Chapter 11

Anya ran through the house, giggling as she tried to outrun her father, who was on her trail and gaining. "Get back here, you little troublemaker!" Loid said playfully as he was about to catch his daughter.

She squeaked and ran faster, going into the kitchen to find her mother. "Mommy! Help!" She giggled out.

Yor turned calmly, smiling as she heard her daughter's laughter and saw her husband come in and he winked at her, indicating he wasn't upset at his daughter, but he did show her why he was chasing Anya.

The pockets of his blazer were filled with shaving cream, something he hadn't noticed until he put it on and Anya had been hiding and giggled when she saw her prank had been successful.

His wife smiled a little before looking at her daughter. "Oh, my, whatever shall you do?" She asked playfully. "Perhaps you should go hide."

Anya was off like a shot, giggling as she found a hiding spot and hid while Loid looked at Yor with a smile. "You know where she's going to hide," he said.

"And what if I do?" She asked playfully. "You think I'd tell you? That wouldn't be very fair now, would it?"

Loid grinned. "Then I suppose you'll be my prisoner instead," he said, rushing at her and she jumped away from the sink where she had been washing the dishes and took off with her husband chasing her. She laughed as he caught up to her and swept her up into his arms, lifting her up bridal style as he carried her to the living room.

Yor moved and used her agility to do a backflip out of her husband's arms, but when his arms snagged her around her waist, she leaned back, making him lean back as she slipped out from his grasp, doing a backflip over him when he tried to catch her again and she stood in the doorway, smiling.

"You can't catch me, hon," she said, smirking at him, her tone playful.

"Is that a challenge, my love?" He asked, lunging playfully for her and she took off, doing a few more backflips and keeping ahead of him until she did a backflip as he almost caught her again, but instead of succeeding in doing the flip over his head, she watched in surprise as her husband moved a few steps back, catching her in mid air and spinning her around.

"I can't catch you, huh?" He asked, nuzzling her neck playfully and making her laugh before he caught sight of Anya nearby and she squealed as he caught her too, blowing raspberries into her neck to make her squeal.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DAHAHAHAHAHAHADDY!" The child laughed out.

Yor squealed as well when her husband tickled her stomach. "HONEY! NOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHO!" She laughed out.

"Oh, yes," he said, hugging them close. "My two most precious treasures are caught in my arms."

Yor suddenly turned and tickled Loid's underarms, making him yelp in surprise before he laughed and she quickly took Anya and began running through the house again, the child laughing as they ran.

"Hurry, Mommy! Daddy's catching up!" The child said.

"He won't catch us," Yor said.

Suddenly, the doors opened up ahead of her and she realized she had spoken too soon as Loid had gone the other way and gotten ahead of them and he now caught Yor as she ran right into him, unable to stop and they both fell to the floor, Anya cradled protectively in her mother's arms.

After a bit, Anya giggled. "That was fun!" She cheered.

Loid chuckled. "Alright, you little rascal," he said, sitting up with Anya in his arms. "No more shaving cream in my blazer pockets, okay? Daddy needs his suit for work."

"Okay, Daddy," Anya said with a grin that told Loid that she would definitely prank him with shaving cream again.

Yor chuckled. "Here, honey. Let me wash that blazer and I believe you have an extra blazer in the closet," she said.

"Thank you, honey," he said before looking to see his pocket was lined with plastic wrap, the shaving cream not getting on the pocket after all. He looked at his daughter, who giggled.

"I tried to make sure it didn't get on your blazer, Daddy," she said.

He chuckled. "That was thoughtful of you, sweetie," he said as Yor helped him get the plastic wrap with the shaving cream out of his pockets. Thankfully, as Anya had said, none got on his blazer.

Chuckling, Loid kissed his wife lovingly and then kissed his daughter's forehead in affection. "Be good for your mother, sweetie. Daddy will be home later," he said.

"Yes, Daddy," the little girl said.

The work day seemed to be a bit slow for Loid as he did paperwork and checked on the target, but all seemed quiet. "Anything yet?" His boss asked.

"No, sir," Loid said. "Seems our target is staying in place for now. Perhaps for the holidays."

"Well, the holidays are coming up," his boss said. "Which reminds me, you are due for some time off, lad."

"Yes, sir, but I won't stop my mission," Loid said.

"Which is why I propose you work from home during the holidays," his boss said. "Spend time with your family. I know Christmas is coming up soon. Our target may stay in place the whole time, as you said."

Nodding, Loid agreed. "Thank you, sir," he said. "I'll finish my shift for today and then head for home."

"Go home now, lad," his boss said gently. "I'll still pay you for a full day. I'll call now and again for reports."

"Yes, sir."

Yor was humming a tune when she heard the door open and she stiffened, looking at the clock and seeing it was too early for her husband to be home. And Anya was playing upstairs in her room.

Grabbing a nearby knife, the woman assassin moved quietly through the house, peeking carefully around the corner, but not seeing anyone. "My love, I'm home," she then heard and sighed in relief as she realized it was her husband and she relaxed, setting down the knife on the counter before going into the living room.

"Honey, why didn't you call?" She asked gently. "I thought you were a stranger entering the house."

"I'm sorry, my love," he said contritely. "My boss gave me permission to work from home for the holidays instead of being at the office."

"Oh, that was nice of him," she said, smiling. "Believe it or not, my boss gave me a huge bonus the other day and I have paid time off too, so looks like we'll both be home for the holidays."

Loid smiled and hugged his wife, kissing her deeply. "We should ask Anya what she'd like for Christmas," he said.

"That's still a bit away, but yes," she agreed.

Anya came downstairs then and gasped happily. "Daddy!" She said, running up to him and hugging him. "You're home early!"

"Yes, sweetie," he said, picking her up. "Daddy's going to work from home for the holidays and your mother has time off her work too."

"Yay!" She cheered.

Yor chuckled. "And there's a holiday from school soon," she said, to which Anya perked up more.

"It's going to be a great holiday!" Anya cheered.

"I agree," Loid said, hugging both his wife and daughter lovingly.

I love family moments. :)

Next chapter is the epilogue.

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418