#carson cooper fox

[pastelbrachypelma]

I don’t consider Sly to be a strict parent, but I do think the one time he really flew off the handle at the twins was over food waste.

Sly was often food insecure growing up. Memories of eating exclusively out of the trash are still fresh in his mind, even in retirement when those days are behind him.

And he happens to see the twins dropping eggs from a balcony to see if they break. And he loses it. He shouts at them, telling them to put away the eggs and clean up the mess, then sends them to their room until supper. Meanwhile, he’s angry and panicked, remembering the phantom hunger of days gone by.

Carmelita comes home, finds him haunted and crying. The twins don’t know what’s wrong; they ask their mom for help. And Carmelita has to explain that their dad used to be poor, and that wasting food isn’t a good idea anyway. There are apologies all around, but food wasting doesn’t happen anymore.

The twins always finish their plates, or pack up their leftovers to eat later, after that.

[pastelbrachypelma]

Can you imagine the softness of Sly just...being a dad??? An uncle??? Like??? Hello???

Sly drops EVERYTHING for his kits. Everything. If the kits come find him while he’s out in the garden working on something, he stops the minute they leap onto him, asking him to play. And here’s the thing: Sly has thief reflexes. So like...he can hear the kits “sneaking up” on him. He can sense out where they are with every swish and flick of his tail. He KNOWS they’re there. And yet...

*Selena and Carson giggling as they try to sneak up on Sly to pounce on him*

*Sly, pretending to still be focused on weeding the garden, even though he can hear and sense his twins*

“Rrraagh!!!” Selena leaps onto him, knocking him forward a bit.

Carson wraps his arms around his dad’s waist. “Come play cops ‘n robbers with us, daddy!”

“Oh, dear,” Sly overdramatically places a hand over his heart. “You’ve got me cornered! How could I possibly say no?” Meanwhile, he’s on top of the world, Bcs these are HIS kits, his life, happy and domestic with Carmelita.

Carmelita is like a mother bear when it comes to her kits. If one of them is hurt, she rages and growls and yells until someone fesses up to doing it. Sly is a voice of reason, calm and quiet. He’s the first one with a hug and a band-aid, and a very stern talking-to for the bully.

The kits know nothing about personal space. Trying to sleep in? Nope, kits are bouncing on the bed, begging for pancakes. Trying to read the paper? Kits are climbing into his lap and asking him to read the funnies in silly voices. Feeling under the weather? The kits wanna play with their toys in his bed. And he takes it all in stride with a sigh that is sometimes weary (Bcs parenting is tiring), but he truly loves Selena and Carson with his EVERY fiber, and would do anything for them.

Sly ABSOLUTELY cried when the kits were born. And Carmelita just smiled, pulling Sly close and watching him just be in such AWE around these babies that are HIS!!! His family!! His responsibility!! HIS KITS!!

And he tells them, over and over, as he holds them the first time, as he sits up rocking them to sleep, as he soothes their first nightmares...he swears to them, over and over again, “I will always protect you.”

Because he didn’t have that, and any promises Connor made him were obsolete. But he can make those promises. And he fully intends to keep them.

Just...Sly being a dad and loving his kits and just...my heart can’t take it.

[pastelbrachypelma]

Sly, Bentley, and Murray all have such “cool uncle” energy though.

Murray can carry Selena, Carson, Tesla, Ursula, AND Kennedy’s wheelchair all at once. Plus, he knows how to braid hair and do nails and makeup. AND he loves teen dramas. He’s a hit with the girls (and Carson, who likes a good teen drama when he’s not pretending to be cool.)

Sly has ALL the best stories, of course. And he has a great narrative voice. Sly doesn’t mind getting on the floor with the kids and sitting before them, telling them story after story as their eyes grow wide. Not to mention, Sly has a decent amount of energy for someone his age, and he will always play all the fun games the kids come up with. (He’ll even happily play eccentric villains.)

Bentley knows all the good tech, and can get any game to run on anything. Plus, he’s not half bad at video games, and is always ready to be player 2. He makes cool gadgets, too, and delights in watching the kids run around the lawn after his RC chopper that is definitely dropping candy at random intervals.

Carmelita and Tom just stand by, watching the festivities and sipping wine.