11Disclaimer: I don't own The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
A/N: I missed this family!
Chapter 3
Cowboy was in the kitchen.
Illya stood in the doorway in his pajamas, watching the American neatly break eggs into a mixing bowl and toss the shells into a second bowl. It had been a long time since Illya had questioned Solo just showing up in whatever house his family was living in and making himself at home. Still, he did appreciate some warning.
He cleared his throat. "Pepper and salt are—"
"In the cabinet, I know." Solo tossed a smirk over his shoulder. "I thought I would make omelets. Katie still likes peppers in hers, correct?"
Illya grunted. As far as he knew, she did. Then again, sometimes her tastes changed when he was gone for a while…he tried to not let it bother him too much since he knew leaving for periods of time was part of his job, but he always felt like it was a small-scale version of abandoning his family. Granted, often Gaby and Katie went with him.
"I brought the paper." Solo pointed toward the kitchen table without turning away from the counter. "Seems to be some trouble brewing over in France. How's your French?"
"Nonexistent." Crossing over to the table, Illya picked up the paper and flipped it open, looking for the article that Cowboy was talking about. It wasn't on the front page, so he flicked his gaze toward the American again. "Where am I supposed to be looking?"
"I'm sure you'll recognize it when you come across the title."
Illya pursed his lips. Leave it to Solo to turn this into some kind of challenge. Even after all these years, he was still testing Illya at every turn, though it wasn't as if Illya was any easier on Solo. However, nowadays it was more of a game than anything that would make one trust the other less. They had been through too much for something so simple to affect their friendship/rivalry like that.
Illya was halfway through the paper and beginning to doubt that there was, in fact, a real article, when his bouncy brown-eyed little girl barreled into the room. She still had her teddy bear and her flashlight, but now she was wearing a victorious smile.
"I chased away the monsters, and I won, and I want pancakes!" She turned toward Solo, and instead of being surprised by his presence, she simply beamed. "Pancakes?"
"For a monster-killer, I suppose anything is possible," Solo said, one eyebrow raising as he glanced over at Illya.
"Oh, so the flashlight worked, then?" Illya said, ignoring Solo and instead focusing on his daughter. She nodded vigorously even as she went up on her tiptoes, trying to peek into the bowl of eggs Solo was stirring.
"It's special," she said, "It worked, and I wasn't scared. Much." She poked Solo's elbow. "Is that pancakes?"
"Right now, it's just eggs," Solo said, "I thought you loved omelets?"
"I like pancakes, too, with chocolate sauce," she said with a grin.
"How about I finish mixing this first, then I will work on pancakes, assuming there are ingredients here."
"There's instant mix in the cabinet," Katie said.
As if that would be good enough for Cowboy. He prided himself on his cooking skills, and using an instant mix was a complete insult to his abilities. But for Katie, he managed a weak smile instead of a pointed look of offense. "Is there now…"
"Come, Katya, and tell me of your great battle," Illya said, holding his arms open for the tiny girl. She raced over, leaving behind Solo so that she could leap at Illya, tossing herself at him like a human projectile. He caught her easily and pulled her up onto his lap, settling her on one leg. She placed her bear and flashlight on the table and then looked up at him with that heart-warming smile. Every time he saw it, he swore yet again that he would never let any harm come to her. It was a promise that Gaby said was silly, since she would doubtlessly be hurt at some point and then Illya would blame himself, but he still held himself to the swear.
"There was a monster, with big fangs, and he was nasty, Papa," she said, the word nasty coming out as 'nassy' instead. Sometimes she still mixed words up, and it was rather adorable.
"And what did you do to this vile and despicable creature?" Solo piped in.
"He wasn't veal, he was a monster," she said matter-of-factly.
Solo hid a smile. "All right, then, what did you do this the monster?"
"I took my light and shine it at him," Katie said. She picked up her flashlight and flicked it on. "See? See, Uncle Cowboy?"
Solo glanced over his shoulder and got an eyeful of blue light for his effort. He blinked and turned back to the stove, nodding. "Ah, yes, I certainly see. Or I did."
Illya grinned and wrapped an arm around his daughter. "And what did the monster do then?"
"He disappeareded," Katie said, "Like magic. He must've ran away."
"Astounding," Cowboy said. He looked over his shoulder again. "Does someone want to tell me what's going on? I wasn't aware monsters existed."
"They do not," Illya said, hugging Katie and getting a laugh out of her. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Gaby step into doorway, her arms crossed over her chest. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that there was an annoying American cooking breakfast for them. It was rather normal, after all.
"Sometimes they do," Katie said, "But now I got a flashlight and I can make them go away real fast."
"Ah," Solo said, not sounding entirely convinced. "When I used to be afraid of monsters, my mother taught me a song to sing."
"She did?" Katie asked. Illya felt his own curiosity rising.
"Are you going to sing for us, Solo?" Gaby asked, stepping into the kitchen, her expectant gaze falling on Cowboy.
"I'm afraid I've forgotten the lyrics," Solo said quickly, "I'm sure someone else can come up with a song, if they wish."
"I will," Katie said cheerfully, "I'll do it today."
"That sounds like a good way to spend the day," Gaby said, walking over and resting her hand on Illya's shoulder. Bending over, she kissed Katie's cheek and then Illya's. "What are you making, Solo?"
"Pancakes," Katie said with a mischievous laugh while at the same time Solo said, "Omelets."
"He is still deciding," Illya said, reaching over touch Gaby's waist. He wanted to hold both of his girls, but his wife stepped away with a smirk.
"I'll make the pancakes," Gaby said, "So Solo doesn't have to suffer through the instant mix."
"Thank you," Solo said with relief on his face.
Katie grinned and looked up at Illya. "With chocolate sauce?"
He kissed the top of her curly-haired head. "For my brave one? A little chocolate sauce will not hurt."
