[Artemis] Trouble Child
Melanie A. Howard
One of Harry’s favourite sights and smells in the whole world was Kyr in his domestic element. He smiled when he arrived home in their quarters, Kyr bustling around the kitchen, the smell of baking wafting through the air.
“Evening lover,” he said, collapsing down onto the sofa with a groan, undoing his collar and sighing.
Kyr looked up from where he was just taking moba bread out of the oven. “Good evening,” he said. “You look beat. Still delicious, but beat. Are you okay?”
“Well, I hate to break it to you my beloved, but you are now no longer the only parolee onboard,” Harry teased. “But don’t worry, this one’s female - and barely out of diapers from my perspective. - Still, she arrived onboard in handcuffs, quite the move.”
“And here I was going to be jealous.” Kyr plopped down next to Harry after putting the moba bread on a plate and setting it in front of him. He held out a black coffee to Harry and sipped his own jumja tea. “I didn’t even get here in handcuffs.”
“Mmm… well, you have nothing to worry about… oh, she’s half Betazoid too,” Harry snorted. “And the sister is a new science officer. Called Jenny, her nickname is “Jailbird” - I think you’ll like her. - I feel we may be gaining another one,” he added with a sigh. “And to think I never wanted kids.”
“Too late,” Kyr said, kissing Harry on the cheek. “You’re such a good father, too. Our door is always open, I know. I rather like our life.” He snuggled into Harry’s side.
“I like it too - especially you and the twins,” Harry smiled, putting an arm around him and kissing the top of his head. “Aiden has a good head on his shoulders so he’ll be in charge of overseeing her day to day - though I pity Bela if Bela also gets assigned as her parole officer. Must give her the ‘don’t touch the dog’ warning.”
“Oh dear,” Kyr said. “Yeah… the don’t touch the dog warning would be good. I’ll have to be an extra perfect parolee now that I’ve got competition for Bela’s affections.” He chuckled. Then he took Harry’s hand and threaded his fingers through his. “How can I help?”
“She seems to have a temper - but probably not undeserved. We both know what it is growing up with trauma - just… I think just be open when you meet her,” Harry said. “And IF she gets assigned to Bela… help unwind Bela. - The girl has dyed her hair dark pink so you can imagine how Bela is going to cope,” he snorted.
“Yikes,” Kyr said. “Okay, well, I’ll see what I can do. If they keep sending parolee’s here, we’ll have to form a support group. Or maybe a book club. With finger sandwiches.”
“I should never have given you that book about British customs,” Harry sighed. “I love you’re trying to get closer to my culture but I’m Welsh, so you really don’t need to do the cucumber sandwich thing…” It was a lost cause he knew. “Though in all seriousness… If we end up with more, a support group might not be a bad idea.”
“I’m full of good ideas. That’s why you love me,” Kyr grinned.
“Absolutely right,” Harry chuckled. “Did the girls get to bed okay? I’m sorry I missed bedtime.”
“Yes. I read them a story. They pouted a bit that it was me instead of you. Apparently I don’t do the voices right,” Kyr said. “Or something to that effect. They’re just learning to string a couple of words together, but, that’s the impression I got.”
“Aaaah the joys of empathic children,” Harry chuckled. “It helps you can get the feelings from them.”
“Yeah,” Kyr said. “It helps a lot. I don’t know how other parents with non-empathic children do it. How in the world do you know what they need?”
“Guess work mostly, I think. I don’t know - Tuakina doesn’t need diapers changing,” Harry shrugged.
“She’s still absolutely miserable. I don’t know what I’d do if I were her,” Kyr said, his grip on Harry’s hand tightening.
“You’re not. I am here,” Harry said, bringing Kyr’s hand up to his lips and kissing it.
Kyr relaxed and kissed Harry on the lips. “Me, too,” he said. “I’m here, too.”