As everyone finished dinner, the three girls excitedly looked towards the couple with eager eyes. "Ice cream!" Lauren shouted ready for their treat.
"Ice cream?" Nelson asked confused as he was walking back from the kitchen with plates of pie in his hands.
But all three girls shook their heads. "Mama and mommy said we can have ice cream." Faye explained.
Chuckling as they came in, Lain and Nina were already carrying three small bowls of the delicious cold treat for the girls. "Here. Don't make a mess now." Nina said as they placed their dessert on the table.
"Pie?" Kaila asked as she pointed towards the plates Nelson was setting in front of the couples and brothers seats.
"You have ice cream already honey. Maybe another time." Lain said.
"Want both." She whined lightly hitting the table.
"Kaila, listen to mommy. She said you can have pie another time. Right now just eat your ice cream."
The little girl crossed her arms as the other girls besides her were too far into eating their treat to notice the girls dilemma. "If you don't start eating your ice cream, I'll take it away from you and eat it all up myself." Nina playfully said as she pressed a kiss onto Kaila's head before sitting down next to her.
But when the girl still refused her treat, Nina sighed grabbing her spoon and lifted some of the ice cream towards the little girls mouth. Despite the fact that she turned away from the offer, seeing Nina swaying the spoon towards her mouth made Kaila giggle.
And eventually she opened up allowing the woman to feed her.
"That's better." Nina hummed in relief.
"This is good Nelson. Did you make it yourself?" Nickolas asked from besides his brother with pie in his mouth.
"Yup, nothing beats homemade food."
"Does being a good cook just run in the family?" Lain laughed.
"Definitely not. Have you tried Nick's food? Taste like he gets his ingredients from the trash and he always manages to burn everything." Both Nina and Nelson bursted into laughter. Even the three girls who were still happily eating their treat giggled as the man in the spotlight blushed.
He knew he wasn't winning this argument. "Let's just say the kitchen and I don't get along very well."
A few minutes later and nearly everyone had finished their pies and ice cream. But of course with a little bit pie left on Lain's plate, the little girl sitting besides Nina hadn't forgotten her quest for pie. "Mommy." Kaila called.
"What is it?"
"Have some?" She pointed to the left overs on the woman's plate.
"Kaila we talked about this already. No pie-"
"Oh! Me too!" Faye raised her hands.
"I want!" Lauren joined.
And while both brothers laughed, the women both sighed. Without the ice cream to distract them, Faye and Lauren were quick to join Kaila's side.
"Fine you girls can have some." Nina caved in. "But you're sharing one. You've already had enough desserts for tonight."
Happy enough to be getting some they nodded as they waited for Nina to return with another slice split onto three tiny plates with animals on them.
Ignoring the forks provided, the girls dug in with their hands. "What do you girls think about my pie?" Nelson curiously asked.
"Yummy." Lauren told him with a mess all over her mouth.
"Glad to know you girls have good taste. Next time I come over I'll bring more pie."
Simultaneously all three girls squealed in joy.
"You don't have to do that Nelson. I know you get busy with work too." His sister said not wanting him to worry.
"It's not a problem, N, I don't mind. Gives me a chance to test out a new pie combination I've been wanting to try anyways. Work won't be an issue." He smirked.
"Ew work." Faye gaged causing the couple and brothers to laugh in response.
"I know. It is ew." Nickolas continued playing along as he stuck his tongue out in disgust.
Giggling as the brothers kept making silly faces it wasn't much longer until the girls plates were completely empty.
But after many laughs it was finally time to put the girls to bed. With the twins offering to clean up the dishes, the couple happily accepted so they could wash their little girls for the night.
One at a time Nina stayed in the bathroom helping one of their girls at a time while Lain kept the others occupied in their room until all three of their girls were nice and clean.
Once they were all done, Lain sat on Faye's bed with Kaila in her lap as the other girls played in the room while Nina showered. Listening to Kaila sucking on her pacifier and her other girls laughter, Lain smiled with ease.
Their was peace in the house.
"Mind if we join?" Nick asked from the doorway with Nelson behind him as both men were in their pajamas as well.
"Not at all." Lain welcomed them into Faye's room. Taking a seat at the side of their sister-in-law the brothers looked down at Kaila in her arms smiling sweetly.
"Can I hold her?" Nick asked hesitantly.
Lain nodded being mindful of the sleepy state Kaila was in as she carefully passed her little girl over and into Nickolas's arms.
The girl wiggled slightly as the crinkle from her diaper echoed out loudly.
Nickolas seemed flushed as he could feel the material through Kaila's onesie, but seeing how she eventually settled in his arms, he was too capsulated by her cuteness.
And to Lain's surprise Kaila didn't seem to mind either, instead she focused mainly on his grip. It was firm yet gentle and she fit right into his arms. Curling up closer to his chest, Kaila laid peacefully as she let her eyes continue fluttering shut.
"Wow she looks so small with you!" Nelson exclaimed.
"She really does." The oldest of the twins began bouncing the girl in his lap. "Aren't you just a small one?" He smirked as Kaila mumbled a response before her eyes finally shut.
"Mommy come play." Lauren ran over before tugging on Lain's arm.
Chuckling as she looked towards the brothers she asked. "You guys got her?" She asked about the sleeping girl in Nick's arms.
"How hard can it be? She's sleeping after all." Nelson shrugged with confidence.
"Alright then, let's go play." She said towards Lauren as they joined Faye on the ground with a mixture of dolls, stuffies, and random objects between them.
Moving in closer to his brothers side, Nelson smiled seeing his brother so happy with the little one in his arms. "You're good with her, you know."
"Thanks." Nickolas said holding Kaila higher up on his chest as he rested his head against hers.
But with the sudden lift Nelson was able to spot something on the back of Kaila's neck. It seemed to be a scar or bruise that traveled down into her back. "Hey what's that?" He pointed at it.
Unable to see due to his seating with Kaila, Nick shrugged. "Lain." The brothers called out.
"What is it?" She asked from her circle with the girls.
"What's this scar thing on the back of Kaila's neck?"
Stopping what she was doing, both her and Lauren looked surprised by the question. Whimpering as she moved closer to Lain, the woman wrapped Lauren in her arms before trying to play it off with a smile. "It's nothing."
Knowing the obvious lie, the brothers were unable to shake the sight from their minds the brothers continued pondering what could be the cause for Kaila's mysterious scar.
Meanwhile, Lauren shut her eyes tightly trying to forget about the horrible cause for the markings on their back. "I know sweetheart. You're safe. Mommy's got you." Lain whispered quietly into Lauren's ear as reassurance.
And as the mood quickly shifted, Nina walked in as her perky self much to her family's relief. "What'd I miss?" She asked loudly not catching sight of her sleeping girl on her brothers lap. "Oops." She threw her hands over her mouth.
"Here I'll take her from you." Nina said softly while opening her arms as Nickolas placed Kaila into her grasp. Disappearing for only a moment Nina placed Kaila down in her Aladdin themed bed before returning to the others. "Shouldn't you girls be asleep by now?" She asked seeing the time.
"No mommy's playing with us." Faye excused.
"Well what do you think, babe? Should they be getting to sleep now?"
Surprised to see how late into the evening it was Lain nodded lifting Lauren onto her hip. She whined being trapped in the woman's hold but it did her no good as Lain was already walking towards the door. "Say goodnight to everyone." The woman softly instructed.
Waving with a pouty lip Lauren was whisked away while Nina bent down to help Faye clean her mess. "Let's go you, in bed." Nina ordered after the room was put back in order.
Moving out of the way, Nina's brothers stepped out into the hallway while they waited for the women to put the remaining two girls to bed.
Once it was just the four of them awake, they slowly made their way downstairs and gathered in the living room. "I have two questions." Nelson began immediately grabbing the couples attention. "What's going on with Lain's parents? And what was that on Kaila's neck?"
"Slow down Nelson." Nina said as she got comfortable on the couch with the others. "What're you talking about?"
"Earlier while we were making dinner, Nelson told me that mom mentioned doing something awful." She said with air quotes. "He knows it's about my mom too."
"Oh...but what was that about Kaila?"
"When I was holding her earlier we saw some markings on her back. We just wanted to know what that was." Nick explained.
"Well..." the couple shared a nervous look. "...there's a long story and a short one to that. Pick one." Nina offered.
"Um, short I guess." Nelson responded.
"Okay, well when we first met Lauren and Kaila they were in some really horrible living conditions. It wasn't until after we took them in did we see the marks on their backs. And let's just say those marks are a reminder of really awful things that happened to them beforehand."
"Damn." Nickolas exhaled deeply unsure how to follow that up with. "What was the long version?"
"If we explain that now we we'll be here til morning." Lain said.
"Well what about your parents Lain?" Nelson asked wanting his answers from earlier.
Sniffling as she could already feel the disappointment in her family's eyes, the woman stayed silent as she allowed her wife to explain the situation in full.
Gasping as the story went on, by the time Nina finished explaining the twins looked as if they were on fire with rage. "I'm going over there to give them a piece of my mind!" Nelson stood out of his seat.
"No you aren't." His sister demanded.
"Why not?! Lain shouldn't have had to go through that just because of her sexuality!" Nick defended his brother as he stood at his side.
"Of course she shouldn't have to, but going over there isn't going to make things better." She sighed about to grab Lain's hands but her wife was already up walking away in tears. "Look, I was just as furious as you guys are, but don't do anything stupid. We don't want to make things worst. We can talk more about this in the morning, I'm going to go talk to Lain." Nina said before following her wife's trail.
And just like that their night had shifted moods yet again as the brothers stayed up all night talking over about their discussion.
———————————————————————————
Let me know what you think. Thanks Lexx signing off