Quiet footsteps, a few giggles, a sneeze... Tim hoped to God he wasn't smiling as he lay on the lounge chair near his pool.
"Ow, Jen that was my foot!"
"Shut up Nick."
"Will you two be quiet?"
"Oh stop. He's sleeping."
"You guys are going to ruin this."
"Mom probably tipped him off anyway."
"I did nothing of the kind! It's okay. He won't know what hit him."
"Yeah until he's soak– AUGH!" Abbie let out a squeal as Tim sat up quickly and pushed her in the pool. She surfaced and glared at her father, who had a satisfied smirk on his face.
"Until what Abbie?" he asked. Nicky nudged Calleigh and she raised the super soaker level with the back of Tim's head. She didn't have a clear aim and moved closer. Tim grabbed her by the waist and she fell so she was laying in his lap, the water gun still in her hand. "I know– holy shit that's cold!"
Calleigh gave an innocent smile and moved over. Their kids burst out laughing when they saw Tim's khaki shorts soaked. Eric decided that he'd walk through the gate into the backyard then and smirked.
"Pee your pants again Speed?"
"Oh shut up Delko." Tim yanked the water gun out of Nicky's hand and aimed it at Calleigh.
"You wouldn't." a hint of laughter was in her voice and Tim shook his head.
"Of course not." he pulled the trigger and a stream of water hit Calleigh in the chest. She stared down at her now soaked white tank top and then glared up at Tim. "Hey it's only fair."
Calleigh shoved him roughly, making the chair topple over. Tim landed on the grass and Calleigh fell next to him. Eric shook his head and walked over to the grill as Tim rolled on top of Calleigh. Protests came from each of the Speedle kids and Abbie mumbled something about finding her sunglasses and went underwater.
"I'm sorry honey." Tim smirked.
"Yeah mhmm." Calleigh tried to be angry but couldn't keep the smile off her face.
"See, you can't stay mad at me for long. Besides, you started it." Tim reminded. Calleigh just smiled and Tim brought his head down closer to hers. "I love you."
"Stop!" Nicky groaned.
"Can we have some privacy?" Tim asked, looking behind him at Nicky.
"Get a room then." Jen smirked.
"What difference does it make? You guys will just come knocking on the door anyway."
Calleigh turned Tim's face back to hers and kissed him softly.
"I love you too."
S/C-------
Tim wrapped his arm tighter around Calleigh when she moved closer to him. For as long as he had known her, she had been deathly afraid of horror movies. Jen rolled her eyes at the TV.
"Please, that is so fake." she mumbled. "I mean, you can't expect that thing to come flying out of a wall."
"Shut up Jen." Nicky whispered.
"Why don't you?"
"Hey the two of you better shut up before I come over there." Tim warned. "You're ruining the movie."
"This movie sucks." Jen complained. Abbie nodded in agreement. They went into silence but they all screamed at the next part.
"Alright, that's enough." Tim grabbed the remote off the coffee table and shut the DVD player off. He was slightly embarrassed of course. How the hell did he scream at that? He saw worse things at CSI everyday. The kids began to protest.
"Your dad is right. Enough is enough." Calleigh said.
"But it was just getting good." Jen said.
"Listen, when me and your mom both scream at something, then you know it's bad and I don't need the three of you sleeping in our bed tonight." Tim said.
"We're not scared." Nicky said.
"Go to bed guys."
They all grudgingly walked upstairs and Tim and Calleigh slowly followed, going into their room. Quickly, they got ready for bed and then got into bed.
"Night." Tim leaned down and kissed Calleigh as he turned the light off.. He lay back down and Calleigh curled up next to him, her arm draping over his chest.
"Night." she mumbled. Right as Tim went to close his eyes, a clap of thunder filled his ears.
"I give them five minutes."
"Ten."
"Deal."
Nicky ran in first at four minutes and crawled in next to Calleigh. She moved away from Tim and they both sat up. Another clap of thunder and lightening lit the room up... six minutes... Jen ran in, feeling very foolish.
"Um... there's something leaking over my bed." she mumbled, climbing in next to Tim.
"I'm sure there is." he nodded, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"There is. It's not like I'm afraid or something."
"Yeah and was there something coming out of your wall too?"
"It looked like it." Jen mumbled. At fourteen minutes, Abbie finally gave up and walked out of her room and into her parents'. Obi-Wan, their Golden Retriever puppy, came in and hid under the bed, his whimpers filling their ears every few minutes.
"So that movie that sucked scared all of you huh?" Tim asked.
"No." Abbie shook her head. "That was totally stupid. I... everyone else ran in. I figured you guys were doing something I didn't know about."
"Yeah. We're having a sleep-over." Jen said sarcastically. "Something was really leaking over my bed. That's why I'm here."
"Forget you two." Nicky mumbled. "I'm scared."
Calleigh smiled and kissed his floppy, dark curls. Tim waited a few minutes and his daughters fidgeted slightly.
"Fine!" Abbie broke first. "Yes I'm nineteen and going to be a freshman in college but I'm freaked out okay? Satisfied? Is that what you wanted to hear Daddy? That movie scared the crap out of me and I've always been afraid of thunderstorms!"
"Jen, anything you'd like to confess?" Tim teased.
"Nothing is leaking over my bed." she mumbled.
S/C----------
Tim woke up the next morning and stared at the sight before him. Abbie was fast asleep at the foot of the bed, an arm wrapped around Obi-Wan, Nicky was clutching Calleigh like there was no tomorrow, Calleigh was facing Tim slightly, their fingers intertwined, and Jen would've fallen off the bed if Tim's arm was not around her. Tim ran his thumb over the back of Calleigh's hand and she stirred slightly. Her eyes finally opened and she smiled sleepily at him. She moved over slightly, careful to not kick Abbie and to not wake Nicky.
"Morning." she mumbled.
"Morning." Tim gave her a quick kiss and settled back against his pillow. "So I see they didn't leave."
Calleigh nodded, prying Nicky's arms off her. He let out a tiny moan and wrapped his arms around her again. She laughed quietly, knowing it was no use and they waited for the kids to wake up. As they waited, Tim stared at Calleigh and she gave him a look.
"What?" she whispered. Tim shook his head, not ready to share his thoughts with her yet. He thought about what life had been like before this, having his three kids jump in bed with him when they were scared, but Tim realized he couldn't remember. He couldn't remember what life had been like before Abbie was complaining about some guy dating some girl or Jen was breaking windows by hitting softballs or Nicky playing his video games. Tim was glad. Calleigh looked up and gave him a smile. He smiled back and wrapped his free arm around her, whacking Nicky in the head accidentally. He stretched out, kicking Obi-Wan, who jumped up, throwing fur in Abbie's face. Jen rolled over and Tim caught her before she fell out of bed.
Tim thought back to last September when he told Abbie that they would be a normal family. It was now July. He shook his head and sat up, realizing that would never happen. He had the three oddest kids ever. Sometimes he hated it but watching the three of them bicker over who woke who up, Tim wouldn't haven it any other way.
S/C----------
A/N: Yay! It's finally finish after many battles of writer's block! LOL I'm very happy!
