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Neal sat back on his heels and wiped his forehead with his sleeve, glancing around at the tidy little mounds around his freshly-planted herbs. With a sigh, he shifted onto the low stone bench in the center of his circular garden, looking out over his yard.
Sixx and Einstein were stretched out on the lawn together, asleep, letting the sun warm their weary bones. Ashlyn was instructing Logan on the proper way to draw designs on his hard boiled eggs, so that the pretty patterns came out the best after dyeing them, while Logan just eyed the bowl hungrily. God, that boy was looking more and more like Andy every day...
Brooke came over to the picnic table with the vinegar and food coloring, setting the bowls out in front of the kids with strict instructions not to drink from them. Neal grinned widely, remembering last year, when Ashlyn had discovered that food-colored vinegar did not make a good Kool-Aid substitute. From the way her lips pursed and her face crinkled, he could tell Ashlyn was remembering, too.
Brooke settled the kids in with dipping their eggs before she glanced up with a smile at Neal. She ran her hand over Ashlyn's hair, pulling it out of her face, and came over to Neal to see how his progress was going. "Hey...you need a drink or anything?"
"Naw, I'm good..." Neal replied with a grin, looking up into her sky-blue eyes. She looked absolutely radiant today, with her hair down in waves around her face and shoulders, wearing a yellow maternity sundress the color of the daffodils blooming around him... He wiped his hands on the rags beside him, and reached out to take her hand, tugging her gently closer. "Sit with me a moment?" he murmured, patting the bench beside him.
Brooke glanced over at the kids and smiled, seeing that Ashlyn was helping Logan dip his eggs. "I'd love to," she said softly as she sat down and stretched her legs out carefully.
Neal shifted on the bench, wrapping his arms carefully around Brooke's waist, letting his hands rest on her belly gently. "Has he been raisin' hell in there t'day, or lettin' you rest?" he murmured in her ear, resting his chin lightly on her shoulder.
Brooke smiled and leaned into Neal. "He has been a good little boy today...just little kicks to remind me that he is there," she said as she let her hand rest on top of Neal's. She could feel the baby start to move, so she picked Neal's hand up and laid it on the spot so he could feel.
Neal made a soft sound, low in his throat, and buried his face against Brooke's neck. Goddess Mother, he would never cease to be amazed at that feeling.
Brooke smiled and kissed the side of Neal's head. "I think he wanted to say hi to Daddy too."
"Hey, baby boy..." Neal murmured, his voice thick with sudden emotion. Nuzzling into Brooke's neck, he pressed several soft kisses to her skin, and tightened his arms slightly around her.
Brooke wrapped her arms around Neal and smiled. "You going to tell me what you are doing over here now? You said that you would explain it to me..." she said softly, leaning into him more.
"Gettin' th'garden ready for Ostara..." Neal murmured, cradling her gently against him.
Brooke nodded. "Tell me about it - is there a significance to what you planted?"
Neal smiled gently. "Mostly just put in some herbs -- lavender, basil, rosemary, oregano... But there's some plants that are sacred to Her, too...daisies, hawthorn...if you've ever heard the saying 'oak, ash, and thorn', that's hawthorn..."
Brooke smiled and cupped Neal's face. "This is amazing...and I hope you share this with Ashlyn too..." She looked over the stuff that he had planted, and smiled. "What does 'Ostara' mean, exactly?"
"...Good question..." Neal murmured, leaning his head against Brooke's. "It may be derived from an ancient word meaning 'east'...or some say it's the name of a Teutonic Goddess... It's just a recently adopted name, relatively speakin'. Most folks can relate 'Ostara' better to 'Easter'. To me, it's just th'spring equinox, when nature is wakin' up from th'dead of winter, an' th'Goddess finds her mate..."
Brooke smiled. "Have I mentioned that springtime is my favorite season?" she whispered, leaning in and kissing him softly.
Neal smiled against her lips. "...Yeah, mine too..."
Brooke glanced over at the kids and groaned. She pulled away slightly so she didn't yell in Neal's ear. "Logan, honey - that isn't for drinking..." she called out, just in time to keep him from drinking the blue dye. "I don't think Andy and Nick would appreciate a blue-mouthed kid coming home to them," she grinned.
"Not t'mention one spewing everywhere..." Neal chuckled softly. "C'mon, let's go dye us some fertility symbols."
Brooke laughed softly, her hand resting softly on her stomach. "Just what we need to do, huh?" she grinned, her eyes bright.
Neal snorted softly. "Yeah, either we're a little late, or a little premature..." he murmured, laughter still lacing through his voice as he got to his feet, holding out his hands for his wife.
Brooke held her hands out for Neal and let him pull her to her feet. She wrapped her arms around him and just took a minute to feel his solid form holding her. She finally looked up at him, her gaze locking with his. "I think that we are exactly where we are supposed to be," she grinned. "I'm going to go get the kids something to drink in their cups, so they don't accidentally try and drink the dye again."
Neal smiled tenderly down at Brooke and threaded his fingers through hers, walking her out of the garden. "Sounds like the perfect plan, love..." he whispered, kissing her cheek softly before letting her go.
Ashlyn looked up as Neal approached, a wide grin that was purely her Daddy splitting her face. "Look, Daddy, I made an egg for Sixx!" she crowed, holding up an egg she'd given black splotches with a crayon. "Do you think he'll like it?"
Neal swallowed hard over the lump in his throat. "...I'm sure he'll love it, sweetheart."
Brooke went into the house and made up the kids some sippy cups of apple juice. She knew that Ashlyn would probably complain about having a 'baby cup,' but she knew that this was the best way to make sure that they didn't mix up what to drink. She poured herself and Neal a glass of tea and put them on a tray, heading back outside.
Neal had settled at the table with the children, and was doodling with a clear wax pencil on one of the eggs in front of him, grinning to himself.
Brooke set the drinks on the table and slipped onto the bench beside Neal. She craned her neck to see what he was drawing on the egg. "What are you writing that has such a big grin on your face?" she said, smiling as she took a drink of her tea. She watched as Ashlyn made a face when she saw the sippy cups, but she didn't whine about it when Brooke looked at her and shook her head slightly.
"You'll see..." Neal murmured, smiling secretively, and pulled the bowl with the red food coloring over to his side of the table.
Brooke grinned and then nodded. She picked up a white egg and then started to write on hers as well, nudging Neal every few seconds, teasing him.
Ashlyn looked up at her Daddy and tipped her head to the side, thinking. "Daddy, does babies come from eggs like these? Is there a great big humongous egg in Momma's belly where baby Liam is at?"
Neal nearly choked on his tea to keep from laughing out loud. "Babies do come from eggs, sweetheart...but not this kind of egg. Humans are soft..." -- he grinned and poked Ashlyn in the side gently -- "...and we're squishy. We don't have shells. So Mommy's got something like an egg inside of her, just with no shell - and that's where baby Liam is growing."
Brooke grinned and leaned in, whispering into Neal's ear. "Couldn't have said it better." She kissed his cheek, smiling.
Ashlyn looked down at her egg, her brow furrowed in thought, before she looked up and smiled. "Okay." She turned back to getting her egg done and in the blue dye before Logan put his egg in the blue again.
Neal wiped his brow elaborately, grinning at Brooke, and dipped his egg into the red dye, pulling it out when it was the perfect shade of soft pink. Nudging Brooke away, he set it in the egg carton to dry a bit, shielding it with his hand from her eyes.
Brooke smiled as she pouted at Neal. "When do I get to look at it?"
Ashlyn looked up as she put her last egg in the blue dye. "Momma? Can I go and get my coloring books and bring them out...?"
Brooke nodded. "Wash your hands in the bathroom first, okay?" She looked at Logan as he diligently scribbled on his egg, his hair falling into his eyes and his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. She nudged Neal to look at him and grinned.
Neal grinned at Brooke. "When it's dry, silly..." He glanced over at Logan and had to shake his head. "Definitely a Skib," he murmured, seeing so much of Logan's daddy in him.
Brooke smiled and nodded. "That was the exact same thing that I was thinking." She let out a small breath and wondered what their little boy would be like as he grew up. There was so much of Neal in Ashlyn... She wondered if Liam would be more like her.
Neal reached over and took Brooke's hand, turning it over to kiss her palm. "...He'll be like you," he whispered softly, looking up into her eyes with a small smile.
Brooke leaned into Neal and watched Logan color. "You know me all too well. I think that he will be just who he is meant to be." She smiled and looked up at him. "Nick say what time he would be over to pick up Logan?"
Neal checked his phone. "...Soon. Guess we should go ahead and box up Logan's eggs..."
Brooke nodded and looked at Logan. "Sweetie, you want to help me put all of your eggs in one box so you can take them home and show your Daddies?" she asked, smiling softly.
"One wast egg?" he asked softly, looking up with those eyes...
"Jesus, it's eerie..." Neal muttered, snagging an empty carton from the stack. "Okay, little man, which ones are yours?"
Brooke laughed softly at Neal's mutterings. "Now you know why Andy says the same thing about Ashlyn," she grinned.
"Shhhhh..." Neal hissed, sticking his tongue out at Brooke. "...Here, Logan, is that all of them?"
"Jus' dis one, an' I all dones," Logan replied with a cheerful smile, carefully lifting the last egg out of the dye with his strainer.
"Good job..." Neal murmured, as Logan set the egg in its place in the carton. "Now, let's get your stuff together, okay, partner? Your dad's gonna be here soon..." Neal got to his feet, steering Logan back toward the house, forgetting about the egg he'd been protecting.
Brooke smiled at Neal's gentle coaxing of Logan, getting him into the house with minimal temper tantrums. He had a hard time leaving once he got here. She glanced over Ashlyn's eggs and saw a couple that had 'I love mommy' and 'I love daddy' on them. She smiled and started to clean up the mess.
She got to the side of the table where Neal had put his egg to dry and she grinned and picked it up. She read over the 'n.a.t. + b.e.w' inside the neat heart, and smiled and then laughed softly when she saw 'nat loves brooklyn' with little flowers and stars all around it, and then laughed out loud and shook her head when she saw the little skull he'd added on the bottom of the egg.
Brooke let out a content sigh and headed back to the house with their dyed eggs. She walked up behind Neal and leaned in, kissing him on his shoulder. "Love you...and that's a beautiful egg that you made..." Grinning, she put the eggs on the counter.
Neal flushed the same pink as the egg he'd made, and tucked his chin to his chest. "Thanks...love you too..." he mumbled softly, lowering his shoulder to bump her lightly. "...What about yours?"
Brooke reached over to the carton and picked up the egg, handing it to Neal.
Neal cradled her egg gently in his palm, tracing his fingertip lightly over their names, and the names of their children, written on the shell. With a soft smile, he set Brooke's egg next to his, and the one that Ashlyn had made for Mr. Sixx, in a bowl on the table. "Just need one for Einstein, and it'll be complete," he whispered softly.
Brooke grinned and opened the carton back up. "She already thought of that," she said softly, and handed Neal the egg that had what she assumed were the coloring patterns for Einstein's coat.
Neal grinned and nestled the egg into the bowl with the rest. "...There," he murmured softly. "Absolutely perfect."