weldedtomyspine | Room 322 [Sunday morning]

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Room 322 [Sunday morning]

It was a relief to find that Mei was smart enough to go to the Trooper station when lost. Though she did show her age when told by her parents that she had to leave behind some book about cows because it didn't belong to them. Two pieces of licorice from Momoko's pocket, however, quickly stalled any imminent tears and Mei was carried out of the station with no complaints.

There were many complaints, however, from Sophia and Elena. About how long it had taken, how they hadn't gotten any candy or cocoa, that it was cold, how hungry they were and how they didn't want to eat anything but papa's pancakes. "With choc'aty chips! The right way!" reminded Sophia, swinging her papa's hand as they quickly walked back to the dorms. Luckily, Jaime was able to find a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in one of the kitchens, as well as a pancake mix.

Breakfast over ("It's late, so it's really brunch!" corrected Elena, as she smeared her pancake into the syrup.), there was clean up and then a trip back to Momoko's room to feed and torture poor Moshi, and then trooping down to Jaime's room to watch a movie, since he no longer had a roommate. After the movie, was a trip to buy actual clothes, shoes, and coats that worked for the totally not-El Paso weather (bye-bye rainy-day-cake savings) and then an argument about dinner. Momoko was out-voted and it was take-out from Ching Tai that escorted them back to the dorms and to Jaime's room for another movie.

It was during the second movie that Momoko had the hardest time. The rest of the day there had been Thing To Get Done, but now? In a darkened room, with nothing to do but hold Mei asleep in her lap, let Sophia leaning heavy against her, trying so hard to stay awake, and watch Elena tugging on Jaime's arm asking some question about how some machine thing on the screen worked? It was hard to not think about how nice it was, how relaxed, how comfortable...

Which was more than she could say about her situation right now. Momoko frowned and shifted, trying to fall back asleep despite the thump-thump, thump-thumping noise her pillow seemed to be making, and the sound of girlish giggling and a phone being dropped.

"Shh! Careful, silly! You'll wake them and we'll get in trouble!"

[You guys know how this works: door closed, post open.]

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Jaime's own pattern of realizations had been a bit different from Momoko. Kids he'd always kind of planned on having. He hadn't given much though to who with, just assuming that life would take him in that direction one day. So having them show up wasn't really that surprising. What was surprising was how... right it felt. How natural it seemed to hold Elena close and quietly explain the principles behind a rail gun, and to have her nod in actual understanding as he did. And glancing over at Momoko and seeing that tired-out expression on her face as she gently stroked Sophia's hair...

And how giggly whispers would be the first thing to greet him in the morning as the girls woke up energetic and mischievous.

Momoko was only 18, and, despite having a little sister, still without that ALERT CHILDREN ARE AWAKE skill yet. So, Momoko was lingering in sleep and dreaming.

Her dream, of course, was simply that she was getting married. In a gorgeous white dress covered with peach blossoms and a long, long train that Mojo-jojo tried to steal to use as a giant gauze for one of his giant mojo-robos that was wounded when she roundhouse kicked a hole in its head for stepping on her chocolate chip wedding cake. But Jaime was there! Only he was in his armor and had on a top hat and tails and he managed to catch the end of the train from Mojo-jojo while still carrying Moshi and Momoko ran up the train that was now a slide that she kept sliding back down which caused lots of giggling from the girls on the swingset who had eyes like hers and Jaime laughed and said it was a surprise for Momoko but then the girls started saying something and Momoko had to laugh too because they weren't speaking Japanese.

"...rs too," she chuckled in her sleep, trying to get even closer to the warmth in the bed, now by tugging it to her.

"Shhhh!" a small voice giggled. "She's gonna wake up!"

More stifled giggling. "It's momma, Sophy!" Could mini-eye-rolls be heard? "She never wakes up before papa."

...

"Is papa waking up?"

Papa was, in fact, looking over at them with his eyes cracked open, trying to decide precisely how you were supposed to react without giving away the fact that you were totally freaking out over having a trio of daughters in your room.

The giggling was louder now and Momoko finally realized it wasn't all in her dream. And remembered she had kids.

SHE HAD KIDS! Finally!!!! And they were Jaime's! Somewhere, somehow they had a family... together! It was wrong to be smiling so hard right?

"I hear giggling." Momoko's smile was clearly in her voice. "Funny how that makes me remember when I was a little girl and totally doing something with my little sister that I probably shouldn't have been doing."

Edited 2011-02-13 18:52 (UTC)

"Not doing nuthin'!" Sophia insisted. Elena settled for giving Momoko a rather unconvincing look of wide-eyed innocence.

"Somehow I totally don't believe that." Momoko sat up to see better and had to laugh; poor Elena. "And you obviously got that look from your papa!" It was so horribly unconvincing. She ran a hand through her hair, loosening it a bit as she looked over at the girls.

Well, at Elena and Sophia, since Mei was now attempting to climb over Jaime to get to her.

Jaime shifted slightly, giving Mei a little boost to help her get over him. She giggled a bit before continuing toward Momoko, holding her arms out for a hug.

"Say thank you to papa for the help?" Momoko smiled as she reached out to pull Mei close.

Mei snuggled deep into Momoko's arms and crinkled her eyes in a grin at Jaime. "Thank 'oo, papa." And without a missed beat, she switched to showing him a set of big huge brown eyes: "Pa'cakes?"

Which sent Momoko into a gigglefit.

It took Jaime a second to stop going d'awww, adorable! and get his brain functioning again under the force of those eyes. "Did you learn that look from your mother?"

"And didn't we have pancakes yesterday?"

Mei nodded solemnly, but looked for all the world like that totally didn't count against today. "/¿Please pa'cakes, papa?/"

"Ooh yes!" Sometimes Mei had the best ideas! Elena jumped up, hands now showing the cell phone she'd been hiding. "Please! Please! You make the bestest ever pancakes! And you never ever never make them enough back home."

Sophia rushed over and try to hug him, her eyes somehow seeming a bit more excited than her sisters'. "Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

"Are you seriously triple-teaming me?" Jaime asked, a bit incredulous.

And finding it hard to resist, even though he knew exactly what they were doing.

While she wasn't sure what Mei had said, Momoko was sure it was still about pancakes, judging from the reaction of the other girls. Momoko's giggles changed to outright laughing.

"They totally are. And they seem used to it." She reached out with her foot and gave him a nudge. "If it makes you feel better, Jaime? I want waffles and eggs? You know, real food? But I'll totally settle for pa'cakes."

"Quadruple teaming me?"

Jaime tried not to laugh, but he sort of failed.

"And I bet if I say no, all four of you use the eyes on me at the same time."

"Would we do that, girls?" Momoko looked around to ask, but had to laugh again, since Elena and Sophia were already looking up at their papa with personalized variations on the BIG EYES:

Elena, eager and challenging
Sophia, sad and woeful
Mei, expectant and... well, like it would be the greatest gift EVER!

...

Jaime threw up his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine! I know when I'm outmatched."

"Pancakes for everyone. But you all have to eat something healthy, too."

"... eat something healthy, too!"

It was as if they'd heard it said it a million times, how they chorused him.

"I'll have cereal!"

"Eggs and baaaaacon!"

"Pa'cakes!"

... Momoko was probably not going to stop laughing ever.

"Fruit," Jaime announced. "For all of you."

Clearly adult-him hadn't managed to teach them to really eat healthy food.

And now Momoko looked at him with sad eyes. "Eh? What did I do?" Not that she disliked fruit, but it was the principle of the thing!

She was, of course, quite forgetting that she was a mother this weekend.

"All. Of. You."

Set a good example, Momoko.

"Mean!" Momoko stuck her tongue out at him, then jostled Mei and looked to the other girls. "So since papa is being soooooo nice and going to make us breakfast, should we all go and get dressed in our pretty new clothes?"

She could totally worry about baths later, right?

... Wait. "Elena, what's in your hand?"

All three girls stuck their tongues out at exactly the same time in a perfect imitation of Momoko that nearly caused Jaime to have a coughing fit trying to suppress a laugh.

Elena then turned to her momma and looked totally innocent. "Nothing!" And just like that, her hands were behind her back.

"Elena." Momoko knew that look. Knew it.

Elena turned big, innocent eyes on her momma. From who she'd learned the technique.

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