That evening, it was a sleepy looking Q who pulled the door open. On his hip he was holding a young girl, with startling red hair pulled up in two uneven bunches. The girl's eyes widened at the sight of a stranger at the door, and she nuzzled frantically into Q's bony shoulder. He just smiled at Eve, stepping back for her to enter the flat, then turned his head to mutter to the girl.
"Hey, Molly. Are you not going to say hello to Eve? She's Daddy's friend. And Father's. And I bet she'd be your friend too, hmm?"
The girl just shook her head furiously and Q tutted, but turned back to Moneypenny, pushing the front door closed with his foot. "Sorry. Good evening. I apologise for earlier, Evan should have woken me. This-", he gestured towards the child with his chin, "-is Molly. She's being silly. Not good with new people, takes after her dad."
Kicking her shoes off, Eve just smiled. "It's fine. Evening. How is everyone? Feeling any better?" She reached out to stroke the back of her finger over Molly's arm where she clung to Q, but the young girl jerked out of the way and glared at Eve. Glared with large, intelligent green eyes and a full, dark pout. Eve laughed, looking back to Q. "She looks like you. Apart from the hair, perhaps. But I've seen you give that death stare many times."
Q just rolled his eyes, walking into the kitchen and putting Molly gently onto the floor. She quickly stood up, glared at Moneypenny again (though less severely this time), and wandered off unsteadily in the direction of the front room. Q watched her go, then turned back to Eve. "You look like you've got questions. Do you want a drink? More importantly, will I need one?"
Seating herself at the kitchen table, already relaxed in the relatively new environment, Eve rolled her shoulder. "Just tea, thanks. And what takeaway menus do you have? I seem to remember promising 007 pizza earlier."
At that, Evan entered the kitchen, smiling warmly at Eve in lieu of a greeting. He was dressed in fresh jeans and a shirt, and looked passably smart. For a university student, at least. "She did. I don't think Father will let her forget it, either." With a yawn, he looked to Q before continuing. "I'm off to Will's. I'll be back by twelve, unless I kip on his sofa. I'll text you. Don't wait up, either."
Smiling easily up at his son, Q nodded. "Go! Get some peace while you can. But do text me. See you in the morning."
With a bellowed "See you later!" which was echoed back at him from throughout the flat, and a more civilised "It was nice meeting you again." to Eve, Evan walked out with a casual wave. As soon as they heard the door slam, Q looked to her with a reproachful look in his eyes. There was an amused glint there too, though, and he couldn't completely hide his grin.
"Stop flirting with my son. We've told them all, don't go near anyone at MI6. Plus you're at least twenty years older than him."
Eve just gasped as if horrified. "Twenty years! Rude. No crap food for you, young Quartermaster. Now where's your husband and the rest of the kids?"
Chuckling, Q handed her a mug and gestured to some closed double doors. "Through here. Be warned, they get rather excitable when James is home. Especially so if we're both here at the same time." His relaxed shrug hid a slight undertone of regret, and Moneypenny privately decided to ensure the mens' scheduled leave lined up far more often.
They entered into a scene of absolute chaos.
Bond was sat on the floor, with Molly sat in his lap. She was holding two dolls and had another on the floor in front of her. She seemed to be having an in-depth conversation with the three of them, her hair bobbing as she gestured wildly. Bond's arms were wrapped around her, holding an Xbox controller as he tried in vain to defeat the other players onscreen and also avoid Molly's occasionally flailing arms.
Sat next to the agent was a boy with blond hair and Iron Man pyjamas. His stance was eerily similar to James'-straight back, outstretched legs-but his expression was far more focused. Eve spotted his tongue poking out very slightly at the corner of his mouth as he began to lean forward towards the TV, a quirk she had also noticed in Q when he was working on a particularly challenging project.
"No, no, no! R, what are you doing?! The girls are gonna thrash you! And they're girls! You're meant to be the best, come on R!"
The shout came from the boy in the armchair. Sat with one leg propped up on a dining room chair, and one arm in a sling, the boy shouted and yelled both encouragement and insults to the room in general. From the twitching of his uninjured hand, it was blatant just how desperate he was to join in the game. This must be Alfie, Eve realised, the brother who had gotten hurt in a fight. She smiled at him but was ignored, absorbed as he was in watching the action on the screen.
On the sofa sat two girls. Sophie had her legs crossed and was dressed in a large hoodie and ripped leggings. Her hands moved furiously on the controller, and her yelling rivalled Alfie's both in volume and enthusiasm. Her entire body moved as she raced, turning corners in time with her car, leaning forwards as she accelerated. "We're gonna beat you! You're gonna get beaten by a pair of girls! Oof, that wasn't fair, R. Come on come on come on! Help me out a little, Alisha."
The second, younger girl just broke down into giggles at her sister's shouting and constant movement. Her curtain of white-blonde hair fell in front of her face as she snorted, her car onscreen coming to a complete halt, her various metal bangles adding to the noise in the room as she shook with laughter. Eve almost felt like joining her-the entire situation felt so surreal. She could only imagine how manic the house was when all of Bond's and Q's children were home.
"You know", she began casually, "we always wondered how you were so efficient at handling the double-ohs. I suppose this explains it. They're just like children, after all."
Q smiled, and gestured back to the kitchen. He didn't want to disturb the occupants of the front room; after all, this was the closest to calm his home ever got, these days.
I just couldn't leave this family alone, oops! And there's still four kids left that we've not met!
Please R&R :3