This piece was inspired by Kielle's TCP fic, "Baby Talk". She also mentioned in that fic that there was a serious lack of happy TCP stories, so I churned this out. Okay, maybe the real world isn't always so peachy clean, but I figured we all needed a break once in a while. Hope you like it. :)

TCP: Family Matters

by Maelstrom

"Terry!" Jessica yelled over her shoulder. "Alex's on the run again!"

Her husband groaned. "Again?" He managed to catch sight of a diaper-clad bottom disappearing around the corner, and instantly ran after the power-crawling tyke. Luckily little Alex was still very young, so his father was able to catch him before he got any further. As he hoisted the baby up to his hip, Terry mused about how harried their lives were going to be by the time hyper Alex reached his Terrible Twos. He'd probably turn the whole house upside-down. Heck, Karen had when she was little (*literally* turning the house upside-down), and so'd Sarah. And Danny was still causing them lots of ruckus, that was for sure.

Alex made a noise that sounded like an upset mew, and Terry gave him a mock stern look. "And *you,* young man," he said, "no more sugar-coated goodies for you until you turn twenty, you hear?"

Alex returned to sucking his thumb as Terry carried him back into the kitchen. Which, incidentally, was a mess. No surprise, considering his parents were due to arrive for dinner tonight, and Jessica was frantically trying to whip up something good for her in-laws. Never mind the fact that dinner was two hours away or that his parents would never find fault with her cooking. After their last visit when she'd accidentally served them ice-cold soup and salty roast beef, she'd been moaning about the incident ever since.

The ice-cold soup had been Danny's doing, of course, and Terry'd given his 8-year-old prankster son a good talking-to as soon as Terry's parents were gone. This time Danny swore he wouldn't do anything to ruin dinner, but just to be sure, Terry was holding back his son's monthly allowance as a guarantee.

"Got him," Terry told his wife cheerfully, kissing her sweaty cheek. He backed away and squinted at her. "What's wrong?"

"I don't think it's coming out right," she complained, gesturing at the banana cake baking inside the oven. "It's not rising yet. It should. I *knew* I should have baked this yesterday!"

"Oh c'mon, Jessie." He deposited Alex into his playpen at the corner before returning and wrapping his arms around his wife. "A watched cake never bakes, remember? It'll turn out fine, really."

"I'm not so sure about that. The oven's been acting screwy ever since Sarah blew up its insides two months ago."

Terry shrugged. "If all else fails, we'll just order from the Dairy Queen." He mischievously ignored his wife's dry look and playfully nipped at her shoulder. "Hmm, speaking of Sarah, we'll have to remind her to keep a tight rein over her powers. I saw her exploring Mrs Jenkins's microwave the other day."

Jessica sighed and rolled her eyes. "I swear, you'd have thought she had a death wish or something. How many times do we have to tell her? Mutant radiation and microwave ovens do *not* mix."

Terry chuckled. If 11-year-old Sarah wasn't messing around with all electromagnetic-waves-emitting equipment, she was in constant disagreement with her little brother Danny. And when you had one radiation-controlling daughter pitted against one ice-controlling son, you can generally bet that a simple "time-out" wasn't going to solve problems that easily.

"Speaking of which," he said, nibbling her ear, "where're the rest of the kids?"

Jessica sighed and leaned back against her husband. "Okay, let's see. Karen's down at the store getting more stuff for dinner. She was supposed to be back an hour ago - can't imagine what must be keeping her."

"Hey, she's a teenager. A teenager with a driver's licence. A teenager with a driver's licence with her own *car.* Need I say more?"

Jessica managed a smile. She could feel Terry's breath tickling against her cheek. "Sarah should be in her room, she has a math test coming up next week. And I sent Danny to play with Becka's kids next door. That'll keep him out of our hair until your parents arrive."

She suddenly straightened. "Your parents! Okay, banana cake, check. Shepherd's pie, check. Cajun-fried chicken with wild rice, check."

Terry suddenly turned her around, a teasing glint in his eyes. "Kiss for the loving husband, check." And he fulfilled that criteria before Jessica could even blink.

She wrapped her arms around him and savored the kiss, the sound of Alex banging a toy against the playpen only faintly registering at the back of her mind. She drew away, a wry look on her face. "Oh gee, was I *that* occupied with dinner with your parents?"

He grinned. "Can you say 'fanatic?'"

She poked him in the ribs. "Don't start. Things would have been much easier if Alex and Danny hadn't been keeping me busy all day. Alex power-crawling everywhere, Danny freezing Mrs Jenkins's cat's tail every two minutes. . . ."

He gave an innocent look. "Hey, you *wanted* a lot of kids. Four down, five more to go."

She grinned and poked him harder in the stomach, causing him to "oof" in surprise. "Yeah well, *you're* the mutant. You never hear Becka talking about her kids flying down the stairs or exploding telephones."

He grinned, enjoying this exchange that they'd constantly teased each other with ever since their dating days. "Hah. Sorry, Jess, but the x-factor isn't influenced by heritage. Can't blame me for that one."

She pretended to sigh. "What's the world coming to if we can't even blame our husbands' genes?"

He grinned and kissed her again. "Ah well, not my fault they're frazzling you with their powers. Who told you to be the only human in the family?"

"Smart aleck." She pushed him back to the countertop. "So use your powers already. Ask Karen what's taking her so long."

He sighed and obediently contacted his teenage daughter. ~Karen, are you there?~

~Dad!~ an extremely mortified mental voice screeched back. ~I *told* you never to call me in public! Do you know how embarrassing it is to be telepathically talking with my dad when I'm out with my friends?~

~Sorry hon, but your Mom needs those grocery items now. . . . Wait a minute, what're you doing with your friends? You know you're supposed to be back for dinner with Gramps and Nana tonight.~

~I know, I know. I just met Julie and Nicole in the store, and we started yakking and - look, Dad, can we do this later? It's embarrassing to talk to your Dad in public, especially telepathically. I think they're starting to give me strange looks over here at the store.~

~All right, hon. Just get here soon, okay? Your Mom's freaking out over dinner with your grandparents.~

~Doesn't she always?~

He chuckled mentally. ~Yeah. See you home. Love you.~

~Love you too, Dad.~

Jessica was now busying herself with cleaning the kitchen. And by the looks of it, she'd probably polish the whole house as well by the time Terry's parents arrived. He was about to open his mouth and make a comment on this when Alex gave a wail. Jessica shot Terry an "it's your turn" look, and she continued cleaning while he went to change Alex's diaper. By the time he was finished and had put Alex down, the doorbell suddenly rang. They looked at each other in surprise.

"You *said* they'd be here at seven!" Jessica cried.

"*They* said they'd be here at seven!" he protested, hurrying to the door. They both breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that it was just old Mrs Jenkins from across the road, bearing a worried look on her face.

"Mrs Jenkins!" Terry greeted. "How are you? Is anything wrong?"

"Oh, Terry, dear," said the old woman in distress, "is Karen home?"

He sighed. "Toddles's stuck in the tree again?"

She nodded. Just then Karen drove into the driveway. Mrs Jenkins immediately hurried over to the car and was jabbering away before Karen had even opened the door. The girl tried to assuage the woman who insisted on declaring a national emergency, and casting a rueful look at her father, she headed down with the woman across the street.

Karen looked up at the orange cat perched on one of the tree's thick branches. "Okay, tabby," she said. "You coming down or not?"

Toddles stared stubbornly back.

Karen shrugged. "You never learn, do you?" She proceeded to telekinetically lift Toddles off the bough and deposit the yowling cat into Mrs Jenkins's arm. Nodding away the grateful woman's thank-yous, Karen hurried back home, where Terry had already taken some of the things down from the car. Karen grabbed two of the grocery bags and lifted the last one up in the air with her powers. Struggling for a moment, she kicked the car door shut and entered the house.

Karen found her mother in the living room, in her usual clean-up-before-the-grandparents-arrive mode. Jessica caught sight of her daughter and waved harriedly towards the kitchen countertop. "Quick, Karen, help me. Gramps and Nana are going to arrive soon."

"Aw Mom. C'mon, I've only got two hands and one telekinetic mind, you know!"

Terry grinned as he took the bags from Karen, including a big jump to grab the third one from the air. Karen fixed him with a long-suffering look, but he winked at her and didn't complain against her mother's wishes. Groaning, she grabbed the nearest rag and entered the kitchen, proceeding to clean the countertop.

Terry remained where he was, a twinkle in his eye as he watched Jessica frantically scrubbing the coffee-table free from stains. She caught his look and stopped, frowning.

"What?" she asked.

He shook his head, grinning. "And they say you humans are the normal ones."

She threw a cushion at him, and he burst out laughing.

End :)

Maelstrom

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