Falling For You [Tom Hiddleston]

28

***I just love this drawing! Kudos to the artist!****

Claire's POV

I paused in the doorway of the dining room, admiring the adorable scene before me. During my brief absence, both kids had somehow managed to work their way onto Tom's lap and were vying for his attention by chattering loudly at him. He patiently listened with an interested expression despite the fact that he probably only understood about half of what they were talking about.

I quickly snapped a couple pictures of the three of them and sent them to Kara for safekeeping before deleting them; it wasn't safe to have them on my phone right now should Caleb check it.

"Told you you'd become her new favorite person," I teased as I slid into my chair, reminding him of our earlier conversation. I measured the distance between us with my eyes, sliding a little further away to be sure that I was well out of reach of Jemma's grubby fingers.

"So you did. Afraid of a little syrup, darling?" Tom smirked when he realized what I was doing.

I eyed the mess surrounding him - and covering him. "No, I just happen to know better than to give the little tornado an opportunity to use my nice clothes as a napkin."

"Wouldn't be the first time," Kara smirked.

"Tom want nums?"

I hid a grin behind my mug as Jemma shoved a mangled piece of pancake in Tom's face.

"Mmm. Thank you, darling." He accepted her offering, making her giggle delightedly by exaggeratedly pretending to eat her hand off in the process. Not stopping there, he rubbed his whiskers against her hand again just to make her laugh louder.

I was amused, seeing the amount of crumbs caught in Tom's whiskers. "You're gonna have to shower again at this rate."

A slow smile spread across his face as he looked over at me, keeping one arm firmly around the wriggly toddler while allowing four year old Leo a little more freedom. "I think you might be right. How do I look?"

"Like you need a couple of your own," Kara said frankly, shooting me a look.

"Kara," I snapped as I glared back at her - she didn't need to encourage him to think like that - he already wanted more of a relationship than I was capable of giving him.

Luckily, Kara had to drop the subject, distracted by her youngest's misbehavior. "Jemma, love, you can't just feed Tom; you need to eat, too."

"Your brother's already almost finished with his food," I added when she squished the pancake she was holding between her fingers, making even more of a mess - if that was possible.

Jemma scowled at both me and her mother; her middle name might as well be 'Uncooperative' now that she'd hit the terrible twos. I tried not to laugh when the little diva's out-thrust bottom lip wobbled and she began to turn on the waterworks instead of doing what her mother asked of her.

"Darling, do you think you can finish these last few bites for me?" Tom asked hurriedly, spearing a small piece with her pink plastic fork.

She ate that and promptly shoved another large bite in her mouth with her fingers to earn more praise, all the while bouncing happily on his lap as she chewed and the prospect of tears ancient history.

"I knew you could do it," Tom crooned, giving her a hug. "You're such a good girl, aren't you, darling?"

She nodded enthusiastically, giving him a cherubic smile; I rolled my eyes, wondering if he was even slightly aware of how easily he'd played right into her tiny, manipulative hands. She smirked at Leo - who was less than pleased she was monopolizing Tom's attention; not to be outdone, he promptly launched into a story about a trip to the zoo we'd heard a hundred times.