Laundry.

Her life now consisted of mountains of laundry and being a referee for their four children.

Four beautiful,lovable, yet crazy souls.

As Kim separated and stacked the clothes her mind drifted to their sweet Lucy, it always did. In the years since her death a lot had changed, they welcomed two more little people into their lives.

They had decided to try for one more baby, and they welcomed Michael Alvin in to their world, Mikey was three and gave new meaning to the word 'threenager' he was lucky he was cute.

He was supposed to be their last but it was clear the universe had other ideas. Mikey was just fifteen months old when she finally admitted that the two week long stomach bug wasn't a stomach bug after all.

She was pregnant.

Avery Jade was a beautiful surprise, and she completed their family.

She wasn't even six months old when Adam went in for a vasectomy he had tried to argue that it was an evasive surgery. That it was a rash decision, that they should explore other options, he wasn't ready for a surgical procedure.

Kim promptly reminded him of the five children they had, and how she had carried them for nine months and then pushed them out of her body.

The vasectomy was scheduled for two weeks later.

The piles of laundry finished, Kim took the chance to relax for a few minutes. The bus would be dropping Milo and Emme off within the hour. Milo was in his final year of elementary school and Emme a kindergartener. Emme was thrilled that she was able to ride the bus with her big brother, Milo wasn't.

Once Milo stepped foot in the house Mikey would be up from his nap. How the kid knew his big brother was home, Kim was clueless. Thankfully Milo tolerated Mikey a lot more than he did Emme.

Her older children seemed to be at each other's throats constantly, fighting over anything and everything.

The baby monitor sprang to life, Avery soft cries put an end to folding laundry she returned the neatly stacked piles to the laundry basket and set it on the landing for Adam to carry upstairs.

Avery was standing in the crib, "Hey princess!" Kim greeted her, scooping her from the crib, "oh sweetie you stink! I'd wake up too." She teased as she went about changing her diaper.

Milo rolled his eyes, "Stop it, Emme!" He slung his backpack over his shoulder, "why are you so dumb?"

Emme scrunched her face up in disgust, "You're not allowed to say that, remember? Daddy said you can't say it."

Milo pushed the door open and waited for his little sister to go inside, "Daddy's not here, is he?" He tossed the backpack on the floor and went to the fridge, "Look only one soda..I wonder who gets to drink it?" He teased, "Not you!"

"I'm gonna tell!" Emme retorted.

"Where's dad?" Milo asked as he followed Kim around the kitchen, "I've got a game tomorrow..does he remember?"

Kim lowered the heat on the vegetables on the stove, "He's at work. He remembers Milo. He is finishing a case it's been solved. All that's left is the paperwork."

Milo grabbed a stack of napkins, "Was it a bad one?"

They kept the children in the dark on much of Adam's work, but it was hard to ignore the changes a particularly hard case brought forth in Adam. He did his best but sometimes it was just too heavy and it was hard to disguise his stress.

"It was bad enough." Kim told him, "Milo, dad knows about your game. He will do be there" Kim could see the worry in his eyes, "Honey, you know Dad loves your games. He will be there.

"Whatever." Milo grumbled, he finished setting the table, "can I have some screen time?"

"Homework?"

"It's Friday, Mom. Only a worksheet and reading, and I already did it." Milo told her. He was a studious kid and one thing he stayed on top of was his schoolwork.

"Okay. You've got.." she checked the clock, "..thirty minutes."

"Thanks Mom." He grabbed his iPad from the countertop and brought it in the living room.

They had enacted strict technology rules, Milo was only ten and his internet use consisted of ridiculous games like Five Nights at Freddie's and Minecraft but she knew it wouldn't be long before he was using Snapchat and Facebook.

It was never too soon to implement some boundaries and they knew all to well social media was a two headed monster and their children wouldn't fall victim to it. Not if they could help it anyway.

"Macy said she's gonna marry Thomas, but Thomas is never gonna get married..I told them I'm gonna marry daddy.." Emme rattled on, "..or Milo."

"Gross!" Milo pretended to gag, "You can't marry dad, he's already married and he's your dad..and I'm not marrying you. That's nasty. I'm never getting married. Girls are gross."

The sound of the garage opening ended the conversation, the kids took off to meet Adam at the door, little Mikey trying to keep up with his older siblings.

"You won't leave me will you sweet Avery." Kim teased, knowing full well that if Avery had her way she'd be chasing after Adam with the rest of the them.

"Daddy!" Emme threw her arms around his waist, "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too princess" Adam leaned down to kiss her head, "Mikey!" He lifted the toddler up under his arms, "Hey Milo..how's it going?"

The pair knocked knuckles, "Good. You're coming to my game tomorrow, right?" Milo followed him into the kitchen, "It's a big game dad, Coach says they're the best in the league. We can beat them though, cause we've got heart."

Adam dropped Mikey back in the chair, "Eat up kiddo." Adam kissed the top of his head, "I'll be there Milo." He turned his attention to Avery, "Ah, here's daddy's peanut." He kissed her cheek, "girl, get the food in your mouth." He laughed picking a few pieces of chicken from what little hair she had.

Kim graciously accepted the chaste kiss Adam dropped on her lips, "Ah, I see where I fall on your priorities list, huh?" She caressed his cheek, "I'm glad your home."

"I'm glad to be home." Adam replied, "You're at the top of my list darlin', just you wait until the kids are in bed."

The buzzing was incessant and seemed to grow in intensity, Kim rolled over and nudged Adam's shoulder, "Adam. Babe, your phone is blowing up."

Adam ran his hand over his face, "Huh? The kids?" His voice was croaky and it was clear he was still half asleep. "What time is it?" Slowly becoming aware of what was going on.

Kim turned the small bedside lamp on, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light, "Its just after two."

Adam sat up and grabbed the phone, "Ruzek" he kicked the sheets off and grabbed his jeans from the floor, "I'm on my way."

Kim propped herself up on her elbow, watching him as he dressed "New crime scene?"

Adam slipped his badge on his belt, "Yeah."

"Milo's game?" Kim knew how important it was to Milo, "you'll be there, right?"

He closed the door to the gun safe, "I will do my best."

"Adam.."

He groaned, "Kim, I know. I will be there, okay? Just tell Milo I will be there alright?" His frustration at the situation coming through loud and clear, "I love you." He leaned across the bed to kiss her.

She pulled him back towards her for a proper kiss, "Be careful, Adam."

"Mama" Kim coached Avery, "Mama. You say it baby girl. Say mama."

Avery chewed on toy dinosaur, "Dada!" Avery dropped the toy as she crawled across the couch and into Kim's lap.

"Not dada, say mama" Kim repeated.

Kim wasn't entirely sure, but she had a hunch that Milo and Adam had been working Avery, teaching her to say 'Dada' when prompted to say 'Mama', it was adorable.

"Dada."

"Silly girl." Kim tickled under her chin, "Dada's at work."

Milo bounded down the stairs, game day was the only day that had Milo moving so quickly, he sat on the arm of the couch, "Hey mom."

Kim gave his knee a squeeze, "Hey sweet boy."

"Game day." He grabbed the dinosaur, "Here Avery."

"You hungry?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, can we have waffles?" Milo moved to sit beside Avery on the couch, he grabbed the remote and started scrolling through the guide.

"We can. Go wake Mikey and Emme up for me. We can grab breakfast then head to the field."

Milo followed her into the kitchen, "Can I wake dad up too?"

Kim frowned, "He's working. He got called in very late last night"

Milo's shoulders sagged, "My game though. He said he'd be there, he promised me."

Kim stroked his cheek, "I know he did. He will be there. Don't worry, okay?"

"You sure?" He stood on the landing of the stairs.

"Yes, Milo." Kim replied, "go get your brother and sister up."