a home sweet home (with a couple kids running in the yard)
a/n: soooooooo like this is all @rocketrhap4229's fault lol. she is just as in love with dad!richard as i am, so she wasn't going to tell me no even though i have like a million other things i want to write right now. i added dad!kit for me because i can't resist him and i love the idea of him as a dad as much as i love dad!richard. this came from listening to the beatles song “ob-la-di, ob-la-da.”
~*~a home sweet home~*~
(with a couple kids running in the yard)
pairing: richard madden/you and kit harington/you
summary: just a day in the life of dads richard madden and kit harington
rating: k+
being a great father is like shaving. no matter how good you shaved today, you have to do it again tomorrow.
reed markham -
You bite down on your lip, twisting the flesh between your teeth, staring at the text Sadie – Kit's fiancee` - sent you, yoga in twenty. kit and jax will be @ your door. don't you dare say no this time. we need this. one of them definitely remembers how to change nappies like rich's sister beth taught them. and the other can warm up a bubba right quick. they'll be fine. braaaaaaaandy. c'mooooooooooon.
You can hear her voice – that thick Yorkshire accent, so different than your Midwest twang (as Richard calls it) – in the text, how she elongates the one 'a' in your name to eight whenever she's trying to get her way. The two of you became fast friends as soon as the boys introduced you on a double date nearly three years ago, but you swear you've known the brunette your whole life, that she's the sister you never had but always longed for as a little girl who had to deal with three older brothers growing up.
You sigh, fingers threading through your shoulder length strawberry blonde hair, knowing ultimately that she's right.
You need (desperately) to get out of the house, to converse with an actual adult again, to feel – your heart clenches briefly, a pang of guilt rushing through – like a woman, not just a mother. Buuuuuuut... the familiar tingle of what if creeps up your spine and your ready to back out because what if Ruby does need you? What if – god forbid – something happens to her? You'd never forgive yourself.
She won't be so tiny and breakable forever, you reason, but right now she is... Having just learned how to walk on her oh-so-adorably tubby legs, still crying when she falls on her bum even on the carpet, still needing you in the most wonderful way, and you just can't take any chances. Not right now.
Before you can send your usual i'm sorry, there's Richard's familiar burr coming from the doorway to your room, “Ye better not be doin' what I think you are,” He warns, eyes narrowing sharply.
He's in front of you in three easy strides of his lean legs, large hand cupping your cheek so gently and you can feel the cool silver of his wedding ring against your skin. His crystal eyes bore into yours and his perfectly plush mouth twists wryly as he laughs, low and warm, “Do ya really think so little of me? That I can't be left alone with Ruby for – what – two hours tops? And I won't be alone, anyway. My best mates Kit and Jax will be here, too.”
You laugh at the way he considers Kit and Sadie's two and a half year old little boy one of his mates. As if he and the mini-Kit (that little boy really is the spitting image of his father, right down to the unruly mop of deep black velvet curls they share) would be going down to the pub for a pint.
“Eventually,” He murmurs, leaning in close so his lips are mere centimeters away from that spot below your ear, the one that will always drive you mad. “You'll have to leave me and Ruby alone. You can't stay cooped up in this house forever. Go, you know want to. You don't always have to be Mummy,” His words are so delicious against your skin, the heat of his breath making your knees weak. “You're still Brandy, y'know. The funny, smart and utterly gorgeous woman with the most perfect mouth made for the most sinful of things that has got me just as head over feet now as I was the day I saw you for the first time strutting up and down that runway.”
You don't know when you reached out for him, but you realize your hand is gripping at the front of his t-shirt, and you're basically anchoring yourself, your fingers clutching at the soft fabric so your weak knees don't completely give out. A shudder rolls through your body, a gasp leaving your lips as he bends to slant his lips along yours. Instantly, his lips move hungrily with your own, your mouth easily acquiescing to his insistent tongue, opening with no resistance at all to allow his to tangle with yours.
You're practically panting when you two finally pull apart, air being a nasty necessity and all of that, and you wonder how after having a one year old and being married for two years, he still makes you feel knock-kneed and light-headed like he did when you were jet-setting here and there without a care in the world? Your only true concern at that time being whether you had packed enough underwear as he had this terrible habit of ripping them clean off you, having no patience when it came to getting his mouth and hands on every inch of you, inside and out.
No one told you it would still be like that years later, and everyone you knew seemed to say all the heat and sparks dimmed significantly after a baby was put in the mix.
But Richard seemed determined not to let that happen.
Before you could suggest Kit and Sadie taking Ruby and Jax to baby yoga so you could have your husband all to yourself – the heat pulsing low in your stomach was definitely getting to you – a tiny voice you'd never mind hearing came from the doorway, “Bubba,”
You couldn't stop the smile that spread across your lips at the sight of your little girl. Ruby Jaymes wasn't quite two yet, still having nearly six months to go for that milestone, but she was walking (stumbling, mostly) and talking (babbling, mostly) and while limited in both skills, you couldn't stop the pride welling inside at seeing her stand on her own, not at all wobbly.
“Bubba,” The word both she and Jax used instead of bottle, the little girl clearly having picked up the vernacular from the slightly older boy, was said louder this time and with a demanding edge. Though she inherited your strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, her pout was all Richard, especially when she thrust her larger bottom lip forward.
Before you could move, she was a giggling mess, having been swept into her father's strong arms as he tickled her softly round tummy and nuzzled her nose. “C'mon, sweet girl,” Gentle and light as he brushed her sleep-matted hair away from her vibrant green eyes. “Let's get you a bubba. Mummy has to get ready for yoga. She's having a play date with Auntie Sadie and you'll have one with me and Uncle Kit and Jax.”
“Jax? Play?” Her tiny voice was so hopeful and the happy squeal she let out when Richard told her yes, their voices fading as he continued down the hallway, made your heart flip.
~*~*~
“Yes!” You couldn't help the triumphant holler when Brandy finally texted you back that she would be ready in fifteen for yoga. It felt like a life time since the two of you had done anything together without Jax and Ruby tagging a long. Not that you didn't love your son and your god-daughter – you loved both so much sometimes it scared you, honestly – but the two of you needed to have time just to yourselves, you couldn't lose yourselves in the joy of being mothers. You were still women and even if you had to drag Brandy kicking and screaming, you would remind her.
“Yes!” You heard the familiar trill of your son's voice as he sat in his high chair, fingers dipping into his cinnamon flavored oatmeal. You couldn't help but laugh as he tried to stick his entire goop-covered fist into his mouth, slurping at the fingers that managed to fit. “Noooooooo,” You murmured, the word over-shadowed by your laughter at the oatmeal smeared across his chubby cheeks.
“Jax,” You scolded but there were the baby blues peering from the same ridiculously long lashes he inherited from Kit and you melted. He had your eyes and the dimple in your left cheek but everything else was all Christopher Catesby Harington, which made you think you'd let him get away with murder as long as he looked at you, all bashful and sheepish, the same way Kit would when he did something wrong.
“Mess,” He gigled slapping his hands together and just before he could reach out and touch your face, like he was want to do, you quickly plucked him out of his high chair and brought him to the kitchen sink. “Yes, you made a mess, but you won't turn Mummy into a mess.”
As you turned the faucet to lukewarm – so as not to scald his tiny hands – you felt the familiar rasp of a beard against your cheek along with the heady scent of spice and citrus invading your nose as a wall of nothing but warm, firm muscle became pressed against your back.
“No,” You heard, low and sensual in your ear. “It's Daddy's job to make a mess of Mummy,” and you swore your knees buckled as you jostled Jax in your arms, your hold suddenly not as secure as it was nearly a few moments before.
“Christopher,” You hissed, your cheeks flaring with heat that was quickly spreading throughout your entire body. Before he could continue, there was Jax's delighted yelp of, “Daddy,” and then there was a theatrical growl from Kit and you knew his hands were scrunched into 'claws' as he made his voice comically low while he grabbed for Jax saying, “No Daddies here only Jax eating monsters and this monster is very hungry, you see.”
“Daaaaaaddddddy,” A wail before howls of laughter break through as Kit savagely tickles him.
Briefly, as you watch your fiancee` and your son, you wonder if it's too late for you to cancel on Brandy. You know she'd be all too happy to say with Richard and Ruby just as you'd be about staying with Kit and Jax. You twist your lip between your teeth, huffing at how just seeing your boys together makes you turn to goo and you're about to reach for your phone when a large hand stops you.
“Don't,” Kit's voice is bordering on the kind of stern he only uses when his head's between your legs and his mouth is bringing you to the most blissful oblivion. “You've been trying to get Brandy to do something without Jax and Ruby for months. You'll have plenty of time for the three of us to lay about together. Soon they'll be in school and being chauferred by all of us around town for this practice and that recital and to go to so and so's house and birthday parties and the lot. You can't forget to be Sadie just because you're Jax's Mummy.”
There's a protest on your lips, so close to being let out when he bends to silence it in the most effective of ways, drawing your mouth into his. Even with your son in his arms – or maybe because your son is in his arms – the kiss grows heady and passionate as if a match was struck to an already smoldering ember.
You pull away first, panting, as you stare into his familiar deep eyes. His voice is low and rough, heat pinging all along your skin as he murmurs, “I quite like Sadie,” and there he goes humming the infamous Beatles tune your parents named you after.
He breathes the title, “sexy sadie,” against the glide of your neck and you don't know how you're standing, but you know he's right. You can't back out of your yoga session with Brandy. You're not just a Mom, but a woman as well. And thank God you've got a fiancee` who's all too happy to remind you.
~*~*~
“Are you sure you've...” Richard quickly cuts you off, laughing low under his breath while Ruby happily sucks on her binky in his arms, “I know all the emergency numbers, including your Mum's and yes I know how early it is in Davenport right now just like I know she'll pick up, anyway. You're going to yoga, not war, darling.”
Your eyes narrow into slits, your lips settling into a thin line, which he quickly kisses away. His forehead is pressed against yours as he tells you, softly, “Everything's going to be fine. This is isn't the first time you've been gone for an hour or two. Our little gem will be just as perfect when you come back.”
Before you can quiz him on what to do if she gets fussy before her nap, the doorbell rings and then rings again and again and both of you can hear a scolding hiss from Sadie on the other side, “Jax, stop it.”
Then there's Kit's easy laughter, “I think Uncle Rich and Auntie Brandy know we're here buddy.”
“Ruby!” You hear the toddler yelp and you can't stop the red velvet kind of warmth spreading through you. You forget about your irrational fears about leaving your daughter alone with her father and as soon as you open the door, you and Sadie fling yourselves at each other, hugging tightly. Yes, you did need this girl time, together, without the kids tagging along.
“We'll be back later,” She trills over her shoulder after both of you had said goodbye to Jax and Ruby, instructing them to be good and before you can change your mind, she's grabbed your hand and is dragging you out your front door. As you slide into the passenger side, you can't stop from giggling, “Were we telling Jax and Ruby to be good or the boys to be good?”
She giggles as well and both of you at the same time say, “The boys,” before she pulls away from the curb and begins the short drive to your favorite yoga studio.
~*~*~
“Alone at last,” Richard's tone is teasing but Kit knows he got the same lecture from Brandy that he got from Sadie. “They act as though we've never been alone with them before,” He shakes his head as he sets a squirming Jax on his feet who immediately makes a beeline for Ruby who is sitting on her play mat in the middle of the living room, touching her blocks. “I know we're not doing the day to day that they are, but we're not completely clueless.”
“Exactly.” The Scotsman agrees. “It's not as if we're dealing with two complete terrors, either. I was infinitly worse at this age than Ruby is. Sarah says she's just like Brandy was; quiet, easy. Cautiously curious I believe was the phrase.”
“Jax can be a little difficult,” Kit admits, fingers scrubbing through his curls. “But none of this terrible twos business your mates try to scare you about. Don't know why he's not a fan of naps, though. I couldn't get enough of those. Wish it was acceptable to nap about now,” He laughs, setting the houndstooth baby bag that accompanies the little rascal whenever he and Mum are out and about near the couch.
“We're going to be fine,” Richard states. “They'll play a little, soon it'll be nap time and they'll be rested for when the girls come home so they can relax.”
“Too right.”
Their plan of play a little and soon it will be nap time wasn't as full proof as they thought it was. It was a gorgeous day outside and Jax and Ruby began to get restless. “Ducks,” The little boy announced, climbing up his father's right leg. Ruby parroted the word, “Ducks,” and mimicked the little boy's movements as best she could with Richard's leg, though she fell back down quickly and that's when the floodgates opened.
Before Richard could even take a breath, her gem-toned eyes that matched her mother's began to water and then her mouth opened. The wail she let out was deafening to say the least. As if Jax could sense his playmate's distress, his own lip began to wobble and just as he began to sniffle, Kit scooped him up into his arms and began to rock him back and forth, hoping to quell the impending cry.
“Hey, sweet girl,” Richard cooed, cuddling Ruby close as she whimpered, her face buried in his neck. “It's all right. You're okay,” He assured, peppering her curls with kisses before he moved onto her red face that was wet with rolling tears. “You're okay.” He repeated again, until her tiny body finally stopped shaking.
“Peppa,” She whimpered, referring to her favorite stuffed animal. It was really the original way Piglet had been drawn by AA Milne, the whole set a gift from Emilia, but she insisted on calling the pig “Peppa,” for some reason. Lifting himself from the couch, Richard brought Ruby into her nursery to collect the animal, hoping just having the plush in her arms would calm her.
~*~*~
While Richard got Peppa for Ruby, Kit had pulled the stuffed Toothless out of Jax's baby bag. Though, Emilia would always tell Jax to say 'Rhaegal' whenever she came to visit her god-son, the little boy would just laugh and say, 'no, toothless, millie.’ The animal seemed to calm him, staving off the cries that would always make Kit fearful that he was bloody awful at fatherhood.
“Ducks,” The toddler stated, his chubby finger pointing at the bay window in the Madden's living room. Kit sighed, not sure he and Richard were at all prepared for what he knew Jax wanted. Though, they lived in the city, Sadie was determined their son was going to have a relationship with nature, as she had grown up on a farm that had been in her family for generations.
She loved London, but was a country girl at heart. Hence why Jax was asking for ducks. Kit knew as long as it wasn't rainy and wet, she took him to the park nearly every day and would pack a quick lunch and bring along lettuce and corn along with birdseed for the ducks at the pond.
“Ducks,” Ruby repeated the word as she and Richard emerged from her nursery and Kit knew he and Richard were sunk.
~*~*~
Getting the little girl ready was more of a challenge than either Kit or Richard would have thought. Normally she was as mild mannered as Richard had described earlier, but she seemed to fight her father at every turn. She insisted on not wanting to be dressed, squirming and slipping from his grasp, running as fast as her tubby legs could carry her, no longer seemingly distressed by stumbling and falling.
And when Kit would try himself, she would tug and pull at his curls, nearly tearing hairs out by the roots while Jax would laugh and she'd blink innocently up at her Uncle.
Nearly a half an hour later, she was ready. Not quite dressed in the way Richard knew Brandy would prefer her to be, but she wasn't in her pajamas anymore... Sort of. She was in a different pair and over the bottoms she had insisted on wearing the little pale pink tutu that had been one of the many gifts Richard's Mum had given her while she wore her brown Uggs on her feet, not wanting to wear sneakers or her the little flats she so adored whenever Brandy dressed her.
The Burberry baby bag that came with her everywhere was bursting, not as neatly packed like it always was when she and Mummy took trips around town, but Richard wasn't taking any chances. After the way she wailed and was almost inconsolable about falling earlier, he made sure to be prepared for any scenario that could arise. Nothing tore him up inside like seeing his little gem in such distress.
How long they had been tearing off pieces of lettuce from the head they grabbed from Richard's fridge, they didn't know, but the rain came fast and sudden. “Bloody hell,” Kit cursed, grabbing for Jax while Richard muttered several curses under his breath, scooping Ruby up quickly along with her baby bag. Neither child seemed to mind the sudden spring storm, happily squealing and opening their mouths to catch rain drops.
~*~*~
Not wanting them to end up sick, a warm bath was next on the agenda, which turned into a whole different adventure. Richard knew with how small Ruby still was, Brandy – for fun – would sometimes, especially in an instance like this (those spring storms that came out of nowhere that London was prone to), bathe her in the kitchen sink. He had come home plenty of times to find them – only the hair on his little gem's head being visible through the mountain of lavender scented bubbles – in the kitchen, sometimes the bubbles spilling onto the counter or even the floor.
Jax was all too happy to climb into the sink as well, except he did so before Kit could undress him, which made Ruby laugh and grab for her tutu that Richard had left on the counter.
“You two never do stuff like this for your Mummys do you?” Kit questioned, his eyes narrowing at the pair who were soaking in the sink. “No.” Jax chirped, shaking his head, his curls slinging water in every direction. “Mumma?” Ruby asked, her eyes darting all around the kitchen.
“No, Mumma,” Richard sighed, fingers carding through his hair. “Just Daddy and Uncle Kit.”
Kit had never been more thankful that Sadie had been the one to pack Jax's bag, instead of listening to him when he insisted that he could have, thank you very much. He never would have thought to put a change of clothes inside. After drying them off and nearly becoming soaked themselves, he and Richard sliced up a banana for Ruby who was just starting to have her baby teeth come in and an apple for Jax. They happily munched, feeding pieces to each other and them as well before their eyes began to droop.
~*~*~
And that's how you and Sadie found the four of them when they came home. It was later than they had expected, the yoga class having ended two hours before, but they couldn't resist getting a pedicure at the salon across the way from the studio.
“Sorry, we're...” Your voice trailed away at the sight that greeted you in the living room. Sadie nearly stumbled into your back because you had stopped walking so abruptly. “Oh my,” She whispered, light giggle underneath her voice.
Wearing her unicorn bathrobe and laying across your husband's chest was Ruby, both of them snoring softly, without a care in the world. Next to them were Kit and Jax. Kit was sprawled across the couch, his arm that did not have Jax secure against his chest, in Richard's face while the little boy was wearing his favorite pair of blue and white striped pajamas.
“Looks like they had a big day,” You murmured, unable to hide the snicker in your voice. “They sure did,” Sadie murmured back, struggling not to outright laugh. Both of you knew you didn't mean Ruby and Jax, like before you were definitely talking about Richard and Kit.
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