"Are you sure you're ready to cook with the kids?" a slightly skeptical Tommy asked his husband. He didn't doubt Evan but their kids' attention spans made him doubt they were ready to do this.
"Please, I've done this so many times with Jee and Joy. Plus, all my years of experience with Chris. We got this." Their nieces loved helping him in the kitchen. Chris had been over it for a long time, however. "As long as you're helping me, that is?" Buck batted his eyelashes at him.
"Yes, I'll help you." Tommy sighed before leaning over and kissing him. "What do you need me to grab?"
"Find the mixer for me," Buck ordered just as their four year old twins barrelled into the kitchen. Zelda and Lorelei had been begging to help them with dinner all day.
Zelda tugged on his apron. "Daddy, please! Papa?" She turned to Tommy, hope in her eyes.
"Want to help me find the mixer?" Tommy offered. The girls rushed towards the counter, eager to please.
Buck's gaze turned towards the playpen, where two year old Cordelia was happily playing with blocks. The bassinet holding eight week old Finola rocked back and forth, keeping their youngest (and last) child asleep. He and Tommy adored all four of their beautiful, wonderful girls. "Everything okay in there?" he asked, squatting down to check in on the toddler.
Cordelia babbled something at him just as Tommy helped the twins onto their stools. They still couldn't reach the cabinet holding the mixer but that didn't matter to Zelda and Lorelei. Tommy opened the cabinet door and reached in for the mixer. He set it down on the counter. "You sure you two want to carry this?" he asked them. This was a disaster waiting to happen and would likely end in tears if they dropped it.
Zelda glared at Tommy, reminding him so much of Evan his heart burst with love. "Papa, we will carry it."
"Our job," chimed in Lorelei.
"Okay, but you need to be really careful. Both of you need to carry it because it's too heavy for one of you." Tommy planned to be right in front of them as they made their way to the other side of the kitchen.
Buck stood up and walked behind them just in case they went the other way. Fortunately, they made it to their destination without getting sidetracked or any falls, which was a miracle. "Good job, my sweet girls." He pressed a kiss to both their foreheads and then got started.
Tommy grabbed some butter and handed it over to his husband, steadfastly ignoring Zelda's glare (she wanted to get it, naturally).
"What ares we eating?" questioned a curious Lorelei.
"Roast, mashed potatoes, rolls, and some vegetables," Tommy informed her, unsurprised when her nose wrinkled up in disgust at that last one. Lorelei Kinard, certified vegetable hater.
They didn't need the mixer quite yet - the potatoes still had to be peeled - much to Zelda's annoyance but she seethed in silence about it, much to her fathers' amusement. Tommy grabbed the peeler and started slicing the potatoes.
Meanwhile, Buck checked on the roast in the crockpot, making sure to baste it. Then he peered into the oven, thankful the rolls were cooking just fine. Buck and Tommy exchanged a quick kiss over the potatoes, laughing when the twins groaned.
They had just finished washing up the potatoes and were ready to put them into the pot to start cooking when all hell broke loose (naturally). Cordelia threw a block out of her playpen and started whining for it, at which point Finola woke up and began screaming. "Welcome to the Kinard home," Buck deadpanned.
"Where chaos reigns and silence is not a factor," a laughing Tommy shot back. "Let's roll."
Lorelei handed Cordelia's block back to her and huffed in annoyance when her younger sister threw it right back out and started complaining about it again. "Stop that!" she ordered as she bent down to pick said block up again.
Finola quieted down in Tommy's arms, while Buck finished up with the potatoes and turned the burner on on the stove to start cooking them.
Dinner would surprisingly be ready on time. For now, Buck and Tommy savored this moment, this family they had built together.
Dinner would probably be a mess, as per usual, but that was just fine with them.