Madison's Point of View
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! I want juice! I want juice!"
My 5 year old daughter, Paige, ran into the kitchen; where I was.
"What kind of juice do you want, baby doll?"I asked.
"Kiwi!"She cheered.
"Kiwi, it is!"I said, laughing.
I reached in the refrigerator and gave Paige a kiwi juice box. She took it and ran back into her play room. I finished wiping down the counters and went to make sure my 10 month old baby boy, Patrick, was okay. He was sitting in his walker, playing with his toys. The phone rung in the living room. I ran to answer it.
"Hello? Zonwaski Residence,"I answered.
"Madison? It's your sister."
"Gretchen? I haven't heard from you since Patrick was born. What's up? How have you been?"I asked.
I hadn't heard from my sister in over 10 months. I had moved out of state and never really got to see her. And we didn't call because I was always too busy to speak. It took for something important to happen, for us to talk.
"Guess who's engaged?"She said.
"Gretch, you didn't! You're not engaged!"I said, in shock.
"You bet your sweet suburban family ass I am!"Gretchen yelled in the phone.
"Well who are you engaged to?"I asked.
"Remember Joe Jonas from down the street?"She asked.
"Yeah. He was like my best friend,"I said.
"Well remember that guy, Xavier Wilson? The guy who stayed with them who's house burned down?"She asked.
"Yeah. He was really cute,"I said.
"Well he came back from college and we started dating and now we're engaged,"Gretchen explained.
"Ah! Now way! That's so cool. When's the wedding?"I asked.
"In a month. I need you to come and help me. Now. Just for a month,"Gretchen said.
"Gretch, I can't be away from my kids for a month. Or my husband. Or my job,"I said.
"No. Bring them. Bring Caleb, Paige, and Patrick. And you can stay with Mom so don't worry about money,"Gretchen said.
I heard crying in the background of my house.
"I'll call you later so we can talk about it. Congratulations,"I said, hanging up.
I went to go see what had happened. It was nothing big. Paige had spilled her juice.
Joe's Point of View
"Daddy, Momma said that I can't go outside to skateboard unless I cleaned up my room. Tell her to lemme go."
My 7 year old son, Jeremiah, was tugging on my pants leg.
"Well tell Mommy that I let you go. Okay?"I said.
He nodded and ran back into the office where my wife, Andrea, was. She came into the living room, where I was.
"Joey, did you tell Jerry he could go out without cleaning his room?"
I looked up at her. Her hands were folded over her chest. Her 6-month pregnant belly poked out like a pink phone in a crowd of black ones. She hated when I let our kids do something that she said no to.
"Yes, I did,"I admitted.
"Why? Have you seen his room? He has stuff thrown everywhere!"Andrea said.
"Andy, he can clean it when he's done,"I said.
"I would rather him do it now than after. Then he won't be to tired to do it,"Andrea said.
I stood up and cupped my hands around her face.
"Just let him have fun. Go check on Cynthia and Michelle. They're awfully quiet, aren't they?"I said.
The phone rang. I kissed Andrea and answered it.
"Hello?...married?...sure!...I'd love to...thanks, Gretch...see you soon...buh-bye,"I said, soon hanging up.
"Who was that?"Andrea asked, coming in holding our 1 year old daughter, Michelle, with our 3 year old daughter, Cynthia, trailing behind.
"That was Gretchen. Her and Xavier are sealing the deal. They want me to be a groomsman,"I explained.
"That's wonderful, honey,"Andrea said.
Madison's Point of View
I was feeding Patrick when my husband, Caleb, came home from work. Paige ran right into him when he closed the door.
"Hi, Daddy! Guess what? We're going to Blue Turkey in tomorrow!"Paige said.
Caleb looked up at me, confused. I mouthed "New Jersey" to him. He nodded.
"So who's taking you to Blue Turkey?"Caleb said, playing along.
He picked Paige up.
"You're coming, too! And Mommy is taking us,"Paige said, with her little girl voice.
"Really. Why are we going?"He asked.
"Gretchen is getting married. She wants me to help her out for a month,"I explained, wiping Patrick's face off and picking him up.
"Sounds fun. But I can't be away from work,"Caleb said, sitting Paige down.
"Don't worry. I called your job. Your boss gave you the okay to leave. And you can come back at anytime. Oh and I've already paid all the bills for this month and the month ahead,"I explained, setting Patrick on the floor.
I watched Patrick grab a hold to the legs of his high chair and try walking away. Paige went and sat on the couch to watch Spongebob Squarepants. Caleb followed me upstairs.
"What about your job?"He asked.
"Caleb, I haven't used my vacation time since I started working there. And that was four years ago. Minus my maternity leave for Patrick. I'm okay. Being an investment banker isn't that hard, darling. I can work from Jersey anyway. I can handle my accounts over the internet,"I explained, pulling my suitcase from under my bed.
"What time are we leaving?"Caleb asked, taking off his work clothes.
"Train leaves at 8 AM,"I said.