April Fools!

It was a military operation of the highest order. Elijah was counting heads as one by one the children filed through the French doors that lead out to the gardens. The snow had fallen thick and fast and Elijah had decided to bring them all back inside for fear of losing them all for good. Harry was manning the coats, his arms quickly becoming laden with the brightly coloured overalls. The twins had coats and hats and everyone else had the marathon task of drying and dressing the children in pyjamas. Such tasks usually needed a lot of planning but Elijah’s paranoia regarding snow made everyone jump up that little bit quicker.

When everyone was inside, Elijah made sure he found his three before doing anything else. He wrapped Alice up tightly in his arms and rubbed her back, taking the cold out of her little body. She giggled in his ear and he pulled back. Elijah pressed a kiss on her nose and moved over to Cepheus who was shivering, the towel around his shoulders slipping off every so often. Elijah took the towel away and lifted the hem of Cepheus’ shirt. He pulled it over his son’s head, not caring much for modesty, and picked up the towel again. He rubbed the fluffy material across the boy’s back and chest before rubbing both arms individually. Elijah then made a barrier of sorts with the towl and motioned for him to take his trousers off. Alice helpfully found a pair of pyjamas and Eli thanked her with a kiss before nudging them to Cepheus with his knee.

Elijah cast a look over at Caelum who seemed to be enjoying the attention he was getting from Lorelei. Although the grimaces on his face as she raked a comb through his dark head of hair betrayed his discomfort. It made Elijah smile. Finally, Cepheus was sorted and Elijah tossed the towel away. Alice had gotten herself into her pyjamas with help from Stelladora and she immediately returned to her father. Elijah wrapped his arms around her and dropped a kiss to her head before accepting a still-shivering Cepheus into his embrace. He was a lot warmer now than he was when he’d first come in. They’d need tucking up in bed tonight with at least two water bottles. Elijah wasn’t about to let them get ill.

“Elijah do you think we should put them all to bed?” Elijah looked over at Lorelei who was lifting her five-year-old into her arms. He smiled gently and nodded before standing up. It would be another military operation to get them all into bed but Merlin knew there were enough rooms to put them all up for the night. There would be no leaving in this snow. Elijah rather liked the idea of company, actually. The only one that seemed hesitant to do anything about the children was Harry who was having a hard job of placating his youngest, Tristan.

Elijah let Stelladora take his three and he rose to his feet to give his cousin a hand. He could see the fatigue in Harry’s eyes but he daren’t show it. Elijah lifted the child into his arms and pressed a kiss to the fluffy head of hair atop his godson’s crown. Harry looked visibly relieved to see the child settle and he sighed, all but collapsing into an armchair by the fire that had been lit. Elijah chuckled and sat down on the arm of the chair, continuing to lull the child to sleep. He would probably be better off sleeping with someone through the night. It had been a long time since Elijah had a cot in the house and the travel cot looked less than comfortable. He knew roughly where Alice’s was but that had ever really had much use because she’d spent most of her time asleep on his chest during her early days and months. When Elijah had been left with her, he never wanted to let her go again.

“You need to get some rest, Harry.” Elijah murmured gently. Harry shrugged, running a hand through his hair. He had aged over the last few years, to the point of nearly becoming unrecognisable. “I miss you,” Elijah admitted suddenly. The only person in the world he loved as much as he had Mira, bar his children, had always been Harry. Even after the less than platonic feelings abandoned him, Elijah still loved Harry. He’d do anything for him and as they had both become family men, they’d seen less and less of each other. This was one of the rare times where they were able to be together, just them.

“I miss you too,” Harry replied quietly, meeting his cousin’s gaze. “I’m sorry I haven’t visited more often.”

“I don’t expect you too, H. You have a family now. You have had one for a long time. I know you can’t always be here. I’m just saying it would be nice to have you around a bit-”

“Daddy look!” Six year old Vesper, Harry’s third child, exclaimed from by one of the tall windows facing out to the gardens. “A dog!” Her eleven-year-old brother peered over the top of her head and nodded before turning to face his father. “I’m right!” Vesper exclaimed.

“I’ve always wanted a Labrador,” Mikhail added mischievously.

Elijah gave the sleeping child back to his cousin and dropped a kiss to the babe’s head before walking out from behind the settee and moving to the windows. He watched as the dog and a figure moved around to the main doors of the house and Elijah looked down at Vesper to see her dart around him. The children all seemed equally excited and Elijah saw Alice’s head disappear among the crowd as they all raced into the foyer. Elijah broke into a jog in an attempt to keep up with the hoard but it took him a while to get to the foyer. He was really beginning to feel his age – all twenty-nine years.

He swept Alice up into his arms when he entered the foyer and she screamed, batting him with her pale pink blanket. Elijah chuckled and kissed her nose before resting her on his hip. He walked through the sea of children and glanced over at Harry and his cousins that were crowding in the hallway doorway. Then, Elijah opened the door. What he found hadn’t been at all what he’d expected.

“Khaat? What are you doing here?” He looked down at the dog and smirked a little. “Let me guess...little miss Abbey, right?”