Well, I figured out that getting 30 chapters in is impossible by now, haha. However, this will be completed! I shall return!
Trauma Center (c) Atlus
27. splash
Baths were a struggle with Derek and Angie's third child. Born a year after Alyson, Kenneth Stiles was very, very different from his namesake in terms of personality. However, he seemed to get all of his looks from his mother's side of the family. Dark brown hair and dark eyes, he looked just like his grandfather. No doubt he would also inherit the strong German features when he was older.
However, at the moment, the two-year-old was fearful of water, and hugged Angie's neck for dear life as the woman knelt down next to the bathtub in hopes of dropping her son in the water. It was mildly painful, Kenny tugging on her hair and nearly strangling her to avoid the bubbles and water.
Their daughter, Aly, was already splashing around in the water, getting Angie's shirt slightly wet. Six-year-old Wyatt Stiles had already declared himself a "big boy", and began to ask to take "big boy showers". When Angie retold the story to Leslie, the other mother of two had nearly died of cuteness. Wyatt was growing up fast, making it much harder for the parent of three to catch up with him.
"He takes after you. Honestly, we might need to skip grades to make him work." Derek once said when they were relaxing after putting all three children to sleep.
Angie carefully removed his grasp around her neck, even suffering losing several strands of hair, to set her son in the water. When she did so, the young boy began to throw a tantrum, splashing water everyone and getting his mother soaking wet. Derek, who had just returned from grocery shopping with their first-born, ran to meet the screams of his youngest. Quickly, he lifted Kenny out of the water and had him in his arms, wrapped in a towel.
"Are you okay?" he asked, helping Angie up with his free hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Since I'm already wet, I'll just finish up bathing Aly, and you can try again with Kenny." Angie began to wring out her shirt to her dismay. Sensing his wife's discomfort and tangible feeling of defeat, he gently kissed her forehead.
"I'll take care of both of them. Go ahead and take a shower and get changed." Derek offered. She smiled at him, placing a kiss on his cheek, and disappeared from the room. After Angie was out of sight, he unwrapped the towel around his little boy and carefully placed him in the bathtub without any trouble. Aly began giggling as if sensing that Derek did this to Angie on purpose. "Now, that's not true," he told his daughter, playfully tapping her on the nose. "Although, that's what she gets for creating a mess with your Aunt Leslie in the kitchen and making me clean it up."