Ana and Abby were playing in the living room before bed. They had just finished baths and Abby had one of the throws from the couch tied across her shoulders, her long dark brown hair trailing behind her as she pretended to save her older sister from a burning building as she swooned from the smoke. It was after Abby had jumped off the couch that they heard raised voices coming from their mom and dad's bedroom.
"Kurt, you are insane if you think I can-"
"Like I can Rachel? Have you seen my schedule for the next two weeks? When do you think I would fit in another thing besides breathing?"
"But this is important Kurt. You-"
"Like I don't know that. But really, when-"
"Mommy and Daddy are fighting again. That's like the third time tonight," said Abby with a frown as she sat down on the couch with a flop.
"It happens," shrugged Ana. "Mommy says that adults do that sometimes."
"Why?" asked Abby. "Do they not like to play together? I don't like Javar, but he's the only one who'll play trucks with me in the sandbox."
Ana frowned at that. "Daddy said sometimes he and Mommy don't want to play with each other when they're stressed."
"What's stressed mean?" asked Abby.
"You know how you worry about coming home and finding Mommy and Daddy have eaten all the ice cream after we go visit Grandmommy?"
"Yeah…"
"It's like that."
"You mean Mommy and Daddy have eaten all the ice cream again?"
Ana rolled her eyes. Sometimes it was hard to explain things to her little sister.
"No… I think they're fighting because Mommy and Daddy have a lot to do and not enough time."
"Oh. So they don't have time to play then."
Ana thought about that. Mommy and Daddy did seem happier when they had time to spend together, especially when she used to go to Grandmommy's for the weekend or when they'd go out for a "date night." It seemed like there wasn't as many date nights since Abby had been born and her parents had been helping her go to show and commercial auditions.
"You know," said Ana, tugging at one of her light brown curls. "Mommy and Daddy have been fighting a lot this week. I think they need a play date."
"Like when we go play with Justin and Hannah?" said Abby.
"Yeah!" said Ana, standing up. "I need to call Grandmommy." She peeped around the corner and saw her daddy rolling his eyes at her mommy and throwing his hands up in the air. She turned back towards Abby.
"Think you can help distract Daddy while I get his phone out of his pocket?"
A couple of days later, Kurt had picked up the kids from school. They seemed eager to disappear after they got home, but instead of wondering what they were up to he was content to sit down with his computer and day planner that he and Rachel shared their schedules. Isabelle had wanted him to attend a night gala with her that evening, but something had come up and one of the senior editors and her partner were going instead. He was grateful really, because he could play catch up and get some stuff done at home.
Sounds of giggling girls got his attention, and he smiled. Kurt was only wary when they were quiet. That was when he knew they were doing something they weren't supposed to be. He debated about going and checking on them to see if they wanted a snack, but they were old enough they could ask if they wanted anything special. Ana was even old enough to make her own. It almost bewildered him that his firstborn was now 8. Where had the time gone?
Checking his email and seeing his workload had been added on to made him tired, but he responded to them with a sigh. The sound of little feet going into the kitchen made him look up from the screen.
"Your juice bottles are on the bottom shelf," he said towards the kitchen.
"We know Daddy!" yelled Abby and Ana as they gathered what they needed. They had a plan and they needed everything to go perfect. Which meant daddy didn't need to come into the kitchen.
"I got the grape juice," said Ana, holding up the big bottle out of the fridge. "I never understood why Mommy and Daddy keep their juice in such big bottles. I couldn't drink all of that at once."
"And I got the popcorn," said Abby, looking excited. "What else?"
"I don't know," frowned Ana. "Mommy keeps all the good sweet stuff up in the high cabinets so we can't get to them."
"Daddy like those weird looking crackers with ham and cheese," said Abby. "The ones that taste funny."
"We could use those," said Ana, nodding. She opened the cabinet off to the side of the fridge and got the crackers. "But Mommy doesn't like meat, so we can do peanut butter and raisins."
"And Daddy likes peanut butter," said Abby with a nod, holding onto the packet of popcorn.
Ana nodded, reaching for a spoon in the silverware drawer. She carefully reached for a plate, trying to make as little noise as possible.
"Come on, back to our room," said Ana. They ran quickly back to the bedroom, shutting the door with a loud slam.
"Girls?" said Kurt, suspicious. He got up off the couch, going down towards the girls' room. He heard a squeal and watched the door open and shut quickly. Ana was staring up at him with the most innocent look that reminded Kurt of Rachel when she was trying to pretend like she hadn't heard him say something.
"Yes Daddy?"
"What are you two doing in there?" asked Kurt, putting his hands on his hips.
"Playing house," lied Ana.
"Do you two get your snacks?" asked Kurt.
"Uh-huh, juice and those cheese stringy things."
"Okay, but sweetheart… don't shut the door too hard next time. We've told you about that."
"Sorry Daddy."
"It's okay. Go play with Abby," said Kurt with a soft smile. "I'm going to go make dinner, what would you like?"
"Don't worry about dinner," said Abby, sticking her head out the door. "Mommy said she was ordering pizza tonight."
Kurt looked surprised at that. Rachel hadn't mentioned anything about ordering pizza. But then he was supposed to have been at the gala and not home for whatever she had planned.
"Pizza it is then," he said, teasing Abby by tugging on one of her pigtails. She giggled and pulled Ana back into the room. He shook his head.
Messes, the both of them.
He heard the key in the lock and came back into the living room. Rachel was sitting her stuff down beside the door. She looked relieved to see him.
"Sorry, it took so long. Finding the understudies is taking forever. I know there's all this discussion and callbacks, but really do we need to do all of this every time we lose a cast member?" She took off her coat, looking Kurt over.
"And why aren't you dressed? I figured by now you were shining your cuff links."
"Not tonight," said Kurt, sitting down. "Change of plans. One of the senior editors is going in Isabelle's place."
"Oh," said Rachel. "Guess you can join us for movies and popcorn then." She sat down on the couch, away from him. Kurt sighed at that.
"Look Rachel…"
"No Kurt, you made your intentions perfectly clear," began the brunette. "Work first. That's how you always are."
"Well, I am the one who is doing about four things at once."
Rachel's eyes narrowed.
"Are you trying to pick another fight Kurt?"
He rolled his eyes. "No I am not. Rachel…"
She got off the couch and went to the kitchen. Kurt rubbed his hands over his eyes and his face. Sometimes Rachel was so infuriating. There was a knock on the door, and Kurt got up to open it. Shelby gave him a smile.
"Come on in," said Kurt, almost a little too relieved someone was there to break the tension. "I didn't realize you were coming over for movie night with the girls."
"I am, sort of," said Shelby as she put her coat over her arm as Kurt closed the door. "How are you Kurt?"
"I've been better," he said, nodding his head towards the next room. Shelby gave him a sympathetic smile as he sat back down on the couch.
His wife came back out of the kitchen, looking confused.
"Kurt, are you drunk?"
"Not since Sam's bachelor party," said Kurt, eyeing Rachel. "Why do you ask?"
"I put a new bottle of red wine in the fridge to chill this morning," said Rachel with a frown. "And now it's gone."
"I haven't even been in the kitchen since I got home," shrugged the countertenor. His mouth dropped open as a thought came to mind.
"But I know two little girls who have!" He jumped back up off the couch and Rachel followed behind.
"Anastasia and Abigail, you'd better explain…!" exclaimed Rachel as Kurt opened the door.
But there were no little girls in sight. Though in the middle of the room there was their little white table and chairs covered with an orange blanket. And on top was a plate with peanut butter and crackers, two purple little mugs from their kitchen play set, and the missing bottle of wine. There were three battery operated candles in the middle of the table, flickering away.
"Sorry Mommy, Daddy… but you told us not to play with matches, so we had to use your bubble bath candles," said Ana, standing beside her mother. Abby came up behind Kurt and was hiding behind his leg.
"Sweetheart," said Rachel, bending down. "What is all this?"
"Ana and me think you two need a play date," said Abby. "So we fixed dinner and called Grandmommy."
"How did you call…?" began Kurt. Realization dawned on his face. "So that's why I couldn't find my phone the other day." He gave the two girls a stern look.
Ana nodded her head up and down fast.
"And we even got you a movie and popcorn," said Abby. "But you'll have to get the bowl. We couldn't reach that high."
"Now come sit," said Ana, grabbing a hold of her mom's wrist. "You and Daddy both. We're going to go spend the night with Grandmommy."
"But girls-" began Kurt. He and Rachel shared a look.
"We have clothes at Grandmommy's," said Ana. "She can take us to school in the morning. Abby's got her stuffed elephant, and I've got my ballet things. Mommy packed it yesterday after we washed my leotard and stuff."
Rachel turned and went back towards the living room.
"Shelby…"
"Let them plan Rachel, it's kind of cute. I don't mind taking care of them for one night, you know that."
Rachel crossed her arms with a huff. Ana and Abby ran up and took Rachel by the arms. She had no choice but to follow as they pulled her back towards their bedroom. Abby lead Rachel over to the table as Ana reached into Kurt's back pocket and took his cell phone.
"Mommy's in the living room," said Ana. "Yours is going there too Daddy." Kurt started to protest by taking it back from her, but she took Kurt by the hand and sat him down across from Rachel. Neither one of them would look at each other.
Abby leaned over and give Kurt a kiss on the cheek and hugged his waist. "Love you Daddy." She did the same to Rachel, who put her arms around her daughter.
"Thank you baby."
"Enjoy your date night Mommy."
Ana kissed both her parents and picked up her bags on her bed. Abby picked up her grey stuffed elephant and her backpack for school.
"Are we just going to let them… go?" asked Kurt with a frown. "It's a school night."
"They're just going to Shelby's," said Rachel with a shrug. She smiled at the little table.
"They put their hearts into doing this, didn't they?"
"At least they didn't even try to open the bottle of wine," said Kurt, looking at the label and wrapping with a sigh. "We'd better clean up. I've got some wo…"
"Kurt."
"I know Rachel. It is cute that they wanted to do this for us," he said with a sigh. "Maybe we have been a little too annoyed with each other. The girls are starting to notice."
"We have definitely been that," said Rachel, turning the wine bottle over in her hands.
"Kurt…"
"We're going to have to plan better," he sighed. "And make more sacrifices. We can't keep doing this anymore." He rubbed the back of his head. "Two jobs and the kids…"
"We are a bit too stretched, aren't we?"
"Like butter spread over too much bread."
Rachel laughed softly at that, remembering how Sam used to quote it all the time when he talked about how busy everyone was.
"It hasn't been until the past few weeks that I have realized how much my dads sacrificed for me."
"I'm sure they're sitting back and laughing at us now."
Rachel unwrapped the top of the bottle and pushed hard on the cork, but it wasn't budging.
"And both our parents only had one child."
Kurt sighed and picked up a cracker. "I have a confession to make."
The brown haired woman put down the bottle and crossed her arms.
"What is it?"
"I have been working some extra overtime. Well, a lot since I've had a lull in shows. I kind of wanted us to take a family vacation this year since the girls are older now."
"Where to?"
"I was thinking since the girls hadn't been to the beach…"
Rachel squealed and put a hand over her lips to stop herself. "To the beach? Oh Kurt… I haven't been in the sun for so long…"
Kurt looked smug. "In Italy."
Rachel's mouth dropped open.
"Are you serious Kurt?"
"I haven't been working extra and saving for nothing. I will also be on the hunt for some fine Italian leather while we're there."
"And here I was thinking you were working to be rid of me," sniffed Rachel.
Kurt looked at Rachel like she had gone crazy and stuffed the cracker in his mouth. "You know what, I'm not even going to ask."
Rachel got up out of her chair and came over and hugged him. The motion nearly knocked the both of them down to the carpet.
"I think we'd better get out of their chairs before we break them," said Kurt.
"Kurt, what are we going to do about…?"
Kurt sighed. "By starting to make sacrifices. I had the day planner out trying to figure out something I could change." He looked up to Rachel. "Want to go over with me with our dinner of peanut butter and crackers?"
Rachel giggled. "With raisins."
The countertenor turned off the three candles. "What where they even thinking?"
"Oh I don't know," said Rachel. She picked up the DVD case. "I like how their idea of a romantic movie is my old copy of Tangled."
"Well, it is a cute story," said Kurt. Rachel nodded and picked up the plate while Kurt took the wine and also taking the candles back to the bathroom. Rachel sat down the plate of crackers on the coffee table and went to the kitchen to get wine glasses and the corkscrew. The sight of the open peanut butter jar complete with spoon stuck inside and the open raisin box made her sigh, shaking her head at her children. She quickly put things away and placed the spoon in the dishwasher. She went back into the living room where Kurt took the corkscrew. He opened the bottle and poured both of them a glass as Rachel picked up the planner sitting on the coffee table. She nodded her thanks when he handed her a glass. He sat down beside her with a sigh.
"Well, when I started looking earlier, I was thinking…"
The next morning, Rachel knocked on the door to Shelby's apartment.
"I'll get it Grandmommy!" she heard a voice say from inside. The door opened slightly.
"Mommy!" she heard Abby say brightly and Rachel felt a small pair of arms wrap around her legs as the door swung open wide. Rachel scooped her up and hugged her close.
"Hi baby. I missed you."
"Missed you too," said Abby.
"Abby, I told you to wait for me to get here. We don't open the door unless we know who they are. Hi Rachel," Shelby said with a sigh, wiping her hands on a dish cloth.
"Hey," she said to Shelby with a smile. She gave her mom a half hug since she was holding Abby.
"Busy morning?"
"Not too bad," said the older woman as she closed the door behind them. "Ana spilled my coffee all down her shirt so she had to go change. She's devastated about her perfectly coordinated outfit."
Rachel did her best not to roll her eyes. No idea where that came from.
"Abby, why don't you go check on your sister and make sure she's getting ready," said Rachel. She sat her daughter down on her feet.
"Okay Mommy." The little girl ran off in the direction of Shelby's extra bedroom.
"So how did your play date go?" teased Shelby.
Rachel groaned. "My kids. I have no idea where they get these crazy ideas."
Shelby chuckled. "I thought it was cute. They said you and Kurt had been fighting so I figured there was something going on."
Rachel sighed. "It seems stupid now."
"It's never stupid if you're having fights about it," said Shelby. "So tell me about it."
"We're having scheduling conflicts," said Rachel. "We are both trying to do everything: shows and the kids and their schedules, plus Kurt is working overtime…" She bent her head. "I admit I kind of thought Kurt was pulling away from me too. We've just been so busy lately."
"But he's not," said Shelby, sitting down her dishcloth on the breakfast bar where she and Rachel had taken a seat.
"No," said Rachel, shaking her head. She smiled a little. "He wants to take a vacation this summer. Us and the girls. To Italy."
"Wow," said Shelby. "Some trip."
"It's why he's been working a lot," said Rachel. "I think it'll be good for all of us. Though getting really good suitcases for the girls, things we'll need, passports renewed…"
"You'll figured it out," said Shelby. "So these scheduling conflicts…"
"We talked through it," said Rachel. "Kurt's going to cut back some of his overtime. We really just haven't sat down and looked at our schedules and the girls' schedules and were kind of playing it by ear. Now with Ana doing ballet and taking auditions, plus Abby is wanting to play soccer…"
"She is a little tomboy," said Shelby with a smile.
"I couldn't even entice her into ballet or dance," muttered Rachel.
"They both can't follow you into theatre," mused the Broadway day care owner. She stood up quickly. "But speaking of dance, I need to get to work. The girls have already packed their things."
"Thank you for waiting," said Rachel. "I kind of wanted to take them to school this morning to thank them."
"Does it involve chocolate or ice cream?" teased Shelby. "Because I might have to join in on the thanking."
"I'll bring you back a nice Italian leather jacket," giggled Rachel. "How's that?"
"Red," said Shelby with a laugh. "Definitely red. Or a red-ish brown. Something good for the fall."
"Red it is," smiled Rachel. "Thank you."
"You know it's never a problem for you Rachel. I am happy you and Kurt let me be involved with your kids, although I don't feel like a grandma."
"Well, they are lucky to have you so near," said Rachel. "Even if they come up with strange plans for a play date… date night thing."
Shelby laughed at Rachel and started picking up her things. Rachel headed off towards the bedroom where she knew two little girls were playing around probably instead of getting ready for school. She opened the bedroom and found Abby sitting on the bed with her stuffed elephant in her hands while Ana was frowning in the mirror, fiddling with her hair. She never understood where Ana had gotten her curls, but they absolutely refused to straighten even when the girls had taken swimming lessons. Rachel had been so sure they would have relaxed in the pool. But her dad Leroy had very tight curls too, although he kept his hair short.
"Girls, we need to get going or you'll be late for school."
"Mommy, can you come help me tie the back of my shirt?" asked Ana. The purple shirt she was wearing had a fancy decoration that had to be tied in the back in order for the collar to look nice. Rachel tied it gently around the back of her daughter's thin neck. She picked up Ana and covered her belly in kisses. It made Ana squeal and Abby jumped off the bed and pulled on Rachel's jacket.
"Me next!"
"One time," said Rachel as she sat down Ana. "Then we have to go. Grandmommy has to go to work."
Abby grinned and jumped into her mother's arms. Rachel kissed her tummy then laid a kiss on her forehead.
"Did you do your homework?"
"Yes Mommy. Grandmommy made sure."
"Good girl. Ana, you have your spelling test today don't you?"
"No, it's tomorrow," said Ana as she picked up her bags. "Daddy usually quizzes me before."
"Well, you may have to let me quiz you after ballet," said Rachel. "He's got to work late tonight."
"Did you and Daddy enjoy your play date?" asked Abby.
"We did," said Rachel. "I want to talk to you about that, but let's get out of here so Grandmommy can leave and lock up."
Rachel helped Abby with her backpack and soon they were out onto the New York streets after waving goodbye and hugs for Shelby. The Broadway star took her two children by the hand.
"Where are we going Mommy?" asked Ana.
"I'm going to take you to school," said Rachel. "And I'm going to pick you up this afternoon. Then tomorrow it'll be Daddy's turn. We've worked on our schedules so we can take you to school and pick you up a little differently. It'll be a bit of a change, but we want both of you to know that you're always the most important things in our lives."
"So you and Daddy made up?" asked Ana.
"We weren't really fighting… well, we were…" said Rachel. "It's just a little complicated. Sometimes Mommy makes up things in her head that aren't true and she believes them. Then your Daddy tells her she's crazy and things work out for the better."
"I didn't know you like make believe."
Rachel laughed. "I do, but it's a little different from your make believe sweetie." She stopped near a store front and bent down against the building to come eye to eye with her children. "Sometimes your Mommy gets a little insecure about things."
"What's insecure?" asked Abby, looking confused.
"It means I worry sometimes," said Rachel. "I don't want to lose your Daddy, and I get a little blind to the fact he has the biggest heart and he loves all of us very much." She smiled. "But don't tell him that. He might get a big head."
Ana giggled at that. Abby looked like she was deep in thought.
"What are you thinking about Abby-bug?" asked Rachel.
"Can we do another play date?" said Abby. "Since we didn't get to play with you and daddy."
"Well, Kurt won't be home till after seven, but I think we can get him to play with us if we give him pizza."
"Daddy does like pizza," nodded Ana.
"He does," said Rachel. "You want to watch a movie?"
"I want to do your hair Mommy," said Ana. "It's so pretty."
"Tell you what," said Rachel, a look of mischievousness in her eyes. "When your daddy gets home, I'll hold him down and you can do his hair."
"Yeah!" said Ana and Abby together with grins on their faces.
Rachel stood up, her own grin matching her girls. "We've got to go if we're going to get you to school and me to work."
Two little hands grabbed hers and they headed towards the subway.