186. Daddy's Little Helpers

Warning:  nudity, "Days of Our Lives" time jump

Present day...

Leigh didn’t get a chance to confront Eloise; the next few days were hectic for both of them.

Lily had her birthday, but they had something small and intimate for her, just their family. Eloise though, along with Devon and Blake, found some excuse not to attend.

Lily was disappointed that Blake couldn’t spend the day with her, and to make her feel better, Leigh promised to throw her a big party when the band came back from their tour.

 A few days later, Blake also had his birthday, but Eloise didn’t invite anyone. And to keep the peace around Blake, Devon didn’t ask her about it. He knew she was avoiding his sister, but he had no idea why, and it pained him to see their once close relationship fall apart.

Leigh was also painfully aware of the fact that Eloise was pushing her away, but she didn’t have time to obsess over their strained relationship. The weeks leading up to the band’s departure she and Krisis tried to spend as much time with the kids as possible and prepare them for his absence.

They went to the park…

And to the library…

They also took Blake camping with them in Hidden Springs, (Eloise had no problem with letting him travel with them, but Devon always dropped him off.)

They soaked up some sun in Barnacle Bay.

And Lily managed to make a quick buck selling baked goods.

Finally, they spent a weekend at a horse ranch in Appaloosa Plains.

Kristian and Blake were taken with the horses, and Krisis went riding with them...

 ...while Leigh and the girls had a picnic nearby.

When Lily and Blake saw a Catalina Macaw, Lily immediately fell in love with it, and she wanted to adopt it.

But the bird didn’t seem keen on her.

 She did get to adopt a Chinchilla though, much to Leigh’s dismay.

 Later that night with all the kids sleeping, Krisis and Leigh went for an evening ride on the ranch’s grounds.

 They rounded it off by making love under the starry sky…

The night before the band left, Krisis sat down with all the kids and laid down some ground rules in his absence.

“Lily bear, you’ll be mommy’s helper okay?”

His eldest nodded effusively before she kissed his forehead. She took her big sister role seriously and she loved being in charge.

Next he addressed his female replica, “Az baby, no breaking things. If you’re angry or upset tell mommy what’s wrong, okay?”

Azalea slowly nodded her head and flashed him a crooked smile.

She held out her arms, and he reached for her then and gave her a hug, with tears clouding his eyes. He was seriously going to miss all of them.

Ariel, like her sister, gave him a slow smile when he politely asked her to behave and be nice to her siblings.

“No hitting Ariel, no taking things that don’t belong to you. If you want something ask nicely, okay?”

“-k Daddy,” she merrily agreed as she kissed his cheek.

For a long time Krisis held his youngest, wishing there was a way he could take them on tour with him. Of all his kids he worried about Ariel the most since she was the most fragile and sensitive, she needed more attention and patience too.

He could see Lily and Azalea felt left out so he opened his arms for them too and they giggled merrily as they tried to squeeze him back.

“I love you all very much,” he told his three girls when he finally released them from his embrace.

“Where’s my lion?” He roared as he turned to grab Kristian from the counter. His son screamed gleefully when he blew bubbles on his stomach.

“You, little man, are the king of this jungle. Take care of your sisters, and mommy okay?” He told his son seriously.

“Yes, Daddy,” Kristian stared up at him with the same seriousness.

Krisis then took Kristian outside, to the garden and set him down on the flowerbeds.

“Pick a flower, any one,” he gently prodded his son.

Kristian looked indecisive for a while, but then he finally settled for a red rose. He fought with it for a few seconds as he tried to pull it off its stem, eventually he turned to Krisis for help, and together they yanked it off.

“Good job, lion!” Krisis ruffled his son’s hair. “That’s for mommy okay. Every day you’ll come out here and pick a flower for her, and when you give it to her tell her it’s from me, and tell her how much I love her, okay?”

“Okay!” Kristian nodded.

Just then Leigh came outside to check on them, it was well past the kids’ bed time.

She laughed when Kristian jumped into her arms and gave her the wilting flower. He whispered something in her ear before quickly burrying his face in her chest, his cheeks flushing a bright red.

“Wow. That’s a lot of love! And just so he knows, I love him very much too!” Leigh kissed his hair gently, but she was looking at Krisis when she said this, with tears shimmering in her eyes. He was amazing with their kids; they were all going to miss him terribly.

Later with the kids tucked in, Leigh and Krisis drifted off to their bedroom and spent the night making love, making up for the next six months.

They finally fell asleep in each other’s arms at dawn, both feeling satiated and exhausted, but very sad too, they had no idea how they’d get through the next six months without the other.

From her vantage point high up on the hills, Carmen finally peeled herself away from her telescope when all the lights in the Frosts’ home went off.

 “Only a matter of time…” she murmured to herself as she slowly cruised home.

Across town, in a tiny apartment above a subway the mood was a little subdued. Thornton and Katie had just made love, and they were finding it hard to say their goodbyes.

Katie thought they should take a break, if in six months they still felt the same way about each other they’d rekindle the flames. She didn’t want to ask him to wait for her, it wouldn’t be fair and she certainly didn’t expect him to stay celibate while she gallivanted all over the place with the band.

“I’ll see you in a few weeks,” Thornton kissed her one last time at her front door. He didn’t want to discuss her proposal further, but taking a break from her and seeing other people while she was on tour was not an option for him.

“But…” Katie tried to convince him again, but he was having none of it.

“No buts, Katie! I’ll see you in a few weeks,” with that Thornton spun on his heel and left her staring after him.

Long after Thornton’s footsteps had faded, Katie was still lingering at her front door, thinking about him and their whirlwind romance. A part of her was relieved and extremely excited that he hadn’t given in to her suggestion, in all honesty though she'd thought she was doing the right thing now by letting him go, but she really hadn’t wanted to…

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Note: Thank you for making it to the end of this chapter. It was a little disconcerting to work on since the original write up was based around Blake and Lily still being tots. I don't even know what in the world possessed me to age them up suddenly. I hope it wasn't unnerving for you to read, if it was, my humble apologies.

And now for some spam: Frost Family albums, capturing their vacation times at three locations, Appaloosa Plains, Barnacle Bay, and Hidden Springs.