Domestic Bliss, by lyradaemon

Chapter 3: A Game

Disclaimer: I'm just playing…

A/N: It's been almost 6 months since I 'finished' it. But I've had a brainwave, and that means more story! (By the way, you have HeLl HaVe No FuRy LiKe A wOmAn to thank for this: I just re-read a review from a while back, and it gave me ideas…)

Marian woke to the winter sun shining across the pillow. Stretching slowly she savoured the warmth of the bed before moving over to snuggle up against…

She sat up in bad. Where was Lucivar? Then she remembered her dream and shuddered. It had seemed too real: eight little monsters running riot through her tidy eyrie. A fierce snow-storm which had meant they were stuck overnight. Hot chocolate…

She shook her head, dispelling the thoughts. No, it had been a dream, she was sure of it. But that didn't explain the whereabouts of her missing husband. Lucivar never got up before her. Ever. Even if the eyrie was burning down around his ears, he would wait for her to get out first. So where was he?

Marian got out of bed and looked down at bare skin. At least that part of the dream had been real: she blushed as she remembered Lucivar in bed last night, the feel of… Calling in a nightgown she hurriedly pulled it on then wrapped a cosy robe around herself before setting off in the direction of the kitchen and, she hoped, some breakfast.

When she entered the kitchen, Lucivar was standing there in a dark blue robe which didn't hide the fact that that was all he was wearing. And next to him were…

Mother Night.

Marian sagged against the wall. It hadn't been a dream after all. She did have eight little monsters in her tidy eyrie. And they were cooking.

Mother Night.

Lucivar must have sensed her because he turned around and gave her his most arrogant Eyrien smile. But that didn't hide the flicker of terror in his golden eyes.

"Morning sweetheart," he offered cheerily. Too cheerily. "Breakfast?"

"What," Marian enunciated very carefully, "are they doing in my kitchen?"

Lucivar frowned. "Making breakfast."

"Do you want the place to burn down?" She asked in a voice of barely suppressed annoyance. "Don't you value your life at all?"

Daemonar obviously noticed the threat in his mother's voice because he rushed over, waving a spoon covered in batter. "I'm making pancakes," he announced proudly, as if that revelation was going to solve anything. "And Arianna is cutting up fruit-" Arianna happily waved a sharp fruit knife in the air, narrowly missing Selene's ear – "Selene is putting eggs in the pan-" little Selene was frowning at the egg she was now wearing – "Luc is helping Papa with-"

"I don't want to know," Marian muttered, shuffling resignedly over to a chair in the farthest corner of one-time haven. "Just please tell me you didn't let Giselle make the coffee."

Lucivar grinned, poured a cup of coffee and brought it over to his wife. Setting it down in front of her he dropped a kiss on her slightly dishevelled hair. "It's alright, it's all under control."

She scowled at him. "You said that the last time you let Jaenelle play in here. I distinctly remember eating Merry's steak pies for a week afterwards."

Lucivar cringed at the memory, then brightened. "I put Shields on everything so they couldn't get hurt."

"You obviously didn't take into account the fact that their clothes could get hurt too," she muttered, giving a pointed look at Selene's now egg-splattered pyjama top. "Oh well, I suppose they'll wash."

"See? You're starting to look on the bright side already," he grinned. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have bacon to rescue."

Marian just shook her head as she sipped her coffee. This is going to be a very interesting morning.

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An hour later, when the haphazard breakfast had been demolished and the plates cleared away, Marian turned on her husband.

"So. Any bright ideas?"

Lucivar just blinked.

Marian sighed. "What are we going to do now?"

"Wait for their parents to pick them up of course."

"They're definitely coming? All of them?"

"Yes," Lucivar replied slowly. "All of them. I made sure of it."

"When?"

"I don't know."

"Why don't you know?"

"Because I don't! Because they didn't say."

"Well are they coming this morning? This afternoon? This-"

"I don't know!"

Marian glared at her husband. "They all need a bath first."

Lucivar wrinkled his nose. "I noticed."

"Then see to it. I'm going to bed."

"What? No – you can't leave me to-" he stared wildly at his wife's hastily retreating back. "Marian? Marian? You can't do this!!!" He slammed his fist on the table then bit back a snarl when eight pairs of terrified eyes peered at him over the top of the chairs. Thinking of what he'd like to do to his hearth-witch – things which involved large amounts of water – he rounded on the eight bundles of joy that had inadvertently ruined his morning. "You," he said in a voice which on a fool would argue against, "are coming with me. Now." Then he stormed out of the kitchen in the direction of the heated pool with a trail of little people following him.

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Wrapping the last child in a fluffy towel, Lucivar sat back on his heels and sighed. Why did little people like baths so much? He wondered. After all, it wasn't that exciting.

Shaking his head, he called in eight sets of clothing and handed them to each child with strict orders to get dressed quickly then go to the sitting room.

As he made his way back, a thought popped into his head. Pausing, he turned to look back at the room full of children. The thought grew into an idea. He smiled. A birthday party… He grinned. ...and party games… He turned back and carried on. …like hide and seek…

Oh yes, that would do perfectly.

Chuckling to himself he poured another cup of coffee and hummed cheerfully as he set about planning the next part of the day's activities.

They wouldn't know what hit them.

A/N: Hehehe, Lucivar's in a playful mood! Anyone who can guess what happens next wins a birthday cake! Lyradaemon x