Neil and Layla's new apartment; Friday evening; Neil, Layla, Bridget
Neil and Layla were moving their things into the Manor today, and Neil supposed things were going pretty smoothly. He was just finishing carrying in a box full of...he thought they it was Layla's shoes but he could've been wrong, when one of the other elevator bays opened and he heard thundering footsteps and loud cheers that could only belong to Jeth and Penny, heading his way. He'd stopped in front of the doorway and turned to look up the hall in time to try and brace himself before a toddler barreled into each of his legs, each one latching on and babbling a mile a minute. "Whoa..." He said as he tried to keep his balance without spilling the box. He wound up on his ass with the box lading next to him and spilling a couple of shoes out, whoops. He had no choice but to laugh though because once he was on a more even playing field, the kids crawled right up his torso in an effort to be the first to give him a hug. So before he even saw Bridget behind them, he'd already morphed into the tickle monster and was rolling around the hallway floor like the tallest toddler in the world as he tickled his niece and nephew. He was a very mature thing for random neighbors to wind up seeing, should they enter the hallway.
Good thing the only neighbor in the hallway was Bridget, who was smiling as she approached the group. "I figured they could help out," she joked. "They're a lot stronger than they look."
Neil chuckled as he tried to sit up only to get dive tackled from behind by the shoulders by Jeth and pulled back down. "Yeah, I noticed that. What's mommy been feeding you?" He asked as he managed to get a hold of both of them before launching into a multiple kiss and raspberry attacks. Neil was good with kids. No, Neil was good with his niece and nephew. That was about all the kid interaction he got really. But he was good with them, possibly because he could rile them up and send them home to Bridget and Phin. Or just Bridget now he supposed.
"Nothing but Gatorade and power shakes in anticipation of move-in day," Bridget replied. She looked up as she saw Layla exit the apartment and gave her a wave.
"Hi," Layla smiled before bringing her attention down to Neil and the kids. Seriously, how could he hang out with his niece and nephew like that and not want a kid of his own? "Hey you two," she greeted, raising her voice so they could hear her over the noise they were all making.
One of the reasons was that Neil never really knew when he was going to wind up in the ring with the one guy that was going to ring his bell to the point of cracking it. He didn't want to leave a kid...or worse, kids...behind without a father. That would be shitty. There was also the fact that he felt being responsible for one or more little people was incredibly terrifying and Neil felt he was far too inadequate for such an important job. And moreover what if something happened and they wound up getting divorced like Bridget and Phin had been planning? Okay that last one was reaching, because Neil wasn't an asshole like Phin and certainly wasn't the type to ever cheat on someone. Neil managed, while trying to catch his breath from the laughing, to encourage Jeth and Penny to go get Aunt Layla. Of course, this resulted in a loud turn around of both twins scrambling up lunging for Layla.
Neil laughed and spent a moment trying to catch his breath as he pulled himself to his feet so he could greet Bridget properly with a hug and a kiss to the cheek. "Hey," He said finally.
Layla dropped down to her knees and opened her arms so she could grab both kids in a big hug. "You two are the nicest welcoming committee I've ever seen," she laughed.
Bridget smiled down at them and returned Neil's hug. "We would have been up earlier, but someone who shall remain nameless made a mess in the kitchen that needed cleaning." She smirked a little bit and glanced at Penny, who had knocked over an open jar of relish with one of her foam baseballs.
Neil chuckled. "They saved you from lugging any heavy boxes," He looked over his shoulder and then turned to pick up the shoes that fell out of the box. "Full of shoes." He smirked as he stowed them again. Penny buried her face into Layla's shoulder guiltily. Jeth was oblivious as he gave Layla a big sloppy kiss on her cheek.
Bridget watched as he picked up an orphaned strappy heel. "I told you your shoe collection was getting out of control," she scolded him with a grin.
Layla scrunched up her face after Jeth's kiss and missed any conversation about her footwear. "Nice to see you too," she told him before giving both kids a squeeze around their middles. "Are you guys here to help out today?"
Neil smirked and didn't miss a beat as he retorted, "Yeah well, you know how I feel about my pumps." He said as he put the tray shoes in the box, which was now no longer neatly packed and hoisted it up. Jeth and Penny were nodded their little heads enthusiastically and agreeing that yes! They were here to help!
"Same as you feel about your ballet slippers," Bridget replied easily. She looked over to see Layla usher the kids inside the apartment. She stepped over to the door and peered inside. Its layout, like the other layouts in the building that she'd seen, was different than her own place.
It was different but it was bigger than Neil's old place for sure. He carried the box in after Bridget and used his foot to kick the door shut lightly Jeth came running back toward them, asking about uncle Neil's chair since he was the only one brave enough - and also allowed - to climb all over Neil's armchair. Jeth also lifted his arms up and asked to be picked up.
Neil let out a sad sigh. "You'll have to ask Aunt Layla where the pirate ship is." He answered Jeth with a sad shake of his head.
"It's in Davy Jones' locker, where it belongs," Bridget smirked, reaching down to ruffle Jeth's hair.
"We've got a nice new chair!" Layla called from across the apartment, in the kitchen with Penny. "You can recline in it without worrying about it falling to pieces!"
Jeth frowned. "What happened?!" He cried. The pirate ship couldn't sink! "Oh no!"
Neil nodded. "Don't worry, it didn't go down without a fight." He assured. He let out another sigh, maybe a lightly dreamy one as he looked over at Layla and then at the new recliner. Yes, he did have to admit it was pretty nice. She'd better believe this one would last just as long if not longer than the last one. "Yes...we have a new chair," He nodded and looked over at Jeth. "Wanna help me break it in?" He asked. Of course Jeth nodded. Neil smirked and headed up the hall to bring the box he had into the bedroom.
"I'm sure you'll grow to love this one just as much," Bridget told him as he left. She looked at Jeth with a big smile.
Jeth frowned a little and leaned around her shoulder to look at the chair in question. It was definitely not the pirate ship. This was truly sad!
Neil saved the day, though, as he headed back up the hall and loudly asked. "Okay, who wants pizza?"
Bridget chuckled at that save as the kids responded. "Nice one," she told him as Layla called back, "Yeah, I guess!"
"Pizza it is!" Neil called back as he headed to kitchen since it was a quiet place to order pizza. They didn't have much else to carry from the car, so it was mostly more unpacking to do. For now they could hang out and eat some pizza.