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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Longshot did well throughout the movie. Once they got through the abstract part at the beginning, he hummed along with parts of the Nutcracker Suite. He liked the Chinese mushroom bit the best. He giggled at the big mouse in the Sorcerer's Apprentice part. He was very quiet and watching steadily on the dinosaur part. He sniffled about the stegosaurus. He got up and ran around the room for the intermission part before flopping down to sit on Ali's lap when it was over.

He clapped at the piece with the centaurs and stuff. He also asked Ali if they could go there sometime. He wanted to see flying horse people stuff. He giggled at the hippos and alligators dancing. Finally, he hid his face against Ali's neck for the final bit. BIG SCARY DEMONS were harder to watch than big scary dinosaurs.

Oops. She didn't know there were scary parts in the movie. Maybe their little ones would need to be a bit older than she originally thought to watch this.

She wrapped her arms tightly around Longshot and hugged him close as she rocked him lightly. "It's alright, sweetheart. I've got you. Nothing's going to get to you while I'm here. I promise."

She kissed his cheek and squeezed him again. Poor thing. Now she felt bad for choosing this movie. Next time she'd check more closely before she showed one she hadn't seen before.

"Big winged bad guy gone?" He made things come out of graves and stuff, he had to be a bad guy. He peeked at the TV and relaxed.

"I'm okay now. It's allllll over." Though he did snuggle closer rather than pull away. He was sticky and she was comfy.

"Yep, all over." She smiled and snuggled him close. "I love you, cutie. You're my favorite person in the whole, wide world."

She smiled and kissed his cheek again.

"Whatcha wanna do now?"

"I love you, Ali. Thass why I gave you forever and ever." He leaned forward and rubbed noses with her, making himself giggle.

"Mm. I dunno. What is there to do around this popsicle stick stand?"

She giggled too and bumped her forehead gently against his. "And ever and ever and ever."

"Well. We could go outside and visit the horses. Or we could watch another cartoon. Or... hmmm. We could build a secret fort." She smiled. "All kinds of things to do."

His eyes widened. "A secret fort?"

He looked around and lowered his voice. "Where would we build it? Can my little fuzzy friend come, too? Or is it too secret?"

She chuckled softly. That had been a pretty sure bet when she suggested it. She leaned in close and murmured conspiratorially. "We can build it upstairs. On the fourth floor since nobody goes up there much. It'll be nice and secret."

"Your fuzzy friend can come. But, we should build it first so he doesn't get lost." She grinned. "What do you think?"

"Okay," he whispered as he gave her a thumbs up. "Not even ninjas will find it."

He grabbed her hand and hopped off her lap. He tried to tug her with him. "Come on!"

"Whoa, easy there speedy. We need some building materials first." She pulled him in the opposite direction first. In the kitchen junk drawer, she found a spool of string the kids had used for kite making. That would work.

She handed it to him to hold and then headed for the stairs. They took them slowly, despite his enthusiasm. She didn't want him to fall.

On the fourth floor landing, she released his hand and smiled. "Okay, you go find a good, empty room for fort building. I'll go get the other stuff we need." Also, she didn't want him going in the linen closet. Those were not memories for a four year old.

Longshot scratched his head but followed Ali into the kitchen. He dutifully took the spool of thread but was confused how that would make a good secret fort. He kept trying to get Ali to speed up, but his little weight did not seem to move her.

"Okay!" He sped off into one of the empty rooms here. He peaked in one and decided the one next to it was better. Less windows for those sneaky ninjas to climb in. Then he scratched his head as he tried to figure out how they would make a fort in here.

Alison returned from the closet with an arm load of sheets and blankets. She didn't mind the volume of laundry that she would be doing as a result. They would have fun and that was the important part.

She set them on the floor with a small bag of clothespins. "Okay! Good choice."

She smiled and looked around. Mostly empty. A few odd chairs and one small table. And a closet off to one side. It was workable. "Still got the string? Bring it over here so we can tie it to the closet door."

He held up the string and jogged over to Ali with his arm still up. "We gonna tie everything closed?"

They would get stuck in there! Oh, no! Though he would be stuck with Ali, and that was good. So nevermind the worry. He was fine.

"Nope. We're gonna tie everything up!" She grinned and pointed up. "I'll show you."

She made sure the end of the string was tied tightly to the closet door knob. Then she showed him how to stick his tiny little fingers into the open ends of the string spool and roll it out to their next destination. He seemed particularly impressed when -- having forgotten scissors -- she had to cut the string with a little laser.

After a while, they had a small network of strings tied from knobs to hooks, and from tables to chairs. Then they took the sheets and stretched them out between the strings, pinning them in place with the clothespins.

Soon, they had a nice sheet roof and walls. Of course, anyone much taller than Longshot had to duck to get around in them. But, that was okay.

Longshot looked up where Ali pointed but still didn't get what she meant. His forehead wrinkled a little bit, but he helped her as best he could. Well, when he wasn't ooooooooooooooooooh'ing at her cutting the string with her lasers.

Once the fort was made, he walked right into it. He clapped his hands together and held them to his chest. He giggled a little. "Tah dah!"

Alison knelt at the 'front door' of the fort and grinned at him. She clapped, too, and cheered. "Yay! You made a really nice fort. Good job!"

She handed him the remaining blankets. "Here. Spread these out so we have a nice, comfy floor. And, I'll go get your little friend so he can play, too."

Mapanos would be happy to see his Mojoworlder. Even if he was a bit shorter than the last time the simian saw him.

When he ran over to take the blankets, he smiled at Ali. Then he puckered his lips past his nose and gave her a kiss on the lips. "I'll make it super comfy for you!"

Then he turned on his heel and began to lay out the blankets.

Eee! Tiny kisses. She gave him a huge smile before she turned to go back downstairs. Mapanos was happy to see her. She'd fed him that morning, but Longshot had not been around to play with him. Poor little monkey.

She opened the cage and took him out, setting him on her shoulder. And then she headed back upstairs. Before she returned to the fort, she snagged some of the books out of the babies' room.

"We're back!" She announced as she came into the room and pulled the door mostly shut behind her. She set Mapanos down at the fort door and let him scamper inside. She crawled in behind him with the books in hand.

Longshot's eyes lit up when he saw Maponos scurry in. "Fuzzy!" He held his arms out.

The pygmy marmoset hesitated, sniffed, and then raced over to pounce Longshot. He might have shrank somehow, but he still smelled like Maponos' Longshot. The little simian cuddled against the tiny Mojoworlder.

Longshot settled down next to a bigger pile of blankets and carefully hugged his little monkey. He grinned up at Ali. "These blankies comfy enough for you?"

"They look very comfy." Alison smiled and settled down on the pile of blankets he'd made for her. She scooted around until there was room enough for the both of them and patted the blankets beside her. "You guys want to sit with me? We can read some of these fun books. They've got lots of pretty pictures."

She was glad that the little marmoset had recognized Longshot and come to him. If he hadn't it would have hurt the little blond's feelings.

"Okay," He hopped over to settle down and snuggle up to Ali. Maponos snuggled up to him. Longshot skritched the pygmy marmoset behind both ears as he looked up at Ali.

"Whatcha gonna read?"

"Well, let's see. I've got a book about a boy that becomes a king. And a book about a cat in a hat. And another one that has princesses and pirates and all sorts of stuff." She smiled and showed him the covers. "Which one looks good to you?"

"Mm." He looked over the covers with the utmost seriousness. Then he poked the one in the middle with the cat in the hat. "That one!"

"I like that one. Good choice!" Alison smiled and set the other books aside. She held the book where he could see the pictures and began to read.

She liked the rhyming cadence of how the book read. And the bright pictures. She even did her very best voices for the Cat, the children, and the very serious fish.

Longshot snuggled up to Alison and let Maponos scamper all over him. He listened to the story, looked at the pictures, and played with the tiny simian. He giggled at some of Ali's funny voices but liked each and every one.

"You're a good storyteller. Tell me another."

Small surprises.

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