"Hey you two!" Debra hollers at the twins as they run circles around her on the couch. "I'm not kidding around here! Go upstairs and get ready for bed now!"
"Why?!" they ask, laughing.
"Because it's nine o'clock and you're going to be too tired to go to school tomorrow if you don't get into bed now," she tells them. "And I'm not driving you when a bus goes right by here every single morning!"
"Who cares!" they holler in reply.
Everything becomes too much for Debra and she leans forward on the couch, resting her head in her hands.
"Mom?" the twins say as they stop running around and go to stand beside Debra. "Are you alright?"
Debra sits up straight again, tears running down her cheeks.
"Mom!" Michael exclaims, a worried look crossing his face. He'd never seen his mother cry like this before.
"Are you OK?" Geoffrey asks.
Debra wipes her eyes before answering the boys.
"You two know that mom has been under a lot of stress lately," Debra begins to explain. "Your dad explained it to you and you're old enough to understand that something very bad could have happened while I was in the hospital. You two don't listen to me at all and that's very frustrating and right now I just can't take it anymore."
"What do you mean?" Geoffrey asks, not fully understanding.
"When a woman has a baby sometimes she can get emotional for no reason at all," Debra tells them. "I usually try to keep it together in front of you kids, but when you do things like this I just can't take it."
"How come you have to cry?" Michael asks.
"I don't know hun," Debra tells him. "I guess that when I try everything to get you boys to listen and then you don't, I don't know what else to do."
"Oh," Michael replies, feeling a little guilty for not listening earlier.
"I know you guys want to have fun," Debra tells them. "But sometimes you have to do things you don't like. Sometimes we all have to do things we don't like."
"Like what?" Geoffrey asks.
"Do you think I wanted to stay in the hospital?" Debra asks.
"No," the boys reply together.
"That's right," Debra tells them. "I hate hospitals. I would much rather have been here at home with you guys and your sister and your dad, but I couldn't."
"Why?" Michael asks.
"Because I was hurt," Debra tells them. "And the baby could have died."
"But it's not alive yet," Geoffrey says with a confused look on his face.
"Yes it is," Debra explains to him. "And pretty soon you'll be able to tell by putting your hand on my belly. You'll be able to feel the baby moving inside."
"Really?" Geoffrey asks, his eyes lighting up. "That is SO cool!"
"Yeah!" Michael adds.
Debra smiles at them.
"Yes, it is," she replies. "But right now you two need to go up and get ready for bed, alright?"
"But we want to hear more about the baby!" Michael protests.
"Well, I'll make you a deal," Debra begins. "You guys go get ready for bed and go to sleep, and tomorrow after school you can ask me as many questions about the baby as you want to."
"Really?" Michael asks.
"Absolutely!" Debra replies with a grin on her face.
"Night mom!" the twins both holler, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and running upstairs.
Debra sighs and leans back on the couch. What on earth did she just get herself into? Just as Debra is about to get up to go upstairs and make sure the boys are actually doing what she told them to, Ray walks in the back door with Ally.
"Hey Twinkie!" Ray exclaims as he and Ally come into the living room.
"Hey Ray," Debra replies.
"You alright mom?" Ally asks, noticing that her mother has been crying.
"Yeah sweetie," Debra replies. "I'm fine."
Ally smiles at her.
"Did you have fun at the movies?" Debra asks her.
"Yeah," Ally replies. "The boys didn't ruin it completely."
"Well that's good," Debra replies. "Can you go get ready for bed now while the boys are still up?"
"Yeah," Ally replies. "Sure mom."
"Thanks sweetie," Debra replies, giving her daughter a smile.
Ally heads upstairs as Ray sits down on the couch beside Debra and puts his arm around her.
"You sure you're alright?" he asks once he's sure Ally is out of earshot.
"Yeah," she tells him, leaning against him. "I had a moment but, I'm fine now."
"OK," Ray says as he kisses the top of her head.
"Go ahead," Debra says.
"What?" Ray asks, leaning back a bit to look Debra in the eyes.
"I know you want to ask me about the vacation," Debra tells him.
"You get that from me kissing the top of your head?" Ray asks.
"No," Debra says. "I get it from that stupid grin on your face."
"Well I wasn't going to ask you," he tells her. "I was going to give you all the time in the world you needed to think."
Debra just looks at Ray.
"Alright!" Ray hollers, giving up. "Did you think about it?
"Yes," Debra replies with a smile on her face. "And I talked to the doctor today he said that as long as I don't let myself get too stressed out, it would be perfectly safe for me to go."
Ray gets a huge smile on his face.
"So," Debra says. "If you want to rent an RV and drive across the country, I'll go."
"Yes!" Ray exclaims, giving Debra a kiss before jumping up off the couch and dancing around the room."
Debra laughs as she watches Ray dance around the room.
"Idiot," she says before Ray leans over the back of the couch and gives her another kiss.