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If there's one thing Simon prayed the twins didn't have, it's the infamous reckless and accident proneness of the MacTavish genes.
Johnny was terriblly clumsy off-field, and more often than not partook in stupid jack-assery both on and off the field as well. As did Rose. The two, according to Momma MacTavish, were quite the fearless type growing up, and by the time they were 15 and 12 the hospital staff knew them by name. Once during lunch Kyle and Johnny had been talking about their childhoods and Johnny proudly boasted that he'd broken 16 bones, all different but some more than once, all before the age of 18.
And don't get him wrong, Simon loves how curious and ambitious his kids are. Koah demands to be read non-fiction books at bedtime instead of the fantasy ones Elijah is still being read. Elijah says the word "Why?" damn near 800 times a day, while his sister preferrs to simply shrug and except Simon's answer the first time. Koah's still more outgoing and energetic than her brother, so Simon always expected her to be the first to break a bone.
Oh how terribly wrong he was.
"Oi! Put yer plate in the sink before you go ou'side, Koah!" Simon calls after his 6 year old, who'd scarfed down her lunch like he hadn't fed her in years, and then rushed to go back outside.
Koah, who's recently discovered freedom of speech, and who also has an Uncle who never thought to watch his mouth, stomps back towards the table. "Fuckin' fine!"
"You watch yer mouth, Koah Harlan," In all honesty it was kind of hilarious, Koah understood when to throw in swears based on context. But Simon's more concerned about getting a phone call from her teacher, lest the girl let something slip. Like, and Simon prayed this would never happen, the time Koah bumped into a shelf at the store and shouted "Cunt!" He is eternally grateful Beth found it hilarious, but it only spurred Koah on to continue swearing at the shelf until Simon had to hurriedly pay and leave whilst covering her mouth.
"Wha'everrrrrrrrr," Another wonderful phrase she'd picked up from Kyle.
"Koah Harlan MacTavish!" Simon put the dishes he was washing back into the sink, drying his hands before he heads outside to talk about proper attitude with his daughter. He glances out the glass doors, watching Koah run around with the dogs while Elijah was trying to climb the tree in the yard.
He got distracted, took two seconds to send a message to Kyle. Which inevitably turned into five minutes when the man insisted he wasn't at fault for Koah's foul language. The first thing he hears when he approaches the doors, eyes concentrated on his screen, are Neptune and Winnie barking. It takes him a moment to grasp that they weren't playful barks, but something more urgent, almost panicked. Then, the screaming, and his blood turns to ice. Simon snaps his head up, throwing his phone and rushes outside, almost tripping over the dogs as he makes his way to Elijah.
Elijah, who's rolling on the ground, trying to clutch his leg but recoiling in pain every time. His leg is most certainly broken, probably in more than one place by the looks of it. His face is scrunched and red, tears streaming down his cheeks. When he sees Simon, he rolls over and starts trying to crawl to him. "Dad!"
"Oh, sunshine, what 'appened?" Simon gently maneuvers Elijah into his arms, grimacing with every noise of pain his son made as he stood. He's halfway to the door when he realizes Koah isn't following him. "Koah come on, we've gottae bring Elijah ta the hospital."
Koah turns her head towards him, but her eyes don't leave the place where Elijah had fallen. She just stands there, frozen.
"Koah!" Her eyes finally meet his. "We've gottae go sweet'eart," His daughter stands still for another moment, then sprints in the house and out to the car in a flash of orange.
He buckles Elijah as carefully as he can, making sure Koah is clipped in as well before setting off.
The hospital was stressful, to say the least. Elijah would not let go of him for a second, screaming his head off if he was more than an inch away from Simon. Koah didn't say a word the entire 6 hours they were there, she just sat, staring blankly at Elijah. Simon's heart ached for her.
When the doctors came in to give Eli some painkillers so they could cast his leg, the boy screamed, he hated the needles. It took Simon and two other nurses to hold him still-avoiding his leg-just for them to put the IV in.
On the way back home the two of them fell asleep, slumped bonelessly in their car seats. Simon smiles softly as he pulls into their driveway, and doesn't protest when he has to carry them into the house. (Although his back certainly does.) That is its own struggle, the dogs and Cassie bombard him the moment he crosses the threshold into the house, barking and whining to check on Elijah. He damn near face plants on the stairs because Winchester circles his legs after every step.
When the twins are settled in their beds with their respective animals curled at their feet, Simon collapses into his own bed with a sigh. Tired couldn't begin to describe how he felt. It isn't just a physical tired, he's mentally exhausted. His fight or flight had kicked in the second Elijah's shrill scream echoed around his yard. For a second, he was transported to a different time, into a different-darker-version of himself. His mind and body are drained from spending the last hours in fight mode, out of practice and out of touch with the days when he could go for weeks in that state without rest.
Simon's just drifting off, starfished on his belly with Cassiopia settled on his back when his phone rings. He'd called Kyle and Price earlier, while they were waiting for the doctor, and briefed them on what had happened. He knew they'd been blowing up his phone since, asking for updates, but the only thing he'd said for hours was they were heading home.
"How's Sunshine doin'?" Price's raspy voice is clipped and drowned in concern.
"Aye he's alrigh'. Nasty break, clean through 'is tiba," Simon grumbles, half dead to the world.
"Yikes, and hows Koah?" Kyle, apparently with Price, chimes in.
"Lil muppet tired hersel' out worryin' fer Eli, poor thing nearly 'ad a panic attack," Really, it had just been more stress ontop of stress. He'd had to take Koah outside while the nurses kept watch over a drowsy Eli just to keep her from hyperventilating.
"Jesus," Price's sigh is weighted and wary, followed by intelligible muttering from Gaz.
"Ah know," God his eyes are heavy, Simon doesn't ever remember feeling this tired even when he hadn't slept for days.
"Y'kow what's hilarious," Kyle's got that teasing lilt to his voice, the one that Simon knows means he's about to say some stupid shit.
"What?"
"Your starting to sound like Johnny."
"Tha's no' true, yer off yer fuckin' heid."
"See, there it is. Good ol' Scottish twang," Gaz chuckles, and Simon's heart skips a beat. He'd never really noticed that he'd started to trade out his trusty Manc accent for an odd mix of Scottish slang and Manchester pronunciation.
"Ah-" He clears his throat, suddenly conscious of how he sounds. "I never realized."
"Well, living in Scotland for, what is it, 8 years now?" Price starts, mumbling to himself as if to trigger the memory of how long Simon's been retired.
"9 In June," God, has he really been out of the force for nine years already? It feels like he was just arguing over the shitty cafeteria food with Kyle and Johnny.
"There ya have it, 9 years in rural Scotland will do that to ya." Simon can hear Kyle's smile through the call.
"I don't think I ever said it, but I'm proud of you Simon. You put your whole being into this job, and I know it took a lot for you to retire," Unusually sentimental, Price almost sounds choked up.
"Same to you, bout to be 2 years since you stepped down aye?" Price retiring had been a shock to him. In Simon's head, Price was this immortal, all knowing and seeing being that would continue to be Captian of Task Force 141 until the end of time. It was weird at first, Price and Nick moved into a town an hour away, and visited every weekend. The twins loved it, they got to see Price more often and hear stories about Simon or even Johnny whenever they asked. But Price, as with everything else, took to retired life like moth to a flame.
"Yeah, thinking of bringing the kiddies to the states to go to Disneyland to celebrate," In the background, Kyle started to cackle.
"Over my dead body, my children are never setting foot in that wretched place as long as they live under my roof," Simon murmurs, eyes slipping shut as the three of them get lost in easy conversation.
In the morning he'll be woken up early by Koah, as a messenger for her brother who's hungry. He'll carry Eli around all day, the poor thing too stressed to be too far away from him. Price and Nick will stop by with toys, the perfect pick me up for the twins. They'll have dinner, Simon'll teach Elijah how to use his crutches, they'll bathe and get ready for bed. And it'll be easy, maybe not as easy as it should've been, had his spark not been snuffed out. But easy enough where Simon will never regret saying yes to Mama Mactavish when she called that day.
But for now, Simon's lulled to sleep by the bickering of Price and Gaz, the warmth of his bed and cat allow him to sink a little more bonelessly into his mattress.