Hey guys, this is the sequel to Learning Curves (and ergo, Hook, Line and Sinker). Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review.

I welcome both new and old readers - be sure to tell me what you think, whoever and wherever you are in the world :)

Chapter 1

DPOV

"Dada?"

His voice was a mere whisper in the night. If I hadn't already been awake, I would not have heard it. As it happened, I was. Sitting up slightly, I could see the small silhouette of my two year old in the doorway.

"Are you okay, George?"

The rapid scurrying of feet was my only indication that my son had entered our bedroom. Seconds later, I felt his little hands touching my arm as he tried to pull himself up onto the bed. Carefully, I reached out and pulled his body into the bed beside me. Immediately, he cuddled into the warmth of the blanket. In my sleep-riddled state, it took me a couple of moments to realise that he was trembling.

"George, are you cold?" He shook his head slightly.

"Did you have a bad dream?" George nodded his head and snuggled in closer to my body. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Monster…" he sobbed gently, clutching as close as he could to me. "…under my bed…" Whatever he said after that was cut off by his sniffling coupled with his tears. Immediately, I tried to soothe him in case he woke Rose up. I could feel her shifting restlessly in her sleep behind me.

"Tell you what," I whispered to him. "How about you stay in here tonight and tomorrow, I'll make sure that there's no monster under your bed?" George nodded his consent and then pointed over at Rose's side of the bed.

"Mama." He didn't say anything else, but he didn't need to. I slid my hands under his small body as he just looked at me expectantly, and I carefully lifted him so that he lay in between Rose and myself.

"Mama…" He murmured once again as he curled himself close to her. She didn't wake, but even in her unconscious state she was aware of his presence – something that fascinated me to no end. I watched - almost captivated – as Roza turned in her sleep and curled an arm protectively around our son. Immediately, both bodies relaxed and George let sleep consume his exhausted body once again. His nightmares were quite common, as were his nightly visits.

From my many conversations with Rose, I knew that she didn't mind sharing the bed with George – especially if he had been frightened by a nightmare – but I tended to take the firmer hand on the case. In cases such as tonight, I didn't mind George staying in the bed with us…however, it had become a routine. One I intended to put a stop to as soon as I could.

A couple of hours later, I awoke to the sound of my alarm clock ringing piercingly around the room.

"Ugh comrade, turn it off…" Rose's grumpy voice was muffled by her pillow, but her tone was pretty clear. Blindly, I felt around my bedside cabinet until my hand came into contact with the clock and I switched it off.

"Time to get up, Roza," I informed her jokingly, watching her in amusement as I sat up. Her inability to be a morning person was something I got immense fun out of…it was also something that George had – seemingly – inherited.

"Five more minutes…" she mumbled back, nestling her face into the back of our two year old's neck.

"Alright then," I agreed, swinging my legs of bed. "I'll get Luka up."

Luka, thankfully, was more like me. He was already awake when I entered his bedroom, and had proceeded to get up and get dressed within ten minutes.

"Daddy, will you help me with my spelling later?" He asked later that morning when I was making some breakfast for my sleepy family.

"It's Friday," I pointed out. "I thought you didn't get homework for the weekend?"

"I don't," he replied, swinging slightly on his chair. "But my teacher said that there will be a test next week!"

"Careful, Luka," I said sternly, gesturing towards the chair he was trying to balance on two legs. "And of course I'll help you; I just have to bring Mama to the airport first, alright?" He nodded his approval whilst shovelling as much cereal as he possibly could into his mouth.

"Rose!" I poked my head out of the kitchen door and aimed my voice towards the stairs. "Are you ready? We have to go soon or you'll miss your flight."

"Alright, alright, we're coming!" I chuckled as I heard George let out a happy scream as Rose evidently attacked him with tickles. I shook my head as I walked back to the kitchen, proceeding to put Rose's breakfast on the table.

"Thanks, comrade," she gave me a quick, breathless peck on the lips before setting George into his high chair and sitting down to eat her food. I placed a spoon in front of George, along with a small bowl of cut up fruit to which he immediately dug in to.

"So what are you guys going to do today?" Rose asked us, eventually looking up from her almost empty plate.

"I thought we could go to the park for a little while?" I suggested, taking a seat at the table beside George to encourage him to eat his food, which he had been refusing to touch once again. "Mama said she might call in for a bit this evening as well."

"That sounds nice," Rose commented wistfully, looking worriedly at George. "I wish I didn't have to go…"

"You'll be back soon," I gave her hand a squeeze. "Once you have this case wrapped up we'll have too much time to go play at the park."

"Yeah, you're right," she replied, standing to rinse her now-empty plate. "Anyway, we'd better go Dimitri. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can come home."

"That sounds like a plan," I grinned and snagged her at the waist as she walked by me. She giggled as I pulled her into my arms and placed a heated kiss on her lips. "Hurry back to me."

"Always, comrade. Always."

DPOV

Twenty four hours had passed since Rose had flown to Washington to finish up her most recent case. It was Saturday, meaning that I had the day off and was planning to spend it playing in the garden with my two boys…

That was until Rose sent me a message reminding me of George's check-up appointment.

"No!"

"Come on, George," I coaxed him, trying to contain my frustration as my two year old refused to get ready for the doctor's willingly.

"Daddy, can you help me with my spelling yet?" I managed to grab a hold of George who had crawled underneath a bush at the back of the garden and pull him out…much to his absolute displeasure.

"I don't have time right now, Luka," I replied, trying to hear myself over George's intense high-pitched screaming. He continued to cry and whinge for the entire journey. Thankfully, Sonya's practice was less than twenty minutes away, but it seemed a lot longer for both Luka and I when there was a two year old screeching at the top of his lungs.

My work required me to work out often, which in turn kept me fit and strong at all times. This, thankfully, came in useful when I struggled to carry George from the car into Sonya's clinic.

"Oh dear," Sonya shot me a sympathetic look as we entered her office. "We're not in a very good mood today, are we Georgee?" When she reached out towards him, he immediately began to bury his head into my neck, all the while sobbing. Sonya rubbed his back soothingly and gestured for us to take a seat. While I settled George into my lap and attempted once again to calm him down, Luka went to play with some toys in the corner and Sonya opened George's file. While his sobs quietened, Sonya refocused her attention on me. She and Mikhail had become good friends of Rose and I; they were both fun, socialable people, but when it came to our children, Sonya was all business.

"When Rose called she said that he hasn't been eating very well? And ends up crying whenever you try and make him? How long has this been going on for, can you tell me?"

"The past two days," I replied, shifting George around to face Sonya now that his tears had ceased. "Rose thinks he might have a sore throat or something."

"Alright," Sonya pulled her chair closer and leaned down so that she was almost at eye level with him. "Georgee, would you mind if I had a little peek into your mouth? It won't hurt, I promise."

Fortunately, George knew Sonya pretty well from their many visits; therefore it didn't take him very long to comply with her request. Unsurprisingly, he was a lot more interested in the instruments that she was using…that was until she started poking around in his mouth, which was when he burst out crying again.

"You poor thing," she moved away as he tried to turn and curl his body closer into mine. "His throat looks red and inflamed, but he's got quite a few sores in his mouth also. They're definitely causing him pain which is probably why he isn't eating or sleeping properly. Isn't that right, sweetheart? Does your mouth hurt?" George didn't really answer; he just cuddled as close as he possibly could.

"What do you think it is?" I asked her, concerned. "Is this normal?"

"It's a virus known as hand-foot-and-mouth – very common in young kids. He could have picked it up anywhere, but it is generally harmless as long as he doesn't become dehydrated. It's a virus so I can't give him any medication to make him better, but he should begin to feel better in about a weeks' time by himself. In the meantime, you can give him some ibuprofen to ease the pain and lots of cold liquids. And don't be surprised if he gets a fever or more sores or rashes appear around his body – they're just common symptoms. They shouldn't last more than a couple of days but if they do, give me a ring. I'll pop in tomorrow after work to check on him if you'd like."

"Thanks, Sonya," I smiled gratefully at her as I cradled my two year old in my arms.

"No problem, Dimitri." I stood as she stood and gestured for Luka to come with me. "Oh, and be very careful with hugs and kisses, as well as any toys that Luka and George both use in case he spreads it. I know George and Rose are close, but when she gets back tell her that it's best not to kiss him in case she catches it too."

"I will," I replied, already imagining the look of horror on Rose's face when I passed on that particular piece of advice. "Thanks again, Sonya."

"No worries," she opened the door for us and ruffled Luka's hair as he passed. "I'll call in tomorrow. See you then."

We left Sonya's practice very shortly after that and began our short journey home. George's renewed round of sobs had me wondering if we even had any painkillers left at the house, and so I had to go into the store – which was no longer an easy feat now that we had two kids; most particularly when one of them was crying and throwing a tantrum.

"Okay, buddy, okay it's home time." Luka trailed behind me ever so slightly as I wrestled to get George into his car seat. My frustration was definitely not as strong as before now that I knew that the reason he was crying was because he was in pain. My irritation had transformed into sympathy and guilt for being so hard on him.

Once we arrived home, I carried George up the stairs and into his bedroom, where I stripped him of his clothes and lay his tired, diapered body under the covers. Immediately I made him take some painkillers and rubbed his tummy in gentle, soothing circles. Surprisingly quickly, the pain seemed to ease and George slipped into a deep, well-deserved slumber.

"Daddy?"

"Ssh…" I gestured for Luka –who had appeared in the doorway – to keep quiet. "You alright, Luka?"

He nodded. "Is George going to be okay?" I smiled and half-closed George's bedroom door.

"He's going to be just fine in a couple of days. You don't need to worry; go play for a while and I'll make us some lunch…" Luka complied and hurried down the stairs to the playroom he shared with his brother. Dread suddenly landed with a jolt in my stomach.

"…right after I call your mother."