shimmerandsing | Small surprises.

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Small surprises.

Alison didn't like it when her husband wasn't home. There were a variety of reasons for it, but the main reason was because he wasn't with her when he was gone. She had spent most of the day in a funk, waiting for Longshot and Asuka to return home from a clan mission. She couldn't complain too much when he was sent away. The jonin knew Alison was pregnant and somewhat clingy where her husband was concerned. So, if he had been called away, it was probably very important.

She still missed him, though.

So, she spent most of the day in her music room. Her single had done remarkably well since its release and now she was looking to find more good material to record. She had almost an album's worth already.

She was taking a break from working, having a sandwich for lunch in the kitchen, when she saw the glowy orange light from John's arrival. She hoped Lisa was with him. The girl had not been in her room this morning and that had worried Alison, too.

"Hi, guys!" She called. "Come have some lunch with me."

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He found plenty of things it would be fun to play with by himself, but he was looking for something to play with Ali. His hands fell on a box, and he pulled it out. It had something written on it, but Longshot couldn't read. It had pictures on it though!

He jogged over to Ali and held it out to her. "This?"

Longshot, even when he was older, would never figure out the irony of him picking out a game called "Memory."

Alison was just not going to comment. She smiled and took the box from him, sitting it on the floor beside her.

"This is a fun game. Lot's of cute pictures. We put all the pictures on the floor, face-down so we can't see them. Then we try to find matches. You can only turn over two cards on each turn. Whoever gets the most matches wins."

She dumped the cards out in a pile between them and started flipping them over.

Longshot settled himself down on the other side of Ali. He would learn better next to her! He watched her flip the cards over and helped her with a few.

"Any cute pictures of you on these cards?" He would want to match those up. Maybe even cute pictures of him.

She giggled and leaned down to kiss the top of his head. "Nope, no picture of me. Just flowers, puppies, kittens, cars, and things."

She smiled. A huge flirt even at four. No wonder he was such a romantic as an adult.

"You wanna go first?" She asked once the cards were all set.

"Weeeeell, you should make some. Some with cute pictures of you. With cute pictures of me." He grinned at her. "Maybe with Robblebees and Yukiyaki. Oh! With the babies, too!"

He reached over and patted Ali's belly. He nodded to himself. That was a good idea!

The young Mojoworlder eyed the cards out. "Only two at a time?"

He flipped cards at opposite corners. He frowned a little. A puppy does not match a kitty. Even if they're both fuzzy.

Alison's hormones were working over-time to keep up with the sheer, unadulterated cute that was being thrown at her. Now, she was thinking that three little ones might not be enough. How many sets of twins could one couple have? Hmmm...

She giggled and stroked his hair softly. "That's an excellent idea. How about when everyone gets home, you and I get the camera and take pictures so we can make our very own set of cards. We can give them to the babies to play with when they're old enough."

She winked at him. "But, we can play with them until then."

Awww. She tried not to giggle at his cute little frown. "That's okay, sweetheart. Just remember where those two are so if you get another kitty or puppy, you can match them later."

Alison didn't do any better. She got a flower and a car.

"Okay! But if we take a picture of Mom..." He looked around to make sure Tasha was not about. "Make sure her big, white teeth are hidden! And that Mommy stands still long enough to be in the picture. She likes to POOF! Disappear."

Li'l Longshot scratched his chin and flipped over two different cards. He got a bulldozer and a bird. He was certain one card could squish the other. "Bad match," he told Ali as he flipped the cards back over. "Little birdy go SQUISH!"

"Mmm. Good point. How about you distract Mommy and I'll snap her picture real fast?" She smiled and tickled the side of his neck. So cute!

"Ooh, yeah. Let's not have any little birds squished." She smiled and reached out to flip over two cards. Hers turned out to be an apple and the match to his kitty. She tried her best not to grin as she waited for him to take his next turn.

"Okay!" Longshot giggled and squirmed at the tickling. "Hey! That makes me laugh!"

He eyed the kitty card. Where had he seen the match? His face got serious as he puzzled it out. It was on ... a corner. Which corner? The puppy was there. He remembered because he wanted to match it first. Longshot reached over and flipped the kitty on the corner and then flipped over the kitty Ali just got done showing.

The little Mojoworlder got a shocked look on his face and clapped happily. "I did it!"

"It makes you laugh? Hmmm. Like this?" She tickled him a little, once more.

"Wow!" Alison cheered and clapped with him. She gave him a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Way to go! You did it. And, you're winning. I'm proud of you."

She smiled at him and ruffled his hair as she took her turn. A bunny and a shoe. Nope. No match.

"Cheeheereheh! Yes!" Longshot giggled and wiggled. He stopped to catch his breath once she stopped. Woo! This tickling thing should be a game or something.

"I'm proud of me, too," he agreed. He remembered where that was. That was a good thing to him.

He hummed and looked at the cards. He held his matched pair to his bare chest with one hand while he flipped over two that hadn't been touched yet. A teddy bear and a shoe. Ooooh! Ali could make a match! Then he would have to kiss her on the cheek.

"Ooooh. That shoe looks familiar." Alison smiled and flipped over the shoe she had found. Then she flipped over the one he had discovered. "Yay, I made a match too!"

She grinned and set those cards aside. The teddy bear one was awfully cute. She hoped Longshot found the match to that one.

"Yay for you!" Longshot got onto his feet so he could kiss Ali on the cheek. He flopped back down beside her and eyed the cards. Then he thought of something...

"Oh!" He started to dig into his pants pocket. "Ali, could you help me?"

He pulled out a shiny, platinum band from his pocket. And held it up to her. "Could you put this on my necklace?"

He tugged at the necklace hanging down from his neck.

"Of course, baby. What do you need help with?" She smiled and watched him dig something out of his pocket. Oh! His wedding ring!

"I was wondering what happened to that." She smiled and took it from him. The chain he was wearing was itty bitty, but she managed to work the clasp and slide the ring onto it.

"There you go. All safe and sound, now."

"Well, after the POOF!, nothing fit. So I left it all behind except that. You'd get very sad if I lost that, so I kept it with me." He looked up at her with wide, blue eyes. "I don't like you sad. That's why I married you. To keep you happy for always!"

Alison smiled and leaned down to scoop him up and pull him into her lap. She squeezed and snuggled him affectionately.

"You are so sweet. No wonder I love you sooooo much." She rocked him lightly in her arms and kissed the top of his head. "Thank you for saving your wedding ring, sweetheart. I'm very happy to see it. But, I'm very, very happy to see you."

Longshot cuddled up to Ali. He always liked this best. There was no place safer to be that in Ali's arms. She would save him from old Irish ladies screaming about naked little boys and chasing him with pants.

"I love you, too," he said as he put his arms around her. He laid his head on her chest. "Sing me something? Maybe the babies will hear it, too."

"I'll bet they do hear it. All my books say babies like to hear their parents voices." She smiled and hugged him again. So small and sweet. She would have two of these precious, wiggly bundles very soon. She couldn't wait!

When he was settled comfortably, Alison sat back with her back leaning against the wall. She rubbed his back in soft circles as she sang one of the lullabies she had been learning to sing to their children.

"Goodie." He snuggled in good and waited. He may have snuggled in too good because he couldn't help yawning and having his eyes drift shut. He was warm and comfy. He had the world's most soothing sound to listen to.

He had a rough day with being zapped younger, wandering the Nexus, and trying to get more cookies. It wouldn't be bad to keep his eyes closed for a minute or two...

Alison continued singing softly until his breathing slowed and evened out. Poor thing. She could imagine how long a day it had been for him.

She continued humming as she got carefully to her feet and carried him up one more flight of stairs to their bedroom. And since she needed all the naps she could get lately, she didn't bother putting him down.

She stretched out on her back, holding him against her chest and wiggled around until she was comfortable. The light blanket she kept handy for the odd chills she had been getting was small enough and light enough to cover them up to Longshot's chin.

Once they were settled, her eyes fluttered shut and she drifted off to sleep.

Longshot didn't know how long he had been asleep, but it was long enough that the room had changed and the wrinkles in Alison's shirt were imprinted on his cheek. He blinked around blearily. Oooh. Bedroom. He would jump on the bed in a bit.

Now, he had a mission. He carefully scooted down Ali's body until his head was level with her belly. He now had the blanket well over his head, too. He put his ear to her belly to try to hear the babies.

When he didn't hear anything, he put his mouth near her belly. "Hello?" he whispered. "Are there babies in there? Say hi."

He put his ear back to Ali's belly.

Something was... off. Alison came slowly awake with the puzzling feeling that the world around her was monumentally different in some way. She laid still as she tried to clear the fog in her brain and figure out what was going on.

It hit her when she heard whispers and felt the slight weight against her belly. She looked down and smiled at the blanket covered lump at her waistline.

She stayed still and quiet, letting Longshot talk to their babies all he wanted. She hoped that impulse would remain with him once he was returned to his adult self.

After a big of nothing but one gurgle, he tried whispering again. "It's okay to be shy. Ali's sleeeeeeeeeping. Just know Mommy and Daddy love you."

He put his ear against Ali's belly again.

A fine twitch started at the corner of her lips. She was going to laugh in a minute and her cover would be blown. Too bad. Listening to him talk to their babies made her happy.

Even if he was only three feet tall.

"Hmm." He pressed his ear a little harder against Ali's belly. "Is that you guys or Ali's lunch?"

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