Hey worldwide web,
Heh, so it's been a while since I updated this. Almost an entire year. But don't worry I'm back at it again with some brand new ideas (this one in particular was sitting for 8 months with none of it written but shhhhh)!
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Brady had sprayed and wiped at the spot on the table five times now, and it still hadn't gone away. He wasn't sure what it was from. It was about the size of a quarter and easily noticeable against the dark wood. If he had to guess, it was from a glass. Normally they just ignored it, or if necessary covered it up with a place mat, but this time was different. They had guests coming over, and Brady had been taught from a very young age that guests deserved only the best.
Owain had a different mindset however. "Sweetheart," he said gently, stopping Brady's hands with his own, "as much as I admire your dedication to perfecting our home, I don't think a couple of eight year-olds will so much as notice a spot on the table."
Brady sighed and set aside the rag he was using. "Yer right," he sighed. "I just want the house to look perfect. Ophelia hasn't had a play date here in a couple of months. It's always been at someone else's house. What if she's just embarrassed of people seeing where she lives? What if-"
"Ophelia's been talking non-stop about all the things she and her friends are going to do today," Owain reminded him. "It's been the only thing on her mind for the past week. She wouldn't do that if she was embarrassed of the house."
To emphasize the point, he glanced around the kitchen. The house actually belonged to Brady's mother, as Owain was still looking for work and Brady's hours at the hospital were shorter now that Ophelia was out of school for the summer. They would have been more than happy to get an apartment, but Maribelle insisted she do this for them. She had dipped into some inheritance from a rich uncle or maybe her father, her entire family tree just confused Owain, and bought them the house. It was a gesture they were extremely grateful for, even if it made Brady anxious about keeping it clean.
While she was a doting mother, Maribelle wasn't going to hand everything to her son. Owain and Brady were in charge of paying utilities and any other upkeep, but Maribelle's name was on all the other paperwork. And of course they had to deal with her almost daily calls or visits to look at the house.
A door could be heard opening upstairs, meaning the third member of the family was now up. Brady lowered his voice. "What if," he said, "what if it's not the house she's embarrassed of. What if it's us?"
Owain's smile faltered. This had been a common worry of Brady's since the day Ophelia didn't need him to walk her into her classroom at school. It was a natural worry, his own mother had told him, that children were growing up and might not need their parents around.
"Ophelia would never been embarrassed by us," Owain said firmly. "Why would she? We're great!"
Before Brady could give a response, they heard the pitter-patter of feet running down the stairs. Ophelia burst into the kitchen, still in her pajamas.
"Good morning my little Chosen One," Owain greeted, opening the pantry to retrieve a box of Ophelia's favorite cereal. Brady didn't like buying it, said it had more marshmallows than actual cereal pieces, but Owain couldn't deny her something like that.
"Morning Daddy!" Ophelia said, climbing onto a chair and sitting on her knees so she could look taller. Owain handed her a spoon and poured some milk into her cereal bowl. "Do you know what day it is?"
"Hm..." Owain said, thinking for a long time. "I'm not sure...dear do you know what day it is?" Ophelia rolled her eyes and turned to look at Brady.
Brady raised an eyebrow, but quickly caught on. "Oh...uh...it's Tuesday. Right?"
"Noooooooo," Ophelia said with a huff. "Today's the day that Soleil comes over!"
Owain gasped. "Oh! Is that today?" He asked. He made a show of looking at the calendar, where the day was neatly marked with the words "Ophelia's Friends Come Over". "By the gods, it is! What a glorious turn of events."
"I can't believe you forgot," Ophelia said, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "When's Soleil getting here?"
"Not until later darling," Owain answered. "And remember, it's not just Soleil who's going to be here."
"Oh," Ophelia replied, looking down at her cereal. "Yeah...and Nina." The kitchen was silent for a little bit before Ophelia spoke up again. "Why does she have to come here?"
"Nina's your friend," Brady pointed out.
"No," Ophelia corrected, "she's Soleil's friend. And all they do is fight."
"Nina invited you to her house that one time," Owain reminded her. "It's honorable and polite to invite her over to your house in return."
"Okay..." Ophelia sighed. She finished her cereal and hopped off the chair. "I'm going to go get ready!"
"What are you going to do during yer play date?" Brady asked.
"Daaaaaad," Ophelia groaned, "they're not called 'play dates' anymore. It's called 'hanging out'."
"Oh, sorry," Brady mumbled, "well what are you going to do while yer hanging out? Have a tea party or something? I can make you some real tea-"
"Go on an adventure!" Ophelia declared excitedly. "An adventure so great and mysterious I won't even know what to name it until after it's over."
Ophelia had developed a habit of naming things nobody would think needed to be named. It was Owain's fault, always spending time naming scenes or characters from whatever play he was interested in. It had quickly rubbed off on Ophelia and Owain was too proud to tell her to stop.
Ophelia ran upstairs to go get dressed. Owain gave Brady a smile. "A tea party?" He said with a laugh.
"That's what I did when I had play-" Brady sighed, "I mean, when I 'hung out'. I better go make sure she's wearing somethin' nice an' not an old Halloween costume."
Once Ophelia was, begrudgingly, dressed appropriately, the process of waiting for her friends to arrive began. Ophelia waited impatiently in the living room, glancing out the window every five seconds to see if a car was pulling up in the driveway. Ironically, it was when she had taken a break to use the bathroom that a minivan appeared in front of the house.
Owain opened the door and walked down the front steps. Two little girls, one wearing an ornate headband in her long pink hair and the other with two dark blue pigtails, ran out of the vehicle and toward the front door.
"Inigo my friend!" Owain called to the main getting out of the van. "While I am happy to see you once again, I had been hoping that Niles would be dropping Nina off separately so we could catch up."
Inigo just laughed and shook his head. "Always one for wasting words I see," he said. "Niles called me last minute and asked if I could drive Nina. He was caught up with something at work and Corrin had to take Kana to the doctor."
Owain frowned. "Well I hope he's alright," he said. Niles' work wasn't the safest at times, and getting caught up with something could mean a number of things. "Anyways, it's good to see you again."
"It's only been a couple of days," Inigo chided. "You couldn't miss me-"
"SOLEIL!" Ophelia cried, running out the front door and into her friend's waiting arms. The two girls jumped up and down excitedly for a couple of seconds, leaving Nina awkwardly standing off to the side. "Oh, and...hi Nina." Owain glared at her. She glared back before grabbing both girls' hands and pulling them into the house where Brady was waiting.
"I wish we had more time to talk," Inigo admitted, "but I've got to get going, dance practice and all." He looked off to the side and then squinted. "Is that...is that Severa?"
Owain turned to look in the same direction, and sure enough a candy apple red sports car was indeed speeding down the street. It came screeching to a stop at the end of Owain's driveway. The driver's door was thrown open and out stepped a woman who was clearly pissed off about something. Her large, red twin pigtails shook vigorously as she opened up the passenger side door and helped someone else out of the car.
At first, both Owain and Inigo thought it was Severa's mother. It took them a few seconds to realize that it was just a young girl that looked like Severa's mother.
"Um, is there a problem?" Severa asked as she and the girl walked up the driveway. The girl watched Severa, trying to copy the angry way she stormed up the cement slope, but ended up stumbling and almost falling completely.
"Is that your daughter?" Owain asked.
Severa rolled her eyes. "No," she said, "it's some random girl I kidnapped and brought to your house. Any more stupid questions?"
"I"m Caeldori," the girl said brightly, sticking out her hand to shook Owain's hand, and then Inigo's, before looking back at Owain. "My mom took me to see one of your shows. You played the man with the trumpet. That was really funny!"
"I didn't know you went to see that show," Owain exclaimed. "Why didn't you say something?"
"Must have slipped my mind," Severa mumbled, her face taking on a slight pink tinge. "Anyways, this is my daughter. Now you've met. I'll pick her up at three." She put her hand on the girl's shoulder, but didn't look at her. "Be good." Owain and Inigo exchanged glances. "What? Aren't you going to show her inside?"
The front door opened and Brady stepped outside. "Hey are you guys done talking- oh hey Severa!"
"Oh gawds," Severa sighed. "Caeldori, that's Brady, remember me telling you about him?"
"Is he the one that helped you become less shy in school?" Caeldori asked.
"Gah, yes, b-but that's private!" Severa said, getting flustered. "Just go inside!" Caeldori nodded obediently and walked toward Brady, who paused for a second, before kneeling down to talk to her before leading her inside. "What now?!" Severa snapped, since Owain and Inigo were now staring at her.
"Did you just dump your kid at their house?" Inigo asked, folding his arms over his chest. "That's low even for you."
"We're always happy to have guests over," Owain said, stepping between the two. He then gave Severa an apologetic look. "But we would have appreciated you calling first. Ophelia made plans to have some friends over today"
"Fine," Severa huffed, not making eye contact, "sorry I forgot you two were Parents of the Year. I have to work and it's not exactly appropriate to take your daughter with you to a domestic abuse shelter." She sighed. "I just...knew she'd have a potential friend here."
"Where's Mr. Perfect?" Inigo asked.
"Work," Severa said, glaring due to the nickname, "I was going to have him drop Caeldori off but given how wonderful the last time the three of you were together went-"
"Hey we apologized for calling him...Suckbaki," Owain said, holding back a laugh.
"And Subadouche," Inigo added, "although punching him in the face is something we didn't apologize for."
"I was there," Severa said flatly. "Anyways, I'm sorry for the short notice or whatever. I only work until two-thirty and then I can come back and pick her up."
"You know she looks a lot like," Owain began, but Severa's narrowing eyes made him stop. "Right, she'll be just fine in our care. Brady and I will watch over her with honor and guard her with our lives should the need ever arise-"
"I get it, gawds," Severa interrupted. "Geez, this is why I never tell you when I go to your shows. You're so damn extra. Nice seeing you, jerks!" With a super aggressive wave, she stormed back down the driveway, got in her car, and sped off.
The two men watched the now empty spot in the street for a few seconds, before Inigo mumbled "Suckbaki" under his breath and the two burst into a fit of laughter. Inigo bid Owain farewell and left for his dance practice, and Owain returned to his house.
Brady was waiting for him in the living room. "Everything alright with Severa?" He asked worriedly.
"Fear not my love," Owain said, grinning and wrapping his arms around Brady. "Our dear friend is merely occupied with her honorable duty, and must entrust her daughter with us for the day."
"So she's fine then," Brady said, only cracking half a smile. "I'm glad. I showed Caeldori to Ophelia's room. I think Ophelia was glad to have a fourth person so she doesn't feel left out when Nina and Soleil start to argue."
"Excellent," Owain said, arms still around Brady, "that means we can just sit and-" He stopped as he noticed Caeldori coming down the stairs. Owain let go of Brady and walked over to the girl.
"Excuse me Mr. Owain," Caeldori said politely, thinking over each word before saying it. "Could you tell me where the bathroom is?"
"Sure," Owain replied, leading Caeldori to the bathroom. She thanked him and went inside. Owain returned to Brady in the living room. "Hard to believe she's so polite and yet she's Severa's daughter. You know she looks exactly like her mom. It's uncanny."
"I wonder what Severa thinks of that," Brady said softly. "I can't believe we've gone this long without seein' her. She's only two years older than Ophelia, and the last time I remember seein' her was a couple weeks after we brought Ophelia home." Owain vaguely recalled seeing a small toddler with bright red hair accompanying Severa, but nothing else.
There was some excited yelling coming from the upstairs, followed by Ophelia, Soleil, and Nina running down the steps. "We're going to the backyard!" Ophelia called out as she ran to unlock the backdoor so the three girls could play.
"Don't get all muddy!" Brady hollered back, but knew there was a good chance they would ignore him. A few seconds later Caeldori wandered back from the bathroom. "The rest of the girls just went outside," Brady told her.
"Oh," Caeldori said softly, "okay." She turned to look out the window and see the three girls playing around in the grass.
"Is everything okay?" Owain asked the girl. "Are the other girls taking turns and everything? If not I can go out there and make sure they're playing fairly."
"No they're taking turns," Caeldori reassured, "I just...don't play with a lot of kids. So I don't know how to play a lot of their games."
It probably doesn't help that Ophelia does nothing but make up her own games, both Brady and Owain thought. "Well," Owain said, "even if you don't know how to play them, I'm sure Ophelia would love to explain it if you asked." Caeldori just looked down at her feet. Apparently she was more than just physically similar to Severa's mother.
"Just watch them to start," Brady suggested. "If they're taking turns, offer to go last so you can see what the other three do. Then you can just try and copy the other three to figure it out."
Caeldori's face perked up. "I can do that!" She said, turning to run to the door to the backyard. As she opened it, she turned back to Brady. "My mom was right, you really are good with helping people!" Before Brady could stammer out a response, the girl had joined the others in some wild made up game of Ophelia's invention.
"I didn't know you gave so much advice," Owain teased.
"I just helped her get over a few things," Brady said, blushing. "It was nothin' important. At least, she didn't say it was or nothing'."
"Well what sort of advice would you have given me?" Owain asked curiously. "I had my fair share of things to get over."
Brady snorted. "Yourself maybe," he said. Owain feigned a hurt look. "Naw, I think you were perfect just the way you were. And still are." He leaned over to kiss Owain and nearly jumped as he saw a face pressed against the back window. He relaxed once he realized it was just one of the kids.
Nina was staring intensely at the two men, until Brady awkwardly waved and she dashed away from the glass. "Does she normally do that?" Brady asked, having not been around the child that often.
"I don't think so," Owain said, shrugging. "Niles is just a weirdo. His kid probably picked up his whole lurking thing too. Speaking of which, she's back."
Nina was now up in the tree in the backyard, poised on a branch that allowed her to see through the top of the window. Her pigtails gave her away, however, dangling below the cluster of leaves. Owain made a funny face and she nearly fell out of the tree.
"Be careful," Brady warned. "What do you think she's doing?"
"Probably just one of Ophelia's adventures," Owain said. "Maybe we're the bad guys in this one. Come on, let's go surprise 'em." The two men got up from the couch and walked over to the garage. It had a door that led to the backyard that was hidden behind a couple of shrubs. They quietly entered the yard and watching.
"Somebody come save me," Ophelia said in fake distress. She was standing sitting on a lawn chair with her hands behind her back, pretending to be tied up. "If only somebody could save me!" Then there was silence. "Soleil that's your guys' cue-"
"RAWR!" Owain bellowed, running out from behind the bushes and toward Ophelia.
"Oh no a giant's attacking!" Ophelia cried, actually screaming in surprise. Brady came following behind Owain, albeit not as dramatic. "Oh no there's two giants!"
"Uh, is this part of the plan?" Caeldori asked. She and Soleil were standing near the shed, holding a plastic golf club and a bucket respectively.
"I don't know," Soleil said with a shrug. "But we need to go save the girl and get our kiss, so let's go." She ran toward Ophelia and Caledori, not nearly as enthusiastic about recieving a kiss, followed. Soleil made it over to Owain, who had now picked Ophelia up out of the chair, and began hitting his leg with the plastic bucket. "In the name of all that is cute," Soleil yelled in as deep a voice as she could muster, "be gone!"
Owain took a fake stumble and set Ophelia down on the ground. Soleil, satisfied, grabbing Ophelia's hand and took her away from him. Caeldori, not sure what to do, tapped Owain's foot with her golf club. He made sure to seize dramatically to show he had been "hurt" and she ended up laughing before joining back up with Ophelia and Soleil.
"Daaaaaaad," Ophelia said once she had been rescued and given Soleil a kiss on the cheek, more so the girl would leave her alone about it, "there weren't supposed to be any giants in that story. Now I'll have to think of a new name for it."
"Sorry sweetheart," Owain chuckled, "but it looks like you're missing a member."
Ophelia looked around. "Ugh," she said, "Nina where are you?!"
The bushes near Brady rustled, making him jump back. Nina came tumbling out of them, a few scrapes on her arms, legs, and face. "I'm right here," she said.
"What were you doing in there?" Ophelia asked, putting her hands on her hips. "You were supposed to be rescuing me!"
"I was distracting the giants," Nina said, looking at Owain and Brady, "but they got past me. Sorry!"
"Okay," Ophelia sighed, "let's go back inside. I can show you guys the new doll I got. I got to name her all by myself." The girls went back inside, Soleil with her arm around Ophelia and Caeldori next to them actually listening to Ophelia's explanation of the name.
"Nina let's get you cleaned up first," Brady said, helping the girl to her feet. Nina just nodded and walked back inside. Brady helped her sit up on the kitchen counter while he got some bandages.
"I'm sorry for spying," she blurted out.
"Is that what you were doin'?" Brady asked as he gently wiped at the scrapes with a damp cloth. Nina nodded. "Well that's okay, unless something was wrong."
"No," Nina said, her voice barely above a whisper, "but...Ophelia's the only one I know with two dads." Brady stopped and looked at her, waiting for her to continue. "Um, besides me," Nina added. "I like knowing I'm not the only one. I just wanted to see if...if...if you guys were like my dads..."
"Ah, I see," Brady said. He reached into the box of child bandages and held up two bandages with different patterns. "Flowers or kittens?"
"Kittens," Nina said, pointing at the one she wanted.
"Those are my favorite," Brady said with a nod, making Nina smile. He began to cover the scrapes with the bandages. "So are we like your dads?"
"Kind of," Nina replied. "You smile at each other a lot, which is nice. And you hug and stuff. Daddy doesn't like to make as many jokes though. Papa makes him laugh though."
"That's good," Brady told her. He didn't know much about Nina's fathers. Owain knew Niles from a few years back, and Brady had met him several times. Corrin was a relatively new person in Niles' life, based on what Owain had told him. Niles had actually gotten custody of Nina before he met Corrin. It had been a few years now, but Brady understood Nina's curiosity.
"If you have any questions about it," Brady said gently, "you can always ask Ophelia."
"I don't think Ophelia likes me very much," Nina admitted.
"'Course she likes you," Brady promised. "And I'm sure if you asked she'd tell you all about it." He put on the last bandage. "Alright Miss, yer patched up."
"Thanks Mr. Brady," Nina said, letting him help her off the counter. She ran upstairs, leaving Brady in the kitchen, away silently sitting at the table, smiling.
"So Soleil's next up right?" Owain joked. Brady rolled his eyes. "I'm just kidding, if she's anything like her dad she's having the time of her life."
"She's eight," Brady scolded. Owain just laughed.
The two settled in and watched some TV, occasionally checking in on the girls. At lunch they served the girls sandwiches, applesauce, and animal crackers. Ophelia insisted on making the animal crackers "fight" by mashing two different shaped ones together.
"What about like this?" Caeldori asked, pressing an elephant cracker and a lion cracker together with her palms, making them break. Crumbs scattered all over her plate and onto the table. "Oh, sorry!" Instead of pointing out the mess, the others just laughed.
"I want to try it like that!" Ophelia said, clapping her hands together and smashing up two animal crackers. "Cool!" Nina and Soleil tried as well until most of their animal crackers were nothing more than a fine powder. Owain just squeezed Brady's hand to keep him from going over and cleaning up the mess. There would be time for that later.
The hours after lunch went by much faster, with the summer heat keeping the girls inside for the rest of the day. Soon Owain and Brady were greeted by Niles showing up at their door, ready to take Nina home.
"Did you have fun?" He asked his daughter, picking her up.
"Mhm," Nina replied, hugging Niles tightly.
"Woah!" He said with a laugh. "Did you miss me that much?"
"No, not really," Nina said, sticking her tongue out.
"Alright let's get you home," Niles said, shaking his head. He bid his friends farewell before getting Nina situated in the car.
Severa was next, this time in a surprisingly better mood. She didn't say much to her friends this time around, but her expression seemed grateful as Caeldori began to happily tell her what she had done all day. Inigo appeared shortly after and practically had to drag Soleil away from her best friend.
"I don't know how you two do it," Inigo chuckled, "four kids at once. I hope she wasn't too much trouble for you. I know she can get...intense at times."
"The other ones kept us on our toes, but Soleil was pretty relaxed the whole time," Brady admitted.
Inigo gave a full laugh this time around. "Well that's good to hear," he said, trying to keep Soleil from squirming out of his grip. "Let's do this again sometimes!" He gave them one final wave before carrying his daughter out to the car.
Brady and Owain fell back onto the couch, thoroughly exhausted from the day, but it wasn't over yet. Ophelia slowly came down the stairs and climbed onto the couch, sitting between her dads.
"Did you have fun today sweetheart?" Owain asked, grabbing her hand.
"Yeah," Ophelia replied with a yawn, "tons of fun. So much fun I was able to come up with a great name for today. The Retrograde Gathering of Fun Seekers!"
"Sounds like a perfect name," Owain declared. "Although now I think I need a nap. How about you Brady? Brady?" He looked over at Brady, who was snoring on the couch. Ophelia was also dozing peacefully. "Hey no fair!" He curled up on the couch and, making sure he wasn't going to fall onto his daughter, fell asleep with his family.