It was Saturday. A day with no work and no school, a day for lazing about, or doing something fun. And the weather was perfect, sunny, clear and warm. The ideal day for going to an amusement park with your family.

Or at least, that was the idea.

Murrue sighed as she looked out of the open back door at the garden. Mwu had been so looking forward to taking her and the children to the new park that had opened up, but...Work had called, the academy, earlier that morning, and they needed him. Not only that, but they needed him for most of the day, and there certainly wouldn't be enough time for the park after he was done at work...

And Mwu had been called in so early that he hadn't had a chance to explain to the children why they couldn't go...

The auburn-haired woman gazed out into the garden, keeping an eye on the two girls playing. They had been so disappointed when their mother had told them what was happening. Stellar had swallowed the lump in her throat and smiled.

"It's okay, Mama. Work must really have needed Papa, right?"

Murrue had nodded, and hugged her eldest, grateful that even at only ten, Stellar was old enough to take this in her stride. But Lily...

Lily had cried her heart out, not really able to understand why she couldn't go, and why Papa couldn't take them like he'd promised.

Murrue had picked up the four-year-old in her arms, stroking the little girl's blonde curls, trying to soothe her.

"It's all right, sweetie. Papa is sad too, because he was really looking forward to us all going together. But we can go next week, okay?"

Stellar had smiled, and tickled her little sister's feet. "That's right, Lil. Papa promised us we could all go, and you know Papa always keeps his promises, don't you?"

The child had sniffed once, and nodded. "Yep, Papa promised..."

Murrue stepped out of the doorway, and sat on the little bench outside. She had also been disappointed, as Mwu had pointed out that there was a creche at this park, and that it would be fine to leave the kids there for a while so they could have some 'alone' time together. After all, he had told her, there were plenty of 'romantic' rides at this park...

But it's only one week...

"Hey, girls?"

Stellar and Lily looked up from where they were playing in the dirt. "What is it, Mama?" asked the eldest.

"Papa was sad because he couldn't go to the park. So why don't we do something to cheer him up when he gets home? Why don't we bake him some cookies?"

The girls' faces lit up. "Yay!"

Following their mother into the kitchen, the two children dug out the baking trays and bowls from the various cupboards.

"What kind? Papa's favourite?"

Murrue grinned as she pulled out a bag of currants from the overhead cupboards. "Of course. And we can make double choc-chip as well.."

The cookie dough came together nicely, and Lily was given the very important job of mixing it all together, while her sister pulled out the cutters, shaped like flowers, hearts, and stars. The oven was all warmed up, and all it needed now was the cookies being put in to bake. Lily looked up from her task, and frowned. "Can I have some dough, Mama?"

"Not yet, sweetie. Wait till it's all done, okay?"

"Can I give some to baby brother?"

Murrue smiled softly, and looked over at the high chair which held her youngest child, eight-month old Alexander. The baby boy had been born last winter, and had been the best Christmas present she and Mwu had ever recieved.

Her son had her eyes, almost the exact same orange-brown shade, and copper hair. No-one was quite sure where that colour had come from, but everyone loved it. Alex also had his father's personality, very laid-back and happy.

"No, Alex is too little to eat the dough, it might make him sick. But if we make a tiny cookie just for him, he can eat it when it's cool enough, okay?"

Lily beamed, and gave her full attention to the dough again, wanting it to be perfect for her papa and baby brother.

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The cookies were all done, and rested in a cake tin in the highest cupboard, as much to deter the children from snaffling some as it was to defuse Mwu's suspicions. Sure, some of the cookies had slightly burned edges from where they'd been left in the oven just a little too long, but otherwise, they had turned out great.

The door opened, and the man himself walked in, looking exhausted. "I'm home, guys!"

Lily flew into the kitchen, and attached herself to her father's leg. "Papa!"

Mwu chuckled, and lifted the little girl into his arms, where she smiled happily and nuzzled close to him.

Stellar also ran in and hugged him. "Hi..."

"I'm sorry we weren't able to go out today...but next week we can. I told the guys at work there was no way I was coming in next weekend, because I had something more important to do." Mwu looked apologetic.

"It's okay, Papa. We had fun!" giggled Stellar.

Mwu looked up from his daughters to see his wife walk in, carrying baby Alex. "Welcome home" she said gently. Mwu smiled in delight, and walked over to where Murrue waited, kissing her lightly. "Hi, beautiful..." He put down Lily and lifted his son from his mother's arms, swinging him around and making aeroplane noises, making the baby gurgle happily.

"Hey kiddo, been good today?"

"He has," chirped Lily, jumping up and down. "He only cried a really little bit!"

Mwu handed the baby back to Murrue, then stopped and sniffed the air. "I smell something good..." He paused again.

"Hey wait...I smell cookies!" He pretended to scowl. "I spent all day at work, and you three baked cookies? No fair!"

The three girls laughed. "It's okay, Papa, we saved the bowl till you got home!" said Stellar, holding out the huge mixing bowl still coated with cookie dough. Mwu immediately stopped faking anger, and grabbed a spoon, childish happiness sparkling in those bright blue eyes.

Murrue watched with raised eyebrows as her husband and children dug into the sweet dough, squabbling over who got the biggest spoonful.

"I'm the oldest here, I should get the biggest!"

"No way, you weren't even here when we made the cookies!"

"And I mixed it all by myself!"

The woman rolled her eyes and sighed, shifting Alex to a more comfortable position.

"I swear, sometimes it feels like I have four children instead of three..."

Mwu let out a laugh, and lifted the mixing bowl into the air, well out of the reach of even Stellar.

"Aww, Papa. that's not fair! There's lots left!"

"I know" he replied, matter-of-factly. "But don't you think Mama deserves some of this too?"

Crossing the floor to where his wife stood, he held out the spoon. "Here ya go!"

Murrue backed away, hitting the closed door behind her. "N-no, I'm okay..."

Mwu looked surprised. "Don't you like it?"

She shook her head. "It's too...too sweet...and..."

He slumped, understanding. "Is this that idea you have that you weigh too much again?"

Murrue looked defensive. "But I do! I'm going to start dieting soon..."

Mwu frowned. "Don't be silly. If you lose any weight, you'll disappear! Please believe me, you don't need to diet. Does she, girls?"

Stellar and Lily shook their heads. "We tried to tell her, Papa, but she won't listen.."

Mwu wrapped his arm around Murrue's waist. "Don't I keep telling you that you're perfect? Why won't you listen? I'm willing to bet that you're the same as you were when we first met, all those years ago. And even if by some chance you weren't, what difference do you think it would make? I certainly wouldn't love you any less, and neither would anyone else..."

The brunette opened her mouth to complain, and Mwu popped the spoonful of mix into her mouth.

"Mwu!" she protested once she had managed to swallow. "That's cheating!"

He grinned. "Sure is. But I meant everything I said..."

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( Sometimes my ideas get too random. Don't ask me where this one came from :sighs:

As for the cookies, I really don't know if currant ones are Mwu's favourite, but they're kinda my specialty, and I get a warm fuzzy feeling about Mwu liking my cookies :blush: I can be a bit too fangirly sometimes...XO

I have no idea whether Murrue-san would think she was starting to weigh too much :laughs: but a lot of women have issues with their weight, and as grounded as Murrue-san is, I'm sure even she would have some kind of insecurity about it. If it's OOC, I apologise.

Please read and review! )