Weapons of War

Riley walked into the kitchen, and sighed upon finding the bag of flour still sitting on the kitchen island. Clearly Shea had forgotten to put it away when he unpacked the rest of the groceries. She set the laundry basket of clean clothes on the couch, ran her fingers through Noah's brown hair before she went into the kitchen and picked up the bag. As she did so the top of the bag split open and spilled flour everywhere, which made her let out a groan of frustration.

Her eyes welled up with tears which threatened to spill over right up until a little giggle filled her ears. She blinked back the tears and turned around to find Noah now sitting on the floor playing with the spilled flour, giggling like he was playing in a sand box. She couldn't help but smile at the sight, pull her phone off the charger on the counter above the dish washer and snap a few pictures, instantly sending them off to Shea, his dad and Quinn.

Noah looked up at her and gave her a wide grin and asked, "Play?"

When she heard Shea's vehicle pull into the garage Riley leaned down and picked Noah up, hiking him onto her hip as the door opened and Shea walked in. He glanced at the scene in front of him; flour was everywhere and both Noah and Riley covered in it and he grinned. Riley narrowed her eyes at him and joked, "I bet you think this is real funny."

Before Shea could respond Noah said, "Ya!"

Shea let out a laugh and stepped near them, taking caution to not place his sock feet in the flour on the floor. He put one hand on Noah's back, the other on Riley's shoulder before he leaned in and kissed her cheek loudly. Riley rolled her eyes and looked at Noah, making a face she told him, "Ew."

He giggled loudly as Shea swooped in and grabbed him, plucking him right out of Riley's arms and as he held him in a horizontal position Noah held his hands out in front of him and exclaimed, "Airplane!"

"Yeah?" Shea asked, and when he nodded his head Shea grinned, "Alright."

Riley watched in amusement as Shea carted Noah around the living room doing his best airplane impression while Noah laughed. As his little, infectious giggle filled her ears Riley turned back to the mess of flour and began to sweep it up. She had it all cleaned up by the time both Noah and Shea decided they were tired of the airplane game, and when she turned around she found Shea laying on his back on the floor with Noah sitting on his stomach carefully petting Dug, who was perfectly content to sit beside them and let his baby human pet him.

She couldn't help but once again pull her phone from her pocket and snap a picture of them. She got another one; Noah's head tilted back as he laughed loudly when Shea reached over and tickled his stomach, before she put her phone back onto the counter and asked, "Noah tell daddy what you decided was for dinner."

"Monsters!" He yelled, throwing his hands up above his head.

Shea turned his head to Riley and with a raised eyebrow he asked, "Monsters?"

"Octopus hot dogs." When she said this Shea couldn't help but chuckle before Riley added, "I am so never leaving Pekka alone with him again."

Shea grinned at her and said, "I want octopus hot dogs."

Narrowing her eyes she stated, "You'll have to settle for chicken. Adults don't get monster food."

He pouted and turned to Noah and said, "Don't grow up. It's no fun."

Noah nodded his little head, as if he understood whatever Shea had just said to him, before he crawled off of him and climbed onto the couch, laying down across it. Riley moved around in the kitchen as Shea heaved himself off of the floor and knelt down beside the end of the couch that Noah was laying on. He looked up at Shea and mumbled, "Too fun."

It was his way of telling them whatever they were doing previously was a little too much and now he didn't feel so great. Shea smiled gently, placed the back of his hand softly on Noah's forehead, determining that he did not have a fever, before he spread the little blanket that was folded on the back of the couch over him and wandered into the kitchen.

Leaning against the counter Shea watched Riley pull things out of the fridge and the cupboards until she felt his presence and turned to look at him, eyebrow raised and asked, "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Yes actually there is." Shea stated with a nod of his head. When again she quirked an eyebrow he reached out, grabbing her by the hips he pulled her into him making her let out a near squeal. He trapped her between him and the counter, his hips pushing against her as he leaned down and kissed her softly. When he pulled back he grinned and told her, "That's what I needed help with."

Riley smiled up at him before she pulled him back down to kiss him again. This time, when they parted, it was her that smiled at him and then she told him, "I want another baby."

With his eyebrow raised high Shea asked, "Yeah?"

Nodding her head she told him, "Just not right this second."

"But maybe some day soon?" He asked, his voice coated in hopefulness.

She smiled and nodded, informing him, "Maybe in a few months we can think about another one. Once we have a better idea of what's going on with him and what we're looking at realistically."

"I think that's a great plan." Shea told her, and when she smiled gently and wrapped her arms around his middle he added, "I wanted to have another right after he was born."

"I know you did, but for the record I'm really glad you never asked that." Riley told him honestly and when he raised his eyebrow she told him, "I so wouldn't have been able to say no then."

He tilted his head back and sighed before saying, "I knew I should have asked."

"Yeah well if it was up to you we'd have enough kids to make a starting lineup already." Riley stated and Shea nodded his head.

"What's wrong with that? We could start our own hockey dynasty." He told her with a wide grin.

She let out a small laugh and informed him, "As much as I love the idea of a house full of kids the female body so was not made to pop kids out every few months so you're gonna have to wait for that one."

He sighed dramatically and then told her, "I'll deal with it I guess."

"You'll have to Mr." Riley stated.

When he rested his chin on the top of her head Shea asked her, "So maybe we can think about adding another one before the end of this season?"

"I think that could be okay."

- - -

"Soooo…" Quinn asked as she and Riley sat across from each other in a booth at a restaurant. It was Rileys weekly evening off which was usually spent having drinks and appetizers with Quinn, who needed to get away fron her grown child at home. Riley glanced up from her menu and over to Quinn who then asked, "How's life at the Weber house?"

Shrugging her shoulders she informed Quinn, "Hectic."

"Well that was a given." Quinn stated with a grin. She glanced back at the menu and then announced, "I am so getting the cheeseburger. And fries."

"I thought you were on a diet?" Riley asked in amusement.

"Not a diet. Just trying to eat a little better. But fuck it I've had enough of it. Give me the damn burger." Quinn stated, closing her menu. When Riley raised her eyebrow she explained, "All James eats is chicken, steak, rice and broccoli. I cannot live like this Riley, I will go crazy."

Riley let out a chuckle and told her, "Thank God Shea isn't that bad."

"Lucky you." Quinn mumbled, taking a large drink of her iced tea before she added, "Honestly he's going to drive me crazy. If I have to eat one more bland ass meal I might just lose my shit."

"You know you can always come over for dinner right? I'm sure Noah would share his dinner with you." Riley joked, making Quinn narrow her eyes at her.

To take the subject off of herself Quinn asked, "How is that little rugrat? I keep meaning to get over to see him but James is needy."

"What else is new?" Riley joked and once the two of them finished their laughter she told her, "He's good."

"And you and Shea?" Quinn asked her curiously.

When she hesitated Quinn leaned forward against the table, very interested in whatever Riley was trying to figure out how to say. Finally Riley told her, "We're talking about having another baby soon."

Quinn smiled brightly and said, "That's so exciting!"

Riley nodded her head and said, "We kind of want to do it before the end of this season."

"Oh my god I'm so excited." Quinn stated with a wide grin. When Riley shook her head at her Quinn asked, "Uhm… do you think that if you and Shea like the new baby maybe I could steal Noah?"

"You need a life."

She pouted and told Riley, "I need a baby."

Riley smiled and asked, "How's that going anyway?"

Shrugging her shoulders Quinn told her, "We can't agree on anything. Every time I like someone he doesn't and when he likes someone I don't."

"It's a big deal; you're picking out people to adopt from not picking out a pasta brand in a supermarket, but you'll figure it out." Riley told her with a small smile.

"It's fucking expensive too." Quinn told her, making Riley laugh. Shaking her head Quinn said, "No seriously. The lowest I've seen thus far is like 12 grand, but I've seen it go up to like 35. I think the idea of paying for a child is hilarious though, James doesn't."

Riley let out a chuckle and said, "It is kind of funny but then how can you put a price on that?"

Quinn nodded her head slowly and she looked down at her glass of iced tea and as she played with the straw she admitted, "I just feel bad. We're spending all this money to have a kid and it's my fault we have to do it this way in the first place."

"Honey don't get so down on yourself about it. James is right; adopting a baby and raising it together is better than losing you." Riley told her, reaching across the table to give her hand a squeeze. After a few seconds she added with a grin, "Plus it's like 13 grand in hospital bills to give birth anyway."

Quinn let out a laugh and said, "Welcome to America."

Riley joked, "Tell me about it. I told Shea that we weren't having Noah here. I'd fly back to Kelowna to have him and just bring him back to Nashville after."

"That's it! We'll just adopt in Canada!"

- - -

When she arrived home Riley found the downstairs empty so she slowly climbed the stairs. There was a little bit of light coming out of Noah's open bedroom door so she made her way toward it. As she approached it she heard Shea talking quietly, "It's time for bed little mouse, little mouse, darkness is falling all over the house."

She leaned against the doorway and watched Shea, sitting on the edge of Noah's bed, read to him. Noah was curled up beside him, head on Shea's lap, staring at the pictures in the book. He reached out and traced his fingers over one of the illustrations before he caught sight of Riley and turned to her, "Mama."

Smiling gently Riley asked, "What are you still doing up?"

"Not still. Again." Shea explained to her.

She stepped into the room and sat on the small space between the edge of the bed and Shea's leg. She reached out and ran her finger tips through Noah's dark hair, smiling when he pushed himself down the bed to get closer to her. He then sat up, scooted over closest to the wall and said, "Mama read."

Shea slid over as far as he could as well without squishing Noah against the wall and patted the spot beside him and with a smile he said, "Yeah, come on mama it's your turn to read the story."

She rolled her eyes but took the empty spot with her back against the wall beside Shea and took a hold of the book. She started where they left off, "It's time to sleep little pup, little pup, if you don't sleep soon the sun will be up. It's time to sleep little deer, little deer, the very last kiss is almost here."

As she turned to the very last page she glanced over at Noah to find him fast asleep already so she closed the book quietly and got off the bed. She turned to face the bed, and almost laughed at the fact that Noah was laying with his head on the pillow, huddled under the covers, and Shea was sitting on top of the covers with his back against the wall nearly snoring. She wondered for a moment how long they had been at the story game, knowing Noah was a professional story con.

Knowing Shea would kill her in the morning Riley once again pulled out her phone and took a picture of her two boys sleeping, noting how much larger Shea looked when he was asleep in the toddler bed before she tucked her phone into her pocket again and leaned down. She gave Shea's shoulder a gentle shake, not wanting to wake Noah in the process and when his eyes opened she whispered, "I think it's time for bed for you too."

He glanced at Noah and then carefully pulled himself off of the bed, leaning down to adjust the covers before they both left the room, turning the light off as they went. Riley pulled the door to a near close, before they wandered down the hall into their own bedroom. Shea didn't even bother taking his sweat pants or tshirt off he simply flopped onto the bed on his back as Riley disappeared into the bathroom.

She came back out wearing pyjamas and ready for bed before she too dropped into the bed beside him. Shea asked, "How was your night?"

"It was good. How was yours?" She asked him curiously.

He turned his head to look at her as he stated, "It was great… until the third story." He stated, and she giggled.

"How many did you read?" She asked, again curiously.

"You finished the fifth." He stated.

Riley smiled and pulled the covers over herself as she asked him, "Did he give you the face?"

"The face?" Shea asked in confusion.

Nodding her head Riley explained, "The pouty lipped, big eyed 'I'm gonna cry myself to sleep if you don't read just one more story' look?"

"You know it?" Shea joked and when she nodded he said, "I'm glad I'm not the only one he does it to."

"Yeah except I let him cry himself to sleep sometimes." Riley stated, making them both chuckle. They laid side by side in the dark in silence for a few minutes before Riley, as she stared at the ceiling, asked, "Hey Shea?"

"Hmm?"

"I was thinking, maybe we could get started practising for the new kid. What do you think?" She asked with a small smile, and when he didn't answer right away she asked, "Shea?"

She turned to look at him, only to find him already fast asleep, his breathing shallow and he hadn't even bothered pulling the covers up past his hips. So as she pulled the covers over him and settled in beside him Riley smiled to herself. How in the world had she gotten so lucky?