This is purely a filler. Things I see on a daily basis are what inspired the scenes in this. I guess what you could take from this is that parenting isn't just a walk in the park.

For Better or For Worse

Chapter 21

Enjoy.

"I hear you, kid…I'm sure the whole apartment building can hear you." Alex muttered as she trudged back into the master bedroom from the kitchen with a warmed bottle. The parents had just fallen asleep when Leah's whimpers and cries started to fill the room. The infant had fallen asleep rather early, and had been sleeping in longer stretches, but she also liked to give her parents those middle of the night wake-up calls.

As Alex entered the room, she found her youngest propped on her pillow on her side of the bed, jerking around in frustration as she let it be known she was hungry. Piper was laying on her side, attempting to entertain the little one until her wife returned. The brunette could faintly hear Piper telling Leah that she would be back soon with her bottle. Night feeds had become Alex's territory considering there were less of those than feeds during the day.

"You were just waiting for us to fall asleep, huh?" The brunette picked Leah up from the bed and sat down in their white tufted chair that set right next to their closet, her feet automatically perching on the edge of the ottoman allowing the infant to sit against her thighs. "This is two nights in a row now. What's going on? I thought we had an agreement."

Leah just looked at her momma intently as she continued to suck down her food. Her eyes were growing lighter every day and her hair was beginning to fall out, leaving behind small wisps of blonde hair. What really infatuated Alex was the grip Leah constantly had on her index finger. It was just what they did during every feeding, and Alex hoped she never let go. Despite how tired or how many times their children woke her and Piper up at night, they wouldn't trade anything for the life they have.

It took around half an hour for Leah to get her fill, but surprisingly, she was still wide awake. Piper on the other hand could be heard snoring softly from where she buried her head in Alex's pillow. Alex had to give it to her, she had transitioned into caring for a newborn and toddler while she was at work fairly well. Thus being why Alex took over caring for Leah at night, she felt like since she wasn't home during the day she needed to pull her weight.

"Not tired, huh?" Alex tickled her infant's cheeks, evoking a toothless grin and a soft coo. Leah had recently just started giving genuine smiles. They were a little lopsided, but it was making all those near sleepless nights worthwhile for her parents. Ellie on the other hand was upset because each time she would try to coax a smile from her little sister, she got nothing compared to her older brother who seemed to make Leah smile every single time he tried. "I figured."

The only light in the room was the soft glow of the television. Ellie and Conner had quickly figured out that when they saw their parents' bedroom light on in the middle of the night, it meant that they were awake and tending to Leah. Instantly the two older children took this as an invitation to enter their room and crawl into bed with them. It only took two nights in a row of sleeping with all three of their children in their bed for the couple to put an end to it. Two nights of kicks to the ribs, bottoms in the face, and bodies lying on top of them was two nights too much. Now they just left turned their television on for a source of light, and the kids didn't think twice about entering because they just thought their parents had fallen asleep watching TV.

…

"Hey, come here, please. Come lay down." Piper handed a wide awake Leah to Alex who was sitting against the headboard of their bed, feet crossed at her ankles. Ellie could be seen trudging from the door of their master bathroom, tears trailing down her face while she wore one of Alex's t-shirts. All morning, Ellie had been refusing a nap when her mood clearly proved that she needed one. The toddler had been in timeout once that morning and was on the way to a second one until Piper had taken her to her bathroom for a bath, in hopes that it and the alone time with her would relax Ellie.

"I don't want to take a nap." The toddler blubbered, leaning against the bench at the end of the bed. In two months she would be four years old, and she already acted as if she was fourteen. Her blonde hair was to her shoulders, and her eyes turned into a more piercing blue each day; she was the spitting image of Piper. When Alex thought about that, it really stunned her to know that eventually she would have two little Piper's ordering her around, but she was more than okay with that.

"I'm afraid you don't have a choice today, babe." Piper could hear Alex chuckling behind her as she walked to where her child was and picked her up.

"Momma." The tears continued to fall down the toddler's face as she searched for some kind of help from Alex, but all she got was a pat on the bed in response from the raven-haired woman.

As Ellie was being laid down on the bed, with her free hand, Alex instantly went to stroking through her daughter's hair and wiping the tears from her face. Days like this were expected. Adjusting to a new sibling had its rough spots, but for the most parts Ellie was adapting to being the middle child quite well. She had her own jobs that she did while Piper was nursing or tending to Leah's need such as fetching a diaper or putting on her socks for her, and the toddler took pride in those big sister privileges.

"I'm not sleepy."

"Try." Piper drug the comforter up and over her daughter's body, then placed a kiss to her forehead. Ellie burrowed under the covers with a small pout and moved right up next to Alex, pressing her face into her thigh while grabbing a fistful of her sweater.

"Being a big sister is such hard work." The brunette grinned at Leah, who kicked in response.

Soon Piper plucked Leah from her wife's arms and made her towards the living room to do a workout while Alex napped with their toddler. The blonde had recently started participating in online workouts that included your baby, and loved having the one-on-one time with her infant. Usually the videos lasted twenty to thirty minutes, and then she did workouts of her own for another hour while Leah sat in her bouncer and watched. On warm days, she would do half of her usual workout and run with Ellie in the stroller, but due to it being winter, the blonde was stuck inside.

By the time Piper was finishing up her workout, the blonde spotted Alex and Ellie walking into the living room hand in hand. The younger woman had decided to leave the baby workout for last to serve as a cooldown, so as she did her last few push-ups, planting kisses on Leah's cheeks each time she went down, she found her toddler's eyes full of sleep and her large t-shirt hanging off her shoulder as she grew closer.

"Hi, sweetie." Piper finished her last push-up and sat up, crossing her legs Indian style while wiping a bead of sweat from her brow. "Did you have a good nap?"

Ellie nodded and let go of Alex's hand to sit in Piper's lap, both blondes facing Leah who was observing the ceiling fan above her as she laid on the floor.

"Do you want some juice, Ellie?" Alex had turned to walk out of the living room and turned back around to see her toddler eagerly nodding. She was obviously already in a better mood after her nap. "What about you, Pipes? Water?"

"Please."

As Alex left the room, Piper planted a kiss to her middle child's temple. It was quiet for a moment until Ellie observed Leah's coos and that Leah was looking right at her.

"Leah's happy, mommy." Ellie scooted forward a bit, allowing her hand to gently rub against her sister's pink, drawstring sweatpants she was wearing. Although there had been no mishaps, Ellie constantly practiced the gentleness her parents expected of her when she was around her little sister.

"Maybe she wants you to play with her."

"Leah can't play with me, mommy. She's too little for my toys."

"I know that, but you can play with her toys and show her how they work. In fact, she needs to do some tummy time for a little bit, so maybe you can keep her company?"

"Okay." Ellie chirped, moving her small body to lay on her tummy alongside her little sister.

As Piper reached for Leah and gently turned her over and grabbed the boppy pillow from the couch, the small whimpers and groans of frustration already beginning to emanate from the infants mouth. The blonde had quickly found out that if she propped her youngest up on the boppy, she was more satisfied instead of being belly first on the mat.

"Pipes, you know I can't stand to hear her cry for five minutes. Especially when getting her to stop crying from this is so easy." Alex sighed as she re-entered the room. Handing the drinks in her hands to the respective owners, the tall woman sat down on the floor next to her wife.

Piper gave her wife a smug grin along with a small pat on her thigh.

…

The second semester of school started off well for her second grade son and homework seemed to be moving along smoothly. However, by mid-January Piper had started to see a progression of hemming and hawing, procrastination and delay tactics, a prickly attitude, distractions, and then off-track behavior each day as she or Alex sat down with him to help him with his homework. Some days, it got to the point he didn't want anyone to sit at the table with him any more as he did his homework. Math had always been his least favorite subject, and it had always been the one he struggled with the most.

It took Piper a while to notice she was even getting more and more tense around the issue of homework. Conner had never acted out like this before, but he was perfect when it came to anything but homework. This challenge had seemed to come out of nowhere though it had been building for quite some time. In fact, the struggles around homework were starting to take more time than the homework itself. Of course, when Piper and Alex pointed this out to their son, thinking like logical adults, it didn't help the situation at all and the tensions continued to mount.

The parents had already had their parent-teacher conference that was required for each semester, and the teacher had reported she had seen a slight change in Conner's demeanor when it came to math, but there hadn't been any decrease in his grades. Mrs. Henry had recommended Conner attend tutoring after school with her to ensure he was grasping the new concepts being introduced, but the small boy exhibited the same behaviors there as he did at home. The only thing Piper knew to do was to get listening time from Alex to ensure she didn't lose her cool while working with her son. She constantly told her wife all of her worries and fears, and vice versa. She was bound and determined to get through this despite how hard it was to see her son behave so poorly when it came to his homework.

Eventually, they felt like their back was up against the wall. Good study habits were always important to Piper was receiving her education and wanted her son to have that same attitude, but her patience was growing thin. Conner's fire for learning was still prominently there, but that fire wasn't blazing for math. His teachers were working hard to push him to higher heights, but it was inevitable that frustration was going to occasionally set in. Frustration had always caused his mind to tense up.

Both women got worried when it seemed like he was giving up so easily and he couldn't focus. They had bought flash cards, workbooks, and tried to apply math anywhere they could so he could improve in the areas he was struggling in, but using it all the time only made Conner grow more frustrated. Alex had tried isolating themselves to his room to ensure there were no distractions, and Piper had too, but nothing seemed to work. It wouldn't be such a big deal if it was just getting done, but when you added all the complaining, whining and distractions around it, their family time was dwindling to nothing.

The parents also knew that a tantrum, with crying, sweating and lots of movement would actually help him move through his frustration around homework. If they could give their son an outlet for his frustration, all the energy that went to managing that frustration could be freed up and allow their family time to increase again. But it was finding that outlet and strategy to get through the homework that was serving as a roadblock. There had been timeouts, talks, and even taking toys away, but the frustration with math was still there.

Piper was standing at the sink washing dishes when Alex and Conner came in the front door after school. Both little girls were down for a nap in their room. The look on her sons face already revealed that he knew what was coming. The parents had put a routine in place from the time he started school. He would come home, eat a snack and do his homework. If he didn't complete his homework, he had to sit at the table until it got done. Since the math frustration arose, this method had been remodeled multiple times while the couple worked to find what worked best for their son, but they had quickly discovered that no matter if their son completed his homework after his siblings went to bed, or after he had his snack, the frustration was still prevalent.

"Hi, baby." The blonde smiled, drying her hands on a towel and moving towards the refrigerator to retrieve a juice box and cheese stick for her son. It was the snack he asked for every day. "Did you have a good day at school?"

Conner nodded, hanging his backpack on the hook next to the entry way and walked towards the kitchen table to sit down. Alex walked around the island to plant a kiss to her wife's cheek as a quick hello and then disappeared down the hallway, most likely to check on the napping children and change out of her work clothes.

Piper placed the snack in front of her son, letting him poke the straw in the box and peel the plastic from the cheese. Ever since he started second grade, he insisted he could do everything himself.

"Thank you, mom." He smiled. It hurt her to know he was still the sweet, and well-mannered little boy, but the rage that came out during math made him seem like a completely different person.

Sitting down next to her son, she and him embarked on a conversation about how his day went and what all he was learning. Piper was sure she sat and simply talked to him for half an hour, letting him unwind from his day.

When the blonde got up and started to gather the ingredients for their dinner, Conner knew that was his cue to get his homework and start working on it, and Piper merely watched as he trudged to his backpack and pulled out his papers. Alex had come in with Leah in the Moby and Ellie grasping her hand, ready to help Piper with dinner, and was about to comment on how quiet it was during homework time today, but didn't finish her sentence when she saw Conner placing his paper and pencil on the table. The brunette simply took her two girls back towards the back of the house to ensure her son got the peace and quiet he needed.

Twenty minutes later, it was very clear he was frustrated. Piper could tell he was putting the least amount of effort into his homework. She knew if she let things continue, this wasn't going to go well. But she had anticipated this and she knew she was in a good place because she was determined to find that remedy for her son's frustration today, so she went to him warmly, put a gentle hand on his arm, sat down next to him, and said very warmly, "Sweetheart, I haven't seen you write in a few minutes."

"This is hard." The seven year old placed his pencil down and leaned his forehead against the edge of the table.

"Okay." Piper nodded. This was the routine she endured every day. He had more of his homework done today than he had in the past few weeks, but those same problems he always left blank were still unanswered. "Can I help you then?"

The boy nodded.

"Henry and Mike have twelve pencils each. After using up the same number of pencils, Henry has three pencils left. How many pencils does Mike have left?" Instantly Piper knew the answer, because it was in the problem, but it wasn't so easy for second graders. "Okay, so what's the important information in this problem?"

Conner shrugged. She knew he was probably thinking the stern voice was about to commence, but she knew that only caused his frustration to sky rocket.

"You need to try, babe."

With that, Conner began to rant and continued on for a few minutes as his mother let him get it out of his system. But suddenly, the boy raked his chair along the wooden floor and went and sat on the floor against the couch, drawing his knees into his chest.

Piper gave the boy a minute to himself and gathered a clipboard from their built-in desk next to the refrigerator and grabbed his homework and pencil. She could slightly hear him sniffling as she gathered all the materials.

Piper sat down next to him and put her hand on his back. She just listened. Her heart ached that there was so much frustration in math, but neither the teacher nor she or Alex could figure out what it really was that was bothering him.

The blonde didn't try to fix anything for him. The issue was not him thinking things were hard. The real issue was the tension that didn't allow thoughts to flow freely and learning to take place because of how frustrated he already was before he started his work. Piper knew she didn't need to counter his complaints on how everything was hard. She knew listening to him offload his frustration would help him tremendously when he knew he wouldn't get scolded for it.

"Hey, listen to me for a minute. Okay?"

"You're gonna get mad." Piper's heart broke knowing that's what he thought was coming, and she felt like a horrible parent for yelling those days she did, but she had never seen her son act like this. It was as frustrating for her as it was him because she was struggling with how to help him.

"I'm not gonna get mad. I promise. I just want you to talk to me." Piper smoothed her hand down her son's neck. She could feel how tense he was.

For the next 10 minutes he would oscillate from jumping up and moving around to falling on couch, exasperated at everything. Piper moved with him, but slowly and deliberately. Staying as close as he would let her, and letting his words of frustration fall out of his mouth. She didn't give him a lecture about how amazing his teacher is or how important his homework is. She just listened. She let him focus on his homework trigger and she focused on listening and connecting with him.

From the beginning, she quickly alluded to being stern because her son obviously knew better, and she knew she had never really given him the chance to let out all that pent up frustration. Then suddenly he stopped crying. He wanted to continue his homework, something that surprised Piper. She wanted to give him an opportunity to step up. She wanted to see what he would do.

Conner wiped his eyes, "Can you help me, please?"

Piper nodded, and scooted a little bit closer to where she could see the clipboard lying in his lap.

The boy read the previous problem that Piper read.

"Henry and Mike have twelve pencils each. After using up the same number of pencils, Henry has three pencils left. How many pencils does Mike have left?"

Piper allowed him to set the pace, and although it took him a few minutes, he found all the important information in the question and underlined it just like his teacher had taught him. But most importantly, he got the right answer. The blonde didn't cheer or leap up in excitement, but continued to help where her son asked for it, and continued a constant rub on his back as he worked in attempt to ward the frustration away.

At one point, Alex came venturing into the living room to check on things, but Piper gestured for her to move into the hallway to not disturb their son.

"He's so quiet." The brunette whispered, an awake Leah in her arms. Piper could faintly here the songs of The Little Mermaid playing in their bedroom. "What's going on?"

"He's doing his work. I let him rant and roam about the living room for ten to fifteen minutes and then he just sat down and started working." Piper shrugged, running a soft hand down her infant's balding crown and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I think that maybe he just needed to get it out of his system. We've been pushing so hard and getting so frustrated with him for acting out that it just continued to build up his frustration. There wasn't any trust there when it came to homework and us. He just thought he would continue to get in trouble, making his anxiety skyrocket."

"I think it was just a gut reaction for us to react like that because he's usually so good. It was just shocking…Did you ask him what he's so frustrated about with his homework?"

Piper shook her head. "I'm gonna let him finish his work and then talk to him. I don't want to trigger anything."

"Okay." Alex grabbed Piper's hand as she noticed a defeated look on her face. "Hey, we're still learning in this world of parenting, okay? Just like he's learning, we are too. We're gonna have some hiccups, and that's okay."

"Thanks, Al." The blonde shuffled closer to her wife and curled into her side. When Piper returned to her spot on the couch next to her son, she found him on the last couple of problems. She silently checked the problems in her head and found that they were all correct.

"I'm done, mommy." Five minutes later, Conner placed his pencil down on the coffee table along with the clipboard, both he and his mother let out a sigh of relief.

"High five, dude."

Conner slapped his mom's hand and then asked if he could go see his sisters.

"Let me talk to you for a second and then you can go, okay?" The blue-eyed boy nodded. "Why do you get so frustrated? Is the work hard for you? Do you not understand it?" Piper searched her son's eyes for any kind of hint.

Conner exhaled before beginning. "At school, when we do work, I'm always the last to turn it in and I'm always the last to turn in the test. It takes me forever when it takes other kids not that long."

"I see." Piper nodded. She knew he was understanding the material because his grades were showing it, but they couldn't find out exactly what it was that was causing this behavior. "Why didn't you just tell us that from the beginning, babe?"

"Because I feel embarrassed."

"Conner, just because you turn something in last isn't embarrassing…That just shows that you really care about how well you do in school and want to make sure you did the best you could do. Sometimes the people who turn things in last get the best grade, and the people who turn in their work really fast get the worst. Did you know that?"

Conner shook his head. Piper knew he had the tendency to hold in things and then just combust when he couldn't handle it anymore, but they were working on it. The smallest things influenced children his age and it was all a learning process. "I'm sorry for being ugly."

Piper's heart swooned at her son's statement. He strived to be a good role model for his sisters and set a good example everywhere they went. It all made sense to the blonde now. For the past four weeks, Conner refused to talk about or even look at his homework all because he was self-conscious of what happens in the classroom. He was ashamed to tell his parents that he was last at something because in his mind he thought it was something disappointing. So the boy simply refused to do his homework and thought that just not completing it would erase all of those problems, but in reality, it made everything worse.

"It's okay, babe. We just need to work on telling people what it is that bothers us and using our words, okay? Momma and I can't help you unless you tell us, and you can tell us anything."

"I know, mommy." Conner leaned forward and wrapped his arms around his mother's neck, holding her tight.

Early Februrary…

It wasn't a surprise that Conner had a natural knack for baseball, because his father had one too. Piper could remember many weekends she went and sat with the baseball moms of the team Jake helped coach in his spare time. She often imagined herself being a baseball mom and cheering on her own son while wearing all the different attire and pins that had her son's picture displaying proudly. But then she also found herself imagining Jake and their son playing catch or seeing Jake coach his son, it was something she always found so intriguing. So when Conner announced that he wanted to continue playing golf for fun, but try baseball, the blonde mother had been thrilled.

"Are you excited, babe?" Piper glanced into the rearview mirror from her place in the driver's seat, her smile shining bright.

"Yep." Conner nodded, looking spiffy in his white baseball pants, and black shirt with a red cap to top it off. The family had spent hours in a local sporting goods store, and more money than expected, but both parents were excited for this new experience their son was taking on.

"How's Leah, bud?" Alex turned around and looked into the mirror that was attached to the headrest of the seat Leah's car seat was attached to. When she had placed Leah into her car seat, the fussing had already started and grew into a full-blown crying fit, but Conner had come to the rescue with her pacifier that had a small stuffed giraffe attached to it.

"She's just looking around." It was a rather warm day for New York considering it was so late in February, and Piper had initially asked Alex if she'd be willing to stay home with Leah but with weather being so perfect, she decided to make it a family affair.

Soon, the family arrived at the field Conner's practice was being held. There were already boys warming up along the foul line, and then there were the boys that Conner had in his class that were waving at them from afar.

"Don't forget your water." Piper parked the car, and helped her son get his bag out of the back. She could faintly hear her infant starting to fuss in her seat, most likely from hunger. "You're gonna do great!"

"Thanks, mom. Are you gonna watch me?"

"Yep." Piper smiled. "I'm gonna have to sit in the car so I can feed Leah, but I made sure to park where I could still see everything you did."

Conner high-fived Alex and his mom before walking a few feet away and turning around and walking the few feet back. "Mom?"

"Yes, babe?" Piper could hear Alex from where she was now standing on Leah's side of the car, attempting to keep her entertained until the blonde could feed her.

"Would my dad be proud of me for starting baseball?"

Piper had briefly talked to her son about Jake and his experiences with baseball, causing the young boy to become even more motivated to play. Ever since Piper had that inevitable conversation about her son's father, there had been more conversations about him, and both Piper and Alex were pleased to hear that their son had no discontent towards Jake.

Piper couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. "Of course he would be proud of you. We're all proud of you, bud."

With that, the blonde bent down and pressed a kiss to the side of her son's face before sending him off with a small pat on the butt, a look of embarrassment covering his features as he turned around and sped off.

"Go get em', Conner." Alex yelled as she retrieved Leah from her carrier and handed her off to Piper once she was settled in the backseat, ready to nurse her infant.

Conner turned around and grinned.

It took around twenty-five minutes for Leah to satiate her hunger, and both parents saw their son glance over multiple times to ensure his parents were watching and they'd flash the thumbs up sign in response. Alex stood outside of the open backdoor where her wife was feeding their daughter and kept a close eye on her son as he went through each drill.

Eventually Piper and Leah got out of the vehicle and the family made their way towards the bleachers, introducing themselves to parents along the way. As the couple watched their son throughout his practice, they were continually impressed with how natural his talent for the sport was. Many of the parents of other children also commented on how quick he was catching on.

Leah on the other hand, was content with being held in Piper's arms as she observed her surroundings over her mother's shoulder, eventually succumbing to a peaceful snooze from the way Piper swayed as she sat watching her son.

A/N: Next chapter will begin with Valentines so send any ideas and I'll be happy to incorporate them in some form or fashion.

Also, this story is quickly coming to a close. There will be 24 chapters and an epilogue, so 25 chapters' total.