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Fatherhood had necessitated many changes to Antony's accepted routine, but that didn't mean he accepted all of those changes gracefully. One thing that Antony in particular disliked about being a parent was the seeming inability of his children to ALL sleep until a proper hour or, at the very least, let HIM sleep in until the proper hour. Today was no different.

Doing his best to ignore the leaping dervish that was his younger daughter, Antony grunted and rolled over, swatting peevishly with one wing as though it were a stinging fly he were trying to deal with and not a filly. "Go back to sleep, 'Scale." The words, mumbled in a half-asleep drawl, were more an expression of hope than anything else; after all, since when had his wishes EVER affected his children's sleep schedules?

At Pascale's exhuberant yell, Lessia had uncurled herself from where she lay against her mother, small white nose wedged under one of Loveless' wings. The fact that Pascale was awake was nothing shocking, as SOMEONE had to be the first one up, but if nothing else Lessia wanted to know what was so interesting!

Didn't look like much, though, or else Pascale was just waiting for them all to wake up to tell! "Wassit, Pascale?"

Pascale didn't mind being the traitor once in awhile, and she only grinned with excitement before running around her mother with a circle. "Its time to wake up, so I woke everyone up! Why should we waste such a beautiful day sleeping?" She DID have a good point, and with a cocky smile, she moved herself over so that she was standing next to her sister. "Your not mad at me, are you Lessia?" She then looked over to her father, and she shook her head with a usual energy. "I'm not going back to sleep! Neither is Lessia, or Anthone!"

Hm. Maybe she wasn't creative enough in her wake-up routine. "Alright, next time I'll bring some breakfast." she then promised, while answering her brother. "That gives me time to wander on my own, so I am all for that!" Even though that wasn't really allowed since they were still a bit young to wander far, getting them breakfast was the perfect opportunity and excuse!

Loveless watched the sibling interaction, but she was not amused. She was still exhausted, but apparently it was time to wake up already. "Well damn, woken up by the children. Antony, are you even awake?" she tried to look over towards the stallion, but the children were still blocking her view. She wouldn't allow him to sleep if she couldn't sleep! With a strange jolt of energy, Loveless then stood up, and made her way over to where Antony was laying. She nudged at his side, and nibbled on his ear somewhat painfully. "Are you going to sleep all day?" she then asked, with a humorous tone.

Like mother, like daughter!

"Looks like momma is so hungry, she's gonna eat daddy if he doesn't.. co.. co.. cooperate," Anthone said between chuckles when his mom nibbled on his father's ear. Of course, he knew that his mom was just being affectionate but she did have a bit of a temper and it looked like their father wasn't going to wake up.

He turned at Lessia and made a face. "How can I be happy when she keeps waking me up from my dreams? I could have been doing something brave. Now I'll have to follow my sisters all day to make sure they don't get hurt. How fun," he sad with a hint of sarcasm. He was exaggerating quite a bit. Though he didn't like admitting it, he did enjoy playing with his sisters. The idea of finding breakfast together seemed fun too. It would be nice to find an apple. His mouth started watering at the thought and his stomach growled loudly once again.

"I sure would miss you, daddy, if momma got so hungry she started to gobble you up. I sure would hate to eat my own papa but if that's all there is, I guess I don't have much of a choice. I get one of your back legs, it's got more meat on it than the front." He tried to say it all quite seriously but it was hard to keep a straight face and he started chuckling more.

Even though she knew they were joking, Lessia nevertheless gave her mother and brother an anxious look at their talking about eating her father. No matter HOW hungry she was, she didn't think she could ever joke about that.

However, all worries vanished when Lovess started off at her brisk pace, and Lessia was quick to bound off with her siblings, dropping nerves for the banter Anthone had provoked. Sticking her tongue out at her brother, she chimed in on the heels of Pascale's comment, "You're not Mama or Papa to look out for us, Anthone; you're not bigger'n us OR stronger'n us, so maybe we'd have to protect you, hm?" Nice thought, that, she and Pascale chasing off some sort of unknown enemy while Anthone whimpered in fear behind a tree. Not that he ever would, cause he was brave'n strong and would be fighting off the Unknown Enemy along with them...but it was a nice thought.

Thinking on that, she chirped out to Loveless, oblivious to any annoyance the mare might be feeling, "Right Mama? Mares can be tough'n protect stallions too, right?" Of course right. Mama never needed anyone to protect her, after all, not even Papa!

No respect, that was the integral problem with this family. The paterfamilias was supposed to be respected and revered, not chewed, pounced, stomped on, poked, and threatened.

Ah well. Giving Loveless and the kids a few minutes to make some headway, Antony finally yawned and pulled himself to his feet, rubbing absently at his shoulder where his daughter's hooves had connected. Little monx, absolutely no shame in abusing her poor father. But really, no matter how much it seemed like he should be upset, he knew he never would. They were just all too precociously charming, he knew, minxes that they all were. Even Loveless.

Loveless took the opportunity to enjoy herself to her children, and she turned her head to grin amusedly at Lessia. "Of course mares are tough enough to do so, don't I look tough enough Anthone?" She shot her son a playfully scary glance, but then returned to her daughter's gaze. "I protect your father all of the time, its like he totally needs me." And with that, she flicked her bangs in a giggly state, since she enjoyed saying such a comment maybe too much. "You and your sister will grow up plenty strong. It really don't matter about gender or whatnot. Some are just born to be strong, and all three of you have that capability. Anthone is allowed to be tough brother though, you can give him that chance too Lessia. I had two brothers myself, but I usually pulverized them."

Anthone's words were still humorous to her, and she enjoyed that he called himself pretty, even though he was trying to be tough. It reminded her of something her own father would say, and that allowed her to chuckle openly once again. "You all will be gorgeous and strong, and there is no need to argue over that."

Pascale was quiet as the whole ordeal went on, and she only glaced back and forth as her siblings beckoned to each other. "Lessia, it might be nice for Anthone to do all of the work." she then added, with a somewhat lazy grin. "That way, we can just sit back and watch while he gets totally exhausted!" She was already plotting all right, and the wheels were turning in her head. "Anthone you better watch out, lots of mares may have plots of their own to use you, and you don't want that!" Like her, apparently!!