A few hours later found their little family lounging in the living room. They had just finished dinner, and the kids asked if they could all have hot cocoa before bed. Usually, Athena would have let them have their hot cocoa fix in the afternoon, but after spending the afternoon in the rain, she agreed to let them have it after dinner.
She had just poured the cocoa into four matching personalized mugs, reaching for the bag of marshmallows on the counter and depositing a small amount into three of the four mugs, when Evan, the eldest, came into the kitchen.
"Do you need help, Mama?" the boy asked softly.
Athena looked up from what she was doing and smiled at him.
"I'm good, baby. Just about done," she replied.
Evan beamed at his mother before looking over his shoulder.
"May! Harry! Cocoa's ready! Get your butts over here and get yours!" he called before turning back and reaching for one of the marshmallow-filled mugs.
"Thank you for the cocoa, Mama," Evan said just before his siblings came barreling into the kitchen.
"Yes! Hot cocoa!" Harry, the youngest, exclaimed as he carefully reached for one of the marshmallow-filled mugs as well.
"Harry, what do you say?" Evan asked his brother as he reached over to help him carry the mug to the living room.
Athena watched as the confused look on her youngest's face morphed, and his face suddenly lit up in a way that was uncannily like Bobby's before his gaze met hers.
"Thank you for the cocoa, Mommy!" the boy exclaimed before hugging his mother briefly and scurrying after his older brother towards the living room.
"What is it with boys and their hot cocoas?"
Athena couldn't help but chuckle at May's rhetorical question as she watched her secondborn retrieve the last marshmallow-filled mug before pulling her into a brief sideways hug, pressing a soft kiss on her temple.
"You know your brothers inherited your father's love for it, and so did you," Athena replied as she reached for her own mug, sans marshmallows.
"Facts only," her daughter quipped playfully with a chuckle.
Athena shook her head at the quip, a small smile tugging at her lips as the mother-daughter duo walked towards the living room where her two boys had apparently rummaged the linen closet for two of their fluffiest comforters as well as the air mattress they had and set them on the floor along with what appears to be their respective pillows from their rooms as well as the throw pillows they had on their couch. Athena spotted two of her own pillows on the mattress as well. How they were able to pump the air mattress and set up the living room so quickly was beyond her.
"Now, what is this?" Athena inquired, quirking one of her eyebrows as May went over to where her siblings had taken up residence on the air mattress.
Evan shared a brief look with his siblings before returning his gaze to their mother.
"We noticed that you looked a bit sad today, and, well.. we know you miss Dad, so we thought maybe we could all sleep together here for tonight? And just talk about random things until we fall asleep like we used to with Dad?" the boy said, his confidence dwindling as uncertainty took over the tone of his voice, and his fingers unconsciously started to fidget with his thumb.
Athena could swear her heart skipped a beat at his words. She made eye contact with each of them before meeting Evan's gaze once more, her expression softening.
"Of course, we can," she managed to say, her voice thick with emotion before she walked over to them.
She carefully placed her mug on the coffee table where the kids' mugs were before she deposited herself on the couch. All three kids immediately shuffled closer to her, with May and Harry burrowing close on either side while Evan scooted closer to her feet, leaning against her legs as he propped himself in the middle of the air mattress just in front of the couch.
She absentmindedly ran a hand through Evan's hair as she pressed a kiss on both May and Harry's forehead before resting her head on the back of the couch. Athena closed her eyes as she took comfort in having all three of them so close to her.
They stayed like that in comfortable silence, the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance and the gradual pattering of raindrops against the roof adding to their comfort.
Harry's quiet voice broke their little bubble of silence a moment later.
"I remember always being the first to claim the spot between Mommy and Daddy whenever we would sleep here."
That prompted Athena to open her eyes, her gaze trained on the ceiling just as Evan spoke.
"Yeah, then May would claim the spot next to Dad, and I get the one next to Mom."
The fondness she heard in his voice brought a small smile to Athena's lips as she continued to run her hand through his messy curls just as May piped up.
"And remember that time when we fought like crazy about who would be sleeping next to Mom and Dad?"
Athena couldn't help but smile when Evan snorted out a laugh at that.
"Yeah, Mom was ready to pull her hair out, but Dad finally made us both switch places every time we slept out here," he replied with a small laugh.
May and Harry laughed, and the three of them grabbed their mugs as they exchanged stories, chattering away in a world of their own as they lost themselves in the memories of the past.
And Athena?
Athena was more than happy with watching and listening to her kids as she too reached for her mug.
