For however young he may be and supposed to enjoy his life, truth be told, Sander just wanted to sleep on Fridays. His schedule might be horrible, but it wasn't what was killing him; the little interaction he was forced to was. And his co-workers. Mostly CC. Leon too, on occasion... He supposed.

So when he arrived home, to pleasantly find out Les was nowhere to be seen Sander smiled, thinking he could take a shower, eat something and just sleep. It felt too good to be true, and the second he exited the bathroom, it turned out it actually was. Clad in only a towel around his hips and another that he was currently using to wipe his hair, Sander found himself faced with his mother and his sisters. He blinked a few times, frozen on the spot, towel still wiping absently at his hair as he merely stared at his family like they were some sort of horrible mirage.

He watched his mother's eyes fall down to his midriff and he let out a rather undignified squawk, sporting a violent shade of red, grabbing at whatever bit of towel he could find to cover himself some more. This was happening. Again. Glenda was smirking like the horrible mother she was, "It's nothing I haven't seen already, sweetie", Glenda said sweetly, batting an absent hand, while Sander grew redder by the second. "Although I have to say, I'm curious as to whether you took after my side of the family or your father's. It has been quite awhile..." she continued absently, and Sander blinked in confusion until she furrowed her eyebrows and pointed b—between his legs.

"Muuuum" he whined pathetically, staring horrified at her and his three very young sisters that were all giggling in unison. Except Enya. Enya was downright having a laughing crisis, holding her hands around her tummy and practically croaking. "Anyway, Lys, sweetheart, your father and I have to go away this weekend. Your great aunt, Magnolia, seems to be approaching her end and the whole family has been called to—kids cover your ears" she interrupted, sternly looking down at the girls, who immediately all covered their ears. "To read her will and be the jackals we both know they can be" she scowled, rolling her eyes.

Patting all three girls to let them know they could stop, she gave them a little push towards their brother and smiled sweetly. "So you and Les will have to look over them, since no one else will be available."Sander swallowed thickly around a knot in his throat and begged with his eyes. She couldn't do that to him. "Now, you make sure your brother doesn't do anything stupid and please keep your sisters from killing each other. Enya, Elin I'm talking about you" she said menacingly, the two little girls at least having the sense to look guilty. "Be good!"

And with a kiss to their foreheads and a kiss to his cheek, Glenda was gone and Sander was left with the three demonic monkeys. Not a beat after the pop of apparition had passed, the three little girls were upon him and Sander was pulled out of his stunned silence with another sound resembling a dying bird, as his little sisters hugged his leg, his hips and one arm, respectively. "We're gonna have so much fun, Lys!" Enya announced, and Sander then feared for his life, because fun for her meant destruction, chaos and the possible obliteration of the universe. "I brought my broom! Oh my god, Sander, we can play tag indoors!" Elin followed, not a second after, and Sander's eyes grew out of his sockets. "Mum doesn't let us at home" she muttered and pulled at his arm. "I missed you, brother of mine" Eira finished and for a second Sander's eyes were filled with love and awe, moving his free hands to pat her head lovingly. Sensible, adorable Eira.

A moment later he was abandoned by all sisters in favor of jumping on the bed and fighting with the pillows, exploring
his apartment and squealing something foul. Sander gulped and pulled his towels around him tighter. Oh, this was going to be hell. Quickly grabbing a shirt, jeans and some boxers he went back into the bathroom and beat some sort of record getting dressed. Repeating a mantra of stay calm and do not show fear in his mind he opened the door to the fire escape and practically jumped a floor down to Ellie and Lala's apartment. After a violent knock at the window, looking like he'd just learned about his own death, he smiled nervously and breathed deeply.

"Hi. How would you like to meet my baby sisters?" he greeted his girlfriend, hoping he didn't look quite as frazzled as he felt. And just then a crashing sound came from above, followed by a screech and an ominously serious I will pull your hair out. With my teeth, Enya in the voice of an eight year old. Lovely Blackwell family times.

---

Not with Haste by Mumford & Sons

Ellie heard the faint rattling of the fire escape and looked up even before the urgent knock. There was her favorite thing to see out the window: neither London fog nor congested traffic, but the lanky, wonderfully-eyebrowed, presently-terrified-looking young man trying desperately to get her attention. It paired so well with an afternoon cooped up, going over work. Ellie was almost due for a break, anyway.

Popping up from the pretzel position she’d been in on the floor, she smiled at the wizard in the window, thinking how she could stop right now, summon a camera, and get a perfect shot. But she resisted the urge and padded over, if only because the look on his face was making her own a little frown-y. Sometimes it was hard to tell the difference between Sander reacting to every day things and Sander reacting to dire situations. Which were often one and the same for her cuddly, grumpy pastry genius.

“You didn’t kill one of Lala’s cats, did you?” She managed to squeeze in before his greeting. She glanced over her shoulder to be sure before looking back at him, shaking fringe out of her eyes. She’d barely turned her head when he explained.

Wide eyes seemed more excited than shocked at the request. (But she was a little shocked, too, maybe.) Ellie smiled and bounced up on the balls. “Really?” She asked, ringing an arm around his neck and shoulder, the start of a proper greeting. She kissed his cheek, comforted by the familiar smell of soap. “I’d love—”

The yell from above was clear as a car horn below. “To,” she finished, standing at proper height now and looking up at him. If Sander was occasionally sullen and Lester dodgy, she had yet to meet a Blackwell who could rip out hair with teeth. (The other two might have threatened a few people, but at least this one was secretly soft.) The slightly caught off guard expression became another smile. “Now, then?” She asked, knowing she didn’t even need to.

She had luckily gotten through most of her work, and could finish the rest tonight. Or that’s Ellie believed as she followed him back up. She had seen pictures, but nothing had prepared her for the real thing. She caught her first glimpse before they even managed to get inside, one of three identical little girls whom Ellie could already imagine photographing as they sweetly held their brother hostage at a tea party.

Sander's face had pulled into a quite confused and pained expression, as Ellie's words cut through his own. Or in any circumstance, the words he had just been preparing to utter... Which were somewhere along the lines of dear god please help me. But on hearing something about killing cats he pulled back in shock looking for all intents and purposes like Ellie had just ran over his unidentified adorable little critter. Repeatedly. (Because if one graced a puppy upon Sander Blackwell, he'd be as good as overdosed. On cuteness.)

The point was he'd never hurt either of Lala's cats,  even if one of them was Cat, and even if said Cat was a sadistic demon-spawned tormentor from Hell. Huh. Much like her owner. Regardless, he shook his head fervently, frowning something foul and opened his mouth to also deny it vocally, but ended up merely uttering something monosyllabic and quite inhuman. It was only when she'd turned around that he managed to make his invitation, as much as it had completely and utterly wrecked him emotionally, because what were words and how did one use them? But the nerves were starting to dissipate as Ellie leaned closer, flinging an arm around his neck. And he was practically melting against her, one subvocal muttering away from purring as she kissed his cheek, when Elin's voice quickly and brutally trampled all over his lovely quiet moment with his girlfriend. God forbid Sander ever had nice things...

Sander gulped audibly, his eyes opened in horrified embarrassment and even as Ellie's expression turned to a soft smile, he still looked mildly shocked and... just a bit green. He nodded gravely and most solemnly at her question and worked his mouth attempting to make up some excuse or explanation. He would've liked to tell her this wasn't a normal occurrence in their family--but he would've lied. Shamelessly.

The climb back to his and his brother's apartment seemed to last an eternity and then some, all the while Sander keeping his head low, muttering and breathing harshly and praying they hadn't managed to kill each other in the ten minutes he had been gone. They'd barely even entered the room, when Eira - suspiciously the only one he could see and they didn't exactly have too many walls in their cupboard apartment to hide anyone from view - turned to watch them curiously and crossed her arms, unreadable expression on her face. That was not looking well. "Is this her?" she said and Sander blinked in response. Her who? What? "Wh--" he tried only to be painfully interrupted by her shrieking behind something about her being here. What?

Barely a moment after, both Enya and Elin appeared from behind the bathroom door, holding each other's hair in tiny fists. "She's pretty" Enya said and grinned and Sander frowned terribly, brows almost covering his eyelashes. "But can she fly?" Elin quickly added and meant to approach, only to be anchored on the spot by her sister's hold on her hair. They glared at each other and Sander blinked again opening his mouth only to close it mere seconds after.

Eira approached and uncrossed her arms offering one tiny hand to Ellie. "I'm Eira, those are Enya and Elin" she turned and pointed at the two girls, momentarily stopping from glaring and elbowing at each other to give his girlfriend an ominous nod in duplicate. "And you must be the girlfriend" she then quickly added and Sander sputtered, whole body twitching like he was about to either start flailing like a fish out of the water or simply run away, eventually ending on an undignified squawk, taking a step in front of Ellie,  almost protectively. "Ho- Wha- Who?" he mumbled looking like a deer in the headlights and gave both crazed and horrified looks to all three of them.

Like clockwork they all gave each other snickering looks and turned with perfectly arched eyebrows towards him. "Bran" they all replied in unison and Sander huffed, turning to give Ellie an apologetic look. "Mum's been singing and baking,  brother of mine-" Eira said with a sigh just as Elin interrupted "And dad's been grumbling something about nephews", only for Eira to pick back up "-so I hope you set the date, or something."

Sander whimpered.

“Not on purpose!” She managed to get in just before the rest of her greeting. She didn’t mean he was a serial killer in training, only that he was wearing an expression so terrified it lent itself to the suggestion that he might have had a horrible accident. And she knew how much Sander loved cats, so it had just floated right into Ellie’s mind. She was regretting it a little now, and hoped a hug and kiss might help. “I’d never think that about you,” she whispered to him in a soft voice before pulling away. “I think you like those cats more than you like me.” Which seemed to be a lot.

If he was embarrassed by the noises from upstairs, Ellie’s curiosity was notably winning. Apprehension was still healthy as she climbed after him, but she wanted to know what the Blackwells had produced this time.

The first of three they encountered was immediately adorable— and eerily studious, for such a small person. Ellie gazed back, her face mostly calm, a smile planted there. The little girl’s question made her smile deeper and she looked to Sander, who was nothing short of floundering. She was not surprised by his answer, not exactly.

The sudden appearance of the others, identical in looks but definitely not in composure, made Ellie unsure where to look for a moment. Their words kept her smile in place— or the first utterance— and then had her looking to Sander again, this time with a questioning expression.

Ellie had yet to meet Bran, but she already felt like she had. And yet, she had the feeling that as soon as she did, everything she’d envisioned would go straight out the window. Much like she might, if the triplets tested her flying skills.

Making up her mind with some bit of stubbornness, she stepped around Sander carefully. “Thank you,” she said. “I think you’re pretty, too. All of you. I love your hair.” How it was without chunks ripped, she meant. She looked between the three of them, her smile widening. “And I can fly, but only on a broom.” She grabbed Sander’s hand without looking behind her, lacing her fingers through his. “It’s nice to meet you Eira, and Enya, and Elin. I’m Ellie.” She tugged him a little closer behind her. “The girlfriend.”

If anything they had said was overwhelming, namely the bit about his parents, Ellie thought she’d have to put on her brave face right now. It wasn’t too hard, with mini, more cheerful-looking Sanders in little girl form. “What do you three want to do today? Besides haircuts.”

He looked mollified as Ellie explained the cat business, but his eyes only turned more pained and puppy-like as she said he might like the cats more than her. Which... no, never. He didn't like anything or anyone more than Ellie (and truth be told that was a bit terrifying, but nobody had time for that because devil-monkeys on the loose), but never in a thousands years and the beginning of a new interstellar universe, would he vocally express it or even admit it. So he pouted, heavy caterpillars that they all called eyebrows pouting at the corners as well, and, honestly, he probably looked like he was either on the brink of possibly soiling himself or learned that he had to brutally murder a kitten. Or worse--a puppy.

He managed to let out a half-choked sob, before the scream cut in, and then hell broke loose in the form of three perfect, but incredibly dangerous little creatures that were his sisters. For most of the one-sided conversation between Eira and the occasional input from Elin and Enya he was just baffled and confused, but still kept an eye on Ellie, attempting to gauge the level of horror on her face and just how much shit he was in. But, surprisingly, it looked like she was taking it fairly well. Fairly. Eira had him so frazzled and wary that he was just stunned and unable to process anything. Before he knew it, Ellie was stepping in front of him and apparently taking matters in her own hands. He didn't know whether to breathe relieved or panic further.

Enya visibly preened at Ellie's compliment and he couldn't help the twitch of a smile, because yes they were all pretty. He was surrounded by pretty girls. And woman. Pretty girls and a very pretty woman. His sort-of-smile lasted a millisecond before Elin let out an ear-shattering squeal, letting go of Enya's hair and batting her hands away as she practically barreled towards Ellie. "Oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she screeched, bursting out of her skin with excitement and Sander pulled his head back with a grimace, because ye gods, his ears. "Nobody ever flies with me. But now you can--she can fly!!!" she squealed again and grabbed both of Ellie's hands - batting his own away and he would've felt offended if this weren't his sister - just shaking them about and jumping around. And then she took a big breath and threw Sander a glare that made him take a step back and narrow his eyes cautiously. "Lys, she's staying" she declared fervently and he blinked, mouth opening slowly to gape unprettily.

And then he was sputtering madly, face growing so red he felt he was emanating the heat of a thousand burning suns. "Nobody's setting any date, Jesus Christ, Eira" he scrunched through his teeth, hoping the building would just collapse, or the ground would eat him, or something major would happen to detract from the subject at hand, and he plastered himself to Ellie's back, letting his forehead fall on the back of her neck and whined a pathetic sorry. He knew, KNEW, everything had been going too well lately, for something like this not to happen. But Ellie, divine, angelic creature that she was, gracefully ignored the subject and he breathes with such relief that he almost whimpered.

Not a beat after the question was addressed, all three girls started talking at one, voices growing louder and louder to cover each other, and he could hear a Quidditch from Elin, obviously, something about going to the Tate from Eira and Enya was spouting a hundred words per minute of which he could make none. "Enough!" he finally grunted a bit louder than usual and immediately everything fell to silence. He sighed and raised his head finally. Eira was looking very guilty, while Elin cast her gaze down. It was only Enya that raised an unimpressed eyebrow at him and crossed her arms over her chest. "Spoilsport" she muttered, and Eira immediately turned to her to smack her over the head, and she let out an offended hey.

"No fighting, no talking over each other and no acting like savages" he said in his older brother voice which immediately calmed all of them down. "And because of that you get no choice either" he said, eyebrows ominously drawn at the middle. "Ellie? What do you wanna do?" he then asked, soft voice and fond gaze in his eyes.

Ellie was too busy hugging her conveniently-located boyfriend (whom she could apparently order delivered to her window, any time of day) to notice the new look in his eyes as she joked about his love for felines. She knew how much he liked her, and that cats had competition.

She could see how he had learned to become so expertly expressive, though, when she met the triplets. Sander’s personality combined with theirs… she was sure it made for some epic babysitting sessions. She could only imagine his level of panic when these three boarded the Hogwarts express one day.

The tiny, screeching girl who darted toward her seemed to forget all about her argument with her sister. Which was a relief, if a little overwhelming. Ellie had always enjoyed interacting with the younger kids at school, but she’d also been the youngest in her family, with only her sister’s son to really give her that tiny humans in the family experience. Girls, too, could be a different beast, depending.

Grinning, she took the little girl’s hands willingly and gave them a playful swing, her brows shooting up into fringe. “Yes, whenever you’d like. Just maybe not inside,” she added, looking over her shoulder at Lysander, whom Elin was now addressing. “You heard the girl.” She couldn’t help it. He’d have to keep her now.

Vague mentions of weddings were a bit more tricky. Ellie wasn’t sure she could think, off the top of her head, of something more likely to make Sander choke. “I’m sure you have a few cousins who need to get there first.” Didn’t he have older ones who weddings could preoccupy little girls’ dreams? She let go of one Elin’s hands as he pressed into her back, and reached back to pat him sympathetically. “I’ll take a dessert date later, and we’ll call it even,” she murmured, so that (hopefully) only he could hear. Really, though, it was not a chore to hang out with pint-sized Blackwells.

Speaking of desserts….

“How do you feel about tea parties?” She asked, eyes going back and forth between the three. Games like hide and seek might not work here; not simply because there were few places to hide (she wouldn’t put it past them, finding somewhere), but they were on the top floor, with access to the greenhouses. It was probably best to keep them in their line of sight. “Or cake parties.” That word was for him, and Ellie only felt a little guilty about the suggestion. “I can do a photoshoot for it. Or for anything you like, but I don’t know much we have to style you. Maybe Lester has a few jackets he doesn’t need.” Somewhere in the pile on the floor.

Elin was bouncing her head up and down as Ellie assured her of her willingness to fly with her, completely bypassing the whole not inside deal, because flying. Sander sometimes felt sorry for her, being as sports inclined as she was with three older brothers that had absolutely no inclination towards Quidditch. Sander might've... before. But that was another lifetime. His only exercise now involved a lot of lurking and running around, careful not to attract any Auror's attention.

He sputtered again as Ellie joined in Elin's tormenting, stuttering something that never came out, and instead nodded gravely and furiously. Of course Ellie was staying. He didn't need his younger sister's approval for that, but it sure made his heart give a very loud thump that he immediately ignored. It was impossible to grow any redder he thought. He wondered how Bran did it? be completely unaffected by the lot of them. On second thought, his younger brother seemed to be generally unaffected by most things that weren't shiny and sparkly... Or came in the shape of attractive young men. Or olde--No. That way lay madness. He had blissfully ignored Bran's serial and inappropriate dating for years now and he would carry on in the same fashion, for the sake of his sanity.

"Yes, cousins" he repeated in a numb voice, embarrassment and horror written in his features. In the same numb, absent sort of daze he nodded against her back. A dessert date would be no problem, but something about the way she'd said dessert had him looking in a panic to his sisters to see if they had heard and what their reaction would be if they had. At least Eira's. That little girl was far too precocious for her age. Luckily, he was safe, so he breathed his relief into her hair.

At the mention of tea parties, three pair of identical brown eyes grew comically large and sparkly with excitement, while the matching pair of blue ones spoke of trauma, fear and possibly the most miserable of miseries in the whole world. "Yes!" came Enya's loud approval, joined by a very unladylike fist-pump. Eira declared it a good choice with a bright smile and a nod, while Elin gave a shrug and a meh, who was fooling literally no one. Sander gulped audibly. "S-sure. Heh, tea party" he said, stuttering and a tinge of horror in his voice. At the added mention of cake, all three nodded fervently with glee in their faces.

Ellie was speaking of photo shoots and Sander was now stepping away from her -from them, the demons - looking like an injured, trapped feral animal, because no sooner than he could've even contemplated how long it would take to open the fire escape door, Enya squealed and started clapping enthusiastically, while Elin, smirked something menacing. "Oh my god, oh my god! I'll bring the tiaras!" Enya said, between random bouts of squealing, as Elin joined in, voice a note lower and ridiculously pleased with herself. "Don't forget the tutus. Lys, you do still have your tutu, right?" Eira was shaking her head, a hand coming to pinch the bridge of her nose, in a I'm a 100% done with all your shit very mature gesture, that looked almost hilarious on her face. Sander might've smiled, if he was not currently attempting to make his escape.

At their last tea party, he had been both butler and fairy princess of rainbows and sunshine and glitter and sparkly things. He hadn't even known where they'd gotten the glitter from, but he did remember finding the stuff, weeks after the event, in places no glitter should ever be. 'Please' he barely managed to soundlessly word to Ellie, shaking his head negatively. He was not above getting on his knees and begging.