Erik sits back onto his plush recliner, sighing in relief. His body sinks in a bit, his muscles relaxing, the stress of work disappearing the moment he pulls the lever to recline back, his aching feet twitching.
He presses his head against the head rest, eyes fluttering shut.
This is what he needed. A nice, quiet moment to relax and clear his mind.
Until tiny feet run across the floor and someone knocks into his chair, tiny hands shoving against his arm.
"Papa! Papa!" Wanda, his daughter, yells. "Wake up! I need help!"
Erik immediately sits up in a panic from his daughter's worried tone. "What is it? What happened?"
"I accidentally taped Pietro to the wall and I don't know how to get him down!" Wanda yelled, tears in her green eyes.
Erik stares at her for a moment. "You...you taped your brother to the wall?" Did he hear her correctly?
She nods her head, curly brown hair bouncing against her chubby cheeks. "Yeah! On accident!"
"Please tell me this is a joke."
It wasn't a joke.
Taped to the wall of the twin's room was Pietro. He was high up on the wall, taped securely with duck tape. He's squirming, kicking his feet.
Erik stares in shock, unsure of what to make of this. He sees the chair they used to climb up on and there's books scattered around it, meaning Pietro stood on a pile of books while Wanda taped him to the wall.
Wanda stands in front of him, face scrunched in worry and tears welled in her eyes. "Get him down, papa!"
"Wanda, you seriously taped your brother to the wall? You two were supposed to be napping."
She fumbles with her fingers, frowning deeply. "I-It was an accident!"
"Wanda, you don't just accidentally tape someone to a wall. That is not possible. And this is dangerous! Both of you could've gotten seriously injured."
Her bottom lip trembles and she takes a step back, hugging herself "D-don't be mad at me papa. I promise it was an accident."
Erik softens at the sight of his daughter's distress. "Wanda, I'm not-"
Pietro glares at their father, eyes narrowed. He didn't like that their father is about to make his sister cry. "Hey! Leave Wanda alone! She didn't do anything! I taped myself to the wall!"
"What?" Erik said incredulously. "Pietro, you did not."
"Yes I did! So leave Wanda alone!"
Erik gives his son points for trying to protect his sister. He's always been like that, making sure Wanda doesn't get into trouble. Is willing to take the blame if it means his sister won't be in trouble.
He's a very protective brother.
And honestly, Erik isn't mad at this situation. He's shocked, mostly, and he finds this a bit funny. Of course he'll talk to his young children about why and how this could be dangerous to prevent this and future injuries from happening.
"Pietro, son, you're telling me that you pushed the chair against the wall, stacked all those books up, climbed up, and used duck tape to tape yourself to the wall, and then push the chair away?"
Pietro nods his head firmly, determination in his eyes. "Yup!"
Erik sighs, moving the chair out of his way and kicking aside books. "Okay, okay sure. Whatever you children say."
Once he gets Pietro down from the wall, he sits his children down to explain to them about why that's dangerous and to never do it again. He lays them back down in their beds and reads them a story until they fall asleep for nap time.
Erik returns back to his recliner, deciding to clean up the mess later. He sits back and sighs, shaking his head.
He laughs a bit. "Oh, these kids are going to be the death of me, I swear it."
