"Baby, shh, what's up?" Jack quickly approached Addison as he came down the stairs to her crying in the hallway.
Looking up at her dad, she pointed towards her leg, as she was unable to speak through the tears.
"You hurt you knee?" Jack asked as he swept her off her feet and into his arms.
"Yes." Addison pouted her lip in return.
"Let's see babe."
Running his hand over the skin, he could tell there wasn't really all that wrong with her knee and instead this had just been a cry for attention. But going along with it, Jack pulled the same pouted look back at her before pressing his lips to her 'wound'.
"Should we get you a plaster to make that better, yeah?"
It was also clear that a plaster was exactly what Addison had been aiming for too as her face completely lit up. With the collection of Disney plasters in their cupboard, insisting she had hurt herself enough to need a plaster became a repetitive thing.
"Yes! To make it better." Addison repeated as Jack made his way into the kitchen.
When he thought he had finally settled the drama down, he realised that wasn't quite the case when he walked into a just as hectic situation at the breakfast table.
Jack and Jess had not yet managed to take a moment to talk about the Kian situation. Once Jess had got back from the bar last night, she had gone straight to bed without a single word. Then when they had woken this morning and tried to discuss it, the kids had been up and bouncing with energy leaving them with no chance.
"Harv, you need to eat." Jess insisted when Harvey was refusing to touch the food in front of him.
"No." He shook his head before crossing his arms over each other.
"Why not?"
"Because I don't like it!"
"But you had it yesterday babe. It's just toast." Jess insisted yet Harvey wasn't having any of it and pushed the plate across the table.
Jack was watching out of the corner of his eye while dealing with Addie, trying not to make it obvious. He knew if he tried to intervene straight away, Jess would just lose it with him. She was tired and upset already, things not running smoothly were obviously just adding to her stress.
"I don't want it." Harvey fort back while Ellie rolled her eyes before she began shouting at him only causing him to shout back.
Jess just looked between the two of them completely lost, as she couldn't force herself to deal with it. She didn't know what to say to make them to stop, her mind was a mess and this was the last thing she needed.
Walking back over with a now happy Addie in his arms, Jack placed her into her chair where her breakfast was waiting. Deciding not to make a big deal over what was happening before him, not only for Jess' sake but for the kids, Jack took a different approach.
Reaching out for the plate Harvey had pushed away, Jack placed it back in front of his son.
"You need to eat this Harvey." Jack pretty much ordered trying to make it a no option situation but his son was still not giving in.
"No." He refused.
Both Jess and Jack knew it wasn't a coincidence that everyone seemed to be acting up this morning. Whenever there was tension between Jess and Jack, the kids would pick up on it and a domino effect would lead to tension between them too.
"What about some cereal?" Jess tried to rationalise as she began making her way over to where they stored it.
The suggestion was obviously not appreciated by Harvey as he continued to insist that he didn't want it. However, Jess didn't give up as she began pouring out a bowl.
"I don't like cereal, mum." Harvey called to her with his arms crossing over his chest.
"You liked it a few days ago."
"No I didn't."
While Harvey continued to argue back, Jack made his way over to Jess who he could see was on the verge to breaking down. This was all too much to handle considering the news they had received the day before, she emotionally couldn't cope with much more.
"Let me do it." Jack placed his hands over hers, trying to bring her to a stop.
To start with she just paused and looked down to their hands before she finally reacted by pulling hers back and refusing to let him do it.
Walking back over to Harvey, Jess placed the bowl in front of him before trying to urge him into eating it once again. When he refused to touch it, she didn't make a scene of it this time, knowing it was probably making things worse and just walked away.
"Jess." Jack sighed as she walked past him and further into the kitchen. "Have you eaten yet?"
As Jack's hand rested on the bottom of her back, she had the urge to abruptly pull it away but stopped herself. Instead, she turned around so her body was pressed against the kitchen side with his hovering before hers.
"Not yet." She breathed, sounding exhausted.
"Then eat something." Jack pretty much ordered while running the back of his hand down her cheek. "I'll deal with this."
Just as the words left his mouth, there was a huge roar of voices coming from behind them as the kids began bickering between themselves. Ellie had teasingly reached over to grab a bit of Harvey's toast that he hadn't been eating, only causing her brother to show his annoyance.
"That's mine!" He yelled as Ellie pulled a challenging expression.
"You said you didn't want it, so it's mine now." Ellie bit back, clearly trying to make a point.
"It's still mine!" Harvey shouted back and just as Jess was about to make her way over, she was distracted by their dog crazily barking at something. It seemed as though it wasn't just the children feeling the need to kick up a fuss this morning, animals were included.
Running his hand over Jess' shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze, Jack began making his way over to their bickering children while Jess left the kitchen to go and see what all the craziness was about.
"El, you should have asked first." Jack began, looking to his daughter who now had a mischievous expression over her face. "But Harv, you did say you didn't like it."
"See!" Ellie instantly turned to Harvey, sticking her tongue out.
Out of all of their children, Harvey and Ellie were the two that clashed the most. They didn't know if it was because they were close in age and complete opposites but either way it made them the most difficult when put together.
"Do you want some toast Harvey? I'll do you some more." Jack asked, trying to calm the situation down but he just shook his head.
"So don't be moody over me eating it then." Ellie continued, taking another piece.
"It's mine Ellie!" Harvey stressed, clearly getting aggravated.
Running his hands over his face through pure frustration and helplessness, Jack crouched down before turning the chair around that Harvey was sitting on so he was facing him and not Ellie. He knew he had to break their eye contact to have any hope in stopping the bickering and teasing faces just trying to wind one another up.
"You either eat your breakfast or we won't be playing outside today, it's your choice." The tone in Jack's voice was clear to Harvey and the other kids that he was no longer messing around. However, just as Jack thought he was getting somewhere, Jess walking back in the room had everyone's attention as she was followed by someone who was now hovering in the doorway.
"Hi." She smiled, looking slightly awkward. "I hope this isn't a bad time."