First Incounter
Jeff finally managed to get all his paperwork done. It was nearly ten at night. He listened hard, but could hear nothing. In a house with five sons under ten this usuallyspelt trouble. As he carefully tiptoed out of his office and along the landing Jeff hit his toe on a box that he hadn't seen in the dark and swore under his breath.
He got to the kitchen and foraged for something to eat all he found in the refrigerator; along with several instant meals was some cheese that smelled off, a carton of milk, various juices and an eight pack of tiny yoghurts. He considered eating them but decided that his sons deserved dessert more than him. He went to write to go shopping on kitchen chalkboard only to find it was covered in memos. That was the final straw;
'I'm getting a housekeeper.' Jeff thought firmly.
It was at times like this that he missed Lucille. This would never have happened two years ago. At this time of night the boys would all be asleep (Except Scott, a raging insomniac since birth), the house would be clean and she would be waiting with some kind of pasta concoction, but now she was gone Jeff had to run the house, raise his sons and go to work. His own stubbornness had prevented him from getting any help.
Ten thirty: Jeff finished his meal and set the dishwasher going for what seemed like the 40th time that day. As he made his way upstairs he saw a little hunched figure at the top of the stairs. As he drew closer he realised it was Virgil. Jeff picked his son up and kissed him lightly on the top of the head.
"You said you would read us a story daddy," Virgil told him full of disappointment when Jeff explained that it was too late for stories. He felt so guilty that he was depriving his sons of quality time; at least they had each other.
" Didn't Scott read to you?"
He now felt guilty for laying responsibility on his eldest son after what they had been though.
"It isn't the same, we like it when you read" Virgil answered
Jeff tucked his sons in and instructed Scott to read until he got tired. Scott was the only one with his own room. The others were scared of being alone at night and shared.
Jeff found it hard to get to sleep that night. He knew his mother had insisted on helping out at first and she had been useful until Jeff banished her because she was getting under his feet and on his nerves. They need two people to raise them well; she had said, he agreed, just not her.
He rang his friend Kyrano who insisted he would be there in the morning and asked to bring his daughter. Without any thought Jeff said okay as Kyrano was doing him such a big favour and it would give the boys a playmate.
The next moring Jeff woke up aware of someone beside him.
"Good morning Daddy" Gordon said with his usually enthusiasm.
It was half eight on a Saturday but Gordon didn't know because he couldn't tell the time. Jeff staggered out of bed got ready and filled four plastic bowls with oatmeal and one of cheerio's. He got himself toast.
Tin-Tin Kyrano was both nervous and excited about her father and her moving to live with the Tracy's so he could work for them. She had never met any boys older than her before. She hoped they would be nice and that she would have a pink bedroom with a big closet for her dolls because she had never had one before.
The taxi pulled up and the driver helped Kyrano unload their bags. Mr Tracy helped as well, she knew him because he had come round to dinner once and told her about his sons, that three were older than her, one the same age and the other younger. Tin-Tin got out of the car and brushed off her Minnie mouse fleece and denim skirt, picked up her bags and marched along the drive way, her pink mary- janes crunching the gravel. Her father was talking above her, being thanked for coming at such short notice. She wandered off and found the garden
"Daddy look they have a swing and climbing frame" Tin-Tin said excitedly as she tugged at her father's sleeve. Jeff suggested she come inside and unpack before she played with the boys.
Her bedroom was better than anything she could have wished for, it the lemon and ivory with a huge bed and screamed elegant. Tin-Tin was of course too young to appreciate elegance but loved it all the same. The built in cupboard was bigger than she could have imagined, but she decided to put the dolls and stuffed animals on the window seat. Jeff showed her how the lock worked so she could keep the boys out if she wanted to, which she did; no smelly boy was going to ruin her new paradise. She arranged all her toys herself and instructed the men on where to put the things she couldn't reach or lift. It was her room and she wasn't a baby, in fact she was 'three going on forty' if Jeff was to be believed.
It was just before lunch when Tin-Tin left her new room to meet the boys. Kyrano had gone with Jeff to help sort out feeding the children,and left his daughter standing in the hallway with her rag doll. Having finally plucked up the courage to go in to the lounge.Tin-Tin marched in trying to look more confident than she felt. She stood watching them for a while feeling like David Attenbough.
"Hello" she said over the cartoon they were watching.
John turned around to see her, his jaw hung open in amazement.
"You're a girl", heuttered withundue shock.
"Well done Sherlock ", Scott said, after nothing more than a glance at the girl stood in the middle of the room..
They were all staring now, especially little Alan who seemed to like her right away as a gummy grin spread over his face. He crawled over to her and stared up intently. Tin-Tin looked down mirroring his expression.
Gordon spoke next: "Do you want to ride my scooter?"
"That's silly, Girls don't ride scooters" Virgil told his brother firmly, he thought for a moment "They just stay home and play dolls"
This hurt Tin-Tin; she always was told at day care that girls could be just the same as boys.
"Well actually…" she began but John interrupted her
"Yeah Virg' is right we shouldn't play with girls because they're stupid and cry"
He said something else but she didn't hear it as she fled.
She was crying now in her room; the boys were nasty and hated her just because she was a girl. She could ride a scooter, in fact she had got one for Christmas and it was in the garage right now, she would ride it after lunch just to show them. There was a tap on her door and Alan came in. He climbed on to the bed and sat next to her with the same look as he had given her in the lounge.
"No cry" he told her and wiped away her tears with his hand
"Cookie?"
He offered her one it was chocolate chip, her favourite. It had become squashed and sticky in his hand but she ate it anyway. It was more than just a kind thought; it was a gift and asked for forgiveness in the only way the two year old knew. When she realised this Tin-Tin decided that not all boys were mean, just big ones. She made a promise to herself that she would teach Alan to be nice to girls.
"Would you like me as a big sister?" She asked him, He didn't know but just nodded out of politeness.
"And your friend" she added, this seemed to appeal slightly more as he smiled.
"I'll be your friend as well" Gordon told her from the door way, for a child who could get in anywhere Alan still had not learned to shut the door.
"Okay" She said as Gordon sat down next to Alan
"You don't really want a big brother they're mean" Gordon added.
Tin-Tin nodded having already found this out the hard way.
"Little ones are okay though" he cuddled Alan till he grinned.
"I'm three like you," He told her
"Me two" Alan butted in
"When are you four?" she asked
"February"
"My birthday's in June"
"Oh... so that means I would sort of be your big brother after all."
"I suppose so."
"Do you still want to ride my scooter?"
"I have my own" she said proudly.
"Really?"
"Me have trike!" Alan told her
"Shall we play house?" Tin-Tin asked them
"What house?"
Tin-Tin realised that as they did not have a sister they would have no idea what 'house' was.
"Well we pretend to be grown ups, well actually Alan is the baby and me and you are his pretend Mommy and Daddy"
"Alan isn't a baby, he's two" Gordon said simply. Thenthought for a minute.
"Lets play lion house, it's like house but we are lions instead of people"
Alan roared and clawed around the floor in case Tin-Tin did not know how to be a lion.
After half an hour luch was ready. Tin-Tin happily sat in the seat between Gordon and Alan, despite having been warned that Alan was a messy eater.
"Do you boys have something to say?" Jeff asked
"Sorry to have upset you Tin-Tin" the three older ones chorused.
And no more was ever said on the subject.