Tom walked into his house to hear the kids in the family room. He felt a smile grace his face as he made his way to the kitchen. Tom saw his wife grabbing a wine glass and already had a bottle of wine in her hand. Tom saw that it was a good bottle of wine. He raised an eyebrow at her. B'Elanna didn't smile at him.
"I am done dealing with your children tonight," B'Elanna started for the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Tom asked. He took a quick glance in the family room to see what a mess the children had made it. There was a movie playing on the screen. The children were playing some games and weren't watching the movie.
"I am going to take a long hot bath and enjoy this bottle of wine," B'Elanna continued for the stairs.
"Why?" Tom mumbled to his wife.
It was the wrong question to ask because B'Elanna threw him a look before stopping on the stairs. "I have been dealing with your children all night. Somewhere they got all this energy and I've tried to get it out of them all day. It seemed nothing was working. I finally gave up," B'Elanna started up the stairs again. She stopped at the top. "They have eaten dinner. All they need is a bath and put them to bed."
Tom watched his wife walk down the hall down to their room. He heard the door closed. He only hoped that she didn't lock the door. He didn't want to sleep in the guest room tonight. Tom sighed and looked towards the family room to see the children still playing. He couldn't blame his wife because he had left her alone with their children for the day while he caught up with some old friends from the academy.
Tom made his way to the family room and the children saw him. "Daddy," "Dad," They scream at him.
He smiled at them. "What have you been doing all night?" He asked. He reached over and turned off the movie that was on. They weren't watching it anyways.
The children told him about their night. They had gone outside and played for a couple of hours. Tom thought that B'Elanna had tried to get some of the energy out by throwing them outside. It didn't seem to work. The children told him that B'Elanna had turned on a movie for them when they got in while she made dinner. They wanted to play and not watch a movie.
Tom looked at the mess that they had made in the room. "Alright it is time to clean up the room," All the children shook their heads. Tom had to take a breath because he now knew why his wife had a bottle of wine.
"Dad, we want to play all night?" Miral smiled at him. The smile would work on him normally but not tonight.
Tom glanced at the clock by the screen. He knew that it was late, He had to get the kids to bed because they had to be at his sister's house tomorrow for brunch. "I hate to break it to you but no. We must be at Aunt Nomoi's house tomorrow morning."
"I don't want to go," Xavier yelled out.
Tom had to massage his temples before he started yelling at the children. He saw that Miral and Selena were shaking their heads too. "May I ask why?"
"They are mean to us," Xavier said.
Tom had a feeling that they were talking about their cousins, but he asked anyways. "Who?"
"David and Ian," Selena said.
Tom sighed. David and Ian were the closest to his children's age. "How are they mean?" He asked.
"They won't let us play with their toys," Xavier said.
"I'm sorry, but you can bring your own toys tomorrow and not have to worry about them," Tom tried to find a way out of this. The children nodded. "But right now, we need to clean up this room."
The children moaned but started to clean up their toys. Tom helped them by picking up the pillows on the floor and putting them back on the couch. Once the room was back in order, Tom led the children upstairs to the bathroom. He bathed Selena first then Xavier, but Miral wanted to shower by herself. Tom let her. He knew that his daughter was growing up and didn't want her parents to help her. He read a story to the younger two while Miral showered. Selena and Xavier were out before Tom finished the story. He checked on Miral to see that she was in bed, already reading a book. Tom told her not to stay up late reading. Miral only nodded at him.
Tom made his way down the hall to the room he shared with B'Elanna. He opened the door quietly to make sure that B'Elanna hadn't locked the door. Tom poked his head in first and saw that B'Elanna was laying in bed. She looked up from the PADD she was reading.
"Are the children asleep?" B'Elanna asked.
Tom took that as he was allowed in the room. He stepped in and closed the door behind him. "Yes, for the most part," B'Elanna raised an eyebrow. "Miral is reading in her bed." Tom slowly made his way to bed. B'Elanna nodded as she watched her husband. She could tell that he was up to something.
Tom climbed on the bed and crawled over to B'Elanna. She watched him the whole time. "What are you doing?" B'Elanna asked.
Tom smiled. "I got the children to bed," He leaned over and pulled the PADD out of her hand and placed it on her bedside table. B'Elanna watched his hand the whole time. "I think that it is time that I got their mother to bed," Tom leaned down and kissed her. B'Elanna moaned.
B'Elanna wrapped her arms around Tom's neck to pull him closer to her. Tom pulled down the blanket that was covering B'Elanna. Tom was ready to pull the top of her pajamas off when they heard their door open.
"Mommy, Daddy, I had a bad dream. Can I come and sleep between you?" Selena asked from the doorway.
"Yeah," B'Elanna let go of Tom and held out the blanket so Selena could climb in bed. Tom stood as Selena crawled in bed next to B'Elanna.
Tom picked up his pajamas and headed for the bathroom. He changed and brushed his teeth before he was ready to head back to bed when he saw the empty bottle of wine and dirty wine glass. He picked up the bottle and the glass. He smiled as he entered the bedroom. Selena was already asleep with B'Elanna running her fingers through Selena's hair. Tom smiled before placing the bottle and the glass on B'Elanna's dresser. He climbed in on his side of the bed. He looked down at the sleeping child before looking back at B'Elanna.
"Did you enjoy your bath?" Tom asked.
"Yeah," B'Elanna looked up and smiled. "I'm sorry you had to put our children to bed alone."
Tom was about to tell her it was no problem when he realized what she said. "You said our children." B'Elanna rolled her eyes. Tom laughed. "You had to deal with them all night."
B'Elanna nodded. "Did you have fun with your old friends?"
Tom sighed. He glanced down at the sleeping child between them. "I did and I realized how much we changed. They were still having a good time when I left."
"You didn't stay?" B'Elanna asked. "You could have. I could have gotten…" Tom put a hand up to stop her.
"I kept thinking about you and children while I was there. I wanted to be home with you and kids," B'Elanna leaned over Selena and kissed him. "Even those we can't have a moment to ourselves," Tom mumbled.
B'Elanna laughed before settling down. She wrapped her arm around Selena. Tom watched as his wife closed her eyes. There was a smile on her face. Tom smiled before settling down. He reached for B'Elanna's hand, and she gave it a squeeze. Tom knew that he couldn't be a happier man than what he was right now with his wife and children.