Crayons and markers were strewn across the living room floor. Rio was playing softly on the TV, brightly colored animated birds filling the screen with rich blues and yellows. A mess of brown curls laid on its stomach, legs bent slightly in the air behind her. the thick sketchbook that was mostly filled with drawings of dinosaurs and their skeletons sat in front of the small figure. A soft humming also fills the room, the soft melody matching that of the one coming out of the TV speakers.
Schlatt looks at his daughter with a fond smile from his place leaned against the wall, finally done with editing for the day. He shifts his weight, moving to better see what she was drawing. He sees the shapes of blue wax that make up the main character on the movie. He finally moves off the wall, "you having fun there, Picasso?" he smiles. Aurora squirms to turn over and get to her feet, and once she does she rushes to crash into his legs. He lets out a soft "oof" with a chuckle.
"dad!" she cheers, using both of her small hands to grasp his to drag him toward the small mess she created. He allows her to guide him, sitting criss cross and allowing her to clamber into his lap. She reaches forward to grab her sketchbook, now teetering on her lap; An arm wrapping around her waist to keep her steady. She squirms slightly to get comfortable, leaning back against his chest as she adds color to her drawing. "are you all done?" she murmurers, worrying if she asked too loud he would remember all the other work he had to do.
He nods his head, "yeah, baby girl, all done f'today." She nods firmly at his words, the motion much too serious for the information she received and her age. "what 'ave you been doin'?" he asks softly.
It takes a while for Aurora to answer, her mind focused on the drawing in front of her. Schlatt waited patiently, having grown patient with the way his daughter works. Eventually she hums softly to herself, mostly to signal to him that she was mulling over what she wanted to say, to tell him that she heard him and was processing. "watched movie" she mumble softly.
He cards a hand through her hair, humming in response. "I figured" he chuckles, matching her soft tone, "that all you did?" he probes slightly. Aurora shrugs in response, small shoulders moving up and down against her father's chest. "did you draw?" he asks softly, noting that this was one of her more quiet days. He watches as she fiddles with the pages, latching her thumb nail into the top edges of the paper, "can I see any of them?"
He doesn't get an outright answer, just her curling against his chest and leaning her head back so he can look at the sketchbook on her lap. Small fingers messily flip back a few pages, showcasing drawings of multiple Protoceratops. "They were small" she tells her father, "only like two feet." Her father hums from behind her, "they were quab- quad-dropro" she stumbles over the words, eventually huffing "they walked on four feet like dogs… how do you say that?" she stretches her neck to look up at Schlatt.
"quadruped" he answers, used to having to echo the words from her dinosaur books. He had gotten good at learning all of these Latin and scientific terms (though usually from wikipedia and different 'how do you pronounce' youtube channels).
She echos the word under her breath a few times before nodding, "and they dug underground" she continued, showing how she drew a rough diagram of the dinosaur in a hole. The duality of Aurora's drawing ability always baffled Schlatt; she would practically reproduce detailed drawings and models from what she saw in her books and the TV, but she was also just as capable to produce rough crayon scribbles that one would expect from a five year old.
"sounds like you were more productive then me" he jokes, scanning the drawings again. Aurora flips back to the page with the bird drawings.
"I drew the birds from the movie" she tilts the book slightly to allow him to see. "birds are like the kids of dinosaurs… but also they were there when there was dinosaurs… 'member?"
"birds and alligators" Schlatt responds, having practically memorized the information given in any museum containing dinosaurs within the state.
"yeah" she whispers, squirming until her father releases his hold on her. She closes her book with a small thump and looks at him, her doe eyes now pulled into a squint, "what did you do?" her voice as serious as she could muster.
Schlatt bites back the chuckle, "I was editin'" he starts, "all the stuff from the stream from the weekend." The expectancy in the eyes in front of him prompt him to continue, "it was pretty borin', but I shouldn't have to work for the next little bit." Aurora continues to look at her father, waiting for the information she wanted to hear. A smile worms its way onto the man's face, he knew exactly what she wanted to hear "I didn't call Charlie or Ted… or anybody else." Once the words leave his mouth she groans and leans back, now laying against the carpet. He chuckles fondly at her dramatics, "look we can call them tomorrow, how's that sound?" he placates.
"'s it f'work?" she opens one eye to look at him.
He shakes his head "nope. we can call 'em just so you can talk to 'em." Aurora's love-hate relationship with Chuckle Sandwich, she was glad to have the opportunity to talk to her uncle Ted and Charlie more often, but often was unable to because they had to record. She lifts herself up, moving back to his lap, and watches the movie; clearly happy with his response. The two of them sit in a silence only broken by the film playing in front of them. He scans the room slightly, a small frown makes its way onto his face when he notices the missing yellow dog. "where'd Cosmo head off to?" he asks softly, knowing the older dog enjoyed laying next to the girl.
"he followed g'ma… she had food" she replies.
"did you have food?" he asks her, shifting to stand with her on his hip as he moves to the kitchen to make himself lunch.
"yeah huh, grammy made me apple slices"
"well that was very nice of her," he shifts her higher onto his hip as he moves around, "but apples isn't all of lunch, did you have anything else?"
"you said we were gonna have lunch together" she reminds.
"ah" he hums "how could I have forgotten" he teases, "alright well, what are we havin' then?"
"'andwiches" she mumbles into the crook of his neck. She maneuvers onto his back, now perched like a backpack as he makes the two of them sandwiches. He moves back and forth from the counter to the fridge, grabbing the different toppings for his.
"what'cha thinkin', kid?"
she hums loudly before settling on "peanut butter 'n jelly" with a firm nod against his back.
"you know there are other kinds of sandwiches, right?" his voice teasing as he spreads the peanut butter on the slice of bread. Once the sandwich is completed, he hands her the bread-cutter shaped into a dinosaur. He helps ease her feet onto the ground and she grabs the plastic from him. She presses the cutter firmly into the bread, jumping slightly to try a d get more pressure. Aurora's small fingers work carefully to pull the crust away from the shape, her brown eyes slightly narrowed in concentration.
Now that lunch was assembled, the father and daughter happily eat while finishing the movie.
it was a quiet, sunny afternoon when schlatt found himself in the backyard with your kids, holding his "new" 90s sony handycam he bought and has been fixated on the past couple of weeks.
"another camera?? you have like 5 other cameras you don't even use honey...."
"I know, I know. but listen... this one is different-"
you were slightly annoyed when he told you he bought yet another one. however, his explanation managed to sway your opinion.
claiming how this camera was soooo much better than his last one. the lack of a viewfinder ensuring he would be 'completely immersed in the moment'.
the fact that he even took that into account was incredibly sweet. it reminded you exactly why you fell in love with him in the first place.
his consideration, his thoughtfulness...
since he bought the camera, he brought it everywhere with him to capture every precious moment with your 3 kiddos.
right now, he sat on a lawn chair on the porch as he adjusted the settings for his camera. the kids messed around in the open field, playing games like tag, hide and go seek, sometimes even hide and go seek tag.
just as he finished fixing up the camera, your youngest daughter runs up to him.
"daddy! wanna see me do a cartwheel?"
slightly worried the 4 year old might land on her head, he reluctantly agreed.
"sure! but hold on sweets-" he picked up his camera, pressing record. if she was gonna fail, might as well record it and save it to laugh at later.
"alright buttercup- go ahead, show us what you got."
she raises her hands way above her head, a strong sense of determination and focus on her face. she launches forward, her palms go straight down into the grass, her feet following her form in the air in a weird... jump kick? from one side to her other.
none the less, she tried her best and absolutely killed it... at least in the eyes of schlatt.
"that was absolutely spectacular! beautifully executed. 11/10."
hearing her little giggles at schlatt's praise, she runs up and gives him a big hug. after giving her head a small peck, he sends her back out to play with her older siblings.
schlatt continued to record the sweet moment between all your kids playing in the yard. everyone yelling, screaming, and running around.
he also captured their sweet smiles and giggles, zooming in on each of their faces as the warmth of the afternoon sun washed over them.
there's no words to describe how he felt in that moment. looking at his kids thinking about how he helped create them, the big open grass field of a yard he remembered you so, so badly wanted.
...
sat in his lap, cradling your swollen belly. you exchanged tender words and promises.
"i want a big old farmhouse with a porch that wraps around the whole house."
"really?" he chuckles, "what else do you want toots?" he smiles, kissing the top of your head.
"and it HAS to come with a backyard with the biggest open grass field, where our kids can play and run around in.... or else i don't want it."
"that's all?"
"yep."
"I'll see what I can do."
a month later, he comes home from a morning away holding a new set of keys.
"what's this?" you point to the set of keys he held.
"keys."
"yeah, i know what keys look like dumbass. keys to what?'
"our new house." he smirks.
...
he chuckled, remembering that memory and the look on your face when he told you.
snapping out of his daze, he looked around at the beautiful farmhouse with the wooden porch, the grass field, and most of all, your most precious creations.
the screen door swings open and out you walk, holding a platter of all kinds of fruits. schlatt points the camera at you as you set the plate down on the glass table outside.
"ah there she is, my beautiful wife, mother of my children. where have you been huh?" you laugh at his words.
"why are you so sappy all of a sudden? i was cutting up some fruit hun."
"no reason, just missed that pretty face of yours." he stretched out a hand, pulling you in by your waist. you leaned down and gave what was supposed to be a quick kiss. instead, he pulled you onto his lap, deepening it. the camera now turned towards you both.
"mommy!!" the kids all run up the porch, breaking you apart from the kiss, "we found a worm!"
you cringed as your son held a handful of dirt up to you, and sure enough, there was a worm squirming around in it. schlatt laughed, knowing how squeamish you got around small creatures.
"oh! that's really cool sweetheart... how about we put mr. worm back where we found him?"
"uh.... i forgot where we found him."
"see i told you to remember where!" your eldest daughter interjected.
"that's okay, we'll find him a new home."
"can you hold him mommy?" he tries to hand you the pile of dirt.
"uhm.... how about you hold him and I'll help you find a good spot to put him? how does that sound?"
he laughed at your reluctance to hold it yet still cared about the damn thing enough to find it a good habitable home for the worm to live happily ever after.
"okay!" the kids all race down the wooden steps and out back into the field. you got up from schlatt's lap and trailed behind them. schlatt recording you smiling as you ran carefree alongside the kids.
________________________________________
a/n: I cannot get enough of dad!schlatt I need him so bad fjfjdjdjsks 😭😭 also took some inspo from a chuckle sammy episode as well as the notebook with the whole "I want a white house w/ blue shutters" scene.
Sunny's Screeches back at you with another jschlatt post! i low key love aurora and idk its fun to write about this little goofball. I also googled so much about the new york natural history museum and i tried so new yorkers please give me a pass, i tried. also if you want a part two of this about them in the actual museum i would be down.
Aurora Schlatt had a big day planned. Uncle Ted had flown in yesterday and she was going to see the dinosaurs. That's two trips into the city and she was ecstatic.
When she and her dad went into the city to pick up Ted she had to be reminded multiple times to stay close, because she had a bad habit of wandering. She held tightly onto her dad's hand as she bounced on the balls of her feet as she waited. Every time a plane would come in and Ted didn't walk into arrivals she would complain, a whine of 'why isn't he here yet?' would join the chatter that fills the airport as she tugs on his arm, using it to keep her from falling.
"patience," he reminds her, causing another groan to leave her
"you said he would be here" she tangles around his hold as she twists and turns
"and he is" he looks at the board describing the incoming flights "he's gonna be here soon"
"when is soon" she looks up at him "soon isn't a time"
He looks up at the incoming gate, seeing brown hair peaking over the rest of the people. "looks like soon is now, kid" he nudges her and nods his head toward the gate where Ted walks toward them.
Aurora brightens the second her brown eyes see him, gasping and tugging on her dad's hand. She silently looks up, tugging on their conjoining hands, asking if she can move toward Ted. He nods slightly with a smile causing her to rush toward Ted. "Uncle Ted!" she cheers, weaving around the other people to get to her uncle. Ted laughs when Aurora calls out for him and slams herself into his legs. "uncle ted! you made it! we were waiting for you for forever, and like a trillion people were here and- and we waited and- and then you got here" she's attached herself to his leg and rambles as he walks toward Schlatt.
He chuckles softly when he sees his friend walking toward him, his daughter attached to his leg. "welcome to new york" he chuckles to Ted. "alright, 'rora let the guy breath" he pulls her off Ted's leg.
Aurora, now pried from Ted, still bounces on her feet, needing to get some of her excited energy out. She stood right next to her dad, allowing him and ted to hug before she had to hold his hand again. She listened to Ted's stories from his flight as they made their way to the car.
The next morning Aurora woke up before she was allowed out of bed. She stares at the star shaped clock, she couldn't full read or understand the numbers, but it was still red. After months of getting woken up at six, Schlatt had bought one of those child's alarm clocks that shows them when its okay to get out of bed. The fifteen dollars well spent, he now was able to get to 7:30 (sometimes even 8, moments that he cherished very much) before a small pitter patter of feed would bound into his room. The star turns green and a small smile worms onto her face as she moves her covers out of the way. She pads toward her dad's room and frowns when its empty. The soft talking coming from the kitchen makes her turn and move towards it. She peaks around the corner, her brown hair moving to one side from the gravity, she sees Uncle Ted and her dad sat at the kitchen island, drinking coffee.
Schlatt spots her big brown eyes from their spot peering around the corner "look who decided to wake up" he comments, his words cause Ted to turn behind him and see the girl.
She moves toward the stool, clambering to settle between the two men. "g'morning" she answers, fist rubbing against her eyes. Grabbing a piece of toast from Schlatt's plate and munching on it.
"hey, gremlin" Ted's voice breaks through the sound of chewing "I thought you said you were gonna show me the dinosaurs when i came up here"
The reminder of the promise she made when she would hijack Schlatt's calls with Ted causes her to brighten. She turns to her dad, eyes light up at the prospect of seeing the fossils "can we see the dinosaurs?" she leans forward now sitting on her knees on the bar stool.
"i dunno… you don't seem that excited about it" he teases his daughter.
His words cause her to frantically shake her head, her messy curls shaking with her "no! we have to go, dad! Dad we gotta show uncle ted-!" she pleas
—
All three of them, now dressed and fed, were moving toward the car. A cross body sat across Schlatt's chest, holding their memberships and a few granola bars so Aurora didn't crash from hunger half way through the day. Aurora moves happily toward the car, happily chatting Ted's ear off on how excited she is to show him the multitude of fossils and other exhibits.
"Uncle Ted do you have a favorite dinosaur?" she asks the taller man as her dad situates her into her car seat. She was banned from touching the buckle part, so she waited with swinging legs for him to secure her to the seat.
"you ask me this every time we call, gremlin" he answers from the front
"well what if it changed!" the retort comes in a slight squawk.
"'s a T-Rex, kid, it has been for the last ten times you asked me" he turns his body to look at her from his place in the front of the car, "you change your answer since I last talked to you?"
She hums loudly, thinking it over with great care, "Spinosauridae" she eventually answers.
Ted nods, his knowledge of dinosaurs was limited to the big 3 (t-Rex, triceratops, and pterodactyl) no matter how much he studied the dinosaurs to keep up with her. He turns to Schlatt with a smirk plastered on his face "well… Schlatt, you got a favorite dinosaur?" he rests his chin in the palm of his hand.
Schlatt flicks his forehead "'s a fuckin' triceratops, idiot"
"yeah, uncle ted!" Aurora pipes up from the backseat
~
The job of keeping Aurora near them was now shifted to Ted, since the small ball of energy is attached to his appendage and tugs on it. "Uncle Ted, 's gonna be so fun 'cause there's like 'utterflies, and space, and the ocean, and bugs, and- and-" she takes a large breath, attempting to keep up with her ramblings "obviously," she butchers the word "the dinosaurs, but since you never been here 'afore we can see the other stuff too"
Ted watches as Schlatt moves through the winding lines with ease, clearly well versed in the process of getting into the museum. "Christ, schlatt, you're a fuckin' pro" he chuckles, lengthening his stride to keep up.
"the Schlatt's don't play about the museum, I told you, teddy" he turns slightly, never stopping. Once they get toward the front of the member's line he turns to his daughter "think you can hold onto the tickets?" he pulls the passes, holding hers toward her.
She nods, and gives a gap toothed smile "yeah! I can hold both!" she thrusts her hand out to attempt to grab them. Once in her grasp, she spins around to Ted "look!" she shoves the tickets toward his line of sight.
"damn, kid" he whistles "all professional and everything"
They reach the front of the line, the women scanning tickets smiles at Aurora, not minding the two tall men in baseball hats, "hello" she smiles "do you have your passes?" her voice soft and kind.
Aurora smiles and nods, holding them toward her softly. She ensures that the barcodes are facing the women, clearly not her first rodeo. "this one is mine" she points with her other hand at the pass covered in stickers, "and this one is my dad's" she points at the second. The women nods and scans the passes "and this is my uncle ted!" she grabs him and brings him forward, causing him to raise his hand in an awkward wave. "he's gonna come with us and see the dinosaurs, and- and hes gonna use the guest spot on the pass"
The women smiles softly, "sounds like a good trip" she tells the girl "enjoy your trip" now standing up from her crouch and smiles at the two men.
