Mari & Ilna-seems like just yesterday we started planning this marathon. Can you believe it was almost a year ago? Time flies when you're having fun with really fantastic people.
REAL Worlders- Even though real life doesn't afford me the time I would need to fully respond to each review individually please know that every word is cherished and appreciated by me. You guys are the best.
Also-as you'll see in the end note … one of you came verrrrrrrry close to guessing Niblet's name and in fact someone got the birth date spot on. The right guesses were from … oh wait … where would the fun in telling you that ahead of time be?
HAPPY MINION DAY! (1/1)
Jacob charged into the kitchen, his energy level already approaching its maximum pitch despite the fact that it was barely 7:30 A.M. and skidded to a stop next to his mother who was pouring coffee into a travel mug.
"We're still going tonight, right, Mom?" he said excitedly. "As soon as you get home from work, right?"
"Right." Jenna smiled.
It was hard not to get caught up in her youngest son's exuberance. He'd been counting the days until the release of Despicable Me 3, or the 'new minion movie' as he preferred to call it, for months. His anticipation ramped up considerably once he started to see movie tie-in products appearing on grocery store shelves and in the window of the toy store. He committed the commercial from TV to memory and recited it for his family at least five times a day.
When Casey secured a summer job at Foodland, Jacob pestered her after every shift to tell him about any new minion festooned boxes that has arrived at the store that day. When she used part of her first paycheck to buy him a box of limited edition minion inspired Banana Nut Cheerios he asked her to help him retrieve the minion toy inside then begged Jenna to transfer the cereal to a different container so he could carefully preserve the box.
The next afternoon Casey found a hand written thank you note in Jacob's familiar scrawl laying on her bed.
"I know exactly what I'm gonna wear," the youngster said as he danced around the kitchen. "I'll be all ready to go by the time you get home. I promise. Shoes and everything."
"Shoes, too?" Jenna gasped cartoonishly. She generally had to spend at least ten minutes each time they left the house pestering Jacob to take off his flip flops and put on tennis shoes. "Well, that is something I'm definitely looking forward to."
"I can't wait!" Jacob squealed as he executed a series of ninja kicks that ended with him nearly crashing into the refrigerator door.
"Whoa there." Jenna managed to grab him right before impact. "Why don't you go sit quietly and read a book until Cody gets out of the shower. He's going to get you, Kaitlyn and Dylan ready for day camp and Mrs. Rodriguez is gonna pick you up at 9:00."
"Can I watch the minion movie instead of reading?!" he pleaded, hands clasped under his chin.
Jenna usually didn't allow them to watch tv in the morning but since it was a special occasion, and Jacob was so excited, she decided to make an exception. "Don't turn it up too loud," she smiled. "Kaitlyn and Dylan are still sleeping."
"YAY!" he bolted from the room then reappeared a few seconds later. "Can I have minion cereal and can I eat in front of the tv if I promise to be very careful? PLEEEEEEEEEASE?"
"Yes, but only because this is a special day." She smiled.
"IT'S MINION DAY!" he cried as he headed back into the living room.
She shook her head as she reached into the pantry for the Tupperware container full of cereal. "Well, I bet everybody is awake now."
"Are you sure you don't want me to stay home with you … you know … just in case?" Steve asked as he placed his breakfast dishes in the dishwasher.
"I'll be fine," Catherine assured him.
Between the summer recess and the holiday weekend there was absolutely nothing at the office that required her immediate attention so she'd decided to go ahead and take the day off.
She popped the last of her bagel in her mouth and eyed the bowl of watermelon in the middle of the kitchen island. "Mary and Aaron said they might bring Joan over later for a swim."
Steve's hands went to his hips in a move very reminiscent of Danny. "What if you need something before they get here?"
He'd been very good about keeping his over-protective streak in check during most of the pregnancy but now that Niblet was officially one day late it was threatening to surface.
"I'll call you right away," she promised.
"I could just stay until Mary and Aaron get here," he offered.
"Don't you have some paperwork on that DEA raid you assisted on yesterday to take care of?" she asked.
He squared his shoulders. "Danny can do it."
"That idea will go over big I'm sure," she snorted.
"Why don't you want me to stay home?" he asked, his tone more genuine questioning than challenging.
She held out her arms and he came immediately to her side. She grasped his hands and looked him directly in the eyes.
"I would love to have you stay home. You know that."
The sincerity in her eyes made it impossible for him to resist kissing her. When they came up for air his tone was far more teasing. "But … ?"
"But," she inhaled deeply, "I'm afraid given the current circumstances you might be tempted to hover and that wouldn't be good for either of us."
He grinned. "So you're saying you just want to sit on your nest for a while … alone … and wait?"
"Pretty much." She laughed.
"Ok, I can live with that. As long as you promise you'll call if you have even a tiny twinge."
She placed her hand over her heart. "You have my word. Now go to work."
He kissed her again, said goodbye to Niblet, and headed for the door. A few seconds later his head popped back into the doorway. "You know what this means, don't you?"
"What?" she asked.
"You are that bird after all," he smirked then disappeared again though she could hear him laughing all the way out the door.
Catherine enjoyed a quiet morning reading, relaxing and catching up on emails. By early afternoon she felt restless and began to consider a trip into the office for a few hours just to give her something to focus on other than thoughts of how she could safely speed things along.
She'd fallen down an internet rabbit hole an hour earlier reading hundreds of posts by a group of women who absolutely swore driving on bumpy roads and over railroad tracks helped induce their labor. Without considering the potential downside she found herself consulting Google Earth to find the longest stretch of rough road on the island.
Luckily Mary called before she had a chance to actually download any coordinates to her GPS and said they'd had a change of plans and wouldn't be going swimming after all but if it was ok they'd like to stop by anyway because Joan had something she wanted to show Catherine.
It was just as well.
According to the Bumpy Babies message board it was best to take on the rough roads with a car with shocks worn out as badly as possible.
The Highlander probably would have cushioned every bump anyway.
Damn performance suspension.
Ten minutes later Joan arrived wearing a pair of jean shorts, a bright yellow minion t-shirt and a yellow hat emblazoned with one eye directly in the center.
"Ann Caf! We goin to a movie! Min-i-ons!" she squealed the minute they came through the door. She squirmed in Aaron's arms and when he placed her feet on floor she immediately ran to tell Cammie the big news.
"Jenna called earlier and asked if we wanted to go," Mary explained. "Of course, as soon as Joan heard the kids were going she was in no matter what the movie was."
"Min-i-ons!" Joan threw her hands in the air.
"You're certainly dressed for it." Catherine chuckled.
"Oh wait, you haven't seen the best part yet," Mary grinned, her eyes sparkling with laughter. "I was planning on just putting Joan in something she already had but your parents insisted on taking her to the mall to buy her appropriate minion gear."
Catherine smiled indulgently. "Of course they did."
"And while we were there … " Mary's voice trailed off as Joseph and Elizabeth stepped through the door.
"Hi, honey. We're going to the movies. We thought maybe you'd want to come along. Get out of the house for a few hours," Elizabeth said with a wide smile, as if there was nothing at all unusual going on.
But there was something unusual.
Very unusual.
Catherine stared at her parents in amazement for a few seconds then burst out with a genuine bark laugh.
They were both dressed in somewhat tasteful, yet blindingly yellow, minion shirts and perched atop both of their heads were minion hats that matched the one Joan was wearing. Elizabeth accessorized with minion sunglasses as well.
"Those are some very interesting outfits," Catherine said before bursting out in a fresh round of giggles.
"We're getting in the spirit of things." Joseph straightened his back proudly. "Joan said we should wear shirts like hers too and we thought that sounded like a great idea."
Mary leaned in to Catherine and said in a soft voice, "I have seen your future. It lives at the mall."
"Are we pwetty?" Joan asked as she held up her arms for Joseph to pick her up.
"You absolutely are!" Catherine bubbled. "You'll be the best looking group in the theater."
"Why don't you come along?" Mary suggested. "I checked the paper. It's only a little over 90 minutes long."
Catherine bit her lip. It was a tempting idea.
It beat driving around for two hours looking for stretches of rough road.
"We're going to the 4:30 IMAX showing at Regal Theater," Joseph said. "We'll be out in time for dinner."
"Let's do it! I'll call Steve and see if he can get away a little early and come too." Catherine clapped her hands happily. Immersing herself in the world of the minions for a couple of hours might be the perfect distraction.
Besides, she suddenly had a strong craving for movie theater popcorn.
She pulled out her phone and dialed Steve who answered on the first ring.
"Everything ok?"
"Everything's fine," she assured him. "My folks are here along with Mary, Aaron and Joan and they're all headed to see the new minion movie with Jenna and the kids."
"Sounds like fun."
"I think I'm gonna go along too. I'm feeling good and I was thinking … if she hears a lot of people laughing and having fun it might encourage Niblet to come on out and join us."
Steve snorted. "I'm not sure it works that way."
"It's worth a try though, right?" she asked.
"Absolutely," he agreed.
"I was hoping maybe you could leave work a little early and join us?" She hated to ask considering she'd been the one who insisted he go to work in the first place but the idea of sitting in a darkened theater sharing a bucket of popcorn with him suddenly seemed very appealing.
"Hold on," he said. "Danny just came into my office." He pulled the phone away from his ear and addressed his partner. "Is there anything pressing going on for the rest of the day?"
"Is that Cath?" Danny asked. "Is everything ok?"
"Everything's fine." Steve returned the phone to his ear. "I'm putting you on speaker."
Catherine smiled. "Hi, Danny."
"Hi, Cath. What's up?"
"I'm trying to talk Steve into leaving a little early and meeting us at the Regency to see the new minions movie," she replied.
"I heard about that," Danny grinned. "Casey and Kaitlyn called earlier and invited Grace. Apparently this is turning into a big outing." Danny's eyes danced with mischief. "There's absolutely nothing going on here that can't wait until next week. Steve can definitely head out early."
"Perfect!" Catherine gave everyone in the room the thumbs up sign. "And since things there are slow, and Grace is coming anyway, you should come too." Her tone made it sound more like a command than a suggestion. "We'll see you both at the theater. Don't be late. We want to make sure we get good seats."
As Steve took the phone off speaker and said his goodbyes Danny stared in disbelief.
"How did that happen?" he asked as Steve slipped the phone back into his pocket. "How did my nice quiet Friday evening turn into a group outing to see the minions movie?"
"You walked right into it," Steve smirked.
"I was gonna order pizza and watch ESPN," Danny whined.
"Well now it's popcorn and Gru and his little yellow friends," Steve chuckled. "Let's go."
"It's scary you know his name," Danny muttered.
"Bob, Dave, Stuart … " Steve listed as they left the office.
When they arrived at the theater the others were waiting in the lobby, tickets in hand.
"I hope we didn't keep you waiting," Steve said as he leaned down to kiss Catherine who was sitting on a long wooden bench.
"Nope, doors aren't open yet." She smiled.
Steve looked at Elizabeth and Joseph, sitting on the other end of the bench in full minion regalia, Joan and Jacob on their laps, surrounded by the other children, everyone chattering away happily.
"They're in their element," Catherine whispered.
"Yeah," Steve replied. "It's great, isn't it?"
Jacob finally looked up and saw that Steve and Danny had arrived. "HAPPY MINION DAY!" he said in what was definitely not his indoor voice. In addition to his bright yellow minions shirt he was wearing denim shorts and what looked like new black minion sneakers which Steve suspected were Joseph and Elizabeth's doing.
"HAPPY MIN-I-ON DAY!" Joan parroted.
"Happy minion day!" Steve replied in a somewhat softer tone. He looked at Cody and Jess who were standing slightly off to the side examining a poster for the upcoming Spiderman movie. "I thought you weren't coming," he teased Cody.
"I wasn't planning on it but then it turned into a whole big family thing and … well … who could resist that?" The teenager smiled.
"I'm glad you decided to come," Grace smiled as she hugged Danny excitedly.
He looked at Catherine who had schooled her features carefully.
"Well it was kind of decided for me … " he grumbled before kissing the top of Grace's head. "But I'm glad too."
A minute later the doors opened and Steve helped Catherine up off the bench. "Why don't you guys go find seats and I'll go to the snack bar."
"Can I come with you, Uncle Steve?" Jacob bounced on the balls of his feet. "Mom said I can get a Sprite and she'll share it with me and I want …"
"I know what you like." Cody tousled Jacob's hair. "Why don't you go get a seat and I'll go with Steve."
"I'll come, too," Joseph offered.
"Me, too," Aaron said.
The two groups split off in opposite directions.
"Nice outfit." Steve smirked as they headed for the snack bar at the far end of the lobby.
"Just wait." Joseph grinned unapologetically. "Kaitlyn and Dylan each got to pick a movie too and we're going to have themed watch parties sometime this summer. Kaitlyn picked Beauty and the Beast and Dylan chose Transformers 3 because he said that's his favorite one. Add that to Niblet's arrival and the chance to hold my first grandchild ..."
"You're gonna have a pretty good summer, aren't you?" Steve grinned.
Joseph beamed. "The best."
The four men finally made it into the theater, laden down with popcorn, candy and soda and spotted the rest of their party sitting right on the middle of the bank of center seats.
There was a nice crowd but luckily it wasn't nearly as packed as the later showings would be.
"It took a while but Jacob finally settled on a seating arrangement," Catherine smiled as they approached.
"Where do you want me, Jacob?" Steve asked after the snacks were all passed out.
"You're beside Aunt Catherine." Jacob pointed to the empty seat on Catherine's left. "I'll sit here on her other side, then mom, then Kaitlyn. You're next to Kaitlyn, Uncle Danny."
"Excellent." Danny sat down with a flourish. "I got a very good seat," he said as Kaitlyn smiled brightly.
Joseph and Elizabeth sat in the row directly in front with Joan who was sandwiched between Mary and Aaron. Cody, Jess, Dylan, Grace and Casey sat directly behind.
By the time the house lights went down Jacob was practically vibrating with excitement. "This is gonna be the BEST. DAY. EVER!"
Catherine intertwined one hand with Steve's and placed the other on her tummy. "Maybe not today," she whispered in her husband's ear. "But soon."
THE END
The REAL World Baby Marathon is in full swing and we are positively GIDDY at how excited you all are!
We'll post a story a day through July 10th, and we promise Niblet will be born before then ;-)
In the meantime, feel free to continue sending guesses on the birth date and baby name for our REAL World Baby Pool. You can even change your guess if you want!
We can tell you that someone came verrrrrrry close guessing Niblet's name!
Leave your guesses in a review, send us an email (realmcroll ), post a comment here on our Tumblr page, or tweet Mari ( Mari21763) with the hashtag #REALMcRollBaby.
We can't wait to hear from you!