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"Oh, my god. That is upsetting," followed by some noises of disgust. This has been their recurring state for a solid half hour now.
It's Constance's turn to pick what's on for movie night and her choice is heavily influenced by a recent binge on nature documentaries. Frozen Planet is on and they argue loudly on who they root for over David Attenborough's soothing voice - bison or wolf? Sea lion or penguin? Whale or seal? There's limited time to debate the morals of natural cycles of the food chain that bring up questions such as "Do I want party A to eat or do I want party B to live?", which they'll get back to at some point, surely.
In the meantime, some variations of the following can be heard through the loft:
"Let's go, lil Kowalski! Hurry up and NOT DIE. PLEASE."
"We know your kids only watch animated movies, Tam, but don't make tonight harder for any of us by being attached to these animals and naming them."
"I'll try my best. No promises."
"That seal's eyes are so red. Is that normal?"
"Orcas are about to eat well, Daphne. Who cares?"
"I do. What if it survives? It's sick. And what will happen to the whales if they eat diseased meat?"
"I don't think they're picky, dude."
"Huh. These killer whales are kinda like us, except we like shiny, shiny jewels. And they like shiny, shiny breakfast."
"This is what you're getting from this? Comparing their team work to ours?"
"Yes, let's just ignore how sophisticated our operation was, why don't we?"
"Ew, sea spiders. Do you guys have them in Oz, Lou?"
"How should I know?"
"Uh, I don't know, are you actually Australian?"
The remark earns a well-deserved eye-roll.
Unbeknownst to the group, trauma is happening right in the living room.
At least until they hear a tiny whimper come from the top of the stairs, a small person slightly peeking out.
"Darce? What are you doing up right now? We tucked you in hours ago."
Despite the alarmed reprimand, Debbie comes to pick the upset girl up who hasn't loosened her hands covering her eyes from the carnage on-screen.
"I woke up and can't sleep again," she shrugs, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
Debbie quirks an eyebrow, knowing it's not the whole story since she's clearly tired.
(The gesture has gotten her many answers in the past - this is no exception; no one is immune.)
Darcy sighs, giving in. "Then I wanted to see the penguins. Heard auntie Con yelling loud about them."
Debbie mutters under her breath, "Naturally." Tucking her daughter's hair behind an ear, she continues, "But baby, I'm sorry we weren't in our room to help you go back to sleep. And then, you know. Penguin blood. You want some warm milk to make you feel better? We can brush your hair if you like."
She goes after getting a nod in response, and a belatedly squealed "yes, please" after Lou tickled her tummy.
"Manners," she says, half-teasing, mostly serious.
Darcy cozies up next to Lou, who slings an arm around her, drops a kiss to her temple.
"You alright, champ? You wanna stay down here with us for a bit or have your milk in your room? I can come up and read you a story."
"S'okay, mum. But can we watch something less scary?"
"Of course, darling," settling the girl on her lap as Debbie comes back, while simultaneously glaring at a sheepish Constance.
"The next episode is tame, I swear!"
Everyone groans, but are at the rotation system's mercy.
"Can't believe I'm actually looking forward to Daphne's movies next week, for once."
"Rude."
"You better be right about the next episode or you're paying for my kid's therapy bills."
"Mama, that penguin just stole rocks from the other one. Are they not friends?"
"Mmm, I guess not." Debbie bites her lip, not wanting to be hypocritical about theft. "He's doing what he can to make his nest pretty, too, Darce."
She can feel curious and amused eyes on her, but frankly doesn't feel like dealing with it right now.
"What are the babies doing?"
"They're drinking milk from their momma so they get bigger and stronger."
"Can I do that, too?"
"Uh... You're maybe too big for that now, doll," as they hear poorly suppressed snickers all around them.
"Ah! They're eating the tiny ducks."
"Cover your eyes, please."
Darcy does as she's told, but eventually asks, "Can we get baby wolves? They're so small and cute."
Lou scoops her up and says, "Look at you, so many questions tonight. Let's get you to bed. And I think that's a firm 'no' on the wolf from the way your mom is scarily looking at me." She chuckles a little, knowing how easily she gives in. "Everyone, say good night."
In the end, it seemed like Constance has to buy both Debbie and Lou something extra nice to make up for making them answer Darcy's tough questions.
(Years will determine the verdict on therapy.)