the kids playing a video game and needing Max to help them??
good thing my current obsession is bg3
-
"No, look over there!"
"It's not there, we've already looked!"
"Well, look again!"
"You go look!"
Evie half-heartedly kicks in Flynn's direction, but he pulls his thigh away just in time, holding the playstation controller up and out of her reach.
"Open the map," Jakob suggests, pointing to Evie's side of the split screen.
"I've already tried that," she grumbles, but does it again. "Let's just leave her."
"No!" Flynn protests, "We can't just leave her in this pod things, that's so mean!"
"Well, what else are we gonna do? We're too stupid to find some god damn keys!"
They look at each other for a long moment, a silent agreement passing between them.
Jakob stands up from the bed with a serious expression. "I'll go get Mom."
"What is it?" Max asks, still wiping his hands on his shirt as he enters Evie's room. Man, it smells like teenager in here; he opens a window before doing anything else.
The triplets all look at him with similar "Mama please" eyes which still work even at sixteen. "Can you help us with our game?"
Max can't help but laugh. "Sure. What's the problem." They scramble apart to make space for him in Evie's nest as he sits down. Flynn hands him his controller instantly.
"So, we've got to free this girl in the pod from a bunch of mindflayers, they put a worm in our heads and probably in hers too. And we need a key or something to open the pod that she's in, and we can't find it!"
"I wanted to leave her, but Flynn wants to free her so he can romance her!" Evie taunts her brother. Max intercepts when he reaches over to pull her hair.
"We've already tried looking everywhere, but can't find the keys," Jakob says.
Max takes a second to familiarize himself with the controls; it's still intuitive.
"Ok, let's go," he says, sending the character running. Flynn's character looks very human, with brown curls like his. Evie's character, meanwhile, is an enormous, muscular creature with horns and pink hair. Figures.
The kids talk him through what they've already tried; it takes Max only about three minutes to find the key they missed before, prompting groans from all three of them.
"How did you do this?!"
Max just gives a shrug and a smirk. "Magic. ...and tons of practice when I was your age."
Evie huffs, but then leans into Max for a second. "Thanks."
"Thank you, Mama," Flynn and Jakob echo in unison.
"You're welcome," Max replies, and continues on with the rest of his afternoon feeling quite smug, actually.
After Isabel knocks up Leah at graduation and the Luna / Flynn drama, do Max and Daniel sit the other 4 down like “right, just think carefully about your partners please?”
Riley: *sweating because he hasn’t told his Dad yet that he is seeing a guy who’s 8 years older than him and technically his teacher*
Evie: „sure thing Dad“ (has never had a normal relationship in her life, comittment issues are hereditary it seems, met her last boyfriend at a rave while wearing cat ears and being on drugs)
Jakob: ?? (his girlfriend is a girl whom he has been friends with since they were like, 8 years old)
Jasper: „Okay Dad!“ *is a literal child*
Yeah, they are giving Daniel a few grey hairs. Some more than others.
This is the final oneshot I managed for the VV summer event, and was inspired by many a conversations with @33max 🩵
fluff with light angst//pack/family feels//tw: mentions of drug use, mentions of fights with parents
— 🌳 —
Daniel meant to cut the tree down. It was old and knobbly and the placement wasn’t ideal, right on the edge of the cow pasture.
He didn’t get that far, because Isabel begged him, with tears in her eyes, to leave it be because it was her “favorite tree”.
“You never said that it was your favorite!”
“You never asked!” she sniffled dramatically, sounding a lot like Charles.
“What else am I supposed to do with it? It doesn’t even carry apples anymore.”
“We could build a treehouse in it?” Riley suggested quietly from the side. “Like the kind the kids in my book have. A magic one.” Of course, Isabel immediately agreed.
And so, Daniel, with the help of Michael and two very eager six year olds, spent the next few weeks gathering wood and supplies, and constructing a treehouse out of it.
It didn’t take long for the adults to become just as invested in the project. It was fun teaching the kids how to hammer in nails, how to sand, how to put in the little windows they had ordered online and how to roof it with tarp.
To make sure the treehouse really was magic, Lando helped Riley paint it, purple with little stars on it. Sophie got the pups small furniture, a little sofa to sit on, an old, colorful rug, a kid-sized table, some blankets.
When it was done, they all felt very accomplished.
“Daddy, I love it!” Isabel wrapped her arms around Daniel’s leg, looking up at him with a big, big smile and shining brown eyes. “It’s so cool!”
“It really is,” Daniel agreed, giving her a grin, rubbing her back. “And the paint job is what really pulls it together.”
On Michael’s arm, Riley beamed. There was still some purple paint on his cheek.
That night, the twins celebrated by inviting Leah and having juice and cookies in their new treehouse.
-
For a while, Riley and Isabel got to enjoy the treehouse for themselves.
The triplets and Luna were too small to climb up the ladder on their own for a while, but that only made them want to get up there even more. When the triplets got too much for them, it was easy for the twins to escape into their sacred little space, rolling up the ladder and ignoring the wailing downstairs.
However, this was the best motivator for the younger kids to learn how to climb, and soon, the treehouse war was on.
Eventually, via the means of a packling tribunal, they decided on fair rules for everyone to use the tree house.
“No pushing people off” was priority number one, thankfully.
-
The years passed, and the treehouse saw many additions: a rope swing, new curtains, a radio, flower pots, and a new paint job, courtesy of Luna and Lucía.
Jasper was born, and being the baby of the family, he got the privilege of being lifted up there before he could ever climb by himself, always just wanting to be included.
Eventually, the twins grew out of wanting to play-pretend with their siblings.
“Isa, will you play superheroes with us in the treehouse?” Evie tugged on her older sister’s sleeve. “Pleeeease?” She put all of her force into that please to convince Isabel. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, because Isabel’s eyes were stuck on her phone screen.
“No, I’m calling Leah in a minute.”
“Ughhhh,” Evie exclaimed, slinking off, not even in a mood to make kissy noises at her sister for mentioning Leah. “Riley?” she asked hopefully, even though she knew it was no use. Riley sometimes still played dolls with them, but not superheroes.
“No, Evie,” Riley told her, looking at least somewhat sorry, “I need to finish my homework.”
“You’re always spending way too much time on your homework,” Evie grumbled, leaving her two boring older siblings alone in the living room, but not without a “You’re both stupid!”
She found Michael in the kitchen, reading a recipe off his iPad, cracking open eggs.
“Papa,” she whined, climbing one of the stools, “Isa and Riley never wanna play with us anymore!”
He looked up from his cooking, giving her a half-smile that usually meant he was about to say something wise. “That’s just how it is when you get older, bug. They’re proper teenagers now, they’re interested in other things.”
“Ugh,” Evie grumbled again, laying her arms flat on the countertop and her head on top of them. “Being a teenager must suck then, if they don’t want to play cool games in the cool treehouse with us anymore.”
Michael chuckled, reaching out to ruffle her hair. “You have no idea.”
Later that night, Evie snuck her way in between Riley and Isabel in the pup nest.
“Sorry I said you were stupid.”
She watched her older siblings exchange an amused glance over her head, which kind of made her want to pinch them both, but she controlled herself. “I talked to Papa and he said being a teenager sucks ass.” She paused, then added, “Well, he didn’t say it like that but it’s what he meant. So I forgive you.”
“Wow, thank you for your apology,” Riley said, clearly trying not to laugh.
“It does suck ass sometimes,” Isa shrugged, wrapping her arms around Evie to tickle her, but Evie quickly kicked her (lightly). She had one more thing to say. “Wait! Will you- …will you still do the sleepover with us?”
The treehouse sleepover was a tradition. Once a year, on the last day of school before summer break, all of them slept outside in the treehouse. It was a tight fit, but Evie desperately wanted her big brother and sister there, even if they were stinky boring teenagers now.
“Of course!” Isa gasped, shocked by the assumption, “Why not?!”
“It’s the law,” Riley said, matter-of-factly, “Treehouse sleepover on the last day of school is required.”
“Okay.” Evie let out a breath. “...you can tickle me now.”
-
The treehouse changed over time, got bigger, a little more crooked, saw different paint jobs and ladders and furniture.
It always stayed a place for the kids to have their own space, away from the parents and sometimes, the world. Even as they got older, it still saw use, albeit not as much as it used to.
It was good for hiding after a bad day, for reading undisturbed, for sleepovers with friends, for games that were otherwise deemed “too childish”, for secret phone calls nobody else was supposed to hear, and for many other things.
“I can’t believe we used to be able to stand up in here,” Leah laughed, reaching over her head to touch the ceiling with her palms.
Isabel tried to look anywhere but at her. “Yeah, crazy, right?”
“Do you remember when we played princess and knight?” Leah smiled. Her teeth were so white, and Isabel couldn’t believe how long it had taken her to notice that. She was noticing a lot of new things about Leah lately.
“Yeah, I remember. You stole one of your mom’s dresses for it.” Isa had to duck her head to even sit up in here; she was leaning forward at an awkward angle.
“I did!” Leah giggled, “He was sooooo mad at me for it.” She paused, and Isabel watched her run her fingers over the edge of the ratty little carpet Lucía had weaved for the treehouse a few years ago.
“Do you remember when I said the princess should give the knight a kiss?”
Isabel snorted, “You mean when I said that princesses kiss princes, not knights?”
“Yeah,” Leah giggled.
Silence fell over them for a moment. It was a new, heavy, exhilarating kind of silence as the enclosed space of the treehouse filled with a warm, sweet scent.
“...do you want to kiss the princess now?” Leah asked into the silence, her voice soft and pretty. Her fingertips were inching towards Isabel’s on the wood floor.
“...I… would like that, yeah,” Isa said, barely managing a whisper.
-
“Lunie?”
Lucía peeked over the edge of the treehouse, her eyes wide and still a little wet.
Luna wanted her to leave, but she couldn’t get herself to actually say it.
“Are you gonna come down for dinner?” Lucía asked hopefully.
Luna sat up, wiping her eyes dry. Her throat hurt from crying. “Is Papá still angry at me?”
Lucía scrunched up her nose as she pulled herself all the way up onto the platform with Luna. “A little bit I think. But he’s not yelling anymore. He’s just looking around all grumpy, you know how.” Her imitation of their Dad made Luna laugh.
Lucía leaned into Luna, putting her head on her sister’s shoulder. “...they’re just worried about you, I think.”
Luna hummed quietly, her throat filling up again. “They can’t get mad at me everytime I have a boyfriend!” she mumbled, “That’s not fair!”
Lucía said nothing for a second, and then carefully looked up at her. “...no offense, Lunie, but I think it’s the kind of boys you date.” Luna couldn’t really argue with that, to be honest. “You knew he does drugs. Everyone knew he does drugs.” Sometimes, Lucía sounded more mature than Luna even felt, even though she was the older sister.
“Maybe you’ll get it when you’re older, love makes you blind,” Luna shrugged, feeling silly and defensive.
“...I don’t think I will,” Lucía said, putting her head back on Luna’s shoulder.
“...it’s over with him now, anyway.”
“Sorry.”
They sat in silence for a minute or two before Lucía said, “...come down for dinner, Lunie, please. I think maybe we’ll have ice cream for dessert.”
Luna sighed deeply.
“...yeah, okay.”
-
On the last night of school, thirteen years after the treehouse was built, they had their last summer sleepover.
All of them felt the finality.
Riley was going away for college, and Isabel was having a baby with Leah, and nothing would ever be the same after tonight.
Together, they had spent the last few days expanding the treehouse, adding more flooring to the platform. Flynn built stilts to hold it up until the treehouse had a massive front porch.
It was a total overkill for this one night, but nobody questioned it.
They squeezed up there together, a mess of sleeping bags and blankets and cookie crumbs. Jasper insisted on sleeping right next to Riley, holding on to him all night as if he could keep him from leaving if he just tried hard enough.
Wrapped in his sleeping bag and his little brother’s arms, Riley couldn’t fall asleep, staring at the stars above them instead. He could tell through their bond that Isa wasn’t asleep either. When he turned his head to look at her, he saw a slow tear run down from the corner of her eye into her blond hair.
In silence, he reached over, grabbing her hand, squeezing it three times. I love you. She squeezed back thankfully, looking at him with a wobbly smile.
A lot was about to change now, and both of them were scared.
“I’m so glad you convinced Dad that this was your favorite tree,” Riley whispered.
“Me too,” Isa whispered back. Next to her, Evie stirred, snuggling into her side.
For a moment, the twins just smiled at each other. Riley felt tears well up as well; just seeing her cry was enough.
“Being a teenager sucks ass,” Isa whispered, and then they both had to clutch their hands over their mouths to stop themselves from waking up their packlings with their laughter, making their tears less salty.
Eventually, they calmed down and Riley reached for Isa’s hand again.
Do the kids ever feel jealous of the other kids in the pack?
of course! that's just how it is with siblings I think, and it's normal to a certain extent.
The adults try their best to give all of the kids enough attention, but I think especially Max and Dan don't always have enough time for all of their kiddos, and when there is an emergency or a pressing matter which requires a lot of attention (e.g. the triplets and their diagnoses, having a new baby etc.), it happens sometimes that some of the kids don't feel like they get enough attention.
I think for example, Isabel and Riley do talk about it, when they're adults, how difficult it was once the triplets were starting to show signs of being neurodivergent and commanded so much attention from everyone... and that, even though the parents really tried, they couldn't be there for the twins as much as they would have liked to... (Riley's ED is definitely partly a result of this).
At the same time, the kids all face their individual challenges of course. Evie is very jealous of Luna for a time, because Luna is seemingly this perfect angel with good grades who everyone at school wants to be friends with. Luna is jealous of Lucía because she feels like their parents' expectations aren't as heavy on her. Isabel is sometimes jealous of Riley because it feels like she is the oldest and has to take the most responsibilities, etc etc etc! It's a normal cycle of children living together, and imperfect adults parenting them.
🥺🥺🥺 Jakob being a bug for halloween, he gets to tell people what type of bug he is and point out what makes him that specific bug.
All the pups staying up on halloween night, spare bedsheet laid on a bedroom floor so they can divide up the candy. Jakob would actually be so good at that, gets his little clipboard out and tallies up how much they have of everything and can note which houses were especially generous. There's a system, everything is split equally then the trades happen so the pups have the candy they like.
Yes I love this <3 He gets to talk about his hyperobsession aaaaallll night, and it’s basically his dream scenario. People are very impressed when he knows the latin names for the species and all the characteristics.
He has a very elaborate system about how the candy will be distributed fairly; one full sized candy bar is worth 4 minis etc. so that in the end, everyone gets a fair amount. This is his favorite holiday (and yeah maybe Daniel does cry just a little bit about it).
Do the adults ever spend one-on-one time with the pups? With so many kids I imagine they don't really have time for each of them individually all the time...
Yeah, they try to make sure to spend one-on-one time with the pups; while there's lots of kids, there is also a good adult-to-pup-ratio. Especially Charles, Michael and Pierre are like additional caretakers or pack parents for the kids.
There is always somebody to go to the pups' sports games, recitals, theatre performances, parent-teacher-meetings etc.
They also try and make time to take the kids on activities by themselves or in small groups of two or three, like taking them out for dinner, to see a movie or even on little trips.
Some examples are
Charles, Pierre and Michael taking Riley to Paris as a gift for his graduation
Michael and Isabel running a marathon together
Daniel taking Flynn to the farm shop to pick out new chicks and ducklings
Max taking Jakob and Riley to the book shop
Daniel taking Evie out for ice cream after her softball game
Pierre and Charles picking Jasper up from daycare early to spend the day with him (he's stoked about it every single time)
Carlos and Lando taking their two daughters on trips to Spain to see the grandparents fairly regularly
In addition, there's tons of aunts, uncles, grandparents and other family members and friends to spend time with the kids <3
Another oneshot… I’ve been in a pup-centric mood for weeks now, so here ya go!
fluff//quadruplet-centric//tw: insects
— 🐞—
„What are you four doing?“ Daniel leans against the rake, sticking its spikes into the warm, soft earth under him.
„Looking for bugs!“ Evie says. The „Duh, Dad!“ is implied. She’s absolutely covered in dirt, even her blond hair that is sticking out from under her hat is caked with it.
Her, Flynn and Luna are all climbing the pile of manure outside the barn; Flynn and Luna both don’t look much cleaner than Evie.
„We’re categorizing them,“ Jakob says like it’s obvious. He’s sitting cross-legged in the tub of a wheelbarrow, his glasses having slipped down his nose. He doesn’t like getting dirty, but it looks like they’ve found the perfect job for him. The notebook in his lap is covered in his neat handwriting and little drawings of what Daniel assumes is different bugs and worms.
„We’ve found nineteen earthworms already!“ Flynn exclaims, giving Daniel a big, gap-toothed smile. He’s currently missing both front teeth, and it just adds to his rascally looks. Like looking into a time travel mirror for Daniel.
„Wow,“ Daniel grins, „That’s a lot of earthworms.“
„They’re making good soil for the garden!“ Luna gently lifts a worm into her palm, looking at it fondly.
„There’s also lots of ladybugs,“ Evie adds, but Flynn cuts her off, „And dung beetles!“
„Lotsa bugs in there, huh?“ Daniel grins. Sometimes he’s overcome with love for the kids; him and Michelle always got along, but their age difference and difference in interests was always a bit awkward. Meanwhile these four are as thick as thieves.
„Yes, they like it in there,“ Jakob states, matter-of-factly, „It’s their home.“
„Their Bug Kingdom!“ Evie roars, thrusting her fists into the air, making Luna giggle. „I’ll be the bug knight!“
„I wanna be a bug knight, too!“ Flynn demands, and Luna scrambles to her feet, almost slipping on all the dirt, „Can I be the bug princess?“
„Bugs don’t live in a monarchy!“ Jakob protests, but then hesitates, „…although bees have a queen.“
„We’re playing pretend!“ Flynn tells him, jumping off the pile, reaching out for Jakob after wiping his dirty hands on his shorts, „Come on, you can think of the story!“ That lights up Jakob’s face. He doesn’t always get the games the others play, but they’ve long since figured out that he is great at thinking of story lines for their play pretend.
„The bug princess needs saving!“
„Let’s ask Riley if he wants to be the butterfly queen!“
They run off together, leaving a trail of manure, straw and dirt behind.
Daniel watches them go with a grin on his face.
They’ve had their fair share of trouble with these four, but Daniel thinks maybe they’ve done some things right, too.
please tell us more about our favourite neurodivergent triplets
I love them so much <3 warning: this contains some angst regarding the parenting of ND children
So, Evie and Flynn have ADHD, and Jakob has autism. Before they get the diagnoses, it’s a real struggle; Max and Dan are overwhelmed by suddenly having 5 children, Charles, Pierre and Michael help them out a lot of course but 1. Lando had Luna around the same time and since the birth was so tough he needs a LOT of help with her 2. Max and Dan want to give all of their kids enough attention, they don’t want the twins to feel like they’re being pushed aside and get less love now that they have younger siblings.
They do their very very best, but since they just don’t know how to handle ND children (of course! most parents have no idea!) and there’s 3 of them, it escalates a lot. They’re incredibly likeable and cute children but there’s meltdowns and food issues and sleep issues and sensory issues and it’s just A Lot. They find ways to deal with it for most things, but sometimes it’s just so overwhelming that Max just needs a good, secret cry in the pantry away from his children.
I think there’s something about Flynn’s high energy/low concentration behavior that sometimes really sets Daniel off, they get into a few fights even though Daniel loves him so dearly. Until one day Grace makes an off-hand remark that Flynn is 100% a mini Daniel; Daniel was just like this as a kid. And that’s really eye opening for Daniel, because Flynn just displays so many qualities that were trained or shamed out of Daniel when he was a kid (eventually) and so he promises to do better and embrace his son as he is.
Unfortunately, it escalates really badly one time, because Max is just overwhelmed and Daniel is too (but he always has the possibility to „hide“ at work) and it just all comes crashing down. They make an appointment with a pediatrician the next day and finally, the triplets are eventually diagnosed. It makes it a lot better for everyone to handle, they all go to occupational therapy, Flynn gets some meds, they find an ADHD omega playgroup for Evie so she has an easier time making friends, they learn better ways to deal with Jakob’s food and sensory issues and his nonverbal behavior, and they learn how to handle meltdowns properly. Also I think both Max and Dan get some therapy themselves because there’s just a lot coming up.
asdfghjk this was probably way more than you bargained for lmao sorry, I could go on for ages, I could literally write an essay
