Chapter Text
Stefano rolls over to continue his nap on his stomach, Donkey Kong huffing softly as he makes sure his son isn’t pressing his face against the blanket. Mario is sitting in front of the bed with Serena and Serafina, trying to teach them how to play video games on their own. He’s starting them off with a simple, two-player side scrolling game.
“You’re going backwards, Sera.” Mario puts his hands over hers to help her a little, “There you go.”
Serena thrusts the controller in the air, “Mama, help!”
~
Nuri groans in a whiny tone before opening one of her eyes, blinking twice when she sees that Bowser’s still meditating. She licks her upper lip then gets down on all fours before trying to sneak out of the room.
Due to her Koopa genes, Nuri Fiamma acts more mature than a human child her age. She’s only two years older than Serena and Serafina, but she can talk in full sentences and knows how to write… albeit sloppy.
Thanks to being the youngest, she’s learned a lot of other things through her siblings too.
“Nu-Nu, don’t sneak off.”
“But dad,” she flops on the ground, “I don’t want to meditate in the nest anymore! How come we don’t do this in my room with all my toys?”
Bowser opens his eyes to looks at his youngest child, “You get distracted easily in your room.”
Nuri rolls on her scaley back, “I can control my fire just fine, dad!”
Bowser blinks, “You almost caught your mother on fire after you sneezed; if the fire didn’t kill him then the heart attack he almost had would’ve.”
That made the half-Koopa protests stop. The last thing she’d want to do is hurt Luigi.
She knows Bowser and his older siblings can handle playing rough with her because they’re Koopas and their fleshy bits are protected, but Luigi’s all fleshy bit.
“Ca-can we take a break then? Oh,” she jumps up, “can Sera and Sere come to play?! I haven’t seen them in eons!”
Bowser huffs smoke through his nose with a soft smile, “You got to play with them last week, when we went to visit your aunt and uncle.”
“That’s still a long time!”
“How about we go on a family trip again,” Luigi suggests as he walks into the room with a tray in his hands, “Jr and the Koopalings also want to see their cousins again.”
“Snacks,” Nuri cheers as she hurries towards her mother, bouncing up and down as he lowers the tray so she can see what he made. Bowser hums, “You want to go to the beach again?”
Luigi, “Nah, Mario and DK practically live on a beach, and we’ve already been to one.”
Nuri stops stuffing her face, “Really?” She asked with her mouth full. Luigi starts to wipe the crumbs off her cheeks with his thumb, “This was way before you were born, Nuri-Fi. What about a forest? We could bring camping equipment and spend a few nights there.”
“Camping… I admit, I’m a bit curious about it after you explained to me what it was; and I’m sure all the kids will be happy to be out the castle, no matter where we take them.”
Luigi nods, “I’ll text Mario after Nuri’s finished ea-. Don’t lick the tray, you silly child!”
~
Stefano grunts as he slowly lifts his head while Mario cheers him on. Donkey Kong took the twins to see their grandfather for a little bit, with hopes of getting some alone time with Mario.
“You can do it, Fano!”
The hairy infant pushes his lips together with another grunt as he tries to keep his head steady, looking at any and everything around the room. The light reflects differently depending on the shape of the object, which made him curious. What was everything he was seeing? Why was it all so blurry?
The infant makes a soft noise before relaxing is head against the bed, his neck growing tired.
“You did a good job, bambino.” Mario chimed as he helped his son roll on his back, looking at the nightstand as his phone vibrated. Stefano watches his mother crawl towards the edge of the bed before turning back to the ceiling, kicking his legs as Mario lays down next to him.
“I’m back,” Donkey Kong muses as he enters the bedroom, “Dad was hoping Steff would join his sisters, but those two are a handful by themselves. You get a text?”
Mario hums, “It’s from Luigi.” He grins, “Looks like we’ve got a family trip to plan for.”
The Kong prince lays on the other side of his son on his side, “Is Stefano old enough to go out yet?”
The plumber princess nods, “He’s almost two months old; he’s more than ready to go outside. The fresh air will be good for him.”