Hermits United~ An RP of Pete's world awesomeness!

"yeah, I feel like it's been ages since we've visited--she's going to be absolutely shocked with the boys!" rose beamed and, once she was sure everyone was secured and all their items were stowed, she climbed into the passenger seat, smiling wide. she wasn't even sure exactly how long it had been since they'd visited properly...it might have been as long as last christmas. no, surely not...?

jackie, meanwhile, was just starting to get gussied up so she, pete and tony could go out to eat--after all, nobody really cooked and they could afford not to anyway, so why not dine out as often and lavishly as they might want?

John gave a chuckle at that and nodded again.  "Oh yes, she certainly will be that," he agreed with a grin, climbing into the driver's seat and starting them off towards the Tyler's mansion.  He, too, couldn't remember exactly when the last time they'd visited Jackie had been, aside from a few days before when Rose had lost her memory, but they hadn't had the kids then. In any case it had been far too long.  They really should visit more often, especially considering they only lived about ten minutes away.

A couple minutes later, they pulled down the Tyler's driveway, and John parked behind Pete's car.  He got out and helped Rose with the kids, releasing Maggie from her seat and then moving on to take Matthew before leaning back out of the car and shutting the door.  Once Rose had David, he headed with her up to the porch and rang the doorbell.

EDIT: (I just realized, they saw her only a few days ago when Rose had that memory loss... -headdesk- XD I'll tweak my post a bit.)

"pete, love, somebody's at the door, can you get it?" Jackie tyler called down the stairs, trying to put in an earring that was honestly far too dangly for her, but she liked the look. "blimey, who'd be ringin' the doorbell at this time of day? it's time to be going to dinner!" she griped. "pe-eete, get the door!" deciding he either couldn't hear her or wasn't fast enough, she went hurrying down the stairs barefooted and tossed a jacket from the coat tree on, since she was wearing a strapless dress and it was just starting to get nippy in the evenings. "I hope it's the gardener, that hedge needs a trimming-OH!" she opened the door to find John with a delightfully chubby little boy in his arms, and rose and maggie just walking up to the porch. "oh! come in, come in! blimey, it's been ages!"

John gave Jackie a bright-eyed grin as she opened the door, stepping inside as she beckoned them in.  "We were just at the park and thought we'd drop by, see if you'd had dinner yet," he greeted cheerfully.  Then, noting the dress Jackie was wearing under her jacket, added, "If you were about to head out, we can come by another time."

Pete walked in just then, looking up the stairs.  "What was that, Jacks?" he called, not having been able to make out what she'd been trying to tell him.  It took him a moment to realize his wife wasn't upstairs anymore, and that she was at the door letting John, Rose, and the kids inside.  "Oh!  Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?" he greeted them, walking over with a smile.

"Yeeeaaah, we figured it had been far too long since we'd brought the kids over for a visit," John replied sheepishly, glancing briefly back at Rose, "but if this is a bad time..."

(Dinnertime~ Probably gonna poof for a little bit, but I'll try to get back on once I'm finished for another post or two.)

"no, no, come in!" Jackie scolded, stepping aside. maggie shot through the open doorway toward the living room in search of toys. "it's never a bad time to visit, I hardly see you! come here!" she reached to hug him tightly, then stepped back again to have a look at the boy on his hip, that seemed to be transfixed by his grandmother's earring. "which one's this again? I never get to see them, I know they're not identical but I can't tell them apart!" she turned to her daughter as rose stepped in with her third grandchild. "well, we were just about to head out to dinner but it's not as if we had reservations. I can pop out for takeaway? or did you want to cook something?" she belatedly beckoned her husband over, "look who's here, isn't it wonderful?"

(eh, don't feel too pressured. I'm going to be doing some reading and then I'll probably turn in. it's been a very long day, all things considered.)

A moment after Maggie shot into the living room, there was a delighted cry from Tony, happily exclaiming her name; he certainly hadn't expected to see his niece today, but it was a thoroughly welcome surprise nonetheless.

John gladly hugged Jackie back with his free arm, glancing down to Matthew as she pulled back to look at him.  "This is Matthew; that's David," he told her with a guilty smile, glancing briefly to Rose and David.  Seeing her reaction, he felt even worse about not visiting often enough.  At her question regarding dinner, he glanced to Rose, then shrugged.  "I have no problem cooking something, if you'd like," he offered with another small smile.

Pete nodded in agreement with his wife, stepping forward to give Rose a hug, then looked to John.  "That would be lovely - I'll even give you a hand, if you'd like," he told the other man.

(Yeah, I think I'll retire after this post, too.  And I'm sure it has been.  ;-;  Give Shadow a hug and a pat for me - poor old girl... <\3  Nighty-night, Ladybug. <3)

"well, I'll just take little matthew off your hands, then, and you can get started. c'mon, rose, why don't we go sit in the living room and catch up?" rose nodded and led the way toward the room where maggie was hanging half out of the toybox, digging things out for her and tony to play with.

(I'm going to be pretty busy today so I'll try to pop in every time you post but I'll probably be poofy. and tomorrow I'll be gone until later in the evening ~8 or so. I'm going to a scottish festival)

(Okie dokes, no problemo.  :3  A Scottish festival, eh?  That sounds like fun.  XD)

(Y'know, watching back episodes, I realized that in Doomsday, Jake told the Doctor that it had been two years since the events of the Cyberman invasion... which would make the timeline we've established off by at least two years - instead of him and Rose arriving to live here in 2008, it would've been at least 2010, which would mean Maggie was born in 2012... and I think Father's Day was on the 16th in that year (unless Father's Day is on a different day in Europe - I'm not sure about that)?  xD  Currently, it would be 2014, around mid-to-late September, I suggested.  Unless, of course, it was more than two years between Doomsday and the events of Journey's End, but they never said how long it had been, so I'm going to say two years.  xD

Also, if it was, in fact, two years between Doomsday and Journey's End, Tony would've been around 18 months by the time of JE (Rose said Jackie was three months pregnant at the end of Doomsday).  That means he's a year older than we've been saying he is, since when we started the RP we said he was 18 months, but John had already been in the altverse for a year.  I realized this a while ago now, but for some reason I've never brought it up.  xD)

John happily handed his son over to Jackie, smiling as he watched the two women retreat toward the living room, before he gave Pete a little nod and made his way into the kitchen, searching through the ingredients and deciding, with Pete's input, what to cook out of the available options - spaghetti with meat sauce and a side of French bread.

Tony, meanwhile, had raced upstairs to get something to show his niece - a new action figure he'd gotten a few days before.  After a few moments of riffling through his room, he darted back down the stairs, returning to the living room to excitedly present Maggie with the new toy.

(Do you want to trade Jackie for Pete so we can have some interaction, or skip directly to when dinner's ready?)

(I've been doing good to keep track of what DAY it is, to be honest, so that doesn't bother me any. how old would that make tony now?)

(either or)

Rose watched as her daughter and little brother went streaking out again, the girl waiting at the bottom of the stairs for her uncle, bouncing excitedly. both the boys wanted down to crawl around and explore.

"oh, ah, I'm not sure we've got the jarred spaghetti sauce- are you all right with making from scratch? I know I've got some tomatoes and whatnot...though I couldn't really tell you why," pete chuckled.

(Okay XD  Tony would be... *thinks* five, almost six, I think (he was probably born sometime during the winter)?  Unless I'm doing the math wrong.  xD)

(Hmm, well, I guess we'll just skip ahead to when dinner's ready, then.  I'm not really sure what to have them do.)

As Matthew began to squirm, obviously wanting down, Jackie started to bounce him a little in an attempt to pacify him.  When that didn't work, she gave a sigh of acquiescence, turning to pull a blanket off the back of the sofa and laying it down on the ground.  "I suppose it's a lost cause trying to keep you still enough to hold you," she told the boys amusedly as she sat Matthew on the blanket.  "You're your father's sons, alright."

-----

John turned at Pete's query, giving him a grin.  "I have no problems with that - it tends to taste better, anyway," he replied, searching out a cutting board and some herbs and leaving Pete to rinse the tomatoes.

In less than an hour, the meal was finished, and John headed into the living room to fetch the rest of the family, wondering how Rose and Jackie were coping with the boys.  "Dinner's ready," he called as he reached the room, peering inside.

(Probably gonna poof for a little bit here.)

Rose looked up with a smile to john. maggie and tony were playing with each other and the twins were going all over, trying to get into everything their sister did, much to her annoyance. at their father's voice, all 3 children looked up and let out happy squeals, and David pulled himself up on the nearest convenient surface, that being the toybox, so he was standing.

(okay)

(Back, but I might be a bit poofy, 'cause I'm drawing.  xD)

"Oh, good, I'm starved!" Jackie exclaimed, getting to her feet and scooping up Matthew from the floor.  The boy gave another happy squeal at his flight.  Tony gave an enthusiastic cry as well, and darted after his mother toward dinner.

John regarded Rose with a return smile for a moment before turning his attention to the children - most notably, David.  "Well, look at you!" he crowed, walking over.  "You're going to be walking before we know it!"  He shot Rose an 'eek!' face, before turning back to his remaining son and lifting him up.  He then started with him back toward the kitchen, glancing over his shoulder to make sure Rose and Maggie were following.

(cool! me too, I'm trying to get a chapter of my fic out. fifty-six. it's got a lot of really important things that need to happen so it's taken forever to come out :/ XD oh, also, tomorrow I'm going on an outing with friends. I think I said but I don't want to forget)

rose beamed, though her eyes got wide too with alarm at the thought that one or both of the boys would be up and starting to walk soon...maggie had been enough trouble...she turned to beckon to her daughter, but the tot had already headed for the dinner table, enthusiastically chirping "food! food! food!"

(Ooh, wow - fifty-six chapters?!  That's an accomplishment.  I don't think I've ever made it more than three or four chapters into a story.  xD  And yeppers - to a Scottish festival~  xD)

John's eyes trailed after Maggie as he paused, letting her walk past him, and he shook his head amusedly at her chirping.  "Always hungry, that one," he mused, his eyes glimmering with laughter.  He gave Rose another smile, and waited for her to catch up to him so they could walk side-by-side.

Reaching the dining area, he saw that Jackie and Tony were already seated, with Matthew sitting on his grandmother's lap - there was no longer a highchair available, since Tony was too big for one.  Still, Jackie had apparently managed to fish up a couple of bibs for the twins, and Matthew was already wearing his, while the other was sitting on the table nearby.  John found a seat and sat down, snagging the bib and putting it on David, whom he sat on his lap.  This might prove to be a very messy meal...  Thinking, he tucked a spare napkin under his son in case of spills.

Pete brought the pot of spaghetti in just then - the bread and some butter were already at the table, along with plates and silverware.  John took hold of one of the serving spoons and scooped some of the spaghetti onto Maggie's plate, cutting it up into smaller pieces with his knife and then buttering and placing a small piece of bread next to the pasta.  After scooting her plate back over in front of her with a smile, he then did the same for David - minus the bread - before serving himself, taking a bite before offering the boy on his lap some of the spaghetti.

(*Shrugs*  Not really sure how else to go about feeding them, since it wouldn't make sense for Jackie and Pete to still have Tony's highchair out, and they certainly wouldn't have two, I wouldn't think, unless they'd gotten them specifically for the twins.  xD  Also took the liberty of having Pete bring the food to the table.  xD)

(yup, and still going strong, somehow XD)
(oh, can I see what you're drawing, when/if you don't mind sharing?)

both david and matthew, as soon as the food was placed in front of them, tried to stick both hands in it to feed themselves. maggie grabbed her bread first, starting to munch it. rose just slowly looked around at her three children, then to tony, and let out a loud sigh. "it's going to be a bath night, isn't it?" it only took a minute or two for most of the children to be plastered cheek to cheek with spaghetti sauce.

(Very impressive xD

Sure~  Right now I'm finishing up the wings for a WotS reference template I'm making for all my charries.  Or rather, redoing and adding to, because I felt the need to update it.  -headdesk-  xD  I'll definitely share once I'm done with the template - I've still got a side body to redo (partially done), a top body to finish (almost done), an underside body to finish (got the sketch done but need to do the final lineart), and a pawprint to reline (which shouldn't take all that long).

Also doing one for my kitties, too - going to redo the side views and the pawprint and add an eye and a top and underside view (with variants for short, medium, and long hair), but I haven't started that one yet.  I should proooobably finish the wolf one first, but I'll also probably get bored and flip between the two, because that sounds like me.  xD)

John, who was still trying to corral David and keep him from making too huge a mess, to little avail, glanced up to Rose at her voice.  This gave David the opportunity to flick a piece of a spaghetti noodle, which flew upward to splat right in the middle of his father's forehead.  John flinched, his eyes crossing as they locked onto the noodle, which was slowly slipping down toward his nose; a moment later, it fell off to land on his lap - luckily on the napkin - leaving a streak of red tomato sauce down the center of his face.

He just sat like that with a slightly peeved expression for a few more moments before reaching forward for another napkin and wiping his face.  "At this rate, it's going to be bath night for me, too," he complained, looking around at the children and giving a sigh.  Tony was managing to eat with a halfway-decent level of neatness, but the other three were a complete mess - despite Jackie's efforts, Matthew, too, had sauce all across his face and on his hands, and Maggie wasn't doing much better.  "I guess that bath earlier today was all for nothing, wasn't it?" he said to David, glancing down at his son with a raised eyebrow.

(ooh...I just might have to beg and grovel for you to do one for kalake~ don't you have one up on DA for Akamai?)

the little boy looked up with a happy grin, licking his sauce-covered fingers before reaching for the plate again. Rose giggled. "of all the things you could have made for dinner, you had to pick spaghetti...The Messiest Food Ever," she said, smiling. she slurped a noodle that was longer than she thought it was and it swirled upward just enough to smack the tip of her nose, leaving a glob of sauce behind. pete glanced over and started to laugh at her, and all the messy children, though he was surprised tony was doing all right.

(Hehe, I might be able to pull that off at some point...  xD  And yeah, I do, though it's ancient and has horrible anatomy.  I was looking at it earlier, actually, and cringing at the wings... xD)

John shook his head again, giving up on trying to feed David himself - it was obvious he wanted to eat on his own.  "Well... there weren't a lot of options," he grumbled, shooting Jackie a look - it was her poorly-stocked kitchen, after all!

"Well, neither of us cooks much - why buy food if you're not going to use it?" Jackie defended herself, staring back at him with a slightly tart expression.

John shrugged.  She did have a point, he had to admit.

He had just started to eat his own food once more when he heard Pete start to laugh, and looked up, first at him, then, following the other man's look, over to Rose.  Seeing the glob of sauce on her nose, he giggled a little as well, and a moment later, Jackie and Tony noticed and started to laugh, too.  "Well... I guess you just proved your own point," John told his wife, grinning at her amusedly.

(yay! but sadly, I have to get up early tomorrow to catch the train, so I better go soon... :/)

Rose huffed, giving up and grinning before wiping her nose clean with a napkin and going back to eating. "I don't suppose there's dessert?" she suggested when most of her plate was gone, taking a bite of bread and munching with a smile.

"I think there's some biscuits in the cupboard," pete suggested, making tony perk up, a nice ring of sauce on his face making him look like a messy young vampire. "biscuits?"

(That's cool - I was gonna say this would probably be my last post for tonight, anyway.  xD  Hope you and your friends have fun tomorrow!)

John was about to reply that they hadn't made anything for dessert when Pete spoke up.  He looked round to him with bright eyes at the suggestion, then to Jackie as she added, "I just picked up a fresh package day before yesterday."

John grinned.  "Sounds brilliant," he agreed wholeheartedly, scooping up another bite of his dinner, eating slightly quicker than he had been in order to get to dessert more quickly.

(we had fun)

Rose finished up, wiping her face before looking round at the children. "so...should we just bathe them here, d'you think?" she asked john. matthew immediately started to fuss at the word. they'd already had a bath today! they didn't need another!

(That's good ouo)

Having finished eating himself, John lay his napkin on the table, as David was still on his lap.  He looked round at their three children again, eyebrow raised, and nodded.  "Probably a good idea - we don't want them smearing spaghetti sauce all over the back seat," he replied with amusement, skillfully grabbing hold of David before he could pitch himself off his lap in an effort to escape.  "You're not going anywhere, young man!" he scolded him, turning his cocked-eyebrow look downward.

Jackie also took hold of Matthew as he started to fuss, bouncing her knees lightly in an effort to soothe him.  "Oh dear, they certainly don't like their baths, do they?" she commented with a slight laugh.

Meanwhile, Tony gave a sigh of relief, glad that he wasn't the one who was going to be bathed.  Unbeknownst to him, however, he would be getting one later that evening - tonight happened to be his regular bath night.

Getting to his feet, John picked up Maggie and David's empty plates, set them on his own, and carried them to the sink, David on one hip, before heading towards the downstairs bathroom.  "Come on, Mags - let's get you all cleaned up," he called, glancing behind him and nodding in beckoning.  Hopefully she'd come willingly and wouldn't put up too much of a fight, he thought.

matthew started sucking on his fingers, trying to clean himself up before he could be bathed. Rose smirked and made sure maggie was following, taking her son from her mother and going to help with the bathing.

matthew, not knowing where they were going because he'd never been this way before, relaxed and looked around curiously on the walk to the bathroom, and rose was relieved that was the case...until they opened the door and the boys saw the tub.

With the entirety of the second branch of the Tyler family tree headed toward the bath, Jackie got up and started to help Tony clean himself up while Pete took the remaining dishes to the sink to wash.

John, knowing what was likely coming - two baths in one day was an unspeakable evil to the twins - didn't allow himself to relax on the short walk to the bathroom, and, as he pushed the door open and turned on the light, he grimaced, preparing for the onslaught of dismayed screeches.  He wasn't disappointed. 

"Blimey, we should be wearing earplugs when we do this - we're going to be deaf by the time they're old enough to bathe themselves!" he complained loudly to Rose over the noise, grabbing a washcloth, wetting it, and quickly wiping down everyone's faces so that they wouldn't get sauce all over their clothes when they were taken off - they, of course, had no spare clothes, so the kids would have to wear their current clothes again until they got back home.  That done, he turned on the bathtub spigot to start filling the tub, then set to stripping David, laying his clothes over the towel rack.

(Not sure if they boys are really old enough to bathe in the tub (they'd be nearly six months at this point, I think?), so I left it open for the sink to also be filled. -shrugs-)

(it says 8 months on the front page...did I get it wrong? they should be able to sit up unassisted for sure by now)

rose just gave a pained nod, grimacing as both boys started to shriek and wail. jackie, not knowing they did this every time, came running to see what the matter was.

"bloody hell! I thought they were bad at the dinner table!" she exclaimed in dismay as Rose started filling the sink--they boys still fit and it might be faster to bathe both at once, having maggie share her bathwater with one of them.

"but daddy...I don't want to bathe with them!"