MHA #6 Saturday Morning

[arboreal_priestess]

Two years ago, Verity had been caught flat-footed by the sudden appearance of two tiny, adorable cherubs calling her 'Mom.' Last year, Verity had been prepared for that, but had been taken aback by the sudden appearance of a third child, a young boy who called her 'Ate,' which meant big sister, but she was basically a parent to him, too, in this weird and distant future.

This year, however...this year, Verity was prepared. There were already pancakes being prepared, with fruit to make silly faces on them. Multiple kid-friendly movies were queued up on various devices for when the kids got bored and needed entertainment. Brightly-colored plastic cups and bowls were stacked on the counter so that even the most rambunctious kid could get their own food, with chicken nuggets shaped like dinosaurs and sugary cereals ready for whenever a capricious appetite demanded.

Hell, they even had extras, in case a new kid or two showed up.

Take that, past!Verity. Nothing could throw this year's Verity.

Comments

[nextoftheirkind]

"Nothing we're allowed to talk about," Tyrus reiterated. "Sorry." He sort of wished Hayley hadn't even kicked things off by bringing up James, but he couldn't blame her for being excited about the wedding next week; they all were. "So!" he said brightly. "What other stuff did you have planned, Mom?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"I'm not a huge fan of this rule," Verity said, frowning.

[nextoftheirkind]

"But it's your dumb rule," Hayley pointed out.

[arboreal_priestess]

"Okay then," Verity said. "I hereby rescind that rule."

There. That was fixed nicely.

[foundgeneration]

Except then, all the kids started laughing. "You really think you didn't think of that?" William asked. "Or that even if you had, Dad wouldn't? Yeah, sorry, Regular!mom rules trump tiny!mom rules."

[nextoftheirkind]

"It really is for the best," Tyrus said, still smiling a bit but his voice was quiet, serious. "It's probably not going to feel that way, exactly. But it really is."

[firstofitskind]

Liam reached over to clasp Verity's hand, squeezing gently. "We'll let it go," he said, tone matching Tyrus'.

That something serious was going to happen down the line wasn't exactly surprising; cryptozoology wasn't an easy line of work, after all. Still. Didn't mean they had to like it.

And just because he was promising to let it go for now didn't mean he wasn't going to try and fish for any bits and pieces the kids might be willing to let drop over the weekend.

[nextoftheirkind]

"Good," the boys chorused in unison while Hayley continued to frown. The rule was important and she knew it...

But it was still a stupid rule that she absolutely hated. Both of those things could be true at once.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity dropped a kiss on Hayley's head, recognizing that furrow between her brows. "Okay, so Tyrus, you wanted to know what we had planned for the day?" she asked in a cheery voice that absolutely didn't match the mood of the room.

But Liam had promised they'd drop it and so drop it they would.

"Well, we had a bunch of movies lined up, some of Disney's Greatest Hits and stuff, but I think you might be a little too old for that."

[nextoftheirkind]

Hayley frowned even harder. "Ughhhhhhhhhh," she groaned. "Nooooo. That's kids stuff!"

[nextoftheirkind]

"That your way of saying you wanna watch Frozen III again, shortstack?" Tyrus smirked.

Yeah, those were fighting words, but it was an easy way to get everybody's mind away from the future and back into the now.

[nextoftheirkind]

"Don't call me shortstack, Tyrant!" Hayley growled. "I'm still your big sister!"

[foundgeneration]

"Not actually looking so big over here," William supplied, picking up on what Tyrus was doing.

[firstofitskind]

Drop it? Yes. Forget it? Not so much.

But in the meantime...

“Boys,” Liam chastised. “Stop teasing your sister.”

Probably would’ve been a lot more intimidating a rebuke if he hadn’t been trying to bite back a goofy smile as he said it. Look, he just really loved this time of year, okay?

[nextoftheirkind]

“Frozen III is a cinematic masterpiece, anyway,” said Hayley primly, the fact that she’d denounced Disney movies as ‘kid stuff’ a mere five minutes ago notwithstanding.

[foundgeneration]

"Well, it was the first same-sex Disney movie," William agreed. Because he wasn't particularly fussed about liking Disney flicks. "Won an Oscar and everything."

[nextoftheirkind]

"Oh but that's not a spoiler," Hayley snorted.

[nextoftheirkind]

"No, but using it as an excuse to kiss the cutest girl in your class might be," Tyrus teased.

Then looked back at Liam, guilty. "Sorry, Dad."

[firstofitskind]

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to," Liam pointed out mildly. But then he was frowning a little at Hayley.

"Aren't you a little young to be going around kissing anyone just yet?"

[nextoftheirkind]

"Oh my god, Dad, I'm not a baby anymore," Hayley said, rolling her eyes. "I'm eleven."

She hadn't been offended by Tyrus's teasing. She maintained she'd kissed more cute girls than he had.

[firstofitskind]

"Hmph," Liam grumbled.

[foundgeneration]

Was William just gonna snicker into his pancakes?

Yes, yes he was.

Because this was word-for-word the exact conversation Hayley and older!Dad had had.

[nextoftheirkind]

"How old were you when you first started kissing Mom?" Hayley asked. Sweetly.

That was some pure Price right there.

[arboreal_priestess]

Which was why Verity was snickering into her coffee cup, yup. Wow. It was weird to hear your exact tone of voice coming out of your mini-me's mouth.

[firstofitskind]

"It doesn't matter, because I was an adult," Liam pointed out. "So. Fine. No kissing for you until you're one too."

He was well aware that he had no way of enforcing this.