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The flat was quiet when he got home. That wasn’t entirely surprising, given the time of day: it was just around mid-morning, which meant that the girls had already been through their breakfast routine. Harmony should already be in school, and Melody had been spending more time with her grandparents when he was on the road these days. Tom and Sabine loved watching her (so did his ma, when she was around), and it was helping Marinette adjust to life with the twins. So while he had possibly expected to hear something – Marinette singing in the kitchen, a baby crying, Melody screaming at one of her shows in the living room – it wasn’t entirely unsurprising when things seemed…quiet.
Calm.
“Darning?” he called, setting his bag down by the door. He’d get it later. Just then, he had a wife to find. “You home?”
“Girls’ room!” her voice called from deeper in the flat, and he felt his smile grow as he followed the sound. It grew even wider when he finally saw her, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the little bookcase they had set between the girls’ beds. The shelves had been ransacked, most of the books lying in piles around her as she flipped through another one on her lap. He sat down behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle and bending to press a kiss against the back of her neck. His smile warmed when she shivered at the touch. “…stop that.”
“Never,” he chuckled, kissing her again. Another shiver ran up her spine, and his smile grew as he tucked his face behind her shoulder. “It’s been two weeks. I have time to make up for.”
She hummed, and when he went to trail a line of kisses along her shoulder she turned her head towards him, so he kissed her lips instead. She sank back against him, and they both sighed when they parted.
“Welcome home,” she said, smiling up at him. “I missed you.”
“I missed all of you,” he said. He looked around, frowning. “Where’re the boys?”
“Napping in their cribs, if we’re lucky,” she said. “We had…an eventful morning.”
He cocked an eyebrow at her, and then she held up her arms for him to see. The sleeves of her dressing gown fell to her elbows, and he sucked in a breath when he saw angry, blistering welts shining on her skin. He reached out to catch her wrist, then hesitated when he realized that might hurt her.
“Marinette, what…?” he asked. She leaned up to kiss the underside of his jaw, which had clenched at the sight of the burns. “Darning. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I already put some ointment on them. It doesn’t really hurt that much – you know I’ve had worse.”
…he did, but that still didn’t mean he had to like it.
“It looks plenty bad from here,” he said. He caught her hand, loosely holding it in his own as he brought her wrist to his lips to kiss above the burn. “What the hell happened?”
“Your daughter,” she sighed, laying her arms over his as she leaned back against him. “Well. Your mother, technically, but Melody only did what she did because of what her Granarchy did. The Captain is a horrible influence on our girls, Lu.”
“And what did my mother do now?” he laughed, shaking his head.
“Gave the girls a book on Celtic myths,” she sighed. She tipped her head back onto his shoulder, smiling helplessly up at him. “So now Mellie’s obsessed. She already has her Halloween costume picked out.”
“…do I even want to know?” he asked. She rolled her eyes and wiggled one of her arms in front of them.
“She walks right up to me this morning – while I was pulling breakfast out of the oven – and declares, ‘Look, Maman! I’m gonna be a banshee for Halloween!’” she said, pitching her voice to match their daughter’s. Luka’s eyes widened, and he tried not to smile. He really did. From the annoyed roll of her eyes, he didn’t think he was very successful.
“Oh no…” he said. She nodded.
“Oh yes,” she said. “Because then, Luka Llewellyn Couffaine, your precious little Melody screamed as loud as she could in my face.”
“No,” he laughed, and she groaned as she turned her head to tuck against his neck.
“Yes,” she said. “I was looking right at her, but I was still so surprised I dropped the pan – and then I tried to catch the pan, like an idiot. So she’s staying with my parents today while I recover.”
“And here I thought you just wanted me to yourself before the girls got home,” he chuckled. He felt her smile against his skin, and then her lips were pressing a little kiss just below his ear and he was the one shivering. He found himself wondering how long they had until the boys woke up, and what exactly they could get up to without using her arms. “Mari…”
“Of course I do,” she said, nipping at his ear. “It has been two weeks, after all. That was not, however, my immediate intention when I called my mother this morning.”
“So. What’s with the books, then?” he asked, glancing at the mess around them.
“Research,” she said. “I’m trying to find something even half as interesting as banshees to distract her. I don’t want our daughter screaming in my face for the next month, Luka.”
“That’s…fair,” he chuckled, nodding. He squeezed her middle and stole another kiss. “But what I’m hearing is it’s something that can wait.”
“…do I need to reenact this morning to show you just how important it is we find her another favorite mythological creature?” she asked, her voice flat. She groaned and squirmed, turning towards him and wrapping her arms around him. She hissed as the sleeves of her robe scratched against the burns, tensing a moment at the flash of pain. “Why couldn’t she be like her Aunt Rose and be obsessed with unicorns or something?”
“Because then she’d probably tape a knife to her head and headbutt you,” Luka deadpanned, and she rolled her eyes and pinched his hip. He kissed the crown of her head, chuckling. “How about this. You come with me, maybe take a nice, long, relaxing bath and make up for lost time? And then I’ll help you find a better costume for Mellie later. Deal?”
“De…” she started, but then a crying started up from down the hall and she sighed as she slumped against him. “Raincheck?”
“I’ve got them,” he said. “You go draw that bath. I’ll be in as soon as they’re settled.”
“They’re probably hungry,” she said, “which means you will be absolutely useless putting them down. So how about you draw the bath, and I’ll join you as soon as I’m able?”
“Not as crazy about that,” he said. “Two babies. Two of us. How about I help, then we draw the bath together?”
She poked at his chest, smirking at him.
“And how do you plan to help? I’d love to see you feed them with these,” she teased, and he barked out a laugh.
“Marinette!” he said. “I can burp one while you feed the other. Or maybe they need changing – I’m good at that.”
“I suppose,” she giggled. She pecked a kiss against his cheek. “You’ll just have to be content with sharing me for a bit.”
He laughed as he helped her up. Another cry joined the first, and she gave him a pointed look. He stole one last kiss before leading her towards their room, where the cribs were set up. He didn’t want to think about when they were older yet – he knew they’d have to start thinking about moving soon, but he loved this flat. He paused just outside the door, taking a moment to just…look at her.
“Luka,” she said, her smile exasperated but fond. “The babies?”
He pulled her close, stealing just one more kiss. Just because he could.
“I missed you,” he whispered against her lips. “I missed this.”
She smiled and kissed him again.
“We missed you,” she said. “Now come on, before I get a headache on top of everything else.”
“God forbid,” he laughed, opening the door and following her into the room. She rolled her eyes and nudged his side with her elbow, but he noticed how the movement made her wince and frowned. He slipped around her, moving to Huey’s crib before she could say anything. “Here. Let me help, Marinette. I’m here. Use me.”
She gave him a Look that told him exactly what she thought of that idea, but then Huey wailed again and it was gone.
“I’m fine, Luka – I can hold my own babies,” she said, rolling her eyes as she folded her arms across her chest. It would have been more convincing if that hadn’t made her wince, too. He gave her a pointed look, and she huffed out a sigh before waving him towards the rocking chair between the cribs. “Oh, fine. I have some backup milk in the fridge. I’ll be right back.”
“I love you!” he called, patting Huey’s back as he bounced him. He carried him over to the other crib, where Louie was squirming on his back as he fussed. Luka smiled as he reached down and laid a hand on his tummy, rubbing. “I love you, too, stinker,” he said. He kissed Huey’s downy head, smiling. “Both of you.”