A/N: I got here, happened to glance at the week 19 prompts... and yep. Doing these. Hee.

Week 16 - UDC 8

76. Mountain

She was waiting for them when they came back inside, and Helen put a finger to her lips to keep them quiet. Walt moved to look into the living room and found the boys taking turns, a page at a time, reading a book out loud with a set of twins that were curled up together on the couch with Pete on one side and Chelsea on the other. "Pete started it."

"After this month, I'm not at all surprised. Loves being read to, would stand to reason that he'd want to share being read to with the twins at the first opportunity."

Noah tapped Alan on the shoulder. "What do you think? Let this continue, or..."

"Ten minutes, I think," Alan replied as he pushed Mike into the room with a grin. "Boys? Mike needs to take a turn." He winked at Charlotte who had to cover a laugh with a cough.

77. River

At hearing Alan's voice, Nick blinked and stopped reading, then shrugged and handed the book, which was Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key, to Mike with a grin and pointed to the paragraph he'd been on. Mike took the book with an uneasy smile and started reading, haltingly at first, and then stronger as he went.

Nick glanced over at the couch to find that the twins were nodding off and it looked like Pete was heading that way, too. It made sense, really, for it had been a long day to top off an emotional week. Something occurred to him and he twisted to look at Mr. and Mrs. Tomkins, who were simply watching with neutral expressions that were slowly turning into smiles, and then he turned back to look at Bart, who seemed calmer all of a sudden. Was it... Nick followed his eye-line to Pete and nodded to himself.

He'd not asked for further details, but sitting here, he could imagine it, both Pete and Bart on the couch, trying to pretend nothing had happened, but unable to fool Sheryl. A hand landed on Nick's shoulder and he just barely managed to not squeak in surprise as he realized that his father was standing next to him with that knowing expression. Had he been thinking the same thing? Probably. "Time to go?"

"Not quite."

78. Tree

What was it about reading a book aloud, Mike wondered as he continued to read. It should have been odd, that they'd end up reading like this, but it wasn't. Not at all. He got to the end of the chapter and looked up to find the teenagers enthralled and Pete asleep with the twins and Miss Lowell on the couch. "Maybe we should stop there?"

"Probably," Charlotte said with another smile. "That worked in '68, too."

"It did?" Jaime wondered, turning to look at her.

Charlotte nodded and looked at Mike. "This is a lot, isn't it?"

"It is," Mike admitted, turning the book around to look at the cover. "Have to remember this one, to read to my daughter. It's entertaining."

79. Earth

Noah chuckled as he pushed past them and swooped in to pick Maggie up out of Chelsea's arms, the little girl only just barely protesting at the movement. "Come on, Mags. Bed time."

"Had fun, Daddy," Maggie told him, more mumbled than anything else as Noah peered down at Pete and Nicky.

Chelsea stood and then gently pulled Nicky away from the pre-teen, who woke at the jostling. "Sorry."

Pete yawned and shrugged. "No need to be... did I really just fall asleep? That's embarrassing."

"Nah," Bart said with a smile that went all the way to his eyes and Pete stared at him. "Long week, huh?"

"Yeah." His attention drifted over everyone in the room, finally coming to rest on Mike and the book. "Helen, do we have that one at home?"

"No, but I can fix that," Helen told him, smiling as Chelsea and Noah bustled the twins out the door.

80. Horizon

For some reason, and he wasn't sure why, that small interaction struck a chord and Mike turned to look at her. Was it the lack of formality or something else entirely? So many questions he suddenly had, but from the expression on Helen's face, she was pleased.

"All right," Walt suddenly said. "Boys? Say your good nights. Time to go."

Pete nodded and did exactly that, while Nick took a moment longer, and when he got to Mike, he stared up at him, then stuck out a hand. "Where are you stationed?"

Mike blinked, startled. He hadn't said anything about being in the service. "San Diego. How...?"

"Posture," Pete answered, shrugging. He yawned again and Helen pulled him to her side, where he looked up at her with a grin. "This was good."

Seeing her interact with him, Mike suddenly realized what it was that he'd missed before. Acceptance and inclusion, so subtle that unless one knew it was happening, it could get missed entirely.