𝓛𝓮𝓸𝓷 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓭𝔂| 𝗜𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝟯

Feeding The Family Of Four

I finish dishing up the plates then carry them over to the table with Leon's help as our two kids take their usual spots. Leon goes to sit down but our daughter whines and eagerly pats the seat beside her, so Leon sits next to her, giving her hair a loving ruffle as she giggles and swings her legs. I sit next to our son, who's only a year older then our daughter. He's already grabbing his fork, eager to get dinner out the way and done with. 

"Daddy, help with the chicken please?" Our daughter sweetly asks, passing her little knife and fork set to Leon. He nods, taking them from her and awkwardly trying to cut up the chicken breast with the plastic cutlery as our son wrestles with his own. A few stray carrots go flying as he elbows me and refuses to let anyone help him, like his dad he's pretty independent. I smother a laugh, cutting up my own food as our son begins talking about his day in detail. 

"-and then Matthew said that it was a dragon, but I knew it was just a frog, and then Nell screamed when it hopped towards her and I kept laughing until it went away, and then after that I got my ball and-" He rambles on, eyes wide as he excitedly talks. Leon passes the cutlery back to our daughter whilst listening eagerly, but our daughter frowns, a classic Kennedy look. 

"It's my ball, not yours." 

"Hey, what have I told you about sharing with your brother?" Leon chips in using his dad voice. Both kids pout and leave the topic be as I bite back a grin, loving how they listen and respect him. Leon gives me an amused look across the table as the kids begin talking to each other about some kind of make-believe creature they played with, whilst completely forgetting about eating their dinner. 

"I've cooked all that food for you and neither of you are going to finish it for me?" I ask, feigning hurt. Both kids look to me with open mouthed expressions, then our daughter immediately quietens and begins shovelling food into her mouth, making a point to show me as she exaggerates her chewing. I nod, praising her as our son stabs his broccoli and carrots, eyeing them up suspiciously. 

"I don't think this is food mommy." He mutters, side eyeing his father. Leon looks away, holding back a laugh before composing himself and leaning down to talk to our little boy. 

"It is, and it's good for you. Keep eating all those veggies and you'll be as strong as me, wouldn't that be cool?" Leon excitedly asks. Our son's eyes widen as he glances at Leon's muscled arms, then he nods, little arms hurriedly grabbing his fork and digging in. He shoves the broccoli into his mouth, chewing then visibly shuddering in disgust, even his little face scrunches up but he keeps going bless him. Leon praises him, patting his shoulder before winking at me. I roll my eyes, but smile just as our daughter pokes my arm for attention. 

"Can we have dessert now?" 

I purse my lips, looking at her half finished plate. Leon's about to give in, always the easy going parent, but I pull a face, pointing at her food. "Maybe, but have a few more mouthfuls first, okay sweetie?" She sighs as if that's the hardest thing in the world, but continues eating anyway. Once she's done she taps me again, silently asking once more. I nod, "Cookies?" 

"With ice cream?" Our son cuts in, mouth curved up. Leon looks to me as he grabs his fork and begins picking food off of our daughters plate, never one for wasting food he eats what she hasn't. I nod, standing up as our son follows, already grabbing his plate as I carry my own. He runs back and forth grabbing Leon and D/N's plates too as I load them into the dishwasher. I glance back at the kitchen table, seeing D/N on Leon's lap, her fingers toying with his hair as he hugs her. We both love our kids equally of course, but D/N has always been more drawn to Leon meanwhile S/N tends to seek my attention more. S/N helps me tidy things up then sits on the counter as I begin dishing up the ice cream and cookies. 

"Here, let me take these." Leon mumbles from behind me, a hand holds my waist as he reaches to grab the two little bowls. Leon presses a quick kiss to my neck before leading the kids back to the table, passing them their dessert. I watch, enjoying the few minutes of silence as they stuff their faces. Leon comes back to my side, pulling me to his chest as his chin rests on the top of my head. "We did such a good job with the kids."

"Yeah, we did." I softy whisper in reply, leaning against Leon's warmth. Once they're both done Leon and I grab warm cloths and lean down to wipe their faces. S/N lets me wipe his mouth with ease but Leon has to pull faces to get D/N to cooperate. I laugh at them both, earning a childish tongue out from Leon. 

"Right, you've got twenty minutes until bath time, then it's bedtime." I announce, getting groans and arguments from the kids. 

"Listen to your mom kiddos, unless you wanna be stinky?" Leon teases, holding his nose as our kids laugh at him. They run to me, hugging my legs and middle before rushing off together. Leon swipes a cookie from the counter, stuffing it into my mouth as I giggle and chew it properly. 

"Jesus, you're worse than the kids honey." Leon smirks, using his thumb to wipe the crumbs from my lips. I scoff, giving him a playful swat before Leon pulls me back towards him and kisses me deeply, his hand lowering down and down until I have to give him a pointed look.