Title : Robcina Week Day 3 - Children
Description: You'd think dealing with their older, time traveling children would have prepared Robin and Lucina for when they'd have children themselves. Turns out they were wrong. So very, very wrong. Turns out the twins as toddlers were so much harder to keep out of trouble than their older selves.
Notes: Written for Day 3 of Robcina Week 2020
"Hold still, dear," Lucina said, trying her best to keep the squirming toddler before her to stand in place long enough to wipe the chocolate smudged around the girl's lips. At last, despite her daughter's resistance, Lucina succeeded in cleaning away the caked-on food. "There, isn't that better?" she asked, releasing her hand from the girl.
Morgan puffed out her cheeks, blowing a razzberry in her mother's direction in what could only be a show of her immense displeasure and boundless annoyance at being restrained for even a moment. She crossed her arms, pouting as she stomped off, as if to show her mother just how annoyed she was. However, the girl managed to only keep this up for a few steps before, as entirely expected, her attention was grabbed by the pile of books and leatherbound tomes she'd been using as toy blocks, causing her to hurry over and resume playing as if forgetting the oh-so-very-rude interruption.
Lucina could only smile as she watched her daughter play. Rolling up the damp cleaning cloth she'd used, Lucina returned it to the basin of water stowed away at the corner of the room.
A loud crashing sound from somewhere behind her without warning caused Lucina to jump in surprise. Whirling around, she sprinted into the kitchen, skidding to a stop as she found Marc, standing completely unharmed, in the middle of every single pot and pan within the small kitchen strewn about the floor. Marc was wearing a colander on his head like an armored helm, having evidently caused devastation in his attempt to pull it from the shelves, waving around his toy sword in mock combat with foes only seen by him.
"Marc..." Lucina sighed, half in relief that he was unharmed, and half in exasperation.
Marc froze at her voice, then slowly turned guiltily to face her. "Opps," he said in a delayed apology, almost as if attempting to pass off the fact he'd only then noticed the mess he'd caused.
"Lucina? What was that?" a voice called down from upstairs, concern evident in its voice.
"It's nothing, dear. Our Marc just made a mess in the kitchen," Lucina answered, cupping a hand to the side of her mouth to better project her voice back upstairs to reach her husband.
"Oh. Do you need any help?" Robin asked.
"No, it is alright. I can-" Lucina's reply was cut short as she turned around to find Marc nowhere to be seen. For such a young child, he certainly was adept at escaping anytime he was to be scolded. "On second thought, can you locate Marc on my behalf? He seems to have slipped out of sight the moment I looked away. Make sure he doesn't get into any further mischief while I tidy this up"
"On it," came Robin's reply, followed by heavy footsteps coming down the stairs as Lucina's husband sought after the fleeing toddler.
Those two… they certainly are a handful, Lucina mused, setting about picking up the scattered pots and pans. Even the opportunity to get used to raising the twins' older, time-traveling selves had scarcely prepared Robin and herself for what it would be like to keep the two of them out of trouble on a daily basis.
Returning the last pan to its rightful place on the shelf, Lucina returned to the living room. "Morgan, how are you-" she called out, only to stop herself as she saw that her daughter was no longer where she'd left her. Only the two high stacks of books, so high that the toddler would have had to climb up the lower books to place those on top, indicated that she'd have been there for at least some time. Gods, where did she get off to now? Lucina wondered.
"Lucina? I have Marc, but…. we may have another problem," Robin said, Lucina turning to find her husband standing before an open window overlooking their backyard. Sure enough he had Marc held in his arms, their son squirming in futile attempt to wriggle free down to the floor. However, Robin seemed to be paying little heed to Marc's attempts, instead regarding the garden outside with a visible grimace.
"Oh no," Lucina whispered, her shoulders slumping as she already dreaded the reply to her forthcoming question. "What is it this time?"
"Well… Morgan seems to have gotten outside somehow and is digging up one of the flower beds… again," Robin answered. He lifted his free hands to his face, dragging it down over his skin as he looked so very, very tired. Certainly at least as exhausted as Lucina felt. "Do you want me to…"
"No, I'll attend to it. Just, please, keep Marc from making any other messes in the meanwhile?" Lucina pleaded, already hurrying to the still locked front door. Pulling it aside and rounding the building, she was greeted with the sight of a mound of dirt piled along one of the paths through the garden. Uprooted flowers were strewn among the pile like so much debris, joined every few moments by another shovel full of dirt tossed up to the top.
Stepping over to the lip of the hole, Lucina found it already several feet deep. She briefly wondered how Morgan had excavated this much soil in such a short time, but then remembered this was Morgan she was talking about. Sure enough Morgan was right down at the bottom, covered head to toe in dirt, and shoveling away with a small garden spade.
Lucina cleared her throat loudly, placing her hands on her hips as she gazed down into the pit.
Morgan stopped digging, slowly turning up to look at her. She grinned, showing the few gaps near the backs where her last few baby teeth were still coming in. "Hi mommy!"
"What are you up to, Morgan?" Lucina asked, keeping her hands on her hips.
"Nuthin," Morgan said unconvincingly, giggling as she tried to hide the shovel behind her back.
"Doesn't look like it to me," Lucina told her daughter. Reaching down, she picked up the girl from beneath her armpits, hauling her up out of the hole. "Now, do you want to tell me the truth?"
"I... " Morgan giggled again, then nodded. "Diggin' a pit-full trap! Like sis showed me!" she said, Lucina knowing well enough that she was referring to her older self.
Of course she did. She would need to talk to Morgan about teaching her younger self bad habits. Not that Lucina expected her to listen.
"Are you mad, Mommy?" Morgan asked, seeing her displeased expression.
"A little bit, but as long as you're sorry, it's okay," Lucina said with a sigh.
"I'm sorry," Morgan quickly said, blinking at her with her big, round, blue eyes.
"Then I'm no longer mad," Lucina said, trying to smile. Setting her daughter down, she brushed away some of the dirt from her tangled mop of blue hair, before taking her by her hand. "Now, let's get you a bath. You're quite filthy."
"Aawwwww, but I dun wanna!" Morgan pouted, even as Lucina led her back into the house.
. . . . .
One bath later, followed by a change of clothes as the prior ones got completely soaked in the process due to Morgan seeing fit to splash her with water every few minutes, Lucina collapsed onto the sofa alongside her husband. Thankfully both Morgan and Marc were now asleep in Robin's lap, her husband having seen fit to get them settled down for a nap while she'd changed into dry clothes. Compared to before, the twins looked peaceful now, smiling blissfully in their sleep.
"Some day, huh?" Robin asked, turning his head to regard her with a weary look.
"Yes… and it's barely an hour past noon," Lucina replied. She leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder and draping an arm around his neck to trail her hand across his chest.
"Yeah, certainly we can't count our blessings just yet." Robin tilted his head down, planting a kiss upon her forehead. "We may have peace and quiet now, but they'll be up and at it again soon enough, I fear."
"They are a handful, I'll give them that… sometimes I fear we are still terribly out of our depth when it comes to being parents, Robin," Lucina confided.
"Without a doubt," Robin laughed. Then, evidently seeing the quizzical look she aimed his way, asked. "What? Did you think I'd argue? I certainly have no idea what I'm doing."
"No. Though I can't say I expected you to admit it so readily." Lucina chucked, shaking her head.
"Fair enough," Robin conceded, leaning down to kiss her again. "That said, we have somehow managed fine so far. I think we'll make it… even if we end up having no idea how we did,"
"Yes. Of that at least I have faith," Lucina said, kissing him back. Then she glanced down, her gaze falling on her two sleeping children. Her heart always fluttered when she saw them like this: so peaceful and free of worry or fear. Having the chance to live the life she'd never had. To know that they'd be safe and happy in a future she and Robin had forged for themselves
"But, it's worth it. I wouldn't give this up for anything," Lucina said, smiling deeper.
"And neither would I."