Prompt: "Mm ... votre enfant avant cinq heures du matin." ("Mm…your kid before five in the morning.")
How she'd managed to get out of her room, traversed the darkened halls to find his, and climbed up onto his bed, Zero would never be sure. He was sure that she was currently jumping on the mattress between him and Marina, occasionally jumping on his leg on accident. And of course they were both awake. There was no way for them not to be, but they were still both pretending that her endless bouncing hadn't stirred them. It was better that way.
Never one to give up, Sasha noticed she wasn't getting anywhere and changed tactics. "Daddy, Mommy," she said with each bounce, her voice growing louder. "Daddy! Mommy! Daddy!"
"She's your kid," Marina growled into her pillow.
Zero didn't move, still desperately trying to fall back asleep. "She's your kid before 5 AM."
"Daaaaddy," Sasha howled. "Moooommy."
"Take her back to her room and lock her in there," Marina said. "Then you'll at least stop being a total pushover for her."
"I am not a total pushover." With another jump, Sasha landed back on his leg, but couldn't manage to right herself. The brunt of her weight fell to his stomach, and he wheezed as the air left his lungs.
"Sorry, Daddy." Sasha crawled up to lay her head on his chest, patting him to help.
"It's okay, little one," he said through a wince. "But what are you doing in here?"
"You're being a pushover again," Marina warned.
Sasha wasn't deterred. She knew all too well that her father would give into her demands. "I am hungry."
But Zero couldn't bring himself to get out of bed, even for her. "We can eat in five hours, so how about we go to sleep now?"
Marina glanced at the glaring blue numbers of the alarm clock beside her. It would be well past the serving time for breakfast in five hours, and her captain would not get away with sleeping in. "Go back to your room, Sasha. Breakfast will be served at eight as usual."
"But I'm hungry! I want snack."
Zero sighed, sharp exhaustion sinking into his eyes. "Sasha, do you love us?" he asked.
"Yes!" She sat up like an eager puppy, causing her father to wince again at the weight on his stomach. "I love you bunches."
"Well, when you love someone, you let them sleep if they're really tired." It wasn't exactly a lie, and Zero felt no qualms with telling her. Marina was momentarily impressed by the idea. It still didn't count as scolding, so she didn't completely approve. Her captain was still being a doormat.
"Are you really tired?" Sasha asked, her voice dripping with disappointment.
"I am extremely tired. Mommy is also very tired, and if she doesn't get enough sleep, she is very scary." He smiled even as Marina reached over to smack his face as best she could in the dark. "See? Very scary."
Sasha rolled over to fall between them and crawled to the head of the bed. "But that's all the time."
Marina grumbled something that Zero assumed was not child friendly while Sasha set to burrowing under the blankets. "Captain," the first officer warned. "If she does this now, it's going to become a nightly occurrence."
Zero knew she was right, and that would turn into a nightmare. Reluctantly, he began to plead with the adorable child snuggling her way up under his arm as though it were an extra blanket. "Little one, you need to go back to your room. You can't sleep in here. This is my room."
"Mommy's not sleeping in her room," Sasha said without skipping a beat.
Zero worried she might catch a few of the curses Marina was muttering into her pillow. "How about, just this one night, we can all stay in my room?" Zero said in a rush. He could easily see Marina dragging the girl back to her room and throwing her in like a garbage bag. "Then tomorrow night, we can all go back to our own rooms?" Even in the absolute darkness, he knew Marina was glaring at him, but he just didn't have the energy to fight anymore.
"Okay," Sasha chirped, holding his arm like one of the dozens of stuffed animals back in her room. Tomorrow night she would just go straight to the kitchen instead.
Tomorrow night, Marina was going to make sure Zero slept alone. That way he really got the message.
Zero would care about how badly his decisions had backfired in the morning, but he had already managed to fall asleep again.
