It has been a while. Hope you enjoy reading this one :)
A morning like no other
Every morning is the same story. A race against the clock to get ready for the day. Wake up the kids, get them dressed, feed them breakfast, drive them to school or to their grandparents for the younger one. In normal times, evrything goes smoothly but today I have an important meeting and with Tris working with me in the same company, she has to be at the meeting. Today is going to be a longue day.
As soon as the alarm clock goes off, I slem my hand on it to make it stop. Tris groans and cuddles in the blankets. She burries herself under the covers to steal some minutes. I duck under the cover to hold her against me. I hide my face in her neck as I leave a lot of kisses on her shoulder. I hear her laugh, then she throws the cover off of us. She turns around in my arms and cuddles in my side.
" Come on, love. We have to get up." I mutter in her ear.
" Two more minutes."
"Not possible, we have an important day today."
She slowly opens her eyes then stretches.
"Good morning."
"Good morning."
She kisses me then gets up. I look at her as she leaves the bedroom to go to the kitchen then I get out of bed too.
I first wake up our eldest son, Alex, 5 years old. I slowly enter the room and sit on the edge of the bed. I caress his head and whispering in his ear.
"Hey buddy, wake up."
He groans and rolls in his bed just like his mother.
"Mommy is waiting for you in the kitchen" I say as I leave the room.
I leave the door open so that the light in the hallway will keep him awake. Then, I go wake up my little princess, Meline or Mel. I do just as I did for her brother but I caress her cheek. She opens her eyes – those eyes that are just like mine- and smiles when she sees me.
"Good morning princess."
I kiss her cheek then take her in my arms. She keeps her favorite teddy bear in her hand as she puts her chin on my shoulder. I walk to our 8 months old son's room.
I put her on her feet next to me near the crib then look inside at my baby boy who is already awake.
"Where you waiting for daddy?"
He smiles and kicks his little feet, I think it means yes. I hold him against me and secure him with my right arm. He lays his head against my shoulder, his pacifer still in his mouth. I take the Mel's hand in mine and help her to go down the stairs. She always takes a lot of times in the morning and I learnt to be patient with her. Once the stairs are behind us, she lets go of my hand and runs to her mother in the kitchen who is cooking breakfast.
I join them with Leo in m y arms. Tris is already carrying Mel then sits her in a chair to take the baby from me. I look at the table but someone is missing.
"Alex is still upstairs?"
"He must have fallen asleep. I'll go get him." She says when she sees me moving to the stairs.
She puts Leo in his playpen as I sit with Mel at the table. She is eating oatmeal without saying anything as I pour myself a cup of coffee. I watch as Leo is chewing on his toys as he is sitting, surronded by stuffed animals.
Tris is back a few minutes later with Alex behind her. He is frowning and doesn't look up. I watch him and he doesn't look really awake. He doesn't eat a lot nor say anything but then he gets up to get dressed.
Tris tells me to get dressed and that she has it all under control.
I do as she says but first, I finish my cup of coffee. I kiss my wife on the forehead then go upstairs in our bedroom. I walk to the bathroom, entirely dressed, my tie untied around my neck, still buttoning my shirt. I walk past Tris on my way. She has the baby pulled against her torso but with her free hand, she touches my bare chest for a second. I smile but don't stop walking to kiss her, we don't have time for that. I begin to tie my tie as I pass in front of Mel's room who is getting dressed all alone. She doesn't let Tris or me doing it for her. She wants to do like the adults. It's a good thing because it ables Tris and I to do other things. She only calls us me she needs our help. Most of the time, she calls for me because she knows Tris has more things to do than me.
"Daddy!"
That's what I was saying. I walk in to see her struggle to put on the dress she chose with Tris yesterday.
"Do you need help, princess?"
"Yes."
I kneel in front of her and pull on the dress so she can put her head in the right hole. She thanks me with a big hug and a kiss. I brush her long blond hair but when I see her face, I immediately worry. She doesn't look fine.
"Are you okay, baby?"
She shakes her head no.
"I hurt here and here." She explains as she points to her head and her stomach.
I put my hand on her forehaed, she is burning. Oh no, not now.
"Listen, you're going to put your pajama back on and stay in your bedroom until I come back. Okay ?"
She nods and I help her to get out of her dress. As she puts it back, I look for Tris. She is in Alex's room, trying to keep her calm, Leo still against her hip.
"Alex, I don't have time for this. Get dressed, your father can't be late for work."
"Tris?"
"Not now Tobias!"
She makes him put on a hirt but one look on his face tells us he is also sick. It's getting better and better.
"Tris, I have to talk to you!"
"What?" She yells, clearly irritated.
Leo begins to cry when he hears his mother yelling and I make her look at Alex. He is as white as a sheet and suddenly, he turns around and throws up in the trash can. Tris freezes then walks to him. She says something I don't hear, he nods and leaves. Probably going to the bathroom. Tris begins to rock the baby to calm him.
"Just what we needed." She mumbles.
"Mel is sick too."
She rubs her forehead with her free hand. She is already exhausted and it's not even 8 a.m. Yet.
"Wonderful..." She sighs.
"Hand him over." I say holding out my arms to my son.
"Tobias, you have to be ready. You have a meeting!"
"So do you. I'll call my father and ask him to postpone the meeting. You need my help."
She smiles, grateful but when she wants to puts the baby in my arms, Mel calls me. I sigh and so does Tris.
When I enter her bedroom, I see her standing next to her bed, covered by puke and she is crying.
"Come here."
I help her to get out of her pajama. I lead her to the bathroom where Tris is with Alex, she must have put Leo in his crib. She turns around when the door opens and frowns at the sight of her daughter in her underwear and in tears.
I show her the dirty pajama then throw it in the laundry basket. Tris help Mel to clean up as Alex goes back to his bedroom. I use the few minutes I have to call my father. The meeting will take place an hour later than decided in the first place. Then I call my in-laws to know if they mind watching three children instead of one and my mother-in-law tells me it's fine and that we can bring them as soon as possible. When everything is settled, I strip Mel's bed and change the sheets. I just put a clean one when Tris comes in to lay Mel on her bed.
Tris gets dressed and I finally tie my tie. When we are ready, we sit the kids in the car. I begin to drive but still looks in the rearview mirror to check on the kids every minute to make sure they don't throw up.
We make it to their grandparents's house without any incident. Once I parked the car, Andrew takes Alex in his arms, Natalie takes Mel and I take Leo. He drops his toy on the ground and I just move a little bit to pick it up, he pukes on my suit. Tris looks at me horrified but I only sigh. I tried to stay clean the entire morning and he had to do that now. Of cours, I am not mad at him.
I put him in the playpen in the house as the two other kids are asleep on the couches.
"Thank you for taking care of them. You're life savers." Tris tells them.
"Don't worry about that sweetheart. We are always here if you need us and both of you look exhausted."
"Yeah, this morning was eventful."
"Tris we have to leave. I need to change my suit."
She hugs her parents then I hug Natalie and shake Andrew's hand. We sit in the car and talk during the short ride.
"I'll drop you off at work and you'll call the school to tell them about the kids."
"I can go with you at home, we have time."
As soon as we get home, I take off my suit and jump in the shower to get the smell of puke off me. Then I put on a new suit.
Tris is waiting for me on the couch and gives me a kiss. We sit there for a few minutes to enjoy the silence of an empty house. We then leave to go to work. This company is my father's but it's also the place where we met. I had just begun to work in my own office and Tris had an interview to be a secretary. She got the job and had to work for me. Needless to say we got along pretty well.
Later, I gave her the option to stay at home as soon as Alex was born and be a housewife but she refused. She needs to work, she can't sit stay at home all day.
We get out the elevator; I kiss her one last time before she goes to her desk. We still have 15 minutes before our meeting. I enter the conference room where my father and others men are sitting. I say hello then collapse in a chair and close my eye, throwing my head backward. My father smiles as he watches me.
"Tough morning?"
I take a deep breath then look at him and I am sure he can see the dark circles under my eyes.
"You have no idea."