Ash Lynburn (ashlynburn) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2017-04-12 22:52:00 |
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The appearance of the young boy had originally left Kami squealing with delight - thinking it was her younger brother. The sleek cap of dark hair and warm skin were just the same, but when he looked up into her eyes, calling her Mum with careful precision, Kami saw Ash’s stunning eyes. She sat down with a thump in the nearest chair. “Oh my,” she said, covering her face with her hands. “I just don’t….” “Are you alright, Mum?” Michael asked with a concerned look. He moved closer, peering at her carefully. “I’m fine,” Kami said, dropping her hands and reassuring him with a smile. “Just, before we go any further, could you tell me your Dad’s name?” Michael beamed. Such an easy request. “Ash Lynburn.” He answered with great pride. “Of course,” Kami said with a small sigh. This was going to be a disaster. *** Before Kami could even really start to process what was happening, another young boy popped into the room, drawn by the voices since his parents were still sleeping and he didn’t want to wake them up. He lit up when he saw who was sitting in the chair, completely ignoring the other child in the room. “Aunt Kami! Hi!,” he said, giving her a bright smile that was startlingly similar to his father’s. “Is Uncle Simon with you?” *** “Uncle….” Kami started and then stopped. For several long moments she was speechless, staring at the second young boy. Even young, it was clear that Ash was also his Father - the cheekbones alone giving it away. Oh my heavens. Kami didn’t even know what to do now. Or say. Or think. Or any of the above. “Right,” she finally said, getting a grip on her thought process. It didn’t matter who they were or where they had come from or the fact that she had a child with Ash Lynburn of all things. They were children and younger brothers had given Kami enough experience to know how to deal with that. “No, Uncle Simon did not come with,” Kami said, answering the second boy. “But Michael,” she gestured to her son, “and I are going to make some pancakes. Would you like to come and have some with us?” She figured at least she could keep them entertained, but … Kami closed her eyes briefly and just hoped that someone else would be home soon. And that Katniss didn’t flay her alive for somehow having a child with Ash! *** “Pancakes, yeah!” he agreed, sparing a glance at the other boy. He had no idea who Michael was or why Aunt Kami was making pancakes for him, but if Rowan got some pancakes out of it, he wasn’t going to complain. “Do you know where mom and dad and Aunt Prim are?” *** “They should be home soon,” Kami commented, hoping that was right. She had been home today as it was her day off of work. It was giving her time to work on planning for the next fashion show. “I am sure they will be glad to see you.” She reached out and ruffled his hair as she took Michael’s hand. In the kitchen, she pulled out the bowl and griddle and ingredients. Starting the griddle heating, Kami looked at the two boys. Michael seemed more solemn and stayed near her, but the other was bright and energetic. Hopefully she was assuming correctly that Katniss was his mum. Otherwise this could become an even bigger disaster. “Alright, who wants to help mix?” Kami asked, setting the bowl on the counter beside the ingredients and looking at the two boys. *** Rowan bounced on his toes. “Me me me!” he said. “I can do it with magic! Daddy taught me!” The front door opened just as he was about to start doing magic and his ears perked up. *** It was supposed to have been a lazy weekend for Ash, who’d happily slept in. But when he came into the kitchen to see Kami in the kitchen with two kids - one of whom he instantly recognized - he stopped short. “Uh,” he said eloquently. *** Rowan’s idea about using magic appealed to Michael as well. For the first time enthusiasm showed on his face. “I want a turn too Mum!” Michael declared coming to stand right beside Kami, tucking himself up into her side. “No magic,” Kami stated firmly. She didn’t need any more magic at the moment. “You can each have a turn and save magical practice for time with your Dad.” Both boys ended up with the same identical pouts and Kami groaned mentally even as she added ingredients quickly and efficiently to the bowl. That was when she heard Ash. Looking at him, Kami wondered what horrid thing she had done to earn this fate?! She had been so hoping for Katniss to appear first, but no such luck. The boys both brightened though. For the first time Michael peeled himself from Kami to go and hug his Father. “Morning Da. We’re making pancakes! Mum said no magic though. You should tell her that we can do it,” Michael said, stepping back and looking up at Ash expectantly. *** Ash automatically wrapped his arms around the boy who’d come up to hug him, but his look at Kami was pure confusion and panic. “I’ve learned never to argue with your mother; you shouldn’t either,” he said finally, stepping back to take a closer look at what appeared to be his and Kami’s son. Yep, he could totally see it. Damn, he was going to have to do some explaining to Katniss. “So what’s going on here?” *** When the other little boy called his father ‘Da’, Rowan’s face screwed up in a look of displeasure. This was weird and he didn’t like. “Where’s Mommy?” he demanded, moving to wrap his own arms around his father as if to stake his claim. *** With the other boy by his Father, Michael shrank back slightly. He didn’t know this other boy and yet he was hugging his father. Kami rubbed her forehead. This was far too confusing. She gave Ash a pointed look - he needed to sort out at least part of this issue. She could handle one, but both? And somehow, this was all Ash’s fault. That was a nice satisfying thought, but she knew it was just Madison Valley being cruel once more. “Michael, you come over and help me with the pancakes,” Kami said, coaxing Michael back to her side. As he returned, she smoothed down his hair and smiled at him. It was just like having her brother back and that gave her a small thrill of happiness. “We can cook them while Ash, I mean, your Da, goes and finds…. Oh dear, I don’t know his name, but you could go and find Katniss - his mom. I assume.” It was all such a mess. *** Oh great. Apparently Rowan didn’t get his sense of chill until he was older, as he had been the last time he’d been here. Then again, the last time he’d been here, Rowan hadn’t had another kid to deal with. “Mommy’s still in bed,” he told Rowan. “We’ll let her rest.” Maybe the smart thing would’ve been to wake her up to get her to help deal with all of this, but Katniss had such restless sleep to begin with, Ash didn’t like waking her if he didn’t have to. He had to admire Kami for managing to deal with Michael, despite looking utterly panicked and frazzled herself. She was handling much better than he was, even if he seemed to be the more put together one to the outside observer. “We’ll go get the table ready,” he told Rowan, because he had a sense that the kids should be separated, at least until they understood what was going on. *** Rowan grudgingly accepted that since it meant he got to be with his daddy and the other boy would be with Aunt Kami. “Do you think Mommy will want pancakes when she wakes up?” he asked. Katniss walked in just in time to hear that question. She had been trying to fall back to sleep, but there were an awful lot of voices downstairs, so she figured something was going on and went to investigate. She stopped short when she saw the small boy with Ash in the dining room. Even though he was younger, it was clearly their son. Of course, he made a lot more sense this time than he had before, since they were actually together now. “Mommy always wants pancakes,” she said, giving Ash a curious look since she could hear banging in the kitchen. “Do we have other guests?” *** Pretending that Michael was one of her brothers helped Kami continue to calmly explain what to mix together and deal with the shell that ‘accidentally’ ended up in the batter. Having fixed that, they stood at the stove, pouring the batter onto the griddle while Kami asked him about his magic and tried to pry as many details about ‘home’ from him as possible. It helped that with Rowan and his Da gone, Michael opened up considerably - sharing all kinds of information. Having finished a large stack of pancakes, Kami entrusted Michael with the butter and syrup as she carried the platter into the next room. The table had been set - though whether that had been Ash or Rowan, Kami wasn’t sure. But it didn’t really matter. Her eyes found Katniss and relief coursed over her. At least she wasn’t alone in this - though hopefully Kami wouldn’t be flayed by the other girl when she realised Kami also had a child with Ash. “Now,” Kami said, setting down the platter, “who wants how many?” “I want to sit by Da!” Michael suddenly demanded, moving to Ash’s side. *** Ash wondered if all kids were that demanding, or if it was just his and Kami’s. He looked up at Kami, who was doling out pancakes with scary efficiency. Yeah, probably just his and Kami’s. “You'll sit where your mom tells you, and you'll like it,” Ash told Michael, although he had a feeling he was the good cop in that particular household. To Katniss, he just raised his shoulders. “The dome,” he said succinctly, hoping she wouldn't be upset that somehow it's brought over a kid from him and Kami. He'd have to do a lot of explaining otherwise, and they'd just gotten to a good place with their relationship. *** “But I wanna sit by Daddy!” Rowan wailed. Katniss had a feeling it was going to be a long week. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Ash having a kid show up with Kami. Even though she trusted him absolutely and knew he wasn’t even remotely interested in his friend, it wasn’t something she wanted to think about happening in any world. Still, it wasn’t the kid’s fault that things were weird. Either of them. “How about if Daddy sits at the head of the table,” she suggested. “Rowan, you can sit here,” she said, touching one of the chairs at a right angle from there. “And you can sit there.” She had no idea what the other boy’s name was. *** Kami looked at Katniss with gratitude - glad someone had found a solution quickly and efficiently. Michael opened his mouth to object and Kami immediately said, “You can sit there or nowhere, Michael. I suggest no more arguing.” Her hands went to her hips and she gave him a look. Having two younger brothers was now suddenly proving useful. Michael clearly noted the look and immediately took the proffered seat without further argument. Kami heaved a sigh of relief. She wasn’t sure she’d ever be a good mother - and she certainly knew that she wasn’t ready. How did people actually do this? Handing out plates of pancakes, Kami sat down next to Michael and looked at Katniss. “I’m sorry,” she blurted all of the sudden. It was out of context and Kami immediately flushed, realising that. “About, all this.” Kami gestured at Michael as subtly as possible. She looked at Ash - hopefully he wasn’t mad either. How did she keep getting into this situations?! *** Okay, so that was two demanding kids. Ash wondered if he’d been like that when he’d been a kid, then dismissed the thought. Lillian Lynburn would never have stood for it. She would’ve just given him a look, and he would’ve quailed and shut up. Ash had a feeling he’d never given the Lynburn Look to his kids, though. He knew well enough how it felt to be on the other side of it, and he wouldn’t want to subject even Jared to it, let alone his own kids. Anyway, it seemed like Kami had the Look down so he wouldn’t have to. “All right, let’s get one thing worked out,” he said once they were all seated. “You’ve both been here long enough to know that Madison does weird things, right?” He waited for the nods before he continued. “This is another one of them. And it might seem confusing, and it might seem scary, but we must’ve made it through these things before. We’ll get through it now, but only if we all work together. Okay?” He made a point to look at both boys in the eye. *** Once the boys were settled, Katniss took a seat next to her son. This was never going to stop being weird, but at least she was better prepared for it this time. And apparently Ash had the whole dad thing down pretty well. She gave him an encouraging smile after the boys nodded their agreement to work together. “I think we all should thank Kami for making us breakfast,” she said, filling Rowan’s plate before her own. “Thanks, Aunt Kami!” Rowan said before dumping an awful lot of syrup on his pancakes. *** “Thanks Mum,” Michael said as Kami sat down next to him. He smiled up at her with all the happiness of a young boy getting pancakes on Saturday morning. He took the syrup from Rowan and immediately started to drown his own pancakes before Kami took the container from his hands and set it back on the table. His mouth opened to protest and then shut when Kami looked at him. Kami took a few pancakes for herself while Michael dissected his carefully, eating with precision. “So, what are your plans for the day?” Kami asked Ash and Katniss. Before either could answer, Michael spoke up. “I think Da should help me with my magic.” *** It was ironic that Ash had never thought of himself as dad material, even after Rowan had been here the first time. So much of his life had been focused on getting back to Aurimere that he’d never thought of a future beyond that. “I’ll help both of you with magic,” he replied, before Rowan could stake his claim. Obviously any plans he and Katniss had were shot now. “But first, let’s get through breakfast, and we can go to the woods so you can show me where you’re at.” *** Katniss thought that sounded like a pretty good plan. It was going to be a rough week, or however long this lasted this time, but Ash seemed like he was pretty on the ball with how to handle it. “Let’s eat before it gets cold,” she agreed. |