Work Text:
“I’ll never get up from the floor again,” Tom groaned with a laugh as he lay down on the soft carpet in their living room. Raising their eyebrows, Benjamin and Emiliana flopped down onto the sofa, watching their father with amusement.
“Come on, Dad, it wasn’t that exhausting,” his son grinned, referring to their afternoon at the swimming pool.
“And you’ve been lying around most of the time anyway,” Emiliana agreed with a cheeky grin and Tom merely stuck his tongue out at her.
“Don’t mock your ageing father, misses,” he mumbled with a smirk, closing his eyes as he folded his hands over his still sculpted and muscular chest.
“Oh dear me, what did you do to him?,” Paula asked, laughing quietly, as she stepped into the living room, their twins safely in her arms.
“Nothing, he just likes to whine,” Ben winked and got up to take his little sister Sophie from his mother’s arms. Immediately, he started cooing at her, gently tickling her tummy and relishing the sound of her happy gurgling and her big, bright smile that was directed at him and only him.
“I think your Daddy needs some love, my dear,” Paula mumbled into Max’ ear and carefully, she placed him onto the soft rug underneath her feet.
“Hello my gorgeous boy,” Tom smiled, brightly, opening his eyes as the little boy felt for his father’s soft hair, gurgling quietly. “Do you want to give Daddy a kiss, eh?,” he added and his blue eyes were met by the biggest smile from his precious baby boy.
Content and incredibly happy, Paula watched her family from the doorway. Emmy and Ben were still cooing over their little sister who adored them with all her heart while Tom and Max shared a few probably rather sloppy kisses and tender caresses. Jasper watched over them all from his favourite spot on the window sill, his ginger fur gleaming in the warm and golden afternoon sun.
Life wasn’t always bright and perfect, she knew that. But in moments like these, with her loved ones close together and the room lit up by smiles and happiness, she almost felt like it would stay like this forever.
She blushed a little as Tom’s eyes met hers. Sitting up with Max snuggled to his chest, he bit his lip, his eyes roaming over the slender yet feminine body of his wife. His son’s searching hands distracted him shortly after, though, and once more he focused all his attention on the little boy who seemed fascinated by the stubble on his Daddy’s cheek, by the fluffiness of his hair, and the warmth in his eyes.
“Why don’t you go and have a shower before dinner, hm? To get the chlorine out of your hair,” Paula suggested with a loving smile at the older twins and both nodded, Ben gently handing his younger sister back to her.
“What’s for dinner?,” Emmy asked with a smile, cuddling up to Paula, breathing in her scent that she loved so much just like everything else about the woman who had stepped into their lives all those years ago, healing wounds and mending hearts.
“Fish and Chips. That is if your Dad can still conjure up the strength to go to the Fish & Chips Shop,” the blonde woman laughed quietly, pressing a kiss onto Emiliana’s hair.
“Come on, Daddy! Be strong and get up! Dinner is at stake,” Ben laughed before he quickly exited the living room to run upstairs and shower. His sister followed suit, occupying the other bathroom so her rumbling stomach could soon be calmed while her father downstairs had yet to be persuaded to actually get up from the ground again.
“I really am getting old,” Tom grinned as he finally got up and walked the few meters over to his beloved wife.
“Don’t be silly,” Paula chuckled, cuddling up to him with Sophie leaning against her chest.
“I love you.” It was quiet, a mere whisper, even against the silence in the room now, and she looked up at him, blushing a bit despite having heard this so often in the past.
“I love you, too. So very much,” she mumbled in return and kissed him gently if shortly as Max and Sophie once more demanded their attention.