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Summary:

Birthdays, trips gone awry.... it's just another day in paradise for Jack, Mysterie, Jamie and their children as they face new unfriendlies along the way even as they deal with the drama that comes with dealing with children who are too smart and curious for their own good.

[15th Installment] Sequel to Nonage

Chapter 1: Independence and a Birthday

Chapter Text

"Not entirely, although you do have a way of making things amusing... it is your center, no?" She chuckles a little. Jack glares at her as he holds Brianna only to suddenly be dog piled by the children though he can't make any sounds other than an "oof" of air; he then realizes he probably should have stayed on the chair... The children giggle and Jack rolls over as they hang onto him, one has a hold of his hair and look of pain crosses his features and he almost manages a whine.

"Hey! No pulling hair!" Mysterie disentangles the little fingers from Jack's hair.

"Just because he can't speak doesn't mean you can be mean to him." Luke climbs onto the chair and jumps from it, landing square on Jack's jewels as Mysterie is setting Noah down. Jack makes a silent "OH!" of screaming and rolls on the floor, curling up and silently crying. Mysterie picks up Luke, swatting him.

"No! We do NOT do that!" Andrew winces in sympathy. Jack doesn't move for a long moment, panting is the only noise to be heard now. Jack manages to write on the board: He broke it... I think he neutered me!

Jack then passes out from the unbearable pain; both Andrew and Mysterie wince. She takes Jack out of the room while Andrew watches the munchkins. She's pretty sure that Luke landing on him can't neuter him, painful as it might be... She calls for Jamie to help with the pain as she fixes the damage. Jack is out for the entire thing; meanwhile Brianna hops around the nursery.

"Bunny! Hop hop hop!" Mysterie sighs a little as she looks at Jamie.

"Probably for the best... for now. Won't really affect his ability to function any, just probably should refrain from... well, you know." Jamie nods. Jack wakes an hour later, his groin in serious pain; Jamie gently numbs the area with his power as he senses Jack waking up. Jack writes on an ice board that he forms a second time: What happened?

"Ah... the little devil cakes decided it was a good idea to try out a wrestling move on you and landed on a spot you really don't want anyone landing on..." Jack rubs his head, writing again:  Why was he doing that? 

Jamie shrugs.

"He's a kid. He'll grow out of it when he gets older." Jack breathes out for a minute or two, even with the pain numbed he still felt a little bit of it; Jamie gently rubs one hand along one of Jack's arms in a gesture of comfort. Jack hugs him.

"Speaking of the devil cakes... where is the one we call Luke?" He asks over the bond.

"Being taught why he shouldn't jump from chairs." Jack lays back.

 

 

"So what's the damage?"

"Nothing permanent, according to Mysterie." Jack sighs in relief.

"Crap, there's a Fourth of July meeting... we do Fourth of July every year..."

"Hmmm, well we can probably get Andrew to babysit." Jack nods.

"Hope he's prepared for the little terrors then... or should I say terror twins." 

"Yeah... me too." Jack sighs.

"They'll be calling us soon." Jamie nods and Jack realizes he needs to tell Mysterie about the meeting over the bond; she is currently keeping the kiddos in line as they play.

"Mysterie, we got a meeting with the Guardians on Fourth of July." 

"On the Fourth of July?" Jack gives a mental nod and explains that it's more celebrating, not just independence but Fourth's birthday as apparently he's a spirit. 

"Huh, didn't know there was a spirit for that. Alright." 

"Andrew will be watching the kids." Jack says, meanwhile Billy finally emerges from his new room; happier than he's ever been. Mysterie nods a little and turns to see Billy in the hall.

"Hey there." He waves shyly. Jack suddenly realizes he's forgotten about Billy being there.

"How about we bring the kids and everyone to the pole?" 

"That's either a good idea or a disastrous one..." Mysterie replies back.

"Hey, come on... doesn't sound too bad." 

"I'm not saying it sounded bad Jack, just that it could either be a good thing or a bad one..." Jack nods and with Jamie to help, he makes his way back to the nursery.

"Well, we have until the Fourth of July..."

 

 

"Until?" She replies, seeming confused as to what he means.

"To teach them proper manners and stuff." 

"Hmm..." Jack sits down for a moment.

"Gosh, I'm woozy." 

"Well, we can give it a shot..." Jack smiles.

"First things first, let's see how they eat at the dinner table." She nods and Jamie sets the table so that they can find out; he sends out a call to everyone once it's ready. Jack smiles as he picks up Luke and Randy while Mysterie has Noah and Brianna; it only takes a few seconds once they are at the table to make a mess, but Brianna seems to be a perfect little lady... Burping into a napkin and keeping her elbows off the table as well as managing to get more food in her mouth than on her bib... Her brothers obviously needed work; Mysterie is a little surprised at Brianna, but not at the fact that the boys make a perfect mess of themselves. Jack sighs.

"These three will need training." She nods, as does Jamie even as the three of them eat their own food; Andrew, who joined them, wisely says nothing. Billy, who sits next to him, also eats silently while Jack and Jamie slowly teach the boys table manners. Mysterie also does her best to help, though mostly by demonstration. Jack sighs, the whole thing sucks because they just wanted to build stuff with their mashed potatoes and gravy rather than eat it. Consequently, Mysterie takes away the mashed potatoes since the boys obviously don't want to eat them so much as play. Jack sighs through the whole process, which is agonizingly slow, but the boys begin to learn; Jamie is patient with them, just a little more so than Mysterie is as she ends up taking away other types of food the boys want to play with more than actually eat... The three set on eating baby corn and apples while Jack goes to the bathroom to inspect the "damage" for himself. Mysterie sighs a little, trying to find other items for the picky eaters to actually eat... as it turns out the boys loved chicken but didn't like anything else meat except turkey. Jamie helps her get them to try various things to figure out what they do and don't like so that way they could feed them when the time came without too much fuss. Andrew and Billy had long since left the table by the time the boys were full and the two of them had found several things that the boys liked to eat. Jamie leaves to comfort a weeping Jack while Mysterie cleans the children up; inwardly wincing at the feel of Jack's distress. Jack sighs as he flushes the toilet as Jamie is entering the room the bathroom is connected to. 

"When will they drop again... it's been two days now." 

"Don't worry about it, it won't affect anything vital." Jamie murmurs comfortingly; Jack nods and leans into the door.

"Gosh, I got to find clothes for the kids." 

"Why don't you leave that to me? You go relax a little hmmm?" Jack nods and collapses into the bed. Mysterie and Jamie go through the wardrobe for the kids after we've seen that they are all down for their naps. They figure out what each should wear a half hour later while Jack is trying to find what he wants to wear since every year it was a requirement to wear nice clothes to the celebration. Mysterie also finds something amidst the clothes that North had given them for when Andrew was living with them that is Billy's size and will suit him. Jack looks through several things, tossing aside each idea.