Credit to Julia Fernandez Hiwatari for the idea of this short filler chapter. Hope you all enjoy.
Seven
On December 4th, Tala decided he'd had enough of seeing Spencer constantly on edge. He approached Mariam about her and Kai possibly looking after the girls for a day so he could try and calm his giant of a lover down. Ian couldn't be trusted to behave accordingly and Bryan had refused to play babysitter. Of course when Mariam went to him about looking after their nieces, Kai was adamant about finding somebody else, cursing Max for leaving when he had. After hours of being nagged he'd relented and gone into hiding.
The next afternoon saw Mariam eagerly waiting for Alkanet and Yasha to be dropped off, Kai less so. Tala arrived a little after midday; the girls nestled in car seats fast asleep. Mariam helped the butlers to get some toys and the bouncy chairs into the sitting room, leaving Kai with Tala. They stood in agonising silence for a time until Alkanet awoke from her slumber, babbling sweetly with arms stretched out. Tala set the girls down at Kai's feet, flexing his arms afterward. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off quite abruptly.
"The only reason I'm accepting to look after these…things is so Spencer learns to calm down."
Tala rolled his lavender eyes, knowing full well Kai was just putting up a front, that deep down he loved the girls as his own even if he refused to outwardly show it at all. Mariam returned smiling sweetly so Kai took that as his cue to walk away, ignoring Alkanet mumbling for him to hold her.
"Don't worry Tala. I'll make sure the girls are alive when you come back."
"Have you told him they're staying the night?"
Mariam shook her head, a mischievous grin pulling at her lips. Of course she hadn't said anything about the sisters staying at the mansion longer than a few hours. Leaving a schedule with his sister-in-law, Tala vacated the building to get Spencer distracted. Once he was gone, Mariam took Alkanet and Yasha into the sitting room, finding no sign of her husband. Setting Alkanet into her walker, Mariam lifted Yasha into a secure embrace. Copper bronze eyes opened sleepily to feel of a warm body against their owner. Yasha snuggling closer to her breast made Mariam smile, giving her a loving squeeze.
After much persuasion, Mariam got Kai outside with her and the twins all wrapped up warm. Eyes shone in delight at the sight of so much snow. The first order of business was to build a snowman. Kai couldn't recall the last time he'd made one so Mariam had to outline the basics for him. While he did all the leg work rolling snow boulders, Mariam picked out what the snowman would wear with help from Alkanet and Yasha from an assortment of hats, scarves and gloves.
A muffled yelp and mass of crunching snow distracted them, spotting a suspiciously Kai-shaped hole in the thick white blanket behind a huge sphere. Looking to the door, Mariam caught sight of Ian holding a camera, wondering when he'd arrived and if Bryan was with him. The girls watched curiously as their aunt waded out to see if their uncle needed help only to have him pull her into the snow making both tots squeal in delight and Mariam shriek in surprise. She returned dithering, her coat blotted with white spots that quickly melted. Soon three differently sized balls had been rolled, a stick thrust down the center of the largest one. Kai huffed and wheezed as he placed the smaller two on top, using a nearby wall to put the head into position, taking a moment to catch his breath afterward.
Alkanet somehow managed to creep up on him and Mariam didn't have the heart to alert her husband he was about to be ambushed. Just as Kai took a step forward Alkanet unleashed a sneak attack, letting out a joyful cry. The wall was apparently very slippery as Kai tried and failed to regain balance, the result being another Kai-shaped crater in an otherwise pristine cloud. He reappeared looking very displeased while the girls were all laughing hysterically.
It took every ounce of his self control not to give Alkanet a good face washing. Let her grow up a bit, he mused. Then give the girl a taste of her own medicine. Dressing the snowman went uninterrupted and soon it had a black bowler hat, mahogany wood pipe, a tartan-style scarf coloured red blue and black with matching padded mitts on sticks that served as arms. Mariam lifted Yasha high so she could give the snowman his carrot nose.
Tired of the cold, Kai went to walk inside, only to have a huge snowball collide with his face causing him to stumble back a few steps. In the doorway stood Bryan in a large grey coat donning the cockiest grin known to man.
"You're getting sloppy midget." Bryan teased. "Hasn't living with us taught you not to drop your guard no matter how safe your surroundings appear?"
That was all it took to make Kai finally snap. Mariam watched worriedly as her now thoroughly seething husband moulded the hardest snowball to ever exist and hurled it at Bryan. Unfortunately the falcon master ducked and the bullet of snow meant for him struck a butler perfectly between the eyes, knocking the poor man out cold. Ian handed his camera to an arriving maid so he could join in on the fun. Mariam kept the girls at a safe distance so they wouldn't get hurt as a snowball fight started right before their eyes. Bryan proved very hard to hit as he ducked down behind various walls he'd made.
Ian found himself cornered by his taller brothers having stupidly set up camp in a corner. With a sigh of defeat, Mariam joined in, pelting Kai on the back of the head, distracting him from barraging Ian to death. Bryan also ceased fire for a brief moment before making what could possibly be the biggest mistake of his entire life; catching Mariam square in the shoulder.
"Bryan, you really shouldn't have done that bro." Ian called from his temporary safe spot.
And he was right. Crimson eyes developed a murderous glaze deadly enough to make Bryan realise just how big an error he'd made, finding himself attacked relentlessly. One snowball narrowly missed the back of his head, connecting with the shed behind him.
"You missed, jackass. Looks like your time with the idiots has had an effect on your acc-" Bryan was silenced mid-sentence by a mini avalanche from the shed roof falling on his head, drowning him nose deep in fresh white snow. The snide grin on Kai's face made Bryan realise that getting him under the shed was the plan all along.
"I'm sorry Bryan; you were saying something about my accuracy being bad?"
Kai's taunt earned him a muffled reply. While Ian went to rescue him, Mariam gained Kai's full attention by pelting him with another snowball, harder this time. He responded by pinning her face up in the snow, intent on giving her a good kissing but Alkanet and Yasha opened fire on him as best they could.
Everyone went inside dripping wet to relax with a warm drink. The girls were on the floor with an assortment of toys to keep them busy while the adults simply sat in comfortable silence. Alkanet watched Bryan closely as he left the room, ignoring the soft toy Ian waved in her face as a means of distraction. Kai was called away by a butler not long afterward, Mariam shaking her head to his huff of annoyance.
Bryan strode back into the room stretching and yawning, deaf to the sound of a rattle being shaken. Moments later he was curled up on the floor, a baby rattle not far away. Ian fell off his seat cackling like a madman, drawing Kai back into sight. Crimson eyes found Bryan grumbling in pain, putting two and two together when he saw the thrown toy. Alkanet sat unimpressed as Kai went into hysterical laughter, lobbing a wooden sphere at her amused uncle. Mariam was at Kai's side in seconds as he crumbled from being struck dead between the legs.
Things calmed down in time for bed. Mariam tucked the girls into their travel cots and kissed them both on the forehead. Kai had certainly not been very happy to hear their nieces were staying the night or that Bryan and Ian refused to take the girls home. Mariam crawled into bed and snuggled up to him lovingly, being mindful not to put her hand too close to his unmentionables. They lay cuddling for what felt like hours and just when it seemed the night would be peaceful, a scream from across the hall rang true.
Rather than send Mariam into possible danger, Kai dragged himself out of bed and grabbed the poker by the fireplace just in case. Entering the girl's room, he saw nothing wrong but Alkanet and Yasha were wailing in fear. Setting his weapon down he approached the cot and peered inside. Gold eyes poured with tears down reddened cheeks. Yasha's were no different. Taking a deep breath, Kai lifted both girls into his arms and sat with them until the sisters drifted back to sleep, whispering a promise that they were safe, that he'd protect them. Mariam watched quietly by the door without him knowing, revelling in the rare sight of proud walls being lowered in a tender moment.
Daaaw. Kai has a secret soft side when it comes to children. Anyhow, that's this chappie done. Will upload the next a bit closer to Christmas.
Until then folks, stay safe.