Your girl is back and she's killing two birds with one stone. Not only is this a sneak peek for one of my new stories that is now up and described at the end, but it also goes for what a lot of you wanted which is a chapter based on Maxon and his sons.
Photo #91: Our Extraction Plan
Eadlyn always knew that her brothers weren't perfect boys. For an obvious reason, they were boys and that on its own says plenty. After growing up with three brothers who were all younger than her (Ahren by seven minutes but the point still stands), Eadlyn can verify that boys were not only their own gender but could sometimes be their own species.
This photo is pure evidence that they were up to no good. The irony is that Eadlyn can't remember if her brothers ever got in trouble for it.
However, she could say this about boys, or about the boys in her family at least. They were loyal to each other, by blood and by the best bond to ever exist - brotherhood or manhood, the terms were interchangable to her. They always had each other's back and for that, they had her back as well as her mother's which she wished was still possible in this case, despite Ahren now overseas...
-o-
"Go long!" Ahren exclaims.
Ahren takes a stance with the football in his hands just above his shoulders. He watches as his younger brothers run down the hallway backwards as they excitedly hold their arms out to catch the ball. Ahren spirals the ball in the air and it soars just below the ceiling. Both Kaden and Osten collectively yell that they got it, and they hold their hands in the air to catch it - but the ball just grazes their fingertips and the two of them, along with the football, collide with a pillar that has a vase on it. Kaden, Osten, the football, and the vase fall to the floor; the vase was the only one to shatter. The pillar teeters for a bit before gaining its foot again.
Ahren runs over and picks up his brothers, making sure none of them touch the broken shards. The three of them stare down at the mess, completely speechless of how this will go in terms of what to do with it.
"Touchdown?" Osten questions.
"I could've caught that," Kaden says. "You distracted me, Osten!"
"I was running beside you and Ahren wasn't throwing a snake at you!"
"Oh my god..." Kaden mutters on the verge of panicking. "We're going to be in trouble."
"Someone take the blame for me!" Osten exclaims.
Osten tries to run away but Ahren grabs him by the back of his shirt's collar. Osten whines a little as he stays in place.
"You're not going anywhere," Ahren says. "We're all the same and we're just as in trouble as each other. I threw it and neither of you caught it."
"Why would I help you when you can't aim?" Osten questions.
Kaden looks at Ahren with the same intriguing question in mind. Ahren sighs to himself.
"Because when you help me, wonderful things happen," Ahren replies. "And besides, I'm helping you because you can't catch."
Ahren claps Kaden and Osten's shoulder. All snide comments aside, that was a good enough answer that gets the three of them to work. Ahren starts by picking up the display. Osten picks up the football and temporarily hides it behind the curtain of a nearby window. Then, the three of them use their feet to sweep up the shards of the broken vase. Unsure of where to temporarily put them until they have access to a broom and dustpan, they split the pieces between putting them behind the display and under the rug.
In the midst of their rushed cleaning, their heads all perk up in sync like a deer caught in headlights all at the sound of a camera clicking.
"We're caught!" Kaden exclaims, actually starting to panic this time.
"Bye!" Osten says.
Osten tries to run off again but this time he gets stopped by the photographer who caught it all, their father. The three boys brush themselves off, trying to look innocent but they know that Maxon knows they're not (and it's not because some pieces of the vase were still in sight and the football has rolled out of its hiding spot).
"Don't worry, boys," Maxon whispers, "this is just so nobody will think that vase got stolen even though I don't know why they would've stolen that one when the nicer one's in the throne room."
The boys are quiet. Maybe this was all a trap for an inevitable confession? Could their father, who just captured a photo of them contaminating a crime scene, really be trusted right now? All signs are currently pointing to no for that last question.
Suddenly, they all turn their heads at the sound of America's singing which meant that she was coming this way. There was no way in hell that they were going to turn their mother's singing into screaming at the sight of a shattered vase. Their heads teeter back and forth between the growing sound and the broken vase. This was an emergency. The boys start panicking and Maxon puts down his camera and stretches a bit before getting down to business.
"I guess I'll have to play my last card - the ultra-distracting ace also known as Our Extraction Plan," Maxon says. "Look, boys, we have about three minutes before you mother comes up here, sees the broken vase, and then goes ballistic so you listen to me and you listen well. Osten, run to your mother and go look cute. Say you saw a litter of baby bunnies in the garden and drag her to it even if she tells you that rabbits don't mate this time of year. Kaden, carefully find a temporary replacement case from another room. Walk, do not run with it. We don't need two vases broken. Ahren, stay with me and we'll properly deal with this broken vase. Am I clear?"
Instead of nodding, the Schreave sons found it more necessary to salute and so they did before going off to do their assigned tasks. Maxon feels a sense of pride when that happened, both as a father and a king. That really means a lot to him as to how his boys view him. It warms his heart up.
"You're helping us?" Ahren questions his father, picking up glass pieces. He felt the need to ask because of the photo and because he and his brothers broke a possibly antique and priceless vase for crying out loud.
"That's what love is: no judgment," Maxon replies calmly. "Also, I didn't fancy this vase anyways."
"This vase wasn't important, right?" Ahren asks just to make sure it had no value. "I mean, it's worth nothing now since it's destroyed. Material things don't matter anyways. People before objects, always."
Maxon smirks. "That's convincing enough for your mother if she ever asks, and if she doesn't, tell her you saw the rabbits as well."
"Noted."
"Also, Ahren, do learn how to throw a football."
Ahren looks up at his father in an offense. "It's not like they caught it and as if you know how to throw one."
Maxon grins as he puts down his vase pieces and glances at the football just below the curtains. He looks back at Ahren who has the same look on his face. Maxon dusts off his hands on his pants.
"Go long," he tells his son.
I loved writing this chapter. I should do more father/son snippets because this chapter was truly enjoyable for me to write.
And now for the sneak peek of my Avengers story:
Our Extraction Plan - "What would I do without you?" "Probably die." / Clint and Natasha don't have an extraction team simply because they don't need one. With that in mind, what's their plan when they do need a way out? (Clint x Natasha Novella)
Stay Tuned - (I actually have no idea since I have a mix of sneak peeks for stories that I'm not sure when will go up )
