“Where are we gonna go?” Adam asked me as I picked him
up.
“It’s a place with tons of toys and food and all kinds of
fun stuff.” I explained.
Ashley giggled right as I looked over at her. Jared
tickled her sides as he grabbed her to pick her up. I smiled and opened the
nursery door, leaving it open for Jared who was right behind me.
“Oh, okay.” Adam replied, sticking his thumb in his
mouth.
“Will we love it there?” Ashley questioned as she was
strapped into her pink stroller I got a discount on the other day.
Jared smiled as he clicked the last buckle together. “You
sure will!” Then he looked over at me and whispered. “At least I hope so.”
I agreed and grabbed the diaper bag along with two warm
bottles of milk; one pink bottle and one blue one. Ashley would always refuse
to drink her milk unless it was out
of a pink bottle. I could tell she was my little girl.
Jared and I both strapped a toddler into their car seats.
Adam always could entertain himself with something for any car ride, but Ashley
needed something to keep her busy. She loved cuddling her doll that she
received from one of our neighbors, so that always gave her something to do.
I sat in the driver’s seat, turned my car keys in the
ignition, and we were off.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
I looked back at the kids in the back seat of the car as
I shifted into park. They were entertained and had a look of carelessness on
their faces. Jared and I unbuckled each toddler and let them walk on their own
into the building. Adam stopped at the colorful sign that said ‘T.L.C. – Toddler Learning Center’ to
smell it. I laughed at him and grabbed him by the shoulders and swinging him up
onto my hip.
“Why did you smell the sign?” I asked Adam, who was now
sucking on his thumb like always. Jared opened the door for Ashley to walk in
and kept it open for me and Adam.
“Maybe it would smell like cookies. Like the ones you
make with the candies in them.” He replied. He was talking about my
neighborhood-famous M&M Cookies that I make often. The twins absolutely
loved them, but I tried not to make them too often so that we could all stay in
shape at least a little bit. Yet, I always had a few of them in a baggie in
some purse or bag at all times.
I laughed at Adam and closed the door behind me. A rush
of cold, air-conditioned air hit my face and gave me the goose bumps. I
shivered at the freezing air, even though it was a nice change from the summer
heat wave here in Aurora Skies.
The whole building was filled with all kinds of bright
colors and cute kid-like decorations. There were a ton of cute touches here and
there. Like the toy train that went up and down the multiple floors to the
building, the porthole-type windows with bubbles and fish painted around it on
every door, and the little bear tracks imprinted on the ground leading to the 'Cub Clubhouse' area towards the back. Ashley saw the tracks first and pointed
to them, smiling up at me. “Bear tracks!” Her eyes were lit up in amazement as
she reached down to touch them. Then all of a sudden, she looked confused.
“Wait, I’m a Bear. How come I don’t make those tracks?” She asked me.
Jared and I both burst into laughter. “Your last name is Bear, but you’re a human.” Jared
explained, rubbing her hair around. I couldn’t stop laughing. They were so
adorable and creative; I have no idea how they had any relation to Mystery.
“Well, I wanna be a bear.” Ashley stated, proudly. Adam
agreed with her and they both put down their toys to get on their hands and
knees. Jared and I watched as they growled and roared as they placed their
hands and feet into the bear imprints on the ground, pretending to be bears.
“There go our little bear cubs!” I said. Jared and I
giggled and picked up our toddlers’ toys, following them to the Cub Clubhouse.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
I could hear Ashley laughing out in the family room from
inside the kitchen. Jared was out shopping for a book I had been wanting and some
more ingredients to make my M&M cookies (we were almost out). I was busy
cooking Jared’s favorite meal—steak with garlic mashed potatoes. As Ashley’s
laughs grew louder, I leaned back and peeked through the doorway to see what
she was laughing at. Kyle was running around while Ashley chased him all around
the couch on the floor. Even Adam, who was learning how to walk in an orange
and blue walker, was laughing at the two of them. Their laughs were too
contagious to hold anything in, I had to giggle.
Ashley then took a seat on the floor. Kyle laid down
right next to her. Ashley reached for his tail and started tugging on it.
“Uh, Ash, I don’t think that’s a great idea. Kyle might
get mad at you.” I said, tossing some more chives into the bowl of mashed potatoes.
“But he loves me and he would never want to hurt me,
right?” She continued to play with his tail and Kyle started looking
aggravated. I thought about what she said for a split second.
‘He
loves me and he would never do anything to hurt me, right?’ Well, you’d think
so. Even though she didn’t know that what she said may apply to her or anyone,
really, in the future, it was something people probably said often. I might
even think that one day after something hap-
My train of thought was stopped when Kyle lowered his
back legs and pounced on my baby girl.
I gasped as Kyle angrily jumped up with his claws out
onto Ashley. I threw the wooden spoon I was stirring the mashed potatoes with onto
the counter and quickly moved over to Ashley, now lying on the floor, before
Kyle got too angry and did something like that again. Ashley was screaming in
fear and Adam looked very worried for his twin sister. Adam was very protective
over Ashley—Ashley was protective of Adam, too, though.
“Now you learned to never annoy cats, right?” I scolded
Ashley and grabbed a paper towel for the parts of her face where Kyle had gotten
her with his sharp claws.
“Right.” Ashley whimpered and reached for Adam, who had
somehow managed to get his way out of the walker to comfort Ashley and was now
standing by my left leg.
I finished cleaning up Ashley’s face with the paper towel
and let her sit on the rug with Adam and her doll. I then threw Kyle out onto
the back porch and locked to door. He was being a bad kitty. Katie had paid no
attention to the whole disaster and continued to lick her paws. The mashed
potatoes became a little dry because I had left the stove on when I took care
of the whole mess, so I had to fix that problem now, too.
I felt really bad for Ashley, though, so I gave her one
of the last two cookies I had stored away in the diaper bag hanging by the
door. She was satisfied after that. Adam became jealous of her, so I gave in
and handed him a cookie. I then heard Jared pull up in the driveway, home from
the errands. I looked at the kids munching away at their cookies and said,
“Don’t let him know I gave you two cookies before dinner, alright?” I held up a
finger to my lips and whispered “Shhh,” and they mimicked me, smiling. I threw
away the empty bag and swept up a few cookie crumbs on the floor real fast as I
heard Jared lock the car doors. The twins could tell I was trying to be sneaky,
so they hurried and finished what was left of their cookies. I laughed at them
and continued cooking like nothing had happened.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
“Hopefully the Band-Aid will help your cut feel better,
alright, Ash?” Jared told Ashley, handing her a corner of the soft, knitted,
pink blanket in her crib. “That darn cat.”
“Thanks.” Ashley rubbed her eyes and yawned really big.
I smiled as I stood in the doorway and watched Jared be
animated with Ashley as he kept talking to her, even when he was getting Adam
all situated in his crib. ‘Jared’s going
to make a really good daddy one day. One day…’ I thought.
We told both of the twins that we loved them to the moon
and back, then turned out the lights, and went to bed ourselves.
I closed the door very slowly, trying not to make a sound
since Adam was already snoring. Jared smiled at me and kissed me on the cheek.
We made our way into our bedroom.
“You know, you make a really good daddy.” I smiled at
Jared as I slipped on my cozy, pink pajama shorts.
He smiled back at me. “I guess so, huh. But you know I’m
not a dad.”
“Yet,” I smirked.
Jared’s smile grew wider. “Oh yeah? And when’s that gonna
happen, huh?” He leaned over and kissed me. My heart fluttered as I watched
Jared take off his shirt, his big tan muscles making my heart skip a few beats
here and there.
“I think we should wait until after my challenge, when
I’m all yours. Then we could start our family.” I smiled and gave him a kiss
back.
“I think you’re right. Better get going on that
challenge!” He laughed and reached out for my hand. We both laid down on the
soft mattress.
I grabbed his other hand and kept the same smile. “I love
you.”
He leaned his head down on the pillow and whispered, “I
love you more.”
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The morning went nicely. There was a slight, cool breeze
outside that took some sting away from the intense summer heat. The birds were
chirping, the pets were all running around out front, the twins were playing
with their toys, and Jared and I were sitting on the floor with the kids in the
nursery. The smell of coffee was strong. I don’t drink coffee; Jared does. He
likes it black, but I don’t even know what it tastes like. I like to have hot
chocolate in the mornings. I don’t really need some caffeine to give me energy,
and hot chocolate tastes good. Even if it’s 100 degrees outside here in Aurora
Skies, Jared and I still have our usual, hot drinks when we wake up.
I
really had to start get going on my challenge… I am pretty far behind. The whole “Mystery Incident” is not an
excuse; I have to pick up right where I left off.
I sighed and left my thoughts alone while I looked at
Jared sitting next to me. He looked at me concerned and gave me a kiss on my
forehead. “What’cha thinking about, Little Red?” I sipped my hot chocolate then
leaned on Jared’s chest.
“I just really need to get going on my challenge. I’m so far behind. I need to have tons of
triplets and twins to pick up the pace. It seems like it’s been forever since I
started and I only have eight kids.” I took another sip of my hot cocoa.
“You know, you would’ve had nine if it wasn’t for
Mystery.” Jared stated.
I was confused. I looked up at Jared, puzzled. “Wait…
what… how woul-“
“Mystery didn’t tell you this.” Jared interrupted me. He
sat up so that we were looking each other in the eyes. “Before he took us to
Aurora Skies while both of us were passed out, he took you to an abortion
place. He somehow knew that you were pregnant with our child… remember?”
I was overwhelmed with feelings. Anger, confusion,
sadness. “Oh yeah, I do remember being pregnant with our child… god dammit Mystery.” I whispered that
last part just loud enough for Jared to hear but quiet enough so that the twins
wouldn’t pick up on those words.
“He offered the workers at the abortion place about
$100,000 to abort our baby.” Jared’s eyes were full of anger. His voice was a
little shaky but evened out, sounding more angry than upset. “If only I was
awake-“
I interrupted him. “Jared, there was no way you could’ve
woken up… you didn’t know. It’s not your fault. But… how do you know this?”
“He paid me $50,000 when I woke up before you towards the
end of this whole incident to not tell you about it. I took the money but never
made any promises,” He finished. Jared looked so mad with himself.
I kissed Jared and we kept kissing for a while. The twins
were so caught up in their toys, they didn’t notice or understand what we were
talking about. “You did the right thing, Jared. Thank you,” I ended the conversation,
after finishing our kiss.
“I love you.” He said.
I smiled, “I love you more.”
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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It was about 12:00 in the afternoon and I had just gotten
off of the phone with the owner of the local pet store. I realized how much
trouble Kyle had been to this family… I decided it was best to put him up for
adoption. Two pets was enough for us, especially with all of the kids that were
going to be in the house. A nice lady named Jackie was on her way with a pet
carrier to get Kyle. Kyle and his mom, Katie were playing and they seemed like
they loved each other so much. Well, I take that back. I caught Katie sitting
on Kyle the other day and had to save him from suffocating. Overall, I just
figured it was a good time for Kyle to go.
Jackie was very sweet and loving towards Kyle and Katie.
She even gave Jack a dog bone biscuit she had in a pouch on her side. “We will
find Kyle a loving home for you. Don’t worry about him at all!” She smiled,
locking the pet carrier.
“Thank you. But be careful, he’s a trouble maker.” I
laughed as Kyle, almost on cue, tried to scratch Jackie’s fingers as she was
locking to carrier. I looked down at Katie as Jackie headed out the door. Katie
couldn’t care less what they did with Kyle; she just climbed to the top of her
kitty tower and licked her paws. I shook my head at her and smiled.
Jared came down the stairs, right as Jackie left, from
showering, the only clothes he was wearing being a towel wrapped around his
waist. He smiled at me when he caught me staring at his abs. Jared walked
closer to me and I put my hand on his muscular chest and kissed him on the lips
passionately.
After we pulled away, he said “Well, hello to you, too.” I
laughed and Jared smiled. “I always love how your freckled nose crinkles when
you laugh,” He tapped my nose with his finger.
I smiled and ruffled his damp hair, “What are you even
doing down here?”
“Came down to see my beautiful girlfriend,” He kissed me
on the forehead. He always kissed me on the forehead. I guess it was just easy
to reach since his lips were at the height of my forehead. I had always been
smaller, but when I was with Jared, I didn’t even mind.
I smiled, “Well, thanks, but your beautiful girlfriend is
going out to get pregnant.” I grabbed my purse and car keys as Jared laughed.
“Life of a challenge mom, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” He opened the fridge looking for some
lunch. “Go continue your challenge and make some gorgeous babies! I know
they’ll be gorgeous since they’re going to have some of your genetics.” He
winked at me as I walked down the hall.
“Thank you!” I closed the door and stepped out on the
porch. I walked out to my car. It was kind of chilly outside. I could tell it
was the end of summer soon. In Aurora Skies, there isn’t the fall season every
other year. This year was the year where it would go straight to icicles and
snow in winter right after summer ends. Yeah, it seems pretty odd, but I just
went with it, believing the neighbors who had lived here 5+ years.
I bundled up a little bit with my gray pullover sweater
and turned on my car seat heaters to low. I started up my car, already knowing
where I was going. I had talked to someone earlier that morning who had heard
of me and my challenge from some of the neighbors. I didn’t know them very
well, but they seemed to know a lot about me. I guess when something like the
Mystery Incident happens to you and then you just move in, people start
talking. Everyone in this town was nice, but it was strange how many times I
had seen people on their front lawns pointing to my house and talking in lower
voices.
Anyways, this guy I had talked to’s name was Aaron James.
He didn’t describe anything about himself, but he gave me his address and told
me any time after noon was fine for me to come over.
.jpg)
I arrived at his house in less than ten minutes. Turns
out it’s just around the corner and on the end of the next street. Someone was
in the front yard turning on sprinklers to a garden. That reminded me I needed
to tend to my garden at home. I made a mental note while I parked my car and
stepped out. The man had light pink skin, brighter pink hair with purple-ish
highlights, gorgeous eyes, and transparent (sort of) fairy wings.
Well,
this should be an interesting baby.
“Payton Bar?” Aaron asked, stuttering a little bit when
he mis-pronounced my last name.
I laughed, “Payton Bear,
actually.”
He looked embarrassed, “Oh, my mistake. I just never
thought anyone would have a last name like that. No offense.” He rubbed his
neck with his hand and smiled nervously at me.
I smiled to let him know that it didn’t bother me at all.
“Nah, I’m used to confused faces when I tell people my last name.”
“So, uh,” He stuttered. I could tell he was uncomfortable
with the whole challenge situation.
“Let’s do it?” I questioned, trying to move things along.
“Yeah, I guess.” Aaron replied.
I followed inside, trying to imagine what the next baby
or babies would look like. I imagined them with tan skin, red/pink hair, and
cute little fairy wings.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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Once I finished filling Jacks’ bowl with his special
bacon flavored pet food the next day, I clicked the TV onto the weather
channel. It had been as hot as an oven outside and I was wondering when it
would stop. The tall, weather man came on the screen a few minutes later with
the forecast. Has anyone else wondered why all weather men are tall, tan, and
have really bright white teeth?
Anyways, the forecast predicted only two days left of
heat, then it was time for winter. Apparently we would wake up to snow on the
first day of winter, but who knows if they’re right. I turned the TV off and
rubbed Jack’s ears, as he was standing next to me the entire time. “I guess
we’re gonna see some snow soon, buddy!” I said in that excited baby talk voice
and Jack wagged his tail, even though he had no idea what I was talking about.
I think it’s just the tone in my voice that made him expect something good. Who
knows if the snow will be good or not?
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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I was still in my pajamas around 7 o’clock at night. I
guess it was just one of those lazy days for me. I did go through about four
mugs of hot chocolate… you would never have guessed it was summer the way I was
dressed and what I was drinking all day!
I looked at the calendar and noticed two marks by today’s
date. It said “Jack and Katie’s Birthdays!” in purple ink that looked like
Jared’s handwriting. Jared was upstairs with the twins, reading them their
favorite book about two pigs that went to the beach during the summer, so I
walked towards the stairs to go talk to him about what to do with the pets for
their birthdays. When I walked towards the door, I could hear the twins
laughing in sync at their favorite part in the book. I smiled and knocked on
the door before heading in. As I opened the door, all three of the loves of my
life turned their heads toward me and smiled. Jared finished reading the page
he was on as the twins looked back at the book before asking me what was up. I
explained how I realized it was the pets’ birthdays and that I thought we
should do something? “Like what?” Jared asked.
“That’s exactly what I was wondering.” I sighed.
Ashley smiled and I could almost see the light bulb above
her head that showed she had just gotten a good idea. “We could make them
little doggy and kitty cookies! Like the ones you make, Mommy!” Adam agreed
that was a good idea and Jared and I laughed.
“You can’t feed animals human food; they’d get sick!”
Jared ruffled Adam’s hair.
“Oh.” Ashley dropped her shoulders in disappointment.
I thought for a moment then got an idea. “We could just
brush them and play with them the rest of the day.”
We all agreed on that and headed downstairs to have fun
with the pets.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
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It wasn’t until a little later in the day that Jack and
Katie actually aged up. I couldn’t believe that my first pets, after the incident,
were both already elders! It was sad
to see them age up, but hey, life happens and you just have to go with the
flow.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
My stomach gurgled
loudly as I felt a pain in my head and stomach. I was overwhelmed with nausea
and dizziness so abruptly, I shot up straight out of bed and ran to the
bathroom, making it just in time to the toilet. I hugged the cold porcelain and
hurled up everything I had eaten that day. Oh how much I hate this part of
pregnancy.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
The sun was just barely peeping through the window as I
looked at the alarm clock on my side nightstand that read “7:38”. I could
faintly hear Adam and Ashley crying for someone to go and take care of them.
The pain in my forehead intensified and I slowly started to roll out of bed.
Jared kissed me on my cheek before I even sat up.
“You’ve been up all night throwing up. Don’t worry about
it, Pay. I got them.” He whispered, knowing my head hurt.
“Thanks.” I breathed and rolled over, rubbing my hand
over my empty, gurgling stomach. At least my pillow was able to block any sound
in the house. I felt absolutely awful.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Around noon, I had starting feeling good enough to
actually get up and do something productive. I had wondered what had made me so
sick, since I usually only throw up a few times when I’m pregnant… maybe I had
eaten some bad mac and cheese or something.
After eating some crackers that I hoped would stay in my
stomach this time, I got dressed and went out into the beautiful, warm sunshine
and took care of my garden. The excessive amount of weeds and the droopy
flowers was a really bad sign. I had a lot of work to do.
I actually liked gardening and found it fun, well
sometimes. But I really enjoyed it, especially since it was so nice out. I
wasn’t really ready for winter. I loved summer, but it has to end at one point,
right?
While I was weeding and picking fresh tomatoes, Jared was
outside running around with the twins. (After gardening, I had played with
them, too. Ashley and I kept teaming up against Jared and Adam trying to be the
best lions. I never said my family was normal!) But the heat eventually got to
all of us, so we headed into the cool, air-conditioned kitchen and made snow
cones with our cheeks still red. Adam was fascinated that his tongue and teeth
turned blue from eating his blue raspberry snow cone; it was adorable! He
couldn’t stop sticking his tongue out in the mirror and laughing. I held him up
to the mirror in front of the sink until my arms got tired.
(#61, finding out pregnancy after shower after gardening)
Then, the baby kicked my stomach unexpectedly and I almost
dropped Adam. I placed him down on the floor and changed my clothes after
handing him to Jared. I was pregnant!
“Do you think he or she will be a fairy?” Jared rubbed my
ever-so-slightly enlarged tummy.
I smiled, “I don’t know, but I really hope so.” I then
realized something. How would I explain
this to the kids? Should I just wait until they’re older? It seems reasonable,
I guess, but I would have to lie to them now.
“S-something wrong?” Jared realized I looked kind of
worried.
I put a smile back on my face and replied honestly, “No,
I’m fine.”
“I’m fine, too.” Ashley giggled, listening in on our
conversation.
We all laughed and I had the twins wash their hands and
faces, since they got so messy with the melting snow cones. After that, we
decided to just have a nice family afternoon and hang out in the family room.
Jared and I each grabbed a giggly toddler and helped them
into the walkers, which was their absolute favorite toy in the entire house. I’m
not even kidding. If I accidentally left them in the walkers, they wouldn’t
even mind. They would just stay there all day. It was a great way to let them
play while Jared and I watched movies on Netflix.
Right as we chose what movie we wanted to watch, there
was a knock on the door.
“Are you expecting anyone?” Jared looked at me.
I was confused, “No, you?”
“Nope.”
“Well, let’s see who it is!” I said, getting up from the
couch and walking over to the door.
I turned the doorknob not having any idea what or who to
expect. As I opened the door I saw a familiar face with dark hair and green
highlights. It was my best friend—Danielle Smores! She was wearing a green
dress with black flip-flops and she looked as beautiful as ever.
“DANIELLE?” I shouted, filled with excitement.
“The one and only!” She flipped her green-highlighted
hair confidently.
I had tons of questions. “But how and when--“
Danielle stopped me from going on with millions of
questions by hugging me tight. I needed a hug from her. I missed her so much,
and she did cross my mind every day, but I tried to forget about her sometimes because
I knew I probably would never see her again. I couldn’t believe that here she
was, in my new house, giving me one of the best hugs ever. She always knows how
to make people feel better, even if she is a complete mess.
“I know what happened… are you alright, Payton?” Danielle
had a concerned tone to her voice. I didn’t need to hear the way she said it to
know that she truly cared; she’s just that kind of person.
I looked her in the eyes as the whole scene played back
in my head, almost like it was fast forwarded from then to now and I answered, “Yeah,
I’m fine now.”
We all sat down on the couch and talked for what seemed
like hours, just catching up on everything while the twins played together.
“So that’s the Chase story.” Danielle finished her share
of explanations. I could see the tears filled with anger in her eyes so I
reached over to her and comforted her as best as I could. She seemed to pull
herself back together so quickly, I could easily tell it wasn’t her first time
doing that after saying what she just had. I was never sure about Chase, but I
always felt happy for her because she was happy with him. I would have never dared to say that out loud, especially
now.
She shook her shoulders, trying to shake it off, and she
was back to normal. “Well,” She looked at Jared. “How are you treating Payton?”
He kissed me on the forehead. “The best I can. I hope I’m
doing a great job. She deserves the best of the best. She needs to be treated
like a princess.” I could tell Jared
started getting lost in my eyes. “She’s amazing… I’ve never met anyone like
her.” I smiled as he went on and on. “I hope I never lose her. I love her.”
Danielle held up her camera and took a picture of us,
trying and failing to be sneaky. We looked over at her with that ‘Really?’ look
on both of our faces after the flash blinded our eyes.
“What?” Danielle shrugged and repositioned the camera to
her eye.
Jared and I laughed, then leaned into a long kiss. I
could hear the click of Danielle’s camera but didn’t mind. I grinned at Jared as
the Danielle snapped yet another picture. She was always doing clever things
that made everyone laugh. I think that was why we clicked so much when we first
met each other.
The oven dinged, telling us that my daily batch of
cookies was done. I looked over at Danielle and explained how I always make
cookies. When I explained it, it occurred to me how unhealthy that seemed, but
I didn’t care. They were delicious.
“COOKIES!” Adam and Ashley shouted in unison. They were
always excited when the cookies were done.
Jared laughed and stood up. “I’ll get them. You talk to
Danielle.” Adam and Ashley followed Jared into the kitchen in their walkers. They
knew the rule: “Stay a few feet away if you want cookies today.” I made it up after
Ashley eagerly pulled one of the 350 degree cookies from the oven right as I
opened it up. You can guess who didn’t get cookies that day.
Danielle scooted closer to me on the couch and sighed.
I looked at her and shook my head. “How did you do it?”
She smirked like she always does and explained everything
to me. “I had heard about what happened…
I mean, everyone did. It was all over
the news and it was the front page story of the newspaper almost everywhere for
a few weeks.”
I was in shock. “Re-really? How much did it tell
everyone?”
“Don’t worry. There were no details; just the basic story
was written down and spoken about. Anyways, it stated that you and Jared were
now living here. And um,” Danielle stopped short and rubbed her neck with her
hand.
“What is it?” I was concerned.
“I’m not sure you want to know, but uh,” She continued
and put a hand on my shoulder while I braced for the worst.
It
has to do something with my kids.
“They found all of your kids’ bodies in the ocean… near
the lighthouse.” She paused for a few seconds. “I-I’m so sorry.”
I could tell she was leaving out details, but I tried to
not ask. I really didn’t want to know. I felt stiff… frozen. I pushed all of
the images I had in my head of my kids floating, lifeless in the ocean. It was
so hard to not imagine it, yet I had to try my hardest not to. I could keep
myself from thinking too hard about it, but I couldn’t keep the tears in my
eyes from falling.
Jared was watching from the kitchen doorway. I could feel
Danielle look up from where she had her arms around my shoulders, telling Jared
that she’s got it. Only a few tears fell, but I could tell that this pain would
be inside my heart forever.
Danielle tried to move the conversation along. “Good
news, though: Mystery will be locked up in a jail cell for the rest of his
life.” Danielle half smiled when I looked up at her.
I laughed a little bit from the relief of him out of my
life… or I guess everyone’s life, forever.
Ashley, out of her walker now, peeped her head out from
around the couch with three cookies in her hands, one half eaten. “Mommy and
other nice lady,” She began.
Danielle giggled, “Yes?”
Ashley separated the cookies in her hands and held out
two towards me. “I brought you some of your cookies.”
“Thank you, princess!” Danielle took the cookies from her
tiny hands.
Ashley smiled and took another bite of her cookie, then walked
away, proud of herself.
Danielle and I both took bites of our cookies. “She is so
cute! What’s her name?” Danielle asked. She looked over at Adam who only had
his back end sticking out of the toy box. “And what’s his? Twins?”
I chewed on my warm cookie and replied, “Twins, yes. Adam
and Ashley.” I pointed to each of them. “They’re adorable and they get along
well. Hopefully they get along with this one, too.” I rubbed my stomach.
“Aw, I can’t wait to see her or him!” Danielle rubbed my
stomach, too. She then said, “You know, these cookies are really good!” before finishing it up.
“Thanks! My kids absolutely love them. Seriously, they’re
crazy over these things.” I stated. I then pointed to the two of them standing
in the kitchen with Jared. Jared had a plate full of cookies and two begging
toddlers at his feet.
“Please, please, please with extra cookies on top?”
Ashley whined in unison with Adam.
Danielle and I laughed as Jared gave into their sweet
faces, splitting a cookie in half; one half for each child. They then came
running with huge smiles on their faces to the couch with their cookies in the
air.
“What do you say?” I stood up and picked up Adam, swinging
him onto my hip.
“Thank you!” They shouted in unison to Jared. Jared smiled
from the kitchen doorway.
Ashley stood at Danielle’s feet with her arms up as if
saying ‘Hold me, too!’. Danielle didn’t hesitate and she bounced Ashley up.
They had both finished their cookie halves by now. I went
to talk to Jared and help clean up the cookie mess in the kitchen, Adam still
in my arms.
I could hear Ashley’s little laughs from the other room
and saw Danielle tickling her sides. Ashley has always been a social butterfly,
unlike Adam who is very shy. Adam’s pretty much a momma’s boy.
“Hey, where is Danielle staying here?” Jared asked while
picking up the cookie sheets.
I turned off the oven and replied, “Huh. I didn’t think
to ask that.” I leaned my head out the doorway. “Danielle?”
She swung around as Ashley’s giggle fit had calmed down. “Yeah,
girl?”
“Uh, so where are you staying here?”
She scratched her head. “Oh, yeah. Uh, one small problem.”
“You don’t have a place to stay, do you?”
“Nope.”
I looked at Jared and we had a quick conversation without
saying anything; just making different looks and hand gestures. I have no idea
when we got really good at that, but we did.
“We have an extra room upstairs with an extra bed and some
other random stuff in there, if you’d want to stay here for a few nights until
you find a house.” I put the last of the dirty dishes in the sink and wiped my
hands off with a blue kitchen towel.
Danielle smiled, “That’s really sweet, but you don’t have
to do tha-“
“C’mon, just follow me upstairs!” I interrupted her. I
took Adam’s hand and started heading towards the stairs with Danielle. “Seriously;
it’s not a problem at all.”
I opened to door to the crowded extra room upstairs. “I
know it’s kind of cluttered and all, but we’d love to have you stay here! Jared
and I don’t know what to do with this room anyways, so here you go.” I opened
my arms towards the room with a smile.
“Wow, thank you so much!” Danielle hugged me again. “Well,
I’ll get changed and go to bed soon. Thank you again, Payton.”
“You’re welcome here anytime.” I smiled.
Ashley was still right by Danielle’s side this entire
time. I pried her off of Danielle’s leg and led them out the door. “Goodnight,
girl!” I put my hand on the doorknob.
“Night!” She replied and I closed the door.
Jared was coming up the stairs as I walked towards the
nursery. “The pets are all taken care of, so don’t worry about them.”
“Thank you. Help me put these little munchkins to bed?” I
opened the child locked gate.
Jared picked up Ashley and said, “Of course.”
We went through the usual night time routine and turned
out all of the lights. Jared put his arms around me in the middle of the dark
hallway and sighed. “You know I love you, right?”
I looked up at him. “Why wouldn’t I?” I held his hand and
walked to the bedroom, exhausted. I changed into my pajamas along with Jared
when we got inside. “And you know I love you more, right?”
Jared pulled up his covers on his side of the bed. He
laughed. “Not possible.”
He kissed me on the forehead before putting an arm around
me and falling asleep.
Well,
let’s see if we wake up to that winter snow, huh? I snuggled
my face into my pillow and pulled Jared’s arm closer. I then closed my eyes and
slowly drifted asleep.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Hello, readers! So, here's an important announcement--
*throws confetti*
IT'S THE 100 BEARS ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY TODAY!
Woop woop!
I feel awful because I don't have a gift or anything ready to celebrate it!
BUT, this is your gift for now! :D
I know, it's a lame gift, but I promise I will come up with something else and give it to you later!
I love you all and feel free to comment what you thought about the chapter and maybe even an idea for the one year celebration!
I love you all and if you live in America, Happy 4th of July as of yesterday! <3
*throws more confetti and gives everyone a red, white, and blue cupcake*
But seriously, can you believe it's been a year?
Holy crap!
~Heather ^_^
