Chapter Text
»Say ›Cheeeeeeese!‹«
Eren looked straight in the camera, smiling with his three front teeth while his eyes became narrow thanks to his cheekies.
In the meantime Levi stared at Zeke, who sat next to Carla and let the little boy's favourite cuddly animal dance on the grassland in order to make him smile. His mission succeeded.
The light was perfect for a little photoshoot; Kenny hunkered down next to the little, inflatable pool and started to make soap bubbles with water and dish soap. After all, the 'kiddos' should be happy.
However, the camera took a picture of the boys with a flash - Carla forgot to turn it off -, which frightened Levi and eventually made him cry, letting big crocodile tears roll down his porcelain face.
With short arms reaching out for his mother and little sobs also alarming her, he was picked up by Kuchel and pressed to her chest, wetting her entire shirt with the tap water dripping from his legs.
»Ssssh... There, there... Everything is alright, Sweetie Pie...«, she tried to calm her so down with an angelic voice.
Eren observed Levi for a short while with mouth agape before he suddenly started to cry, too. Zeke crawled closer to his brother and embraced his small frame. »Hey, hey, don't cry... Your big bro is right here.«
The second the raven-haired boy stopped wailing, Eren's tears stopped falling.
»Uff, at least the photograph turned out great«, Grisha mumbled after viewing the screen when Carla pulled her sunglasses down and holding the camera up.
Kenny stood up and took his nephew from Kuchel, after the little paddies reached for him of course, letting Levi sit on his hip. »Oh, so there is a time when you wanna be held by your uncle, eh?«
The toddler nodded and started to touch Kenny's face, pulling on his facial hair and staring at it with wide eyes.
»What's the deal with ya? Don'tcha like my beard?«
Levi shook his head and said »Kenny«, nothing more. He was very taciturn for his age.
But he let his hands speak when he punched his uncle's nose, earning an obviously fake »Pow, right in the kisser« to please the now grinning child.
»You're an Ackerman, that's for sure.«
But when Levi began to whine, wanting to be with Eren in the pool again, Kenny sat him softly on the ground and watched him crawl back into the pool to his early childhood friend.
Zeke held Eren's hands and made grimaces; his baby brother's laughs ringed out.
So Levi became jealous, pulled on Zeke's sleeve and stretched his little hands out for him.
»Oh, you too?«
The blonde boy was a hero in their eyes; after all, he was already 8 years old and with that a big boy.
Kuchel watched the scene while rubbing her belly. If everything will happen according to her plan, she would be able to gift her family with yet another child and let her son have another sibling in February.
Admittedly, there was no man in her life anymore, but that didn't mean that she couldn't raise 3 kids alone. There were lots of single moms.
Furthermore, she was blessed with a big family and every member lived in the same street; namely Rose Street, in the 3rd and 4th house.
Carla placed a hat on Eren's head, before her husband and Kenny put some sun creme on the toddlers' skins again.
Meanwhile Zeke brought them their toys, including little ships and several squeaky ducks.
That way, the children had their fun and the adults' hearts melted watching them and their genuine joy.
Kuchel couldn't stop examining her little boy in his new light blue bathers with a yellow duck print, wearing these little sun glasses with a sunflower print on the frame.
He was pure sugar.
»Dad? Can I please go inside? It's so hot and sunny, and, you know, we bought this game, ›Tomb Raider - The Angel of Darkness‹ last week... it waits for me to play it!« Zeke had a crush on Lara Croft, but honestly, who didn't?
Grisha stared at his boy, considering it. »Okay, but only if you don't forget drinking water while playing. And don't turn the volume up; Mikasa should be asleep at this time.«
Eren splashed around in the pool, loved the water and appeared to be extremely happy.
His duck would sometimes collide with one of Levi's ships, while they were making ›Quak‹ and ›Chhhu‹ sounds, imitating their toys.
It was most certainly the most perfect day of that year's summer.
After a while, Zeke came back outside with Mikasa in his arms; she sucked at her soother and her eyes told how calm and cheerful she was despite being utterly tired.
In contrast to Levi, she was a very quiet child that didn't need too much attention.
»She wanted to leave the crib, so I thought it was time to let her run wild.«
Kenny took his niece from Zeke and noticed her pink baby dress, a gift from Carla.
She and Kuchel were secretly happy about Mikasa being a girl; enabling them to give her all their dresses from their own toddler days. They also planned on gifting her their fancy clothing from the 80s and 90s when she would become a young lady.
»You wanna go to your brother?», Mikasa's uncle asked her, while she watched Eren and Levi play in the water before stretching her arms out in their direction and making a sound that should express her wish to play with them - »Gaaah!«
Thereupon Kuchel unpacked an innovation - swimming diapers - before changing her daughter's nappies to ›splashers‹ and sitting her to her brother and Eren in pool.
Yet again, Carla took a photo of the little scene, but not before Zeke crouched down next to the pool again to entertain the toddlers, neglecting Lara Croft to get splashed with water by his baby brother Eren.
Mikasa just sat on her bum, studying the other three until she suddenly grasped Zeke's arm only to start a wobbly attempt to stand up and finally fail.
But she didn't mind as she started to splash with water like her brother, her hero.