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“Sit still Jack.” Penthesilea fiddled with the hair brush. “I said sit still.”
“I don’t wanna. Why can’t I just go as is?”
“Because,” the berserker replied, “your mothers wanted you to look presentable before they got back. And you haven’t brushed your hair in months.”
“Its Nursery’s birthday! You should look nice!” Jeanne scolded as Atalanta sat quietly brushing her hair, sticking her tongue out at Jack who also promptly stuck her tongue out in retaliation.
“I don’t mind,” Nursery giggled. “It just means that mommy will give me and Jeanne more cake.”
“Oh yeah! And why’s that?”
“Because we are good girls who actually brushed our hair.”
“There’s no way that’s true!” Jack humphed before turning away from her sisters. Penthesilea sighed, and continued to brush the girl’s hair. “Not like I believe them or anything, but can you make sure my hair looks extra nice?”
“Certainly.”
-
“Now, now girls, don’t fight. We just finished getting you ready for your dinner. Do you want to spill milk all over your pretty dresses and not be able to go?”
All three girls immediately stopped grabbing at the plate of cookies that Atalanta had placed on the table, instead opting to quietly consume the cookies they had only moments before been battling over. “That’s better,” the archer said with a smile.
“What do you say girls?” Penthesilea snagged a cookie, fixing the three with a look as she took a bite.
“Thanks Miss Atalanta.”
“Thank you.”
“It’s delicious. Thank you.”
The berserker nodded, munching slowly as she watched the ruffians finish off the snack.
“What about you?” Looking up, she found Atalanta staring at her. “What do you say?”
Leaning up a little, the berserker pressed a quick kiss to the girl’s cheek. “Thank you.” she whispered into Atalanta’s ear before leaning back and finishing off the rest of her cookie. Everyone tacitly decided not to mention the blush on both the berserker and archer’s faces.
-
“Come on now girls, your mothers will be here any minute.” Atalanta frantically pulled together the numerous toys the girls had brought with them while Penthesilea helped them into their jackets.
“Make sure to stay bundled up tight. Britain can get very cold at night, especially with that much fog.” Penthesilea finished zipping up Jeanne’s coat. “Don’t want you catching a cold. Got it?”
“Yes,” came the muffled reply.
“Jack?”
“Got it!”
“Nursery?”
“I understand.”
“Good.” Penthesilea wrapped the girl in a hug. “Have a great birthday. Enjoy yourself.”
The small girl nodded, smiling from ear to ear. “I definitely will!”
“Right, does everyone have everything. You won’t be back here till the day after tomorrow, so make sure you have everything. Oh! That must be them.” Atalanta finally had all the toys back in the bag, when she was interrupted by a knock at their door.
Brushing herself off, the archer went to stand beside Penthesilea as the berserker opened the door. Moments after the door was open, a faint blur that looked a lot like Jack rushed into the hallway with a loud “Mommy!”
“Woah!” Helena barely managed to steady herself against the sudden bolt. “Missed us that much did you?”
Jack didn’t reply, choosing instead to continue aggressively hugging the caster.
“I hope they were not too much trouble,” the saber standing in the hallway remarked.
“Not at all.” Atlanta gave Nursery and Jeanne a quick hug as they filtered into the hallway. “Though we did have a slight bit of trouble getting Jack’s hair done.”
“You promised you wouldn’t tell!”
“Just because Penth promised, doesn’t mean I did,” the archer retorted.
“Mommy, I want a piggyback ride.” Jack glowered at Atalanta before turning back to Helena.
“Hmm, that seems more up Altera’s alley,” the caster said, a smirk spreading across her face as she looked across at her wife. Altera, on the other hand, had a face of utter horror as she watched her wife sell her out. All three kids immediately began clamoring to be given a ride.
Snickering at the scene, Helena turned back to the duo. “Thanks for looking after them on such short notice. Master was awfully sorry about the emergency ember farming. She thought she had more stored up.”
“That’s alright.” The berserker shifted slightly allowing the archer to hand the bag of toys to Helena.”
“They are welcome here anytime,” Atlanta added.
Altera finally decided to give Nursery Rhyme the ride (it was her birthday after all), bending down to allow the girl to crawl onto her back. Seeing this, Helena said her goodbyes before shooing her wife and kids down the hallway towards the rayshift chambers. They didn’t want to be late for dinner. Penthesilea and Atalanta stood waving after the group, watching them leave with smiles on their faces.
“Enjoy your dinner! Happy birthday Nursery!” The archer shouted at the retreating forms, before the two were left alone in their doorway.
“Now I’m tired.” Penthesilea turned to look at Atalanta.
“Me too.”
“Come on let’s have dinner.”
“Oh, are you cooking?” Atlanta asked with a teasing lilt to her voice.
“It’s the least I can do after that delicious cookie.”
“You know I got those from Emiya right?”
“Do you want dinner or not?”
“Yes please!”