"The shower is all yours," Matt Camden muttered, before making his way out of the bathroom and reaching for his work clothes. The thirty-six year old looked at his wife, who was still lying sleepily in her bed. She had worked a long night shift, and was just rolling into bed at the crack of dawn.
"Don't wanna shower right now…..make sure the kids are ready for school…." she muttered sleepily, while draping her arm across her face and trying to block out the cheerful sunlight that was pouring into the open window.
"Okay, darling," he smiled, before leaning over to kiss his wife's forehead. He moved over to the window, before closing it and the drapes. He wanted his wife to get some sleep, especially considering she had to work that night. It was hard raising a family of three, considering the fact that they were both full time doctors, but they managed just fine to keep the happiness flowing in their house the best that they could.
Matt made his way downstairs, seeing that his twin boys were already at the table and munching on some breakfast cereal. "Have either of you seen Allison?" he asked casually, and both boys shook their heads no. He grumbled to himself and headed back up the stairs. He thought that being five years old Allison would be the first one awake, but that girl would sleep as long as she was allowed.
Matt opened his daughter's door, and small her small frame under all of the blankets and stuffed animals that she had piled on her bed. She was almost a spitting image of her mother, her curly hair fanning out on her pillow. "Allison darling, you're running late, it's time to get up for school," he said softly, while making his way over to his daughter and looking down at her. He hated interrupting her 'beauty sleep', but it had to be done. He preferred when Sarah was able to get the kids ready for school, because she was better at being strict and making them do what had to get done.
"Don't want to, Daddy…." she muttered and turned over on her favorite stuffed animal, the stuffed bear that she had kept since she was born.
"I know, darling, but you don't have a choice. Now let's get up and get some cereal, or else you're going to have to go to school hungry, baby," he waited patiently for his daughter to get up, and grew impatient when she didn't budge. He could only imagine what she would be like as a teenager. "Allison Sophia Camden, get out of this bed this instant!" he exclaimed, his voice becoming stern.
His daughter groaned, before sitting up and getting out of the bed, "Okay, okay…." she muttered, "Sheesh…."
"Your Mommy put some clothes out for you yesterday afternoon," Matt said, before pointing to the pink dress that was handing over the chair by her little desk, before making his way out of the room and softly closing the door behind him. He knew better than trying to help his daughter get dressed. Allison was a "big girl now" and didn't need any help. The two of them tried letting her pick her clothes out for a while, but she picked such strange combinations of clothes that they later decided that Sarah would lay her clothes out for her daughter. Sometimes she would give her an option of a few shirts to go with her jeans, but most of the time Sarah just picked Allison's clothing entirely.
"What do you boys have going on today?" Matt asked his sons, while pouring himself a cup of coffee, and toasting himself a bagel. The second the kids caught the bus he had to rush to work, so he didn't have much time for an elaborate breakfast.
"We have baseball practice at five," Hayden explained, and when he saw the brief panic on his father's face, he quickly explained that their friend Spencer's parents were going to pick them up and take them home, and that he would not have to tell their babysitter.
"Okay, sounds good. That'll give Allison some alone time with Katie. You know how much Katie cannot stand watching your baseball practice..what with Allison not able to stay still and the fact that she can't stand baseball," Matt chuckled, thinking about the kid's babysitter. Katie was a nice kid of about eighteen, who was just starting college and trying to get some extra money. Matt and Sarah allowed her to do homework while babysitting as long as the kids were still watched like a hawk, and because of the fact that Katie did online schooling, it was the perfect match. The kids loved Katie, Katie loved the kids, and Matt and Sarah trusted her.
"I wish that you could be there, though, everyone else has their Dad's there," Bryan said glumly, as he looked down and moved his lucky charms around with his spoon. The twins were very different in the sense that Hayden understood while his parents were always busy and didn't let it bother him as much. Bryan understood as well, but was more sensitive about the fact that his parents were rarely ever around.
"I know, buddy, I wish that I could be there too," Matt frowned at his son, before taking a bite of his bagel. He despised the fact that he had to miss out on so much of his children's lives. He didn't like the fact that he was so far away from his parents, too, and knew that they wished they could see Matt, Sarah and the grandkids more often.
"It's okay, Dad, we understand," Hayden said, before kicking his brother under the table. He didn't want to make his father upset before they had to leave for the day. Hayden was the kid that always tried to make sure that things were going as smoothly as possible. He tried to step in for his dad and be the "man" of the house, even if he was only the mere age of nine.
Allison finally made her way down the stairs, and Matt quickly fixed her a bowl of cereal, telling her that she only had about five minutes to finish eating. He was surprised that Hayden didn't make sure that his younger sister was awake like he normally did, but decided not to press the issue for the time being. "Okay, okay…" Allison grouched, before sitting at the table and beginning to rub at her eyes with her fist. She was in no means a morning person.
"The bus is here," Bryan exclaimed, while peeking out the window.
"Huh, it's early…." Matt muttered, and Allison began to whine about how she didn't get to eat any breakfast. If she was older he would tell her that was what happened when one didn't get up in time, but since she was five he decided to cut her some slack. He quickly gazed around the kitchen with his eyes, before landing on a box of poptarts. "Here, honey," he exclaimed, and handed his daughter a package of poptarts, "You can eat this at school. Boys, make sure she doesn't eat it on the bus, she could choke." He kissed all his children goodbye, and sent them on their ways, giving the older two clear instructions to keep an eye on their sister, just like he always did.
Matt sat back down, taking a moment to relax and eat his bagel before he had to head to work. He hoped that the day would go by smoothly, and that he would be able to head home in time, although that rarely happened. He rarely got to see his children, and he saw his wife even less, and he was beginning to feel like his world was falling apart. Deciding to head to work a little early, Matt made his way out of his apartment building, just as Shana Sullivan was about to knock on the door.
"Shana," Matt whispered, closing the door quickly and leading her down the hallway, "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know…. I've stood here every day for a week...deciding if I should knock or not. As a matter of fact, I was just about to change my mind and head out again when you opened the door. I've been in the area, and I just couldn't stop thinking of you….I wanted to see how you were and what you were doing with your life….and...are those your children that just walked by? They're beautiful….. I don't know…. I'll go…" she muttered, talking a mile a minute and feeling herself panic. She didn't know what she was doing there, and was suddenly regretting it.
Matt was just as speechless. He knew the right thing to do would be to confirm to leave, but he wasn't able to get the words out quickly enough. He wasn't even sure if he would mean the words if they did come out.
