pee-a-boo

"Peek-a-boo!"

The toddler burst into a fit of giggles as the hands flew away from the young woman's face, revealing her smiling face to her.

"Daffy, it's been scientifically proven that peek-a-boo can harm a child's mental development. You could be mentally scaring Lina for the rest of her life by doing that," said the toddler's father from where he sat on the leather sofa.

Daphne merely pouted, and then turned her attention back to the little girl, repeating the process of hiding her face and revealing it again like it was some kind of magic. After watching it a few times, the little girl began copying her aunt, hiding her face behind her little hands, although she was unable to pronouce the words peek-a-boo. She hadn't said much at all yet, and her parents were getting a little worried.

There was a chuckle from the doorway of the living room. "Don't be silly, Ben. You loved it when you were a kid." His father slipped into the room, watched intently by the little girl sat on his carpet. She seemed extremely interested on the cane he used to support himself to walk, making little motions with her hands to reach out and touch it. Once he'd settled on the sofa next to his son, Lina moved to crawl over to him, her little fingers touching the wood of the cane.

Daphne snickered. "So that's why he's mentally challeneged then."

Reuben frowned at his sister, then turned his attention to his daughter as she silently inspected his father's walking stick. He'd badly broke his left leg about a year ago, and his weak bones hadn't been able to heal the fracture well enough for him to put much of his weight on it. It annoyed Alistar to no end, because it made him look even more like a grandfather than he already was. Two grandkids from his own son, a cane; next he'd be shipped off to an old people's home.

(They were already joking about sending David to one. Bailee had already done an excellent job of providing him with grandchildren.)

Reaching down, Reuben picked up his little girl and settled her on his lap, arms encrircling her protectively. She was his little princess, and no prince charming or evil witch was going to steal her away. It was already apparent that anyone with the intention to date Lina was going to have quite the battle when it came to dealing with her father. While she looked up at her father with big, bright eyes as he picked her up, once she was settled she looked to her grandfather again.

"I wonder what she's thinking about?" Alistar asked, waggling her fingers before her, making her giggle and reach out for them.

"Her Grandpa Morgan doesn't have a walking cane, Starry. You're probably the first person she's seen with one and is working out why," Daphne suggested from her spot on the carpet. She'd been visitin her father's when Rueben had shown up with his little girl. Isobel had taken Dawson and while she felt like she could handle two kids, Roo had offered to take the little girl off her hands so she could focus all her attention on her firstborn who was probably feeling a bit left out since the arrival of Lina. Alistar and David hadn't seen their new granddaughter since her birth. It wasn't their fault, more that they'd been busy, in the hospital with a damaged leg and other such things making it difficult for them to see Lina. This was the first time Lina had seen her other grandfather. It wasn't fair that Morgan was getting all her attention.

Star grinned, holding his cane out to her to curl her fingers around. "Well, I'm glad she's distinguishing me from her other Grandfather."

"Yeah, considering you're both in a relationship with a man. I'll be surprised if she and Dawson don't grow up a little confused about things."

"I happen to like having two Dads," Daphne chimed in.

Reuben smirked. "So do I, but I wasn't born into this crazy family, I married into it."

"You were born my son first, Ben," Alistar added. "Then came David, followed by you marrying my co-worker's daughter."

"I can't believe Mads even let me. I mean, she knew me growing up and she still let me marry her daughter."

"We had bets on whether it'd be Isobel or Christian in the beginning," Al said, a smug smile playing on his lips. "The amount of mother's I had complaining about you with their sons or daughters made me wonder if you'd ever settle down." He smiled at Lina who had decided it would be better to investigate her grandfather's cane by chewing on it. "I'm glad you did. She's really adorable."