A/N Thanks for sticking with me!
^^^Troublesome Children^^^
Neither adult missed how quiet both boys were that night, or the glances they kept giving each other. Elizabeth tried several times to get the boys to talk to no avail. While Peter was enjoying the quiet, he couldn't help but become suspicious.
"What would you guys like for dinner tonight?" El finally asked after an hour of quiet.
"Spaghetti" Both said in unison.
"Well that easy enough." Elizabeth said. "Peter has a wonderful recipe." She said with a smile to her husband.
"You boys want to help?" Peter asked.
"No." Neal said.
"Well that was honest" Peter chuckled. "Mozzie?" Peter asked.
Mozzie stood their deliberating on what to do when El gave him a gentle prompting and he finally agreed.
"Well since you two are cooking, Neal and I are going to go put the clothes and other stuff we bought away." Elizabeth informed.
"Or we could paint." Neal suggested with a dazzling grin.
"Or we can go put the clothes away." El responded in a no nonsense tone and a raised eye brow.
"We're gunna go put the clothes away now" Neal said before heading up the stairs.
"You two have fun" El told them "And Mozzie," She stage whispered "Make sure he wears his apron" She said with a wink to the boy before racing up the stairs after Neal and not giving her husband a chance to retort.
^^^Troublesome Children^^^
"What apron is El talking about?" Mozzie asked the minute they headed up the stairs.
"Nothing." Peter said immediately.
"Come on Peter, you know I am just going to pester you until you tell me right?"
Peter sighed. He knew it was true and that if he wanted to maintain any of his sanity, he should just get it over with.
"Fine, but if you laugh I can get you El's apron which has a nice floral pattern." Peter warned before grabbing the apron from the closest and putting it on. Despite Mozzie's best efforts, he was unable to stop the laughter that escaped him.
"G-grill s-sergeant" He laughed.
"Shut up."
"N-no, it's clever!" Mozzie said after calming down. "I like it. Really. It's appropriate. I like the part about not taking the orders but giving them."
With one final glare Peter switched the subject.
"I might not be a renowned chef like you and Neal, but El is right, I make one mean spaghetti sauce." Peter said as he fished around in the kitchen for the ingredients.
"No I'm not" Mozzie said, fully recovered from his earlier outburst. Mozzie grabbed a large pot out of the lower cabinet.
"You're not what?" Peter asked as he grabbed the pot from the boy.
"I'm not a good cook" Mozzie said.
"Sure you are" Peter disagreed. "I hear all about those fancy foods you and Neal eat. Foie gras, filet mingon, braised who's its and what's it's"
"When I am with Neal, sure" Mozzie said finding a can opener. "I am more of a meat and potatoes kind of person." He admitted handing over the utensil to Peter.
"Huh" Was the intelligible response the older man responded with. "All those times you eat with Neal?"
"He's my friend Peter." Was all Mozzie gave as an explanation.
Peter nodded. "Well in that case we have some work to do."
^^^Troublesome Children^^^
"Put these in the drawer please, Neal" Elizabeth instructed.
Neal got up from the chair and grabbed the stacked pair of pants. "I don't see why we are doing this, El" Neal pouted.
"Neal," El started "You didn't want to help with supper, and I need help putting these things away. You don't get to be the only one who doesn't help."
"That's not what I meant" Neal clarified. "I meant why did we buy all these things? We aren't going be this little for that long are we?" He asked.
Elizabeth took a moment to think of how she wanted to answer that question. "We don't really know now do we Neal?" She asked. "And we can't have you going around naked, now can we?" She said with a smirk.
"Noo," Neal said. "But these books, car seats, toys and stuff" Neal paused. "It's all expensive and might not even be necessary tomorrow." He finished turning around to face El.
"You might be absolutely right sweetie, but if we don't we can always donate the stuff. And a lot of these thing we already got from my sister, so no harm done there." She told him and as she handed Neal some socks to put away. Neal didn't respond and they proceeded to put things away in silence.
^^^Troublesome Children^^^
An hour later after everything had been put away dinner was ready. Neal and Elizabeth had set the table and in similar fashion from earlier, dinner was a mostly quite affair.
"Boys, Peter has to go back into work tomorrow, so it is just going to be the three of us." Mozzie shot Neal a look that neither Peter nor Elizabeth missed. Ignoring it, Elizabeth moved on. "Is there anything in particular you want to do?"
"What are you going to tell Reese and the team?" Neal asked Peter, ignoring Elizabeth's question.
This time it was Peter who shot El a look before responding.
"I'll just tell them you aren't feeling well."
"And how long do you think that is going to last?" Mozzie retorted.
Peter paused. "Hopefully you will be back to your normal selves before we have to worry about that."
"And if we aren't?" Neal asked.
"You're going to have to tell the rest of the suits eventually." Mozzie said simultaneously.
"Alright, alright" Peter said, holding his hands up in defense. "Enough with the fifth degree. Let's take this one day at a time" Peter replied.
That answer didn't satisfy either boy which was clearly written on both their faces. They let the matter drop though since they had their own course of action.
^^^Troublesome Children^^^
A/N I wanted to get something posted so you all know I haven't abandoned this story. This is a build-up chapter and the fun stuff comes next!