[Darcy Vance]

”Mom!”

The sound of El’s voice echoed through the house, it was soon followed by the sound of scurrying footsteps and giggles that trailed off toward the living room. Darcy couldn’t help but shake her head in amusement, closing the fridge as she contemplated making dinner or simply ordering something to be delivered. She had worked a late shift and didn’t get in until early this morning, so she was running on minimal sleep. Not that she minded supplementing with caffeine. Besides, Ferris had handled getting the kids up and ready for school, letting her sleep.

She only had to get up to be sure to pick up Beck up from kindergarten, and be at the bus stop to pick up Rhys and El. Of course, this meant she got all the details on the school day, as well as all the most sarcastic eye rolls from her oldest daughter. That same daughter who was stomping down the stairs to tell her all about how her younger sister was apparently putting skittles in her favorite shoes and causing ants to show up in her closet. Oh, how fun.

“Beck, you can’t leave candy out, it draws in the ants.” Darcy tried her best not to laugh, knowing that would only encourage the six year old. She peaked her head in the kitchen from the living room with a grin.

“I just thought she said she liked ants.”

“I said I like our aunt.”

This just made the six year old giggle and take off running toward her own bedroom. El threw up her hands and mumbled about ‘little sisters’ and ‘skittles’ as she trudged back up the stairs. Darcy sighed, at least Rhys was behaving… right?

Suddenly realizing the eight year old was being awfully quiet…. The sort of quiet that just screamed trouble for parents.

---

Tag: Ferris Felwinter
Notes: hope this works for you!

[Ferris Felwinter]

They had gotten into a routine. Ferris made breakfast (the one meal he was decent at and was pretty sure he was a near master chef with anything to do with eggs), woke up the kids, got them mostly dressed and to the bus stop and kindergarten. El had started this phase (he was pretty sure it wasn't a phase) where she wanted to be more independent so instead of him driving them to the stop and watching, he let her take her brother down to the corner while he got Beck in the car seat. He'd made both El and Rhys separately promise not to let go of the other's hand, since they both wanted to be in charge. El loudly and because she was the oldest, Rhys quietly. Sometimes it scared Ferris how much his son reminded him of him. And how much El reminded him of his sister.

Normally, he texted Darcy as he was leaving the office to see if she needed anything, but today he was tired. It had been a long first day of the week and he was looking forward to only being responsible for three small animals rather than a mountain of paperwork and Gifted and non-Gifted lives, at least for a few hours. He needed to pick up a more mundane case in his free time.

Rhys was feeding the fish dinner. Probably twice as much as they needed to eat, but he was fascinated by the tank in his and Beck's bedroom. He'd pulled the step stool from the bathroom all the way over so he could stand over the tank, open the top, and feed them. And maybe he had tried to touch one at the surface once, but he'd seen how dirty the tank got if he put his hand in it and had decided that he would protect those fish from himself and anyone else who tried to actually reach in there.

The garage door when up as Ferris pulled his truck into the driveway, parking there and stepping out to check the mail and then how full the trash cans were before closing the garage behind him as he stepped inside. He wore dark blue dress pants, black dress shoes that he hated compared to his boots, and a light blue button up shirt not-so-neatly stuffed into his belt.

There was a thud from upstairs where Rhys stumbled off the step stool in his excitement to run downstairs. Not because he wanted to show how excited he was to see his dad, of course not, never, he was too old for that. But he did know it meant they would eat soon. Ferris heard Beck screaming "Daddy!" and pounding down the stairs before he saw her, and then felt her collide with his legs before he could look up from the mail. "Beck, hey pup, how was school?"

[Darcy Vance]

The sound of a loud thump upstairs from the kids’ room made Darcy shake her head, but the sound of the garage door alerting her to Ferris’ arrival home. And then the chorus of “Daddy!” From Beck as she rushed to hug his legs. Or throw herself against them, they seemed to be a more accurate description. Darcy leaned in the doorway of the kitchen watching as Rhys more ‘calmly’ made his way down the stairs, clearly trying to play it more cool than his younger sister about their dad getting home.

“Hey Ferris, we have an ant issue in my closet thanks to Beck.” El said as she leaned against the banister from upstairs. Barely glancing up from the phone in her hand. Such a typical teenager. Beck simply grinned up at her dad looking as innocent as she couldn’t muster. “She said she liked our ants.” Her little grey blue eyes beaming brightly, clearly proud of herself.

“Beck gets to bring snacks for the class tomorrow, because she got the most smiley face stickers for the day. Rhys aced a pop quiz in science and El managed to not have her phone confiscated in class.” She teased with a grin, waiting for the kids to get their greetings in before she’d properly greet him. But she couldn’t help taking him in with a smile. Leaning in the doorframe, Darcy had a tie-dye blue/purple crop top on with a pair white short overalls. A pair of bright pink ankle socks on her feet and her curls bouncing lightly as she chuckled at the kids. Her arms crossed under her chest with a smile. The pair looked like quite opposites when he was in his work clothes.

[Ferris Felwinter]

Ferris tossed the mostly junk mail on the cluttered dining room table and pried Beck from his legs, lifted her up into a hug. She was already way to big too do that with regularly, but he would try and keep the routine going. He set his daughter back down, looking over at Rhys with a smile and then giving Darcy a sort of tired look. Mondays were the worst.

"Ants? Who let pests in the house. Beck. Don't be a pest to your sister," he scolded, setting her down and messing up her hair. "El, I think there's some insect repellant in the garage. I can help you out," he added. Even after almost eight years of living together and more before that, going to parent teacher conferences and track meets and hockey games and band performances, they hadn't quite found that bridge with what she called him. Not that it ever needed to happen. As long as El knew he cared about her, she could call him whatever she wanted.

Hearing his kids' accomplishments always made him proud. He tossed El a thumbs up if she happened to look up at him. "What did you learn in science, Rhys? And are we making snacks or buying them?" He half asked Darcy and his daughter. He was looking forward to changing, especially as just looking at Darcy's comfy clothing made his feel stiff. Thankfully they didn't require ties in the office and there were casual days.

Rhys smiled a little at the praise. "Rocks."

"What kind of rocks?" Ferris nudged, walking over to Darcy to pull her into a hug. "What's the plan for dinner?" he asked.

"Sedimentary rocks. Like sandstone." He didn't stumble over the word at all. For as much as their son took after him in personality, he was far too smart for an eight-year-old.

[Darcy Vance]

Watching the chaos unfold was always vastly entertaining, and Darcy wouldn’t trade it for anything. Seeing how adorable the younger two were trying to get their dad’s attention in their different ways. El headed down the stairs and tucked her phone in her pocket, giving Ferris a one armed hug as she headed for the garage. “I’ll find the repellent… maybe it’ll work on little girls.” She gave a poke to Beckett’s side before shaking her head, giving a half smile at the ‘thumbs up’, though rolling her eyes and heading into the garage.

“Make them!” Beck exclaimed, running into the kitchen toward the pantry with a grin. “No ma’am, we agreed in the car to buy them… because the allergies and the kids who aren’t allowed certain food dyes.” She shook her head, smiling softly when Ferris pulled her into a hug.

“I was thinking about ordering in, what sounds good?” She asked, placing a quick kiss on his lips before she grinned to Rhys. “Impressive!” She pulled him to her to place a kiss on his forehead and he made a show of wiping it off, sticking his tongue out as he shook his head. As if his mother was the most annoying person in the world.

[Ferris Felwinter]

Ferris returned his oldest daughter's half hug with one of his own, not worried about pushing anything. He was aware that El was at that point where she was just starting to really figure out who she was and that her parents weren't the most impressive things in the world. Which Ferris certainly agreed with. He'd never liked those parents that made their kids show affection in any specific way. "The cabinets on the left I think? Just don't use it on your siblings," he called after her.

"And you, Beck, don't go in your sister's room unless she says it's okay," he reminded her. Which at that point, it was just as much El's responsibility as anyone else's. You invite chaos, then that's what you get.

"Food dye? When did that become a thing?" Ferris had dealt with peanut allergies of classmates when he was in school, but gluten hadn't really been a thing and certainly not food dye. Were kids really that sheltered and people eating tendencies really so bad that this was what things had come to now? "What did we decide on? I can run out and grab something. I think we need more milk too?"

As Darcy expressed her desire to order food, he looked her over again. She did seem more tired than usual. They hadn't really talked since before her last shift. "Long night?" he asked, concerned. "I can make something? Cheeseburgers? Or pancakes?" Having kids and being the one to stay home when they were little meant he had managed to refine his skill in the kitchen enough to be decent. It was a no small feat to be able to say as much when he had Beck harassing him half the time. As much as he would like to relax after work, he didn't mind. Darcy had spent the last few hours alone with the kids and he'd have time once the younger ones went to sleep.

"Burgers!" Beck yelled, running back from the kitchen.

And of course, they all knew what Rhys wanted. "I want pancakes."

Maybe he shouldn't have given them a choice. "How about you both ask your sister what she wants. And we make that?"

[Darcy Vance]

“The food dye is less an allergy and more Beck feeling sorry for the kids who don’t get to have the snacks with red or blue dye in them… one of her friends, Cameron, isn’t allowed certain food dyes.” Darcy explained with a gentle shrug as she looked to Ferris with an amused smile. “Cameron’s mom said blue dyes make him act like a bad boy.” She said matter-of-factly. This, of course, caused Darcy to chuckle as she shook her head. “We’ll make sure to get a snack all your friends can enjoy sweetie.” She offered with a look toward Ferris that suggested this wasn’t the first time she’d had this conversation with their youngest. She appreciated the thoughtfulness Beck’s showed, so she wasn’t going to make a big deal over finding a good, allergy and dye free option.

“If you want to run into town, if not I can place an online order tonight and have a snack ready for curbside pick-up tomorrow morning on the way to drop her off.” She offered with a half shrug to her husband, knowing it wasn’t the first time they’d make due with a last minute pick-up order. His offer to make food was definitely appreciated, as she had already downed a second cup of coffee since picking up the kids. Working the graveyard shift wasn’t her favorite, but it was part of her rotation. She leaned against one of the counters as she nodded to his question, smiling softly as she watched the two youngest give their input on dinner.

“Oh, you’ve done it now.” Darcy teased with a gentle shake of her head, curls swaying before she ran a hand through the slightly tangled mess. Between their work and the kids school and extracurricular activities; Darcy felt like she hadn’t talked to Ferris much. “Tu m'as manqué.” Her near flawless French accent slipping out as she pulled him into a hug, resting her forehead against his shoulder.

Rhys and Beck impatiently filing into the garage to harass El over the dinner options. “Pancakes… but only if mom isn’t making them.” She teased with a grin, clearly preferring breakfast foods made by Ferris and not Darcy. “Do we have bacon?”

[Ferris Felwinter]

Ferris gave his wife a dubious look. Especially when his daughter suggested that dye was the reason the other kid misbehaved. He didn't believe that. Maybe the kid had some sort of reaction, but he wasn't buying into Beck's oversimplification. "Sure. And sugar makes you a bad girl. What did you take upstairs to cause ants, pup?" he asked Beck, having a pretty good guess it was candy related. She had a massive sweet tooth. El he allowed exceptions, but the other two he was not a fan of allowing them snacks where they weren't being supervised. Less because he worried about them choking and more because of things like ants and messes.

"Be easier to order something, then," he agreed. He didn't mind picking it up in the morning. Plus, much as he didn't want to admit it, he didn't want to get something with whatever kind of food dye. Best to let Darcy handle it and him just be the messenger boy.

He grinned. "What can I say, I like spreading chaos among the pack. Just to see if they'll fight it out or sign treaties or something." Best they all learn how to handle conflict amongst each other before finding out they couldn't always get what they wanted in the rest of the world.

Being from Vancouver, he wasn't French Canadian. But his mother was, and while she spoke English, French was her first language. He'd grown up speaking it, if not quite so eloquently as his Swiss born wife. "Tu m'as manque aussi," he replied, hugging her briefly and then reaching up to run a hand through her hair. "J'aime quand tu me parles français," he said, pausing briefly to look her over. "Mais...tu as un air terrible. Tu dors bien?" So maybe he could be a bit blunt, but at least he hadn't sworn in front of the kids. He wanted to suggest she take a shower or do whatever else she needed to relax before her shift, but he also selfishly missed being close to her too. Working different shifts was starting to really take a toll.

Beck returned first, her face twisted in a pout and clearly upset but trying not to cry about it. "Dad! You have to tell El we don't have bacon!"

Ferris chuckled, pulling Darcy into a hug in front of him and resting his chin on her head. "Mais...je pense qui oui?" He'd have to check, but considering he made breakfast often and they all liked bacon, even on burgers, probably there was at least some.

The six-year-old stared at him. While yes, Darcy spoke a lot of French to Ferris and El was probably as fluent as he was, if not more, Rhys was still terrible grammatically and Beck only knew a little. It distracted her enough that she stopped pouting. "Tu...tu dis...non?"

"Close enough," he chuckled, having a pretty good guess from her expression and demand that he was making pancakes. "But we have bacon. I can make you a pancake sandwich. Sound fair?"

Beck frowned but nodded sullenly. "Ask your siblings if they want to help," he said, watching her dash back to the garage. Hoping maybe at least Beck and Rhys would so that Darcy could have a break.

[Darcy Vance]

His look caused Darcy to raise her hands as she shook her head, clearly not having an opinion of the notion. She didn’t spend enough time around pediatrics to get all the details of the effects of food dyes on children’s behavioral health. She typically kept toward the surgical ward and ER to handle incoming traumas. Darcy watched as Beck’s head dipped and she crossed her arms, it was clear she didn’t want to tell on herself. “I believe El mentioned skittles being left in her shoes.”

“I just wanted the ants to taste the rainbow.” Beck sighed with a dramatic shake of her head, peering back up at her father with one of her innocently sweet smiles. This of course made Darcy chuckle a little, she knew just how difficult those little puppy dog eyes were to scold.

“I’ll get the order placed after dinner, anything else I should add to it?” she Asked with a quirked brow, watching at the children filed out of the kitchen to debate dinner with their older sister.

She shook her head at his response, amused because she knew he was right, even if his methods were a bit chaotic. Still, the kids seemed to handle compromise well for their respective ages. And she’d definitely credit that to Ferris and his tactics.

Darcy allowed herself the moment to simply enjoy the warmth from his body, grinning at his first half of his response, and enjoying the feel of his hand in her hair. And then rolling her eyes and swatting his chest playfully. “Peut-être que je te parlerais français plus souvent si tu étais plus gentil, mon amour.” He’d barely seen in the last few days, and of course he wasn’t going to sugar coat anything for her, even in French. But she simply shrugged her shoulders.

“Le travail a juste été un peu dur et je ne me repose pas bien quand tu n’es pas là.” She admitted with a soft exhale, sure she had the house to herself to try and get rest, but she always found that sleep to be rather… restless. Darcy often let them screw with her schedule because she didn’t want to come off as problematic, but she was ready to start pulling rank. She hadn’t put in all this work to let them just give her the crappy shifts because she ‘didn’t complain’. She had a family a she missed spending time with, surely they could make some adjustments.

Dark eyes shifted to Beck, almost feeling sorry for her not getting her way with the burgers. But, it was good for her to learn she didn’t always get her way. When Ferris pulled her against him for another hug, she couldn’t help but smile. To say she adored her husband, would be an understatement. She watched as he seemed to placate Beck and she hurried back toward the garage to see if her siblings wanted to help make breakfast for dinner.

“I’m going to talk to someone about adjusting my schedule. I love working in the ER, but I feel like I barely see you or the kids.” She sighed heavily, resting against him for a moment. “J'ai l'impression que tout me manque.”

[Ferris Felwinter]

Ferris had to force himself to frown. It was admittedly funny. But Ferris didn't appreciate her bending the rules. "If you feed them to ants, then I refuse to buy skittles," he said firmly, though he wasn't going to get suckered into deferring punishment by that look. She got a pass because he wasn't sure if her mother had dealt with it. But he was already planning to go through her room for further surprises. Hopefully there was enough insect repellent.

"Bacon and insect repellant. Anything else I'll check in the kitchen." He didn't think there was much else. But then again, with five of them there was always something.

"Moi? Quand je ne suis pas gentil?" He feigned shock. They both knew he didn't sugar coat things. Especially not with her. Maybe a little around the kids. Sometimes he felt like he was going soft. "Je sais," he said and kissed her hair, still playing with her curls. "Which is why I think you should rest. Just for a bit. We won't eat without you." Ferris considered calling out tomorrow. Or at least working from home. He wasn't working any major cases. Even if all that happened was his wife getting to sleep with he watched movies in bed, clearly she was feeling stressed.

"Good," he said of her suggestion she changed her schedule. "You work too hard to not get be home." Plus he missed her too. He adored her enough to call out of work just for cuddles. "You don't miss out on everything," he chided, "You make more of El's games than I do. You make dinner all the time. You help the kids with homework. But I think having a different schedule would help you be happier," he said firmly.

"I'm going to change, and then see what I can do to give you an hour free time. And call out tomorrow cause one if the kid will get sick in the morning and you can wake me up when you get home," he added, giving Darcy a soft kiss and then heading upstairs to change.

[Darcy Vance]

One look at his face, and Darcy could tell Ferris was forcing that frown. It wasn’t easy, parenting clever and funny children. She blamed him. There was no way that got this adorable and clever just because of her. She gave a nod and added the items to the list, knowing Beck if she had gotten funny with her skittles; they might not have been limited to El’s shoes and closet.

“Ne sois pas un malin,” She shook her head, a playful glint to her eyes as she continued. “Sais-tu à quel point je te veux en ce moment ?” Darcy gave a playful wink, trailing a few soft kisses up his neck. She gave a gentle sigh as she nodded, they both knew he was right. “You don’t want my help making dinner?” She asked with a raised brow, at the same time as El, Rhys and Beck all trailed into the kitchen.

“I think someone moved the bug spray, I couldn’t find it.” The older girl said with a shrug, but then shook her head at her mom. “No, your pancakes aren’t as fluffy as his.” She said very matter-of-factly. This of course made Beck giggle as Darcy feign a shocked gasp.

“Beck is going to help with the pancakes and Rhys and I will handle the bacon, you’d just get in the way mom.” She teased now, jumping when Darcy poked her side with a shake of her head.

“Okay fine, you win.” Darcy looked to Ferris with a soft smile, giving a nod. She didn’t want to talk about possibly adjusting her schedule around the kids, because if it didn’t happen they’d be so disappointed. Instead, she smiled and accepted his kiss. “Well, if you won’t let me help make the food, let me at least get the griddle out and the mixing bowls down.”

“No, that’s Rhys’ job… well, the mixing bowls. I’ll get the griddle… go get some rest mom, we’ll send Beck when the food’s ready.” El insisted, rolling her eyes a little when Darcy gave her a hug. She enjoyed giving her mom a hard time.

Darcy made her way upstairs, not bothering with knocking on the bedroom door as she walked in and gave a soft sigh. “Tu es incroyable, tu le sais, n'est-ce pas ?”

[Ferris Felwinter]

Ferris held up his hands at her name calling and chuckled. Especially when she said she wanted him under all that sexy French. He loved her accent. His French sounded terrible in comparison. "Oh, I think I know," he said with a smile. Not that they likely had the time tonight before she went to work. But that was just another reason to not go into the office tomorrow.

"Try under the sink? We might be out. I'll pick more up tomorrow, and you can use it then," he said with a grimace. He'd made an unofficial agreement with El once she started high school that he had no interest in being in her room and wouldn't break that as long as she kept B average grades. She wasn't just a teenage girl; she was a very independent one that gave him a hard time and he didn't want her to feel smothered. Plus, she helped him explain to her mom that her not helping with dinner was in everyone's best interest and they were doing this for her. Ferris only shrugged and pointed at El, as if to say she was the boss, and he couldn't not back her up.

He missed the divvying up of roles while he was changing upstairs, stripping out of his shirt and stepping out of his pants. He really wanted to shower, but he'd wait until the morning, not wanting to take longer than he needed to. Ferris settled for a grey t-shirt and comfy jeans and splashing water on his face. He was running his hands through his hair and reaching for his medication when Darcy's beautiful soft French called across the room. Ferris smiled faintly but he didn't really believe her. "I think you have the wrong room," he said simply, dumping a pill into his hand and swallowing it with a hand cup full of water from the sink. He wiped his face on the hand towel and while he still looked tired, he felt a lot better.

"You're amazing top. Now don't make me take your phone away if you don't go to sleep," he teased, walking back toward her and kissing her as they passed through the doorway.

He came back downstairs, turning on the tv for hockey and then checking the mail again and throwing out the junk. "El, you want the bacon in the oven or on the stove?" he asked, looking up at the soft clattering noise as he stepped into the kitchen, watching his son collect three various sized mixing bowls that were rolling on the tile floor. The folding step stool chair that he had used to get up to the cabinet in the corner, El beside it. Well, at least she was being a good spotter.

"The middle one is good, Rhys," he said, helping collect the smaller bowl. He traded with his son and watched him sort them and climb back up and put them away. So maybe he shouldn't be surprised him and El were so focused on helping make one of their favorites. Even Beck was excitedly telling him what she wanted on her pancake sandwich.

He got the wet ingredients and the pancake mix and portioned out everything before letting Beck mix it. He cut the bacon in half but otherwise left that up to El, though he did keep a careful eye on the burners. He prepped scrambled eggs, asking El if she wanted to make those, and then cut up a banana and pulled out the maple syrup and butter and had Beck put those on the table while Rhys set out silverware and plastic plates. He delayed the pancakes a little bit, since the moment he had any amount, he knew the kids would want to start eating and it hadn't quite been as long as he wanted. Plus, the bacon had to cool off a bit.

But he couldn't hold out forever when they were all starving, so he started pouring out pancakes and started cooking the eggs as well. "Alright, go get mom so we can eat," he said to Beck, having been informed a few times by her that that was her job. Ferris flipped over pancakes and stirred the eggs and slowly amassed a pile of fluffy pancakes.

[Darcy Vance]

Was it a touch unfair of her to utilize her near flawless French accent, knowing her husband loved it? Maybe. But then again, it wasn’t fair that he was just out in the world existing looking as sexy as he did all the time. Okay, so maybe she was a touch biased, but she was very much a wife that was clearly in love with her husband. She wouldn’t be apologetic of that.

Of course, with El’s insistence she wasn’t needed for the preparation of dinner, and Beck eager for her to leave so she could get her later; Darcy relented and went upstairs. Though the sounds from the kitchen definitely had her momentarily concerned, until fits of laughter erupted. Maybe she worried too much. “Not possible, you’re in here.” she teased with a smile, giving her curls a light toss as she looked up with a raised brow. “I’ll put it on the bedside table and rest, I promise.” she assured him with a nod as she kissed him on his way out of the room. Darcy set the phone on the side table and climbed into the bed to get a little rest before she’d be preparing to leave for work.

Meanwhile downstairs…

“No, Beck stop- Rhys wait-“ the clattering of bowls and more giggles from Beck made it near impossible for El to maintain her composure, shaking her head with a slight grin. Hazel eyes glancing up when Ferris entered the room and she tried to offer a shrug, standing beside the step ladder with a sheepish grin. “Definitely in the oven, it gets more crispy that way.” She said with a nod, closing up the step ladder and returning it to its spot in the pantry after Rhys was finished with it.

El grabbed a baking sheet for the half cut strips of bacon, lining them on the sheet and putting them in the oven, setting a timer for the bacon before nodding an affirmative on the scrambled eggs and getting one of the decent sized frying pans down. She even let Beck and Rhys help crack the eggs, waiting until they were finished to fish any pieces of eggshell from the bowl before she added some heavy cream, salt and pepper before whisking it all together.

The eggs were slowly and carefully poured into the frying pan with some melted better, El couldn’t help but smile at the delicious smells wafting through the kitchen as the progressed with preparing the meal. “Oh, I checked under the sink and we didn’t have the bug spray there either.” Recalling having checked and wanting to be sure she let him know they’d definitely need more.

“Yes!” Beck shouted happily as she turned on her heel and rushed out of the kitchen, slowing down when she reached the stairs so she didn’t trip herself. But once at the top, she picked her pace back up and flung open the door to her parent’s room. Very unceremoniously climbing onto the bed and bouncing happily as she shook her mother’s shoulder.

“Food time!” She sang happily, reaching up to push open one of Darcy’s eyes. This of course made the woman laugh, pulling the little girl into a hug and tickling her. “Je suis réveillé, petit ; Je suis réveillé!” She teased, setting Beck down on the floor with a shake of her head. Stretching slightly as she followed the little girl back downstairs and into the doorway of the kitchen. “Something smells delicious.”

[Ferris Felwinter]

Ferris has never pegged himself as a chef. Or just a cook. Certainly not a baker. But here he was, making pancakes and supervising the barely controlled chaos as head chef of three enthusiastic children. As much as El being a teenager could be an emotional roller coaster, when she wanted something and it aligned with the family's goals, everything went so much smoother.

He nodded as she mentioned the bug spray. "Alright. Your mom ordered some," he reassured. Considering the number of crumbs they vacuumed up, he used the bug spray often enough that it wasn't surprising they were out, just highly unfortunate.

Rhys was standing in front of the fridge with the door open, debating what he wanted to drink. Ferris had already told him to close it once, but it wasn't until it dinged at him that Rhys closed it and opened it again. "We don't have orange juice," he informed the room before closing the door again and using water on the fridge to get himself a drink.

"Whoa, hey, hold off on the seasoning," he cautioned with a chuckle. He was a fan of cheese in his eggs, but that was also a personal preference he would fix on his plate later. "You can always add more on your plate," he noted, flipping over another pair of pancakes. By the time Beck returned with Darcy, he had a decent stack. Rhys took it to the table and put the biggest one on his own plate.

"El made eggs," he said, meaning that would be what his wife thought smelled good. They all knew El liked pepper and so did Darcy. "I just have a few more to make, go ahead and eat." He knew she didn't have too much longer before having to leave for work anyway. Plus, Ferris wanted a few minutes to finish pancakes and eat in peace before he was alone with the kids. He pulled his phone out to let a few online friends know he probably wouldn't be around tonight. He grabbed another plate to move the finished pancakes over and poured the last few onto the griddle.

[Darcy Vance]

El nodded as she moved to wash her hands after handling the bacon. She shrugged about the lack of orange juice, at least they had just about everything else necessary to make their breakfast for dinner a success.

”C'est juste un peu de poivre.” El said with a cheeky grin shaking her head. Her French wasn’t quite as fluid as her mother’s, but she tried not to be obviously sassy in English, not wanting to encourage her siblings in back talk. Though, eventually they’d understand enough to know what she was doing. “Yes Sir.” She said only a little begrudgingly as she set the seasonings down and continued stirring the eggs until they were finished.

“Oh, nice. I probably won’t need to add pepper if El made the eggs.” She teased with a wink, running a hand through Beck’s messy of blonde curls before coaxing her into the dining room. El wasn’t far behind with the finished eggs, setting them on the table with a smile. “Apprécier!” She pulled out the seat beside Beck and got herself situated, asking Beck which items she wanted on her ‘pancake sandwich’ so that her mom wouldn’t try to make it. “Make your plate mom, you’ve gotta leave soon and you need to eat.”

How they had been lucky enough to have such awesome kids, she’d never know. But she was beyond grateful. She smiled at their oldest daughter as she took a seat beside Rhys, who was already spreading butter on his giant pancake. Darcy put two pancakes on her plate, a serving of eggs and two strips of bacon before adding butter to the pancakes before she drizzled on some syrup. “You guys killed it on dinner tonight.”