A short tag for S2.22, set in the future because they can't possibly hint at PawPaw Joe and the Tornado Twins and not let us have some fun with it.
.
.
.
Two small bodies hurtled toward Joe before he even got both feet inside Barry and Iris' front door. He caught one quick glimpse of faces smeared with green . . . something . . . before they scooted between his legs and ducked behind him.
"Help, PawPaw!"
"Don't let Mommy find us!"
"What the . . ."
"NORA DAWN! DONALD HENRY! YOU TWO COME BACK UP HERE RIGHT NOW!"
Iris' outraged voice explained some of the twins' frantic rush to escape; the fierce scowl as she stomped down the stairs added context. Still, Joe reached back to hold one skinny set of shoulders in each hand and spread his feet to provide a wider shelter for the kids.
"What did they do?"
Iris held up a crushed tube of cream that had been squeezed into emptiness.
"My kale and seaweed facial creme! I just bought this - it cost me over $150 and now it's gone!"
Well, that explained the green goop he'd seen. He glanced down to find Dawn peeking out from beside his hip, her face shining with stripes of rapidly drying green cream. She blinked up innocently.
"We were going to play Ninja Turtles . . ."
". . . so we had to be green."
As often happened, Don finished his sister's sentence. The little dimple in his cheek was Joe's undoing. He straightened his shoulders and met his daughter's ire head on.
"Seems to me something that costs that much money shouldn't have been left where they could find it."
Iris gasped. "I was going to put it away, I just hadn't had time! And they know better than to play in our bathroom anyway!" She gave both of her children a stern frown. "You two are grounded! No television for a week!"
"Uh uh. You ain't punishing my grandbabies just for being kids. This is your own fault." Joe shook his head and, heedless of the green slime smearing his suit, gathered both children under his arms. "Come on, my babies. You want PawPaw to buy you some ice cream?"
"Dad!" Iris stomped one foot in frustration when the twins bounced on their toes and shouted in unison. "You can't take them out for ice cream every time they get in trouble!"
Joe huffed and turned his back on her. Holding each child by the hand, he led them outside.
"I'm PawPaw. I can do what I want."
.
.
.
(p.s., I know I changed Dawn and Don's full names. It's fanfiction. I'm taking liberties.)
Thanks for reading!