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Child-proofing Johnny’s apartment was not something Simon thought he’d be doing with his Friday night.
It had been a couple of days since the semi-disastrous dinner at Johnny’s childhood home, and the pair had spent the majority of it relaxing, going on runs, and trying to find somewhere where the tea didn’t taste like dishwater. Johnny was currently tidying up the living room and kitchen while Simon moved their gear to the top shelf of their closet. He had asked why they couldn’t just lock their bedroom door, but Johnny had rolled his eyes like he was stupid and told him that the kids were craftier than they looked.
Clara and Elliot had planned to spend Saturday in Edinburgh, and since Johnny was in town, had decided that he was convenient babysitting for the day. Simon had been less than overjoyed at the idea of looking after two kids for the day, but Johnny had agreed. They needed to get some shopping done, and Johnny had told him that the kids could just come with them, but he wasn’t convinced. Still, there wasn’t much time to argue when he needed to carefully stash his gun and knives where he could still reach them, but the kids wouldn’t get into them and accidently put a bullet in the wall, or worse, themselves.
Simon would have liked nothing more than to spend the remaining 9 days of his leave alone with Johnny, but alas, the world didn’t work like that. And Johnny seemed excited at the prospect of spending time with his- their nieces. The girls instantly accepting the title of uncle for him had left him slightly shocked, it had been a long time since he had been an uncle, but surprisingly found he didn’t mind too much.
Soon, Johnny was grabbing his hand and pulling him to bed. The girls would be there early the next morning, so they didn’t want to stay up late. He undressed while Johnny brushed his teeth, but as soon as he pulled of his shirt, he heard a wolf whistle behind him. He turned around and threw his shirt at Johnny, who squeaked and dodged.
He did not dream that night. He had been having far fewer night terrors when he was comfortably slotted against Johnny, the man’s back to his chest, slowly rising and falling with his slow breathing. It was a welcome change.
The morning was hectic, and Simon found himself anxious and pacing at the loss of his usual routine in favour of making final preparations.
“You’ve met them before Si, it’s not like they’re gonna burn the place down,” Johnny laughed, while he was practically wearing a hole through the floor with his pacing. Simon only shot him a look at that.
Soon, Johnny was buzzing his sister into the building, and there was incessant knocking at the door, only stopping when Johnny opened the door, after checking the peephole. Elodie and Rosie instantly burst into the apartment, crashing into Johnny’s legs. They ran into the joint kitchen and living room, throwing down their backpacks.
“Hi Uncle Simon!” Elodie grinned widely, pulling off sparkly purple shoes.
“Elodie,” he said, nodding at the girl.
Johnny finished saying goodbye to Clara and joined them in the living room.
“So, girls, who’s excited to go shopping?” he asked, clapping his hands together.
“Depends what type of shopping. Food shopping is boring, but sometimes Ma and Da let us go to the toy shop, or the sweet shop,” Elodie explained.
“Well, I’ve gotta get some food so Simon and I don’t starve, but I’m sure he’d be happy to take you two to look at toys, or play in the play area,”
Simon was just shaking his head and shooting Johnny a death glare when Elodie wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Thanks Uncle Simon! You’re the best!” she yelled excitedly.
Simon was frozen until she released him, unsure of what to do with his hands.
“Come on Rosie, let’s go,” Elodie grabbed her sister’s hand and pulled her along the hallway to explore the apartment, despite it being small.
“I’m not walking around a shopping centre trying to keep track of those two lunatics,” Simon immediately said to Johnny.
Johnny reached up to put a hand on both of Simon’s arms, squeezing his biceps lightly.
“Yer gonna be fine Simon, they’re decently well behaved, and ye can call me if ye need anything,” he said, running his hands down Simon’s arms and grabbing his hands.
“Well, behaved isn’t the word I’d use, Elodie is exactly like you,”
“I can behave!” Johnny said indignantly, causing Simon to stifle a chuckle.
Johnny punched him on the shoulder, and Simon immediately went for Johnny’s middle. He grabbed the man and flipped him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.
“Ye fucking bastard! Si- fucking put me down!” he yelled squirming against Simon’s grip on his waist.
“Negative,” Simon said, walking them towards their bedroom. Johnny kept struggling until Simon stood at the foot of their bed.
“Simon what are you- no, no, no don’t!” Johnny laughed, before Simon flipped him back over his shoulder, causing him to fall onto his back on the bed and bounce on the mattress. The two girls came running in, jumping up onto the bed and clambering all over Johnny. Simon laughed, a real, full laugh as Elodie started tickling Johnny, and he squealed in a far higher pitch than should’ve come from his vocal cords. Elodie finally let off and Johnny lay panting on the bed as the two girls giggled.
Simon felt his phone buzz in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see Price’s name emblazoned on the screen. He made a shushing gesture to the three on the bed before answering.
“Captain,” he greeted, seeing Johnny’s eyes widen slightly.
“Morning Simon, hope I haven’t woken you,” Price said.
“Not at all, sir,”
“Good man. Was just calling to check in and confirm a few details about you and Soap’s return to base, as well as the mission in two weeks,”
Simon noticed Rosie creeping towards him in the corner of his eye, and was just about to respond to the captain when she launched herself at him, latching onto his shoulder.
“You fu- get off,” he hissed, holding the phone away from his mouth. Rosie promptly ignored him.
“Everything alright son?” Price asked.
“Solid,” Simon responded, still trying to shake Rosie off himself.
“Well, I’ve had flights arranged for you two, as well as a driver to pick you up from the airport,”
As Price was explaining the details of the flights, something heavy collided with Simon’s side and he landed hard on the bed, a familiar weight on top of him, pinning him down. Elodie and Rosie immediately pounced.
“Shit!” Simon yelled as Johnny’s weight held him down, and the girls immediately started tickling him. He tried not to react but couldn’t stop himself from squirming.
“Simon? Everything okay son?” Price sounded worried.
Simon’s response was cut off by Johnny getting up, and both girls immediately flopping on top of him.
“I’ll call you back, sir,” Simon managed to grit out before ending the call and throwing his phone to the side.
“You little-,” Simon grabbed both girls and started to tickle them back. Elodie and Rosie laughed and twisted in his arms. Simon was unaware of Johnny filming the entire thing. Simon sat up, pulling himself away from both girls. He finally glanced up at Johnny to see him holding up his phone, filming the whole encounter. With a scowl, he marched up to Johnny, the video quickly being ended when the phone was almost knocked out of Johnny’s hands.
“I’m sending that to Price!” Johnny said gleefully as he darted the phone away from Simon’s reaching hands. Simon growled but relented. He turned back to where the two kids were sitting, breathless on the bed, eyes alight with excitement and mischief, and Simon couldn’t help but notice that Elodie’s grey eyes were a near perfect reflection of Johnny’s.
+++++++++++++++++
“No way. I’m not playing that,” Johnny said, causing the girls to whine and complain about how unfair he was.
Simon was holding his phone, trying to pick music for the 5-minute car ride to the shopping centre. Despite the two men telling the girls that they would hardly have time for two songs if they were extremely lucky, they still insisted that they were to play the Frozen soundtrack. Despite being in the military, the two had not been living under a rock, and had, in fact, seen Frozen. Gaz had convinced the team that it would be funny to have a movie night and watch it. None of the team would admit that they actually tolerated the movie, let alone the fact that they’d all been staring at the screen in rapt attention, and Price had whispered a not-so-soft curse when Hans betrayed Anna.
“Please Uncle John! Please Uncle Simon! You’ll be my favourite uncles if you do!” Elodie whined, and Johnny sighed.
“Fine,”
The girls both cheered, and Simon scrolled through the playlist before settling on ‘In Summer’. Elodie seemed to take great pleasure in yelling ‘puddle!’ in the line where it was not meant to be said.
The music was cut off as Johnny parked the car and popped his seatbelt. Rosie struggled with hers for a second, and Simon leaned around his seat to undo it for her. Johnny grabbed Elodie and Rosie’s hands as they crossed the car park to ensure they didn’t run ahead, and soon they were inside the giant shopping centre. Johnny crouched down next to the girls and whispered something in their ears, and they both nodded vigorously before running over to Simon. Johnny squeezed Simon’s shoulder before heading off to buy food.
Simon suddenly felt very out of his depth. The centre was busy, filled with adults with yelling children, teenagers loitering around, and a cacophony of footsteps on the linoleum floors. And he was responsible for navigating two very small, fragile children through it? Simon had taken on terrorists, cartels, and mob bosses, but somehow this mission scared him more.
“Can we go to the toy shop? Please Uncle Simon!” Elodie asked, a wide grin on her round face.
Simon nodded quickly and was slightly surprised when the girls grabbed one of his hands each and started to tug him towards the toy store. As soon as they entered the store the girls immediately ran towards the plush toy section. Rosie looked up in awe and the shelves and shelves of fluffy animals. Elodie was quick to grab a plush dog wearing a camo military harness.
“Look Uncle Simon! His name is Sergeant Snuffles!” she waved the dog at him excitedly.
“A sergeant huh?” he said with a small smile.
“Does that mean he’s the boss?” she asked.
“Not quite kid, the same as Johnny and just below me,” Simon explained.
Elodie nodded before manoeuvring the dog’s front leg into a wonky salute. Rosie had also grabbed a toy from the shelves, a frog plush.
“Can we get them?” Elodie asked, pulling Rosie to stand next to her.
“I really don’t think your parents would be happy with that,” Simon said, shuffling awkwardly.
Then, he made the mistake of looking down at the girls. Both were giving him quite possibly the most powerful puppy eyes he’d ever seen. Rosie’s large brown doe eyes made his next sentence catch in his throat, and when his gaze flicked to Elodie, he felt his resolve crack. Her wide grey eyes were exactly the same as Johnny’s, in an expression that was surprisingly familiar. He had always been a sucker for that look.
“Alright then,”
Elodie and Rosie cheered, and they ran up to the counter, Simon jogging to catch up to them. While the woman at the counter scanned the two toys, she kept glancing up at Simon and over at the kids. The kids in question were currently petting the statue of a guide dog that served as a donations box for the cause.
“Bonnie wee kids,” she smiled, placing the toys a bag while Simon fiddled with his card. “They yours?”
“No,” he said, before quickly clarifying “They’re my boyfr- my nieces,”
“Cute,” the woman smiled before handing over the bag.
Elodie and Rosie clung to their new toys as they made their way to the playground. There were far more kids in this area, and Simon had to be careful not to step on any. Once they reached the indoor playground, the two girls took off, and Simon sunk into a seat to watch them. He fiddled with his facemask as he kept a close eye on the two amidst all the other kids. It was harder than he expected. The parents who were also sitting around kept casting him wary looks. He understood how it looked. A huge, bulking man wearing a skull facemask sitting watching kids on the playground, and he shrunk into himself slightly. He liked his height and bulk back on base, it made people respect and fear him, but here it only made him stick out like a sore thumb. He pulled out his phone and fiddled with it for a minute before remembering that he hadn’t called Price back. Better late than never he supposed. Price picked up on the second ring.
“Alright Simon?” he asked.
“Yes, sir. I meant to call you back earlier but was- otherwise occupied,” he explained, straining to hear Price over the hustle and bustle.
“I’m aware, Soap sent a video,” Price chuckled.
“That bastard,” he swore, which caused Price to laugh more.
“I’m proud of you son, you seem to be doing well,” he said, and Simon only grumbled.
They both said quick goodbyes before Simon hung up. He was startled out of his thoughts by Johnny appearing at his side. He leaned down to where Simon was sitting and lightly bumped their foreheads together.
“Ready to go?” Johnny asked quietly, and Simon nodded.
Johnny got the attention of the two girls and waved them over. They came with a decent amount of complaining and whining, but soon they were getting strapped back into the car. This time, Simon put on the Frozen soundtrack before they got the chance to ask.
Back at the apartment they made lunch and settled down to watch a movie. Simon didn’t know what movie they were watching, but he didn’t care. He spent most of the time looking at Johnny. His boyfriend was curled up on the couch with Elodie and Rosie on either side of him, an arm around each of them. His face was soft as he stared at the screen, free of the stress of life on base. He was beautiful, Simon realised. Simon stood up to retrieve his phone from their room, and when he returned, all three had fallen asleep on the couch, curled up together. Johnny was drooling lightly, his hair messy. Simon let a light smile cross his face, pulling out his phone and taking a picture to send to Price as revenge.
He settled onto the couch besides them, leaning over to curl himself around Elodie and Johnny. He closed his eyes, soon falling asleep with them.