PJ froze as his son came to a stop in front of him. Tom leant forward, and after a momentary hesitation, he tried to pick up the leg that was nearest to him, glancing over at his mother's lap as he did so.
"This,' he declared with certainly, "here" and he tried to push PJ's leg into place, wanting to make PJ's lap a copy of his Mum's. Joe joined his brother, both boys pushing PJ's legs into place, PJ sliding backwards as they did so, falling into an ungainly heap, taking Maggie with him, she being too slow in letting go of his hand. Untangling themselves, PJ leant up on his elbows, coming face to face with a giggling twin on either side of them.
"Silly Mummy!" Joe said, climbing up and sitting on her tummy. Tom mirrored his brother, plonking himself fair and square on PJ's belly, giggling as PJ flexed his abdominal muscles and Tom bounced up and down. "Silly man" Tom spluttered though his giggles.
Kay smiled down at them, reaching over and taking Luka's hand. "Come on sweetheart, the boys will be fine." She pulled slightly, but Luka held his ground.
Maggie looked up at him, a smile wide on her face. Her smile was mirrored in both of her sons, and almost as bright as the one PJ offered him. Luka looked down at the little family, carefully studying each of them. Maggie wriggled, and Joe gently rolled off her, standing up as Maggie drew herself to her feet. Beside her, PJ stood, lifting Tom up and settling him on his hip.
"Luka. You go to work with Mum, I promise you we're fine. PJ is a nice man, he's my friend, and he loves the boys like I do." Maggie told him, seeing the hesitance on Luka's face. It was a lot for Luka to take in, he was so used to it just being the woman he knew as Melly, and the little boys that he'd come to see as family. Now there was this man, this Detective PJ standing there, holding Tom, just like Melly was now holding Joe. And Tom seemed quite happy with Detective PJ holding him, and Detective PJ was holding hands with Melly, he was wrapping his arm around Melly and pulling her tight against him and Melly was smiling, beaming with happiness as she glanced up at the detective.
"Ok," Luka finally relented, "but come back later and play?"
PJ grinned at Luka's protectiveness. "Sure mate. You come back after work and we'll have a kickabout." Luka's innocent eyes glanced over at Maggie, who nodded in reassurance.
"You know, PJ here thinks he's a bit of a whizzkid with the footy, so you and the boys can show him what really good players are like" and Luka's grin could have eclipsed the sun. He was a little puzzled as to why Melly seemed to be wriggling slightly, as if something was tickling her, but his attention was soon taken by Kay tapping him on the shoulder, and her insistence that they would be late if they didn't leave now.
After waving goodbye from the front porch, PJ turned to Maggie, lifting a wriggling Tom more comfortably against his hip. "Thank you so much Doyley. I'm going to get flattened – have you seen the size of him?" he nodded back at the departed Luka. Tom's giggle drew PJ's attention back to him. "And as for you, you little horror – " PJ withdrew his arm from Maggie's shoulder and proceeded to tickle his son until Tom swung upside down, shrieking with laughter. Maggie's smirk widened as Joe climbed out of her arms, crawling across her and climbing onto PJ's back, where he proceeded to start to tickle PJ as well.
"Oy!! That's not fair," PJ yelped, and with one son on his back, and one dangling around the front, he stomped his way back into the lounge, carefully, but over dramatically, plonking first Tom, and then Joe down on the sofa, tickling them some more in the process. Stepping back and skillfully evading their expert little hands, PJ smiled over at Maggie, holding a hand out to her and wrapping her in his arms when she stepped close to him.
"I love you," he whispered, swallowing hard against the sudden lump in his throat. Maggie blinked furiously, not wanting the boys to see the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks.
"I love you too PJ," she whispered back, turning slightly and placing a small kiss on the corner of his mouth. Turning back to look at the boys, they found two identical pairs of blue eyes staring up at them. Giving PJ's hand a squeeze, Maggie sat down on the couch, lifting Tom to sit on her knees facing his Mum. PJ similarly situated Joe, but before they could say anything, Tom's innate curiosity took hold.
Very, very gently, Tom began to trace the area around PJ's eyes, glancing between him and Joe. After a few seconds, Joe became curious, and began to look between PJ and his brother too. He nodded over at Tom, before tom stopped and looked at Maggie.
"Blue," he said, once again tracing PJ's eyes and looking at Joe. "Like Joe and me. Big Blue and Little Blue!" he insisted, pointing between themselves and PJ.
Again PJ swallowed tightly, recognising the obvious similarities that his sons had inherited. "Yep. You've got blue eyes just like mine" he finally managed in a dry voice, closing those blue eyes tight as a wave of emotion ran through him. Maggie reached around and gently turned his face to her, placing a kiss on his lips, before their foreheads came to rest against one another's for a few moments.
Joe and Tom watched them, knowing something was happening, but not quite what it was. Joe glanced at his brother, their hands coming together in a show of brotherly reassurance, and then their gazes turned back to the couple on whose laps they were sitting.
"Mummy?"
Maggie took a deep breath, taking comfort in the small kiss that PJ placed against her hair.
"Tom, Joe, I have something important to tell you. You remember what important means?"
"Means to listen and then think hard?" Joe said, very proud of himself for having remembered. Important meant not poking your brother when Mummy was talking. Important meant listening to Mummy and not trying to see where the nearest footy was. Important meant actually listening.
PJ bit back a smile as both boys adopted identical earnest expressions, two pairs of blue eyes trained on their mother, ready to listen carefully. Maggie, smiled proudly at her sons.
"Certainly does. Well done Joe!" she leant forward and gave him a kiss on his nose, grinning as Tom placed his face right next to his brother's. "Me too Mummy, me too!"
"You too, Tom, love you too."
"God, I love you" PJ couldn't help himself.
"You love our Mummy?" Joe's eyes were wide.
"I – " PJ hadn't meant to say anything, but when Maggie nodded, he somehow found the words." I – yeah, I do. I love your Mummy, and, well, I – " he took a deep breath. "I love you two as well."
Tom and Joe exchanged long looks. They could see the wisdom loving their Mummy, after all, she was the Best Mummy In The World, but why would the man say he loved Joe and Tom? They'd never even met the man before!
"Boys, listen. This is PJ, and like I said, he's my friend. He's my best friend, and I've known him for a long time, even before you were born."
PJ bit back a grin at the expressions of surprise on his son's faces – yes, Mummy did have a life before them.
"Mummy used to live a long way from here, in a place called Mount Thomas" PJ said, "And she and I used to work in the local Police Station."
"Mummy 'tective? Like on tv?" Tom asked, eyes wide with wonder.
PJ grinned at the wonder in his son's voice, puffing out his chest with pride. "Not quite, Mummy wasn't the Detective, but I was. Mummy wore a uniform, and she worked with me."
"Mummy good as 'tectives" Joe said stubbornly, sensing PJ's unconscious boast. Not matter how he tried, PJ had always seen Detectives to be superior to the Uniformed branch.
"That's my boy," Maggie grinned proudly, laughing as Tom tried to smack PJ for being, as they saw it, mean to their Mum. "Hey! You're right boys, but go easy on your Dad, he doesn't know any better!"