Astronaut7: Parenthood is a Joy, I guess

And indeed, Liam always did manage to find very good hiding spots in the bunker. And he was pretty clever, too: he never picked the same ones, and he purposefully kept as silent as possible. Even though, being a child, and thinking about his father scrambling all over the place to look for him, some giggles did inevitably get out of him. Probably giving out his hiding spot, if Sam was lucky enough to pass through, let's say, the bathroom in that moment.

Sam finally stopped near Liam's hiding place, and held back a smile, as he explained, "Oh, no, it seems I can't find him. What am I going to do? To say he could have had an ice cream after dinner if he would just come out..."

"Noo! I wan ice cream!" With that said, a small head, full of messed up hair, suddenly peeked out of the laundry bin. "Daddy! Ice cream!", he exclaimed, throwing his arms up. Well, in a way, he had still won! His dad hadn't been able to spot him!!

"There you are!" Sam quickly grabbed Liam to lift him up in his arms, squinting a bit. "If you really want to deserve that ice cream, you're gonna have to take that bath, Liam," he told his son, on a slightly more authoritarian tone.

Liam frowned, puffing his cheeks. Well, he felt betrayed. There was no ice cream there, just the promise of a bath! "I don like bath", he protested. "I wan play!" He lifted his arms to pap his daddy's cheeks, struggling a bit because he was suspended so high up!

"You can play in your bath," Sam protested, sighing heavily. "I got you the little submarine and the blue whale, remember?" He walked up to the bathroom, carrying Liam all the way there.

Liam pouted all the way to the bathroom, arms firmly crossed on his chest now. "You play with me?", he asked Sam though, whining a bit. He got so bored, playing in the bathtub all on his own while he got scrubbed and washed!

"If you don't make a fuss while daddy washes you, yes," Sam replied, hiding back a smile. "Come on, Liam. It wouldn't last that long everytime if you just came when I first called you!"

"Yes, but I don like", the kid explained again patiently, sounding very matter-of-fact. Then he lit up, the notion that his father would have played with him making him all giddy. "I am good!", he said, his way to promise that he wouldn't pull Sam into the bathtub with him.
Well. Not this time.

Sam looked a bit suspicious, yet smiled. "Oh, really. Then will you help daddy with the cleaning a bit?"

Liam nodded, looking pretty sure of himself. He was a big boy, he could do that! Or try, at least. He was already able to pick his own favourite illustrated books from the (lowest) shelves of his tiny bookshelf. What could have been so difficult about bathing?

Sam nodded. "Good. Now, let's get ready." He had the water running in the bath, and then helped his son get undressed, so he could put him back in his bath, with his bath toys.

Liam quietly let his daddy put him back in the tub, and when he found himself sitting there, he just looked up at him, his eyes big, waiting for some instructions. He wanted to be done with the bathing part as soon as possible and then play, finally!

Sam held back a chuckle, and quickly washed his son. It was amazing how quiet he could be, sometimes. "So, Liam. Did you have fun today?"

Liam nodded, seriously. "I have a new book", he said, all happy. "It is about a bunny, but I don know the story. Mommy still has to read it." Yes, he was a clever kid, but he was still young, and couldn't read that well yet!

"Really," Sam commenting, with a proud smile. "Did mommy say when she was going to read it to you?"

Liam shook his head. He got a bit distracted by the toy submarine for a couple of seconds, but was quick to look back at Sam once again. "She said maybe before I sleep tonight!"

"That's nice. Do you mind if I come too?" He gently rinced his son's hair, mindful not to get any water in his eyes.

"Yes!" Liam shut his eyes tight, to avoid water. He was getting impatient though, and soon started hitting the water with his tiny hands. "Daddy, I wan play!", he said, pouting.

"Alright, alright," Sam ended up saying with a smile, as he kneeled more properly next to the bathtub. "Do you pick th submarine or the whale?"

Liam's eyes sparkled, a smile growing on his lips. "I wanna be the whale!", he exclaimed, happily picking it up. "You can be the submarine", he added then, handing it to his daddy with a cute smile.

"Sure." Sam beamed back at his son, and gently played with him. He sure loved his little ray of sunshine.

Liam sure was the happiest bean right nownow! He had a new story waiting for him before bedtime and now he was playing with his daddy! Sure, he did splash around a bit, but that was part of the fun!

Sam actually had to calm Liam down a bit, but he ended up laughing kindly in the end. His son was a little ball of energy, but that was also why he loved him. "Alright, alright Liam, we need to get you out, the water's running cold."

Liam simply lifted his arms up, so that his dad could lift him out of the bathtub. He was getting kind of tired of that game too, and true, the water was kinda cold by now. "Can I have ice cream now?", he asked. Yes he did remember that promise.