Yo! to any and all who read this little useless chapter I wrote. Many thanks to all of you who've read and reviewed since I posted the last chapter. And Thanks especially to BluWine who said in her review that I should do something like this. So here it is. Let me know what you think.

This competition had been going on for what felt like hours and had drawn quite a crowd, all of his friends among them. The archery range had been busy when the gauntlet had been thrown down and he had been unable to resist the challenge. But his opponent had greater skill than he had anticipated and best of three became best of five... seven... nine... until eventually the score had been forgotten and it was merely a case of who would give up first.

Legolas was the crowned prince of his father's realm with three thousand years of experience under his belt. He was famous for his skill throughout Middle Earth. He would not be defeated by this mere child barely out of his first century. It would be humiliating.

It was his turn. With practiced precision he drew an arrow from his quiver and notched it. He raised his arm and tensed, pulling the bowstring tight and feeling the familiar bend and flex of the wood under his left palm. He stared intently down the length of the arrow, visualising it soaring to the target with deadly accuracey. His eyes narrowed, his concentration unbreakable as he released the string...

"OH! Dear god, what is that?!"

Legolas' jaw dropped upon seeing his first mistake of the contest. Turning his head slowly he looked over his shoulder at the source of the feminine shriek.

Wren was up on her feet, having leapt from the blanket she was sharing with Katelin, brushing fractically at her skirt and jumping around. Their daughter was no help at all, holding Luca in her arms and laughing at the sight like it was the funniest thing she had seen in years. Then Wren suddenly seemed to realise she was at the centre of attention and stopped, looking indignantly at him over her own shoulder before stating, "A bug." When all he did was raise an expectant eyebrow she ellaborated. "It was a bloody big bug, okay?" She then flopped back down and folded her arms, miming zipping her lips.

Legolas was so anxious to get back to the match (nothing quite like a little friendly competition to put the guy into a-hole mode) he missed the subtle wink his wife sent his opponent. She grinned when Aldaron winked back. With his next shot he hit the target dead centre, giving his defeated father a mocking bow before saying, "Told you, you're getting old." He ducked the swipe at his head and laughed at Legolas' scowl.

"Legolas, your son needs changing!"

There was a muffled expletive from the other room.

"Don't you give me that. It's your turn! And don't swear, it doesn't suit you." Wren laughed when he threw a pillow at her from the bedroom door, thwacking her on the back of the head. Looking over her shoulder she caught his reluctant smile and got up to follow him, leaving 4 month old Luca on the soft rug in the sitting room, happily sucking how toes. As she passed she swept a tender caress over the photograph of Peter on the desk. It had been taken not long after Katelin had been born and he smiled, young and happy, out at her.

He had been gone for over sixty years and there still wasn't a day that passed without her thinking about him. She still missed him sometimes and losing him was the hardest thing she had ever gone through but she could remember him with a smile now. They shared so many things no Slayer and Watcher ever got to share and for that she would be eternally grateful.

Standing in the doorway she watched Legolas put away Luca's disgarded toys, noticing how he kept his eyes firmly fixed on the task at hand. And unless she was very much mistaken she thought she saw the beginnings of a pout coming on. She fought a smirk. "C'mon, you aren't still sore about losing to Aldaron, are you? It had to happen eventually."

He feigned a glare. "You didn't have to help him."

Her eyes widened in innocence. "Me? I did nothing. If you can't beat distraction that's your own fault." She sidled up behind him and slid her hands round his waist when he straightened. "We'll just have to practice." Resting her chin on his shoulder she looked up at him from beneath her lashes. "I'm sure I can think of a few other ways of distracting you."

He turned his head and surveyed her with an arched brow. "Oh, you can, can you?" She nodded and he couldn't hold back his smile. By the gods, she smelled good. "Would you show me?" His voice was pitched low, designed to get under her skin. He could see in her eyes it was having the desired effect. He turned toward her and ran a hand down her spine, coming to rest on her backside.

Wren ran her tongue thoughtfully over her top lip and stared provocatively at his mouth. Standing on tip-toe she came within an inch of his lips and paused. With her hand on his chest she could feel he was holding his breath. "Alright," she said softly before closing the distance. The kiss she received in response was deeper than she had expected, momentarily erasing all thought. "But you have to do something for me first," she eventually managed to whisper between heated kisses.

"Mm?" which she knew meant, "Anything!"

"Mm." She let her hand creep up to his neck where her fingertips just brushed the shell of his ear. "You need to change Luca."

Legolas froze and snapped his eyes open. He let out a grunt of frustration and his shoulders sagged in defeat. Despite his complaining it was in fact his turn. Oh well, the sooner he got the hateful job overwith the sooner they could get back to more...

Just then the sitting room door was thrown open, making them jump apart almost guiltily. "Ada!" came the frantic shout followed by running feet. A pale, blonde elleth in dusty riding gear rushed in looking flustered. "Ada, tell Heather!" she cried but was shoved from behind before she could say another word.

"Don't you dare, Evie!" Another elleth, the blonde's identical twin in every way but hair colour. "I swear, just because you can't fight your own battles doesn't mean you have to get me in trouble for doing it for you. I was only trying to help!"

"You punched him in the face!"

"He asked for it! I saw what he did to you!"

"What did he do to you?" Legolas growled dangerously low. He knew without asking they were arguing about the spoilt young elf lad who had got it into his head that Evie was his new toy and wouldn't take no for an answer.

Evie opened her mouth to defend her admirer but Heather got there first. "He tried to put his hand up her skirt."

"What!?" Wren couldn't believe what she was hearing. "And what did you do?" she asked Evie, holding up her hand to silence Heather's explanation.

"I pushed him off and told him to keep his hands to himself. But he thought I was joking and tried again. The next thing I knew Heather jerked him round by his shirt and punched him in the face. She gave him a bloody nose!" she exclaimed, distressed.

"I'll give him more than that when I get my hands on him!" Legolas was fuming and moved to step past the girls to the door but Wren pressed and hand to his chest. He glared at her and tried to go round but she persisted, shaking her head. "Wren, move. Let me handle this."

Wren shook her head. "No. You're angry and protective and liable to make the situation worse. Go and see to Luca," she insisted, gesturing to the baby who had started to fuss with all the noise. Legolas opened his mouth to protest but she would have none of it. "Go. Calm down and I will deal with this for the moment. I promise, if Oropher needs pummeling you can have first go."

With a sigh forced through flared nostrils, Legolas turned on his heel and walked to the rug and his fidgeting son. In the background he could hear Evie still trying to defend the little gargoyle. "Heather broke his nose. He'll never talk to me again now!"

Tuning out the rest of the conversation, Legolas knelt on the floor and picked up the little boy who smiled happily at the sight of his father. Despite his frustration, Legolas couldn't help but smile back and the way his tiny body curved into the protective embrace eased most of the tension out of him. The angry fog of his thoughts started to clear.

His poor girls. Not even thirty yet and already being chased by boys. Evie was besotted with the young Oropher, dazzled by his good looks, charm and obvious enthusiasm she had let herself ignore that, not only was she too young, but he clearly wasn't her other half. She enjoyed his attention, was flattered by his persistence, but couldn't see that she was only one of many.

Heather saw. She saw and she hated that her sister was going to be hurt sooner or later. So she took it upon herself to fix it. Unfortunately she had not yet learnt tact, subtlty. When asked once whether she had in fact heard of tact she had flippantly replied, "Tact is just not saying stuff that's true. I think I'll pass." And that had been that. But now her bluntness was getting her into trouble. He couldn't fault her intentions. He had been trying to hink of a way to see him off for weeks. And her methods were dangerously close to his own so he could say nothing about that either. So maybe it was better to let the calmer, more rational one handle it.

"He did what?!"

Luca jumped in Legolas' arms at the sudden shout. Legolas turned and watched his wife storm out of the bedroom, through the sitting room and out the door, with Evie trotting along behind making placating gestures and noises, and Heather wandering steadily behind them, a satisfied smile on her face. She looked over at her father and tried valiantly to look sorry. Legolas had to ask "Did you really break his nose?"

Heather hesitated before answering, not sure which answer he wanted. Deciding honesty was less likely to bite her in the ass later, she nodded, biting her lip to keep a straight face. "Yeah."

He stared at her for long moments, making her squirm under the scrutany, then felt his composure slip. The smile soon became a laugh and when Heather realised her father wasn't angry she joined in.

Legolas sighed and shook his head. "You are far too much like your mother for your own good." He got to his feet and walked to stand in front of her. It was almost frightening to see she was only a couple of inches shorter than him. "So, as punishment, you can bathe your brother." He handed his stunned daughter the squirming baby, messed her hair affectionately, then walked after his wife to see just what she was going to do to the poor lad when she got her hands on him. If he hadn't crossed the line with one of his children he would very nearly pity the boy. That thought set him laughing all over again.

Wren had been worried once what she was going to do with eternity. She had spent her entire life knowing it was finite, that it would end far too soon so she should live every moment to the fullest. But since the end of the war then their return to middle earth from her home in London, her life had become endless, stretching before her further than she could even contemplate. What would she do with all this time she suddenly found herself with? Wouldn't she get bored? There are only so many things to keep yourself entertained, after all.

But now, after nearly one hundred and fifty years of peace, Legolas was sure of one thing. Life spent raising their ever-growing family was going to be anything but boring.