed a bit, "You do know that those two have more history than the British monarchy. They've always spent too much time together. They might as well go on and get married. Don't you dare quote me on that though," Bobbi said the last bit in a firm and stern tone.
"Well, I can't tell them it was my idea when I make that suggestion to them. Maybe you can tell them when they go over," Skye said as she popped her gum.
Bobbi rolled her eyes at her and then paused, "When are they coming over?" Had she forgot something?
"In a couple of days or something, I think... Coulson said he spoke to Lance about it," Skye replied, looking away for a moment to talk to someone else.
Bobbi mumbled under her breath about killing her husband when suddenly she was met with Jemma's face on her screen, "Agent Morse, how are you?" she said with a slight giggle.
The ex-Mockingbird laughed a bit, "I'm not an agent anymore, Jemma, you can call me Bobbi, and you know that."
"Ah, well, old habits die hard. Can we see the children?" Jemma asked, bouncing slightly from excitement. From beside her, Skye called, "Wait! I want to see!" And then the two managed to fit on her screen.
"Sure, just give me a second. They're all cuddled up on the couch right now. Hey, Jemma, I want to ask you something, but later. Will you be available tonight? I doubt I'll have time to sit and have this conversation with you right now with Lance up and about," Bobbi said in a teasing tone as she walked out of the office and towards the living room where Lance had joined the children on the couch.
"Here they are, my four toddlers," Bobbi showed the girls the triplets mainly. "That's Ben, Kenzie and Ellie," she pointed to each one from a distance but made sure they knew who was who.
The girls cooed and awed loudly before one of them called Fitz over and Fitz joined them in that, though he tried to sound a bit manlier about it. After another ten minutes of conversation, they hung up with the promise to see each other soon. Bobbi looked pointedly at Lance, her eyebrows drawn and her lips in a tight line while her hands were settled on her hips.
Ben acknowledged her stance before Lance had and he leaned over to Lance, since he was sitting on the other side of him, and asked curiously, "She look mad, Wance. Whadd'ya do?"
Lance was in deep thought, trying to and came up blank, "That's what I'm tryin' to figure out, mate."
"Ya fo'get to pee-pee in da potty?" Ellie asked Lance, hoping to help.
Lance bit back a laugh and shook his head, "No,… I-I'm definitely very potty-trained, love."
"Ya fo'get t'pick up youw toys?" Ben offered.
"I haven't got toys," Lance blinked.
"Lyin's not nice, Wance," Ellie said firmly.
Bobbi would've allowed the conversation to go on a bit longer, but she couldn't and she flung a throw-pillow at Lance, "May and Coulson are coming for a visit and you didn't tell me?"
"Oh... that. Yes, they're coming for the weekend. Which is in... Tomorrow…" he realised and frowned, "Phil told me on Tuesday… Oops?" he tried to give her an innocent smile.
Bobbi sighed. This added to all the things they had to do. May and Coulson were like the parents she was always trying to impress and now they were dropping by and she felt nowhere near ready… The children weren't even mentally prepared for this either! "We have a lot to get ready then. Especially after Kenzie's..."
Lance nodded, "Right. We'll get things ready, don't worry, Bob," he promised.
"Lying's not nice, Lance," Bobbi said firmly, though her eyes smirked.
Lance looked properly annoyed for that and he threw the pillow back at his wife, but she dodged it expertly.
