~ 2 Months Later ~
Nick stepped inside his house and set his wallet and keys down on the kitchen counter. The house was silent, so he went off in search of his family, knowing that they had to be in there somewhere. "Kindlin? Baby? Are you home?" he called as he walked through the house.
Hearing noise coming from the den he walked down the stairs and stood in the doorway, watching Kindlin help Alex color a picture, Ashley and Aisya watch TV, and Aaron gargle happily as he bounced around in his baby walker. He stood back, just admiring his beautiful family for a while.
It was five minutes later when Kindlin looked up, upon feeling somebody's eyes on her. A smile graced her face and she stood up, rushing over to him.
"I missed you!" she whispered, wrapping her arms around him tightly.
Nick smiled down at her and enveloped her in a huge hug, "I missed you too, sweetie."
"I thought you were coming home Saturday!"
"That's what we'd been planning, but plans changed and we got to come home early."
"Did you know that last night? I talked to you on the phone, you brat," Kin smiled.
Nick laughed slyly, "Maaaayyyybe."
"I love you," she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.
"I love you too, honey."
"Kids, come say hi to daddy," Kindlin said, getting their children's attention.
Alex had been so into coloring his picture without going outside the lines, and Ashley and Aisya had been so engrossed in their cartoon that none of them had even noticed their fathers arrival home from the three weeks of recording in Europe.
As the three oldest got up and ran to Nick, practically knocking him over, Kindlin went and got Aaron out of his baby walker. She walked back to Nick with Aaron and handed the baby to him. Nick cradled Aaron against his chest, placing a gentle kiss on his warm head. He smiled down at Kindlin as she wrapped her arms back around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Welcome home, honey."
~ That Night ~
Nick laid next to Kin that night, running his warm hand up and down her arm, "Were things okay while I was gone?" he whispered, with his face nestled in the crook of her neck.
"Yeah, things were good, considering... Oh, nevermind. Forget it," Kindlin sighed, her eyes adverting from his gaze.
"What's wrong, baby? What happened??" his tone held the sound of worry in it.
"Oh, nothing really. It's just... Alex seems to act funny about his pre-school."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, every time that I try and talk to him about his day, he seems to avoid the topic."
"Kin, he's in pre-school. I doubt he's old enough to get into an in-depth conversation about school."
She sighed, "I guess you're right. G'night, Nick," she kissed his cheek before rolling over onto her other side to go to sleep.
Nick, knowing she was still feeling uneasy about it, kissed her bear shoulder gently. "Try not to worry about it, baby. I'm sure it's nothing. I love you."
