A/N: Thanks to my reviewers: Drink. Juice, omegarulesall, chiharu-tanaka, koalababay, and Puggles Master. :)

This is one of those Vaan and Penelo and their gazillions of future kids prompts. I've had it written for a long time, but debated about whether to post it, but…well, here it is anyway. ;) Seems appropriate after writing one where Penelo was pregnant, anyway. My family prompts seem to come in pairs.

Prompt #26 - Forget

It was the soft footsteps that awakened Penelo from her light sleep; she had long trained herself to be aware of the slightest sounds, first because the potential for battle demanded it, and then later because motherhood demanded it. She blinked open her eyes and looked around; it was perhaps midday, judging from the warm sunlight streaming through the window. She quickly took in her surroundings; her three-year-old was still sound asleep in bed next to her, but the cradle beside her was empty. She vaguely recalled the baby screaming, and Vaan coming to pick him up, telling her to get more rest.

Penelo rolled over in bed so she was facing the door, and smiled when she saw the solemn face peering at her from the doorway.

"You can come in, Thais," Penelo said to her five-year-old.

Thais looked over his shoulder and whispered, "Daddy said I wasn't to wake you."

"Well, I'm already awake, so why don't you come in?" She sat and leaned against the pillows.

Thais considered that, then nodded and bounded across the room and onto her legs, being careful to avoid touching his sleeping brother. He crawled onto her lap and snuggled up against her.

"It's awfully quiet out there." Which could be strange in their household.

"That's 'cause Luco's sleeping and not screaming," Thais said promptly. "Illie's holding him."

Of course she was. Illie was nine now and was thrilled to death to get to help take care of her newest brother, and Penelo was glad to let her help.

"And Daddy's fixing lunch. And...and..." His shoulders slumped.

"What's on your mind?" she asked, smoothing back his hair.

"Are you gonna forget me now?" he asked suddenly. Without waiting for her to answer, he said hurriedly, "Reks says you will. He says next time we go to Balfonheim Port you and Daddy will leave me behind because there are so many of us now and I'm in the middle. And he says I'll have to go live with pirates and they'll-"

"I think I'm going to have to have a talk with your brother," Penelo said wryly. She shook her head. Reks. Eldest of Vaan and Penelo's children, he was the one most prone to mischief, and seemed to feel it his duty to pick on his younger siblings. "Look at me, and listen very carefully." She waited until Thais's wide blue eyes were fixed upon her. "Your dad and I will never forget you anywhere. We will never forget about you at all."

"Even though I'm in the middle?"

"Especially because you're in the middle."

"Are you gonna forget Reks somewhere?" There was a slightly hopeful tone in Thais's voice that made Penelo want to laugh.

"I don't think so."

"Are you sure? Because I'll take his room if you ever do!"

"Thais!"

A small smirk spread across Thais's face and she was struck for the millionth time by exactly how much he looked like Vaan. "Yes, Mama?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "You're a little sneak."

He grinned at her proudly and then his smile faded. "Mama?"

"Hm?"

"Now that Luco's born, are you gonna have any more babies?"

"It's kind of early to ask that, sweetie. Luco's still very, very little." Though five was a good number. A very good number. Penelo stifled a yawn. More than a good number.

"Yeah, but Idin was very, very little and then he got bigger and then you had Luco anyway." Thais pointed at little Idin, sleeping on the bed, as proof.

"Are you still worried that we're going to forget you, Thais?"

Thais squirmed on her lap, then heaved a sigh much too big for such a small child. "Maybe. You forgot Illie at a fair in Archades once."

"What? What are you talking about? We did not forget Illie anywhere, fairs or otherwise."

"Reks said you did."

"I'm definitely going to have a talk with Reks," Penelo said, pursing her lips. "We didn't forget Illie, sweetie. She got mad once when we were going to the fair and hid on the airship. That's all."

"Really?"

"Promise."

"Promise what now?"

Penelo turned to see Vaan standing there, leaning against the doorframe.

"I didn't wake Mama!" Thais exclaimed.

"Okay," Vaan said easily, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. He and Penelo exchanged a smile. "So what's this about a promise?"

"Mama was promising you didn't forget Illie at the fair in Archades." Thais turned completely on Penelo's lap to face Vaan. "And I'm not going to have to live with pirates. I mean, other pirates; not you, Daddy."

Vaan looked mildly confused. "Well, there are some very nice pirates, but I kind of like you living here with us. Why would you think-Reks." It wasn't a question, and Penelo nodded slightly. "Thais, will you run and tell your brother we'd like to talk to him?"

"Okay." Thais pushed off of Penelo's lap and ran out the door.

As soon as he was gone, Penelo faced Vaan. "He's worried we're going to forget him," she said softly. "I think he's just adjusting to Luco being born; he was asking if we're going to have more kids."

"Well, if we do, we'd better have a girl. We're run out of boy names. My brother, your brothers, my father…when we adopted Illie, she already had a name-"

Penelo swatted at his arm. "Vaan."

"Just saying." Vaan looked thoughtfully toward the door. "I think I'll see if Thais wants to go flying with me this afternoon, for a little one-on-one time."

Vaan did that on a regular basis anyway, but things had been slightly more hectic than usual with another new baby around the house. It had been three years since the last time they had done this, so everyone was adjusting to the changes. Penelo nodded. "That would be good for him."

"Will you be okay with the rest of them for a little while?" he asked.

"I think we can manage. I'll just hang Reks by his toes and we'll be all set." She raised her voice at the end of this because she caught a glimpse of her oldest son at the door. "Or maybe send him over to Balthier to put him to work scrubbing down the Strahl."

"Mom," Reks groaned, stepping into the room.

"Reks," she said in the same tone. She pointed at the edge of the bed beside Vaan, and Reks sighed, but came and sat down, looking at her expectantly. "What's all this you've been telling Thais about us forgetting him?"

"Aw, Mama, you know I was just kidding."

"We may know that, but Thais doesn't," Vaan said.

Reks just looked at them from underneath his mop of blond hair. "Are you gonna make me apologize?"

"No, though it would be a nice thing to do," Penelo said. "You are, however, going to tell him that you lied."

Reks got that stubborn look in his eyes that meant he was about to put up a fight. "But-"

"But nothing. And we did not forget Illie at a fair."

Reks's eyes glinted with mischief. "The story's so much more interesting that way."

"It is not interesting that way, Reks! It scares your brother and makes us look like-"

"What? Bad parents?" Reks shot back.

"Do you think we're bad parents?" Vaan asked, looking at him shrewdly.

"No." Reks looked down at his hands, fidgeting slightly. "But-" Then he pressed his lips together and shook his head.

Penelo and Vaan exchanged glances, and Vaan put his hand on Reks's shoulder. "I've got to go to Bhujerba tomorrow morning. Do you want to come with me?"

Reks eyed Vaan skeptically for a minute. "Alone?"

"Yes."

"For how long?" Reks asked quickly.

Vaan crossed his arms. "What is this, a negotiation?"

Reks shrugged a little.

"For the morning, if your mom thinks she-"

"I'll be fine, Vaan," Penelo whispered to him.

"All morning, then," Vaan said.

"Okay," Reks said, nodding once. But when he turned to leave, Penelo got a flash of the smile on his face and knew that he, too, needed reminders that he wouldn't be forgotten.

As soon as he was gone, Vaan muttered to Penelo, "I was not that much trouble when I was ten."

"No," she said, grinning cheekily and pulling him close for a kiss. "You were much worse."