Hilary smiled to herself as she leaned back in her chair, shading her eyes with one of her hands. From there, she could see her mother leaning over her garden, tending to it. Nearby, Tyler and Christy kicked a ball back and forth, giggling as they tried to kick it harder each time.
The sun was shining overhead and casting a warm glow over all of Tokyo. Spring was quickly approaching. The leaves had not yet returned to the branches, and the flowers had not yet bloomed. But the warm weather was a sign of good things to come. Hilary knew that there'd be no more snow, and that the cold months were all but dead. It was a nice feeling, a good thing to know.
The sound of babbling caught Hilary's attention, causing her to lower her hand. In the bouncer next to her, Haley happily waved her arms up and down, kicking her legs as she got the seat to move. Hilary giggled and shook her head. Haley was seven months old now, and really starting to become her own person. At times, it saddened Hilary, who partially wanted her daughter to stay a baby forever. Tyson always teased that if Hilary could "put Haley back inside," she would. That always earned Tyson a nasty little glare. Hilary knew she couldn't stop her baby from growing up, so as much as it could sadden her, it also brought her joy. It was as bittersweet as things came.
"The plants look wonderful!"
Hilary turned her attention back to Dorothy, who was positively beaming.
"It must be all of this sunshine and warm weather," Hilary replied.
"Certainly!" Dorothy chirped. "I don't remember the last time it was so warm this early on. But I'm not complaining! These fruits and vegetables will probably be my freshest ones yet."
"I can't wait to try them," Hilary giggled.
"Well, you might not have to wait too long," Dorothy mused as she glanced over one of her strawberry plants. "I've actually got a good idea!"
"I'd ask what it is, but I know better than to try and get a secret out of you," Hilary quipped, earning a knowing smile from her mother.
"Oh no, the ball!"
Before Hilary could react, the blue rubber ball went rolling right past her, all the way back towards the house. She looked over at her two oldest children, who both had their hands clasped firmly over their mouths.
"That's what happens when you two start testing your strength against one another," Hilary sighed, though she was still smiling. "You know that!"
"I did that one, Mommy!" Tyler proudly announced. "I'm the one that kicked that one!"
"If you're the one that kicked it, then you're the one that has to get it," Hilary teased.
"Nuh uh!" Tyler refuted.
"Yeah you do!" Christy argued. "That's the rules!"
"But it's so far away," Tyler whined. "I gotta rest my legs so I can kick the ball even harder!"
"That's dramatic," Christy scoffed, causing both Dorothy and Hilary to break down in laughter.
"My, where'd you pick up that word, sweetheart?" Dorothy asked.
"Mommy!" Christy giggled. "She says it all the time 'bout Daddy!"
"Maybe I should start watching what I'm saying a bit more," Hilary muttered, getting up from her chair. "And I thought I only had to worry about the really bad words…"
Her short floral sundress skirted around her thighs as she moved back towards the house to retrieve the ball that Tyler had kicked just a bit too hard. As soon as she had her hands on it, Haley started to wail, causing Hilary's head to whip around.
Standing back up, Hilary hurried over and gently rolled the ball back towards the siblings before kneeling down beside Haley's bouncer and looking over the baby.
"What's wrong, baby?" Hilary cooed.
"Hilary," Dorothy called over the baby's wails, catching the younger woman's attention. "I was going to go inside and begin preparing my special surprise, but I don't want to leave you alone out here when Haley is all fussy. Do you need any help?"
"No, it'll be alright," Hilary assured, stroking Haley's hair. "My guess is she just wants to be cuddled! I've got everything under control."
Dorothy beamed at her daughter and got to her feet. "You call for me if you need anything, alright?"
"Of course," Hilary replied with a smile. "Thank you, Mom."
As the brunette woman headed inside with her basket full of freshly picked strawberries, Hilary reached into the bouncer and lifted the baby out of it, holding the little thing tightly against her chest. As soon as she was there, Haley ceased her cries with a small hiccup, and then purred as she placed her hands on her mother's chest and tilted her head back to look up at the woman.
"Hello," Hilary cooed in a high pitched voice. "Is that all better? You just wanted Mama to hold you, that's all! You wanted to be in Mama's arms."
Haley stuffed one fist into her mouth and kept the other firmly on her mother's chest. Hilary smiled and kissed the top of the baby's head, burying her nose in the infant's dark hair. The moment was interrupted as soon as Hilary felt something her foot, however.
"Oops."
Lifting her nose, Hilary glanced down and saw the blue rubber ball sitting there. Flattening her brow, Hilary glanced up at the siblings, both of whom looked a bit sheepish.
"You two and this ball," Hilary sighed.
"It's just cause I'm really strong," Tyler remarked, puffing his chest out.
"You and your father are exactly the same person, I swear," Hilary breathed.
"I wanna be just as strong as Daddy!" Tyler exclaimed. "That's why I gotta practice kicking the ball really hard, to show how strong I am!"
"I think you two have kicked the ball around hard enough for one day," Hilary replied. "Let's try playing a little gentler for now."
"That's no fun," Tyler whined through a pout.
"Yes it is!" Hilary laughed. "Here, I'll show you. Sit!"
Christy was the first one to sit, eager to listen to her mother and continually prove that she was the "good child." Tyler was still pouting, but as soon as Christy sat down nearly on command, his competitive streak flared. He definitely didn't want to be viewed as good and obedient like his sister, but he also refused to be put in her shadow. Whatever kind of game their mother had in mind, no matter how lame it was likely going to be…Tyler didn't want to lose. So he sat down as well, across from his sister, and patiently glanced up at his mother.
"Good," Hilary giggled, walking closer to the siblings and sitting down on the grass with them, Haley seated in her lap.
Hilary grabbed onto the ball with both hands, and without warning, rolled it towards Christy. The young girl reached out and caught the ball, giggling as soon as she had it.
"See?" Hilary breathed. "We can roll it back and forth to one another! Just like that!"
Christy seemed pleased with the concept of the game, while Tyler had a less than impressed look on his face.
"I like this game, Mommy!" Christy giggled, pushing the ball towards her brother. It rolled slowly towards him, though the boy made no move to actually touch the ball. Instead, it bounced against his knee and stopped in place, at which point Tyler looked up and grimaced.
"Tyler, you're supposed to catch the ball!" Hilary cried.
"This is boring," Tyler groaned.
"No it's not," Hilary calmly argued. "Just try it!"
Narrowing his eyes, Tyler grabbed onto the ball and examined it until he got an idea. When that thought sprung up, he smirked and pulled his arms back, tossing the ball as hard as he possibly could. Instead of rolling on the grass, it went soaring through the air and came close to colliding with the baby. Fortunately, Hilary still had sharp reflexes, and was able to knock the ball down before it could hit her.
"Whoa, that was cool!" Tyler laughed.
"It was not!" Hilary gasped. "That could've really hurt your little sister!"
"Nah, she's tough," Tyler scoffed. "I bet she would've laughed!"
Hilary sighed and shook her head. Haley, who was unaffected by nearly getting hit, was busy leaning over and smacking the ball with her little hands, babbling nonsense as she whacked at it.
"You want to play too?" Hilary asked sweetly. Haley looked over her shoulder at her mother and responded with a high pitched coo. "Okay, you can play with us! Can you roll the ball?"
Haley giggled and just continued smacking the ball, much to the rest of her family's bewilderment.
"Maybe Haley thinks the game is boring too!" Tyler suggested.
"She's a baby, Tyler," Hilary sighed. "I think that's just you who thinks it's boring."
Haley grumbled and swatted the ball as hard as she possibly could, sending the ball quickly rolling an impressive distance. Tyler's eyes lit up, and he quickly turned back towards his mother with a huge smile on his face.
"See!" Tyler cried. "I knew it!"
Hilary arched an eyebrow and glanced down at the little girl in her lap. "That was pretty rough, Haley…"
"Whoa!"
Hilary picked her head up and felt her eyes widen when she saw her husband nearly trip over the ball that Haley had just rejected.
"Oh, be careful, Tyson!" Hilary gasped, jumping to her feet.
"A little late for that," Tyson chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared over his shoulder at the ball. "You guys playing some kind of game?"
"I guess you could call it that…" Hilary replied, shifting her eyes.
"Daddy!"
Tyler and Christy lunged themselves at their father, grabbing onto his legs before jumping off and instead choosing to run circles around him.
"Whoa, you two are full of energy!" Tyson remarked. "Did Grammy give you too many cookies?"
"You're back!" Christy chirped, ignoring her father's question.
"Where'd you go?" Tyler asked.
"I just had to go do something really quick with Uncle Ray," Tyson replied. Tyler and Christy both stopped in their tracks, jaws dropping as they stared up at their father with disbelieving looks. "What?"
"Did you do somethin- with Dragoon?!" Tyler demanded.
"No!" Tyson quickly answered. "No, nothing to do with Dragoon. I would've asked you two if you wanted to come if it did! We just stopped by the market, that's all."
"Oh," Tyler breathed. "That's boring!"
Tyson smirked and glanced at his wife, who let out a tired sigh. "That's been his favorite comment all morning."
"It wasn't boring, Tyler," Tyson calmly argued. "I bet you really would've liked it, actually! The market is full of food, after all."
"I like food," Tyler commented.
"I know you do," Tyson chuckled. The sound of someone's stomach growling immediately followed, causing Tyson's smirk to widen. "And it sounds like you're in the mood for some now!"
Tyler, despite the slight blush on his face, started to laugh. "I am hungry!"
Another growl, this one louder than the first, sounded, and Hilary knew right away whose stomach that had come from.
"You're one to talk," Hilary teased, staring right at her husband.
He, just like his son, blushed and let out a nervous laugh. "Alright, I guess looking at all that tasty stuff at the market got my appetite going too."
"Did I hear my boys are hungry?"
Dorothy had poked her head out through the kitchen window, smiling at the surprised family.
"Maybe just a bit," Tyson replied sheepishly.
"Well, good thing I just finished preparing lunch!" Dorothy chirped. "Why don't you all come inside and get ready to eat?"
Tyler, without any other warning, took off towards the house, charging ahead. "That's not boring!"
Christy groaned, hurrying after her younger brother. "Tyler, wait! Don't eat all the food!"
Tyson and Hilary exchanged looks, laughing as their two older children ran off inside the house.
"Well…that's an improvement from him today," Hilary murmured, shaking her head.
Haley gurgled, causing Tyson to smile as he took the baby from his wife's arms. "You must think your big brother is pretty silly, huh?"
"You know, Haley is the reason you almost tripped over that ball before," Hilary idly commented. "She's the one who smacked it all the way over there!"
"Really?" Tyson breathed, turning his attention back onto the little girl. "You're so strong! Daddy is very impressed."
Haley gurgled and stuffed a fist in her mouth. Tyson grinned and made a move towards the house, but stopped when he heard Hilary sigh. He glanced over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine," Hilary replied, smiling softly at him. "It's just…so nice being outside. This weather is so beautiful. Everything just feels…right. You know? Does that make any sense at all?"
Tyson snickered and shook his head. "Yeah, I gotcha."
Hilary grinned in return. "Glad you don't think I'm crazy."
"Nah, I'd never think you're crazy," Tyson refuted with a laugh. "Now that we've established no one here is crazy, mind if we go inside and grab some lunch?" Tyson questioned. "I think my stomach is about to eat itself…"
Hilary rolled her eyes, although the smile remained on her face. "Of course. I'd hate to keep you or your stomach waiting!"