A/N: Hey everyone! I've missed you all. It's been a while! I need to thank my two awesome betas: Nophiefan for all her amazing ideas, and especially CaraLee934 for reminding me to get writing again. And a big thank you to all you lovely people who followed, favorited, and commented on this story. You're wonderful! Please enjoy the next installments of Little Leverage. :)

"Nate, if I don't get out of the house soon, I'm going to go insane," Sophie promised as he came through the door.

Nate looked around in surprise, setting his briefcase down. Toys were scattered around the entryway, which was nothing new, and he thought he could see the remains of a blanket fort in the living room. But the house was oddly quiet. "Where are they?" he asked with a little apprehension.

Her eyes narrowed. "They're in their rooms. And you are going to talk to them about fighting, and making messes, and painting on the walls, and climbing on top of the refrigerator, and respecting privacy. And you might want to mention that if they ever want dessert again, they better start listening when I ask them to do things!"

Nate winced. "That bad, huh?"

She nodded, and he saw past her anger to the exhaustion and stress in her eyes.

"I'll talk to them," he told her, giving her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "And I'll find a babysitter for tomorrow night so we can go out, okay?"

She threw her arms around his neck. "Thank you! But where will you find a babysitter? We've already exhausted all our options. Not many of them are willing to come back."

Nate knew that very well. Unfortunately, their children seemed to have trust issues which translated into them hating anyone that came to babysit. And when they set their collective minds to it, they could really make a person's life difficult.

He went into Parker's room first, and gestured for the five-year-old to follow him. She climbed off the top of her bookshelf, one of her favorite sulking spots, and trailed after him to the boys' room where Eliot was sitting sullenly on the floor, tossing a bouncy ball at the wall, and Alec was flipping the pages of an I Spy book aimlessly.

Nate sat on Eliot's bed and waited for them to look at him. Alec was the first to crack, as usual. "It wasn't my fault," he said, his eyes pleading with Nate to believe him. "I thought I could make Mommy feel better."

Eliot snorted.

"Something funny, Eliot?" Nate asked, reaching out to catch the ball before it could hit the wall again.

The ten-year-old glanced at his little brother. "Alec emailed Mom's boss at the museum and told her …" he snickered. "She was a stupid witch."

Alec and Parker both let out little giggles and Nate frowned at them. "Alec, why on earth would you do that?" he asked the six-year-old.

"'Cause Mommy said Ellen was making her life difficult," he explained. "An' she said someone should tell her what a stupid witch she was. So I did."

Eliot covered his mouth with his hand. "'Cept Mom didn't say witch."

Alec frowned, looking at his brother. "She didn't?"

"Okay, that's enough, Eliot," Nate said, throwing him a stern look. "Alec, it's not okay to invade other people's privacy like that, and it's not okay to call people names. Even if they deserve it."

Eager to shift the conversation away from his own misdeeds, Alec pointed at Eliot. "Wanna hear why he's in trouble?"

Nate sort of didn't.

"He teached Parker how to punch people."

"Yeah!" Parker said, grinning. "Like this." She demonstrated a small fist. "Thumb on the outside."

Eliot seemed quite unrepentant. "She might need to know how to defend herself someday," he said.

Nate was sort of confused why Eliot was in so much trouble for teaching Parker self-defense. And also a little concerned (but not surprised) that Eliot knew the "correct" way to punch someone. "So … why did that make Mom so mad, Eliot?"

He chewed his lip, trying to keep another smile off his face. "It didn't. 'Til she punched the UPS guy."

Nate bit back a groan. "Not funny, Eliot. Parker, why'd you punch the UPS guy?"

She shrugged, her eyes wide and innocent.

"Okay, honey, you can't punch people for no reason. That's called bullying. And Eliot, if you're going to teach her how to punch, you have to teach her when to punch," Nate told them.

"Guess what?" Parker replied, his advice apparently going straight over her head. "Bunny had to go in the washer today."

Both Eliot and Alec were suddenly biting back giggles again. Rather unsuccessfully. Nate looked suspiciously at them. "Someone going to tell me why that's so funny?"

Alec couldn't contain himself. "Because she put Bunny in the toilet!"

"I had to clean him!"

"After she took it to the top of the fridge an' got all dusty," Eliot added. "And before that, it was helping her paint."

"I helped paint, too," Alec admitted.

"All over the wall in the upstairs bathroom," Eliot said, not even trying to hide how hilarious he thought it all was.

"Okay, guys, this is not acceptable behavior," Nate said firmly. "Eliot, you should be an example, not an instigator. And it's not funny. Alec, you know better than to use Mommy's email and paint on the walls, and Parker, no more punching or putting things in the toilet. Since you've all proved today that you're not as responsible as I thought, bedtime will be at 7:30 and no ice cream after dinner."

Their giggles were replaced with a chorus of whines. "But Dad!"

"You heard me," he said.

Sophie was right. They needed a night out.

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"Dad, how 'bout I just watch the little kids. I'm almost eleven and my friend Rob always babysits his little brother. We don't need a dumb babysitter," Eliot said, sitting on the edge of the master bath watching Nate shave.

"Eliot," Nate said, concentrating on getting the tricky bit right under his nose. "Maybe you remember what happened yesterday."

"But we promise to be good! No painting or punching or whatever. Please!"

Nate paused, looking at his son. It wasn't often that Eliot begged. Usually he took his fate with a grumble, but he took it. The "please" meant he was serious about this, and it was making Nate reconsider. Eliot could be extremely responsible when he wanted to but … "Look, Eliot, it's just for a couple of hours, okay? If things go well tonight, next time Mom and I go out you can babysit."

Eliot scowled. "But why not tonight?"

"Prove to me tonight that you're responsible enough not to need a babysitter, Eliot."

The little boy sighed and folded his arms across his chest. "Fine. But it's not that crazy girl with braces again, is it?"

"First of all, that's not a nice way to talk about people. Even if she was a little crazy. So no, it's not her. It's one of my friends from where I used to work," Nate explained, turning back to the mirror. "His name is Sterling."

Eliot wrinkled his nose. "That's a dumb name."

Nate just looked at him, eyebrows raised.

The little boy rolled his eyes. "Sorry. A ridiculous name."

Nate frowned.

"Unintelligent."

"Do you fail your vocabulary quizzes on purpose?"

Eliot froze, his gaze shifting to the side. "Nope," he said, and made a hasty exit.

Nate shook his head.

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"Mommy, I don't want you to go," Alec pouted, his feet dangling from the edge of his parents' bed.

Sophie paused in her careful consideration of her wardrobe.

"Me either," Parker said, perched on top of Sophie's dresser.

""It's only for a couple of hours," she told them gently. "Daddy's friend will come and play with you, and before you know it, we'll be home."

Alec stared at her with his huge, dark eyes, his bottom lip poking out just a little. "I'm sorry I emailed your boss. Just please stay?"

Sophie's heart melted a little and she sat on the bed, putting her arms around the small boy. "Alec, I'm not leaving because of the email. Sometimes Daddy and I just need some time away from the house."

"It's not fair," Parker said, her eyes narrowed.

"Parker," Sophie warned. "Be good tonight. No hiding, no stealing."

"Can I steal just a little bit if I give it back?"

"Absolutely not. That still counts," Sophie told her. She looked at them both, catching their eyes. "I love you very much, but I need to finish getting ready. Do you think you can go find Eliot?"

Parker climbed off the dresser and Alec slid off the bed.

"Promise you'll come back?" Parker asked quietly, pausing at the door.

Sophie smiled. "I promise."