Naps and flowers

"I'm fine!" Miyhu insisted, pouting up at Thancred with his hands on his hips.

Thancred stared right back down at them, unimpressed with his partner's stubbornness, "you have circles under your eyes that are darker than Alphinaud's cooking attempts," he said, folding his arms, "and I know for a fact that you didn't sleep last night, Raha told me about that little quest you two went on."

Miyhu leant around him to stare accusingly at G'raha, who was trying very hard to ignore the glare while he was tidying up their kitchen after their late breakfast with the not so helpful assistance of their young elezen daughter.

"I'm fine!" He continued to try and convince Thancred, "I can do lots of things with no sleep!"

G'raha stopped pretending to not be paying attention for long enough to call over reproachfully, "that's setting a very poor example for Leanne!"

Miyhu snorted, "Li'l Lee wouldn't give up sleep for anything!"

"Be that as it may," Thancred interrupted, "you're pregnant, Miyhu."

The small miqo'te opened his mouth to retort, then closed it again. There wasn't much they could say to argue against that, and Thancred had that look on his face that Miyhu recognised would mean they weren't going to be able to wheedle their way out of this.

So instead, he switched back to the pouting, hoping that being cute would get Thancred to listen to him instead.

Thancred, however, had been with Miyhu for almost five years now, and was not moved by it.

"Go to bed."

Miyhu crossed their arms over his chest, scrunching up the old tunic of Thancred's that he was wearing in lieu of an actual outfit, the movement highlighting the curve of his normally flat stomach.

G'raha finished his task and picked up Leanne, holding her against his hip while moving to stand next to Thancred, ready to offer his assistance in making their partner rest for once.

"'m not tired…" Miyhu whined, knowing he was fighting a rapidly losing battle as his tail flicked behind him.

"Leelee," G'raha said, "don't you think your dad deserves a nap?"

Leanne perked up in his grasp, pulling her sleeve she had been quietly chewing on out of her mouth, "nap time!"

Miyhu pouted at the utter betrayal from his three year old, then held his arms out to her, "Li'l Lee nap with me?" 

“No!” Leanne shrieked playfully and threw herself to the side, causing G'raha to stagger to keep a hold of her as Thancred jumped to catch her in case she actually fell.

All three of them sighed in relief as G'raha's grip stayed strong, and Leanne giggled into his shoulder.

"Do as she says, not as she does," Thancred said, gently pushing Miyhu back to the direction of their bedroom, "Raha and I are more than capable of looking after Lee alone for a few bells."

Miyhu gave him a doubtful look, but finally allowed himself to be guided to his bed, or more accurately, his nest. 

Thancred couldn't help but find it utterly adorable when he had started gathering blankets and pillows to make the bed more cozy and comfortable during his pregnancy. G'raha told him it was normal miqo'te behavior, and wasn't as enamored with it as Thancred was, although it didn't stop him from buying the softest blankets he could find for them.

Miyhu had also stolen several items of their clothing to sleep with as well when they were away or busy, although they tried not to be away too much, even if Miyhu had many people available to keep him safe and looked after, he preferred the company of his partners.

Thancred placed a kiss between their fluffy ears and then watched as they crawled into the pile of blankets and pillows, dragging one of G’raha’s scarfs towards his chest before burying himself in an incredibly fluffy blanket Hien had gifted them.

Once all that he could see of the miqo'te was their eyes, Thancred blew him a kiss that Miyhu responded to by blowing a raspberry at him.

“Sleep well,” he said teasingly as G'raha and Leanne leant around the doorway.

“Ni’ ni’!” Leanne called to her dad, far too loudly as G'raha winced in pain.

Thancred shut the door to the bedroom and turned towards G'raha and Leanne, clapping his hands together.

“Right!” He said, smiling at the two, “what have we got to do today?”

“Rara in the garden!” Leanne said excitedly, slapping her little hands on G’raha's shoulder.

Thancred caught her hands before she could accidentally slap G'raha in the face and asked, “are you going to help Rara in the garden?”

“Yes!” She bounced on his hip, almost unbalancing the miqo'te, and Thancred laughed at the face G'raha made as he adjusted his stance, tail flicking for balance behind him.

“We're going to pick the veggies,” G'raha told him.

“An’ flowers for daddy!”

Thancred ruffled her pale blue and pink hair, smiling softly, “he'll love that.”

Leanne wriggled happily, and then tried to wriggle her way out of G'raha's arms, causing him to put her down to avoid dropping her. As soon as her feet hit the ground she sprinted towards the front door, eager to get going.

“Shoes, Leelee!” G'raha called after her, sighing as he heard the door open and close anyway.

Thancred chuckled, “I've got to take care of my blades, and find a new hiding place for them, but then I'll come join you two, okay?” 

G'raha nodded and then fixed him with a stony stare, “if I find Leanne playing with your daggers again, you'll be sleeping on the sofa from now on.”

Thancred raised his hands in defense, “I put them on top of the highest cupboard, I have no idea how she got them down, I'm innocent.”

G'raha stared at him for a moment more before softening, and he stood on his tiptoes to press a kiss to Thancred's cheek, the hyur not bothering to lean down to make it any easier on him, “just make sure she can't find them again.”

Thancred sighed playfully and said, “yes sir.”

G'raha rolled his eyes as a slight blush crossed his face before turning to leave to make sure their three year old wasn't already tearing up their garden that they'd all spent so long growing together.

It took G'raha almost ten minutes to catch the barefoot child and convince her to put shoes on, she treated any attempt at discipline as a game, and as he wasn't one of her parents G'raha didn't have it in him to really pursue it. Not that Thancred or Miyhu were any better.

Once appropriate footwear had been obtained, G'raha brought out a small wicker basket that Leanne gleefully carried for him, swinging it with wild abandon as she followed him through the garden towards their little vegetable plots.

“What are we picking first, Leelee?” G'raha asked her as she dropped the basket on the ground and started digging in the dirt with her bare hands.

“Carrots,” she said, very confidently, and G'raha hid his smile behind his hand.

“In that case,” he said, “you might want to dig over there,” he pointed to a patch behind her and turned away as she pouted up at him so she wouldn't see him laughing.

Thancred came out when their little basket was full of various vegetables, and was greeted by Leanne shrieking happily again and rushing at him. 

Once in range, she leapt at him and he caught her in a tight hug, chuckling.

G'raha gave them a fond smile from where he was kneeling, then nodded at the white tank top Thancred was wearing, “you're gonna need to wash that, I have no doubt that Leanne has just cleaned her filthy hands on your back.”

Thancred winced but didn't stop her, “funnily enough, I did think she was being a bit lovely with how she was patting my back.”

Leanne wriggled out of his grasp and ran back to G'raha, picking up the basket of vegetables and holding it up as high as she could, “papa look!” 

Thancred took the basket from her, having a much easier time holding it than the three year old did, and he gave it an rather over the top impressed look, “did you pick all of these?” He asked her.

Leanne preened under his attention, “yeah! Rara says we making soup!”

Thancred ruffled her hair affectionately, “that sounds great darling, I can't wait.”

Leanne wiggled happily, in such a similar fashion to Miyhu that they could almost forget that she had spent the first few years of her life being raised in Ishgard by the Fortemps family.

G’raha stepped forward, grabbing the basket from Thancred, “I'll take these in, why don't you two get started on picking some flowers?”

Leanne squeaked in excitement and dashed over to the flower beds around the side of their home. 

Thancred gave an over dramatic sigh and G'raha just laughed lightly, “you better catch up to her,” he said, “before she tries to bring a full hydrangea bush into the house.”

Thancred snickered himself as he started to follow their daughter, “if she can manage to uproot one of them then she can take it wherever she likes.”

G'raha rolled his eyes and dodged Thancred's attempt to slap his arse as he passed, “and you'll be cleaning up all the dirt!” He called after him, but Thancred just pretended he didn't hear him.

Leanne wasn't very selective with what she considered flowers, and within minutes she had a pile of greenery that she thought her dad would like. 

Thancred didn't stop her as she dropped another weed on the pile, knowing that Miyhu's definition of flowers was just as loose as hers, and instead just pointed out the occasional flower to her, only taking over picking the flowers when she insisted on a pale pink rose, making sure to strip it of all thorns before letting her put it in her odd bouquet.

When G'raha returned, Thancred took a moment to pull him away, pushing him behind a bush to kiss him without Leanne seeing, mostly just to avoid her calling them ‘yucky’ for being so affectionate.

G'raha indulged him for a few breathless moments, but eventually pushed him away, his face bright red, “Thancred, Leanne,” he said, warningly.

Thancred moved to kiss his neck instead, saying, “she can't see us.”

“And we can't see her.”

Thancred sighed playfully, “fine, fine,” he said, pulling away, “I suppose you have a point.”

G'raha rounded the bush, pulling Thancred with him by the hand, “whatcha doing Leelee?” He called out.

Then he paused, looking around, Leanne was nowhere to be seen, “Leanne?”

Thancred turned sharply, “Leanne?” He called as well, letting go of G'raha to stride over to the trees at the edge of their property, “where are you?”

G'raha's tail flicked in panic as he whirled around, looking for any sign of their child.

Thancred stepped quickly back to him after checking that she wasn't hiding in the trees, “check inside,” he said, “I'll check out here.”

G'raha nodded and turned on his heel, dashing back into the house.

There was no indication of Leanne in the hallway, so G'raha moved straight to the kitchen, checking through the cupboards that were her favourite places to hide when they were playing, or she was trying to pretend she hadn't done something naughty, but she wasn't there.

Nor was she in their office, where there was a little blanket fort for her, filled with cushions so she could have a soft little space to read while her parents worked at the desk.

He checked her bedroom next, which was an absolute state of toys and clothes everywhere. Not that they didn't try to keep her room clean, it's just that she can make a mess out of any room in seconds flat.

The only thing G'raha managed to find in her room was the wooden sword she had claimed was lost forever, wedged down the side of her bed.

He was about to leave when there was a sharp knock on the window, and turning to it he saw Thancred, a worried frown across his face.

“Have you found her?” Thancred asked when G'raha pulled the window open, and he leant in.

“No, and you haven't either?” 

Thancred shook his head, “have you checked everywhere?”

“Aside from our bedroom, yes.”

Thancred glanced around the windowsill for a moment, then hauled himself up and over with a grunt, “if she's not there we'll need to call the others, make sure everyone's looking for her.”

G'raha frowned and closed the window as Thancred took a swift exit, stepping easily over the mess on the floor, and locked it again before following Thancred out of the room.

He caught up to Thancred as the taller man reached their closed bedroom door. Thancred opened it slowly, and the two of them peered in, not wanting to disturb Miyhu as they slept.

And then they both sighed in relief, Thancred sagging against G'raha, as they looked at Leanne snuggled in her dad's arms, the two of them snoring lightly with Leanne's odd bouquet lying on the edge of the bed.

Thancred snuck in quietly, picking up the flowers to put them somewhere safer, and G'raha grimaced at the mud now all over the bed.

“Looks like everyone's gonna need to have a bath later,” he whispered, and Thancred let out a quiet laugh.

“Don't worry, I'll do the washing this time,” Thancred whispered back, gently pulling Leanne's shoes off, and then after a moment of thought pulled his top off.

G'raha eyed his hairy chest unabashedly, then said, “you know, all that running around has me a bit tired as well…”

Thancred looked at him with a raised eyebrow, then shrugged with a smile, “fuck it. A nap does sound good right now.”

“Language, Thancred!”

“She's asleep!”

The two of them unlaced their boots, playfully arguing in whispers and crawled into bed with their partner and daughter. 

G'raha lay facing Miyhu, an arm across both him and Leanne, while Thancred took his usual spot behind the smaller Miqo'te, pressing against his back so he could lay an arm across the rest of his family as he buried his head in the hair between those two fluffy ears.

It didn't take long for the two men to fall asleep, but once they had there was a small giggle from the child now squished in the middle.

Miyhu opened a single yellow eye and shushed her, barely suppressing his own giggle.

“Good job Li’l Lee,” he whispered, “your plan worked!”

Leanne wiggled gently, trying to make sure not to wake G'raha now that he was napping with them, “told you!”