Thalia liked it when her parents argued, granted, she could do without all the yelling and she couldn't understand a word they said since they both spoke two different languages, but the point remained the same. When angry, both Sebastian and Jim had a tendency to use swear words, which worked in Thalia's favor. As the two men shouted at each other back and forth, they would continuously throw twenties in Thalia's direction every time a curse was yelled. The money was put in one of Thalia's swear jars, once full, the jar would join the others of its kind in the back of the spare closet to be used on vacations.
One day was particularly bad, Sebastian had found out Jim was indeed alive after his daughter saw a picture of Jim on the TV. Of course, Thalia had mixed emotions about it as well; should she feel excited that her daddy is back in London after two years away or angry that his big fat head had interrupted the movie she had been watching at the time? Sebastian had been just as upset, even more so when the man in question walked into the country house Thalia and Sebastian have been vacationing in.
Jim gave the two a big smile, holding his arms open as though he expected the pair to jump in his arms and express how much they'd missed him while he was away. Instead he got a pillow thrown at his face by Thalia and a punch to the gut, courtesy of Sebastian. From there on, it was a continuous argument, prompting Thalia to grab her newest swear jar and plop herself down on the floor between the men and wait for the money to start flowing.
She didn't know what they were saying, the languages were ones not taught to the girl for that exact reason, but she did know that whenever her papa and daddy changed languages, she would be considered rich afterwards. Slowly her jar began to fill, the money varying from ones all the way to one-hundreds as the cursing escalated. When the yelling finally died away, the seven year old had a full jar and a smile on her face as she looks up at her family. Seb had an expression of guilt on his face that he always has whenever he and Jim argue in front of their daughter, but Jim only stares down at his wallet that was now devoid of any cash he had there.
"I think she enjoys us arguing a little too much, wouldn't you say, Tiger," Jim asks sarcastically, raising a brow when Thalia giggles. Seb catches on quickly with a smile of his own as his rage begins to die down a little more than before. He scoops Thalia up in his arms, dropping the blonde down on the couch and laughing along with her when Jim blows a raspberry on her stomach. Thalia giggles, playfully wriggling like a little worm and trying to escape as her parents continue to tickle her. Nothing is spared—her feet, her belly, her neck—they're all attacked until the three were red in the face with all traces of anger forgotten.
Soon the little family was situated on the couch, Thalia's feet in Sebastian's lap and her head in Jim's, the criminal playing with her hair. Where once it was just a pale blonde like her father's, it now has traces of red in it from her mother's side of the family. That was the main thing Kelsey Mather had going for her, the pretty red hair that she had passed onto her daughter even if in so small a way.
This is what Jim truly missed while away, the tender moments where he didn't have to think about anything except how to make his daughter laugh until her stomach hurt. Thalia missed it too, glad that her papa finally had a reason to smile more now that he didn't have to mourn her daddy. And that's why Thalia enjoyed it when her parents argued, because they would always end it with snuggling on the couch together, Thalia feeling more loved than ever as her papa and daddy exchanged happy smiles.
Well, as happy as James Moriarty and Sebastian Moran could ever get, that is.