#sorry... ish... not completely

Fresh sighed, and placed his hands of Ziggy’s shoulders. “Brah. Listen to me. Folks... they can get some wacked ideas, cause they just don’t know better, you know? They just a bit ignorant. You can’t let those sick ideas bug you. You know they’re not true, right?” He said, his tone changing to be more serious. “You’re my radtastic little son, and sweetheart’s fluffy little boy.” Zig and Alaina blushed a little at that, but Zig then drooped his head some more.

“But... I’m not like you... either of you....” he said quietly.

“Brah, I’m not like anyone. Nor are you. Or Alaina, or Jojo. We’re all different- all got our own special little things, you dig? ‘Sides, that isn’t what makes a family connected.”

“It’s not?” Zig asked, honestly curious. “...Families are supposed to be alike, aren’t they?”

“Dude if all families were alike it’d be pretty boringly monochrome, and that’s totes unfresh. Listen,” he said, gently guiding Zig’s gaze back to him. “What makes us a family ain’t our similarities or differences. It’s our connection, little brah. We’re all here for eahc other, you dig? If you need help, I’m here for ya. If Sweetheart needs help, we’d be there for her, you know? And if jojo gets hurt, you’re always right there, defending her like the rad big bro you are.” Zig nodded slowly, but he didn’t look fully convinced. Fresh continued.

“That’s what makes us a family brah. Not our looks or what creature we are. We’re always there for each other, defending and helping the other, you know? That bond... that love for the other.... that’s what makes us a family. And no matter what no sick unrad kid says, that won’t change. We’ll stay together, and be the raddest family eva. Okay?”

Zigzag slowly nodded, and wiped his eyes. “Ya... ya. We’re always together. One big rad family.” Zig smiled, and started to turn back to his normal hyper self. “Okay then. Thanks daddy Fresh! You’re the coolest dad ‘round,” and with that, he collapsed on Fresh in a huge hug. Fresh just smiled and hugged back.

  “Anytime broseph,” he said, rubbing Zig’s head a little. Zig halfheartedly whined, then pushed himself up.

“Imma go play with sis, okay?” Zig said, starting to run off.

“Kay brah, have fun!” Fresh called after the rapidly-dissappearing Zig. Then he looked over at Alaina. “Hey there sweetheart. Been listenin’?”

Alaina walked out of the hallway and over to Fresh. “I heard Zig yelling and went to check on him. Seems you had it all under control,” she said, smiling. 

Fresh smiled back, then pulled her into a hug. He loved hugs, and Alaina never objected. “Little man just needed some reassurance, ya know? No biggie.”

Alaina looked up a bit and nodded. “Zig’s a strong kid, and we’ll always be here. No sense dwelling on it.”

“Nah, none at all.” Fresh replied. After a minute of hugging, he reluctantly pulled back. “Okay sweetheart, whatcha working on today?”

“Plushies- stocking up for the con next month. You?”

“Nothin’ really. ‘s playing with jojo earlier, but ziggies doin’ that now. Want some help?”

“Hmm...” Alaina said, thinking. “Could you cut out some of the fabric? Then I could focus on sewing.”

“Sure thing sweetheart,” Fresh said, before heading towards the craft room. 

Alaina and Fresh worked on the plushies for an hour or so, before shouts could be heard from the bedroom. Alaina got up to see what was up.

She peeked in the room, and saw Zig and Jojo immersed in a Mario Kart match. They kept the Wii in there for safety’s sake, but the kid’s were pretty careful with it. Right now they laughing and cheering as they finished a race, loud but happy. Alaina told them to quiet down a bit, but seeing them happy made her smile.

The rest of the afternoon, she worked on her various crafts, and Fresh went to working on his comics. Every now and again one of them would get up to check on the kids, or to see what the other was doing. Whenever Fresh went over, he rested his skull on Alaina’s head, making sure not to distract her but still letting her know he was there. They’d occasionally tease each other, in a playful way, but for the most part they concentrated on their work, content to simply be in the room together.

Eventually Fresh left to take care of the kids and do some work on his own. He and the kids made a game of tidying up the house a bit, and Alaina could hear the quiet shouts as they all tried to be “the best sickest raddest cleaners eva”. She had to smile, but mostly she just concentrated on her art, lost in her own little world.

As it got dark, Fresh waltzed back into the craft room, and hugged a very-zoned-out Alaina from behind. He planted a kiss on her startled head, and whispered, “Hey sweetie, it’s getting a bit late. How ‘bout we make somethin’ together? Or would ya rather I grab some food?”

Alaina leaned her head back into him, and looked up and replied, “Making something sounds fun. How about stir-fry? And something sweet for dessert?”

“You’re all the sweetness I need,” Fresh said, kissing her again. Alaina giggled, then Fresh said, “Anything’s good for me sweetie, whichever you like.” 

“Stir-fry then,” Alaina said. They stayed hugging for a minute, before Alaina wiggled out of it and stood up. They walked to the kitchen and started prepping.

Fresh couldn’t taste, but he could prep food really well. He sliced and diced the veggies while Alaina prepped ingredients for cookies, then they swapped and Alaina fried the vegetables while Fresh finished the cookies and set them in the oven. He set the timer for the cookies, and Alaina called to the kids, “Dinner’s almost done!”

Jojo and Zig had been playing some imaginary game, but they broke up and bounded over. They quickly got the table set for dinner, and sat down, waiting eagerly. Fresh and Alaina dished out the food, and sat down themselves. After a moment, they all plowed in.

“Yummy! This is really good!” Zig said.

“Tasty food!” Jojo chimed in.

The parents just smiled and Alaina said, “We make a good team cooking is all.”

“Teach us?” Jojo asked. “Ya, it looks like fun!” Zig added.

Fresh chuckled and said, “Maybe sometime homeslices. ‘Long as everyones careful, kay? Cookin’s fun but ya gotta watch yourself.”

“We know,” the kids said simultaniously, then started chuckling. 

The conversation drifted after that- what everyone did, a funny story someone remembered, a new hobby they had discovered. Everyone smiled and laughed, so much they took forever finishing their food. Fresh got up halfway through and pulled the cookies out of the oven, setting them on a rack to cool.

After dinner, everyone pitched in with cleaning up- the parents packing up the food and starting the dishes, while the kids put everything away. Then came the fun part.

They had made icing earlier, and now pulled out the icing and sprinkles. With a firm reminder to not make too big a mess, everyone got started on decorating the cookies.

Everyone had a particular style. Fresh drowned his cookies in sprinkles- “sprinkles are little rainbow pieces, and the more the radder”-, Zigzag made little patterns on his- “Stripes are so cool!”-, JoJo made hers as colorful as possible- “Look at all the pretty colors!”-, and Alaina did little abstract designs in hers- “It’s a sunflower with a pink scarf, see?”

Everyone laughed and oohed and aahed over the other’s designs, occasionally saying how they looked too good to eat. They got some icing on themselves, but nothing a quick clean-up couldn’t fix. 

After the finished, they just sat back and admired all the colorful cookies. Zig eventually said, “This is what families about, huh? Just hanging out, having fun, and being together.”

“You got it broseph,” Fresh said, smiling. “This is the best yo.”

Eventually they had to get up and clean everything up again, and by then the kids were yawning (and trying to hide it). The parents ushered them to their rooms, the kids halfheartedly protesting. They tucked the kids in, then quietly crept away.

“They’re good kids,” Alaina said quietly, watching them through a crack in the door.

“Well ‘f course they are, they’re ours,” Fresh replied. “’Sides. The amazing one’s you,” he said, pulling Alaina back into another hug.

Alaina hummed a little, and said, “You’re amazing too, hubby. We’e pretty lucky,” she said.

Fresh nodded, and said, “Totally. Now come on- it’s time to go to sleep.” He took Alaina’s hand, and they walked back to their room. One rad day had ended, and there would be many more to come.

Fresh by @loverofpiggies 

Freshuary by @feth