"Shhhh" Kristina turned to her little friend and put her finger up to her lips. She slowly and quietly turned the doorknob to Sam's bedroom. Kristina and Jacqui tiptoed across the floor toward Sam's bed. Sam's hand dangled off of the side of the bed while she lay sleeping on her stomach. Her long brown hair was spread across her face.
Kristina reached for the glass of water that stood guard on the nightstand. Sam took a glass of ice water into her room every night and never touched it. And every morning Alexis would retrieve it. Today she sent Kristina.
Kristina looked at her friend Jacqui then let out a little giggle just before she suddenly poured the glass of water on Sam's head; instantly waking her older sister. Kristina and Jacqui took off running through the house toward the kitchen.
"KRISTINA!" Sam yelled as she jumped out of bed and ran after her little sister.
"Here's Sam's cup, Mommy!" Kristina dropped the cup in the sink as she and her friend ran through the kitchen to the mudroom to hide the in the closet.
Alexis jumped back slightly to move out of the way of the two little girls. "Kristina, get back here!" she heard Sam yell obviously moving very quickly toward the kitchen.
"What happened to you?" Alexis asked when Sam burst through the swinging kitchen door.
"Your daughter happened to me. Where is she?"
Alexis couldn't contain laughter back any longer. Her beautiful daughter stood in front of her wearing a tank top and boxer shorts looking like a drowned rat.
"What are you laughing at?" Sam accused. Alexis put her hands on either side of her face and pulled her in for a kiss on the forehead.
"Go clean up and get dressed. I'll deal with your sister."
"Oooh, no. I'm not going anywhere." Sam sat down at the kitchen table. "I know you're in the mudroom Kristina….I can wait forever, but eventually you're going to get hungry and want something to eat. And I'm going to be here waiting for you."
"Mom told me to wake you up…" she yelled in defense from the closet.
"She didn't tell you to dump a glass of ice water on my head." Sam yelled back.
"The ice melted."
"Sam, baby, will you go get Molly dressed for me before Ric gets here." Alexis asked.
Sam's spun around quickly and glared at her mother. "No. You're going to run interference for her."
"No, no I'm not." Alexis argued. "She is eventually going to have to deal with the wrath that is her big sister."
Molly came bouncing through the door into kitchen right on queue. "Looks like she's already dressed…" Molly had on a bright pink dancing leotard with silver sequence.
"Sam, I found your shoes…"
"You did?"
"Yeah, I got them on see?" Molly lifted her little leg as high as she could to show Sam her shoes. Sure enough she had on Sam's favorite pair of black boots.
Sam gave a small laugh "you need to take off my boots, before you fall and hurt yourself, Mol."
"I won't…" Molly said as she climbed up on the chair next to Sam. She then reached over the table and took Sam's toast out of her hand and began to nibble on it.
"You want something on that?" Sam asked her little sister with definite sarcasm. Molly just shook her head and continued to eat Sam's toast.
"Sam!" Alexis called from the living room. "My computer is doing that thing again, can you come fix it?"
"Hit control, alt, delete, then end the task" Sam called back.
"Hit what?"
"Control, alt, delete…."
"Where's alt?"
"Next to control…"
"Where's control?"
"Uh, just bring it here, Ma."
"Where did she get toast?" Alexis asked as she indicated Molly. She set the laptop down in front of Sam who quickly started tapping few keys on the keyboard.
"It's mine."
"Mommy, I'm hungry…" Kristina called from the closet.
"Well come get something to eat, you little…"
"Samantha!" Alexis warned.
"What?"
"Don't say what. She's seven and your twenty seven."
"That is makes it…THAT MUCH EASIER TO SQUASH HER!"
"Mommy!" Kristina whined.
"That's it…" Alexis stomped her way to the mudroom and flung open the closet door. She grabbed Kristina's arm and marched her into the kitchen. "Now, Kristina, apologize to your sister." Kristina crossed her arms and pouted. Jacqui stood just a couple of steps behind. "Kristina…" Alexis warned "Now."
"Sorry, Sam."
"Don't do it again, Kristina!" Sam warned.
"Okay, now….Kristina, Jacqui sit. Sam fix my computer…." Alexis started to bring order to her house for the first time since all four girls got up.
"It's fixed." Sam slammed the Laptop closed and pushed it to the side of the table.
"How do you do that?" Alexis was amazed that Sam fixed her computer in less than 30 seconds. "Well then make Kristina and Jacqui some oatmeal, please?" Alexis picked up the computer and retreated back to living room.
"Yeah, and don't spit in it, Samantha!" Sam turned and glared at Kristina.
"I heard that, Kristina!" Alexis called from the other room. Sam just smiled.
"Sammi, I want some soda with mine…" Molly chimed in.
"Molly, you can't have soda with breakfast." Sam added water to Kristina's oatmeal and placed the bowl in the microwave before pouring a glass of milk for each girl.
"But I want soda," three year-old Molly whined again.
"Sorry, you're getting milk."
Molly hopped down from the table and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm not talking to you no more," she promised her oldest sister.
"Okay…" Sam said pulling Kristina's oatmeal out of the microwave and putting in Jacqui's.
"Errrr…you're not posed to say okay." Molly yelled at Sam. Her arms were still crossed.
"Okay." Sam said again.
"No, you don't say okay. I'm going to my room and I'm not going with you."
"Okay…." Sam said once more.
"Errr…Stop saying okay" Molly groaned again and stomped her way into the living room toward Alexis. "Mommy, Sam won't stop saying okay."
Alexis looked at the young girl over the rim of her glasses. She watched as the little girl just kept talking. "Sam won't give me soda and I told her that I'm not going nowhere and she just keeps saying okay. And I don't want her to say okay." She finally stopped and waited for her mother's reaction. Soon it came.
"Sam…" Alexis yelled.
"Yeah, Ma…"
"Quit saying okay."
"Alright…" Sam yelled back.
"There. Is that better Molly?"
Molly made one big nod. "Yes."
"Good…go find your socks and shoes. Daddy will be here soon."
About ten minutes later all the girls finally seemed to be calmed down. The little one's had made their way to the play room and Sam had entered the living room carrying two oversized mugs of hot Chamomile tea.
She handed a mug to her mother as she sat down next to her. "Thank you, sweetheart."
"You're welcome," Sam answered not taking her eyes off of her mother.
Alexis looked at Sam then did a double take when she noticed Sam staring at her. "What?"
"Nothing… I just realized how lucky I am to have such a smart, beautiful mother." Sam compliment.
"Well, thank you baby…" Alexis patted Sam's knee. "What do you want and how much is it going to cost me?"
"What? No, nothing. You just amaze me. You have an amazing career, three children, and you manage to do it all."
"I don't do it all, honey. I don't do anything more that any other working single parent and I guilt my oldest child into helping out."
"Mom, are you ever sorry that you had three kids? I mean look at us…the three of us did nothing but fight all morning."
"Sam, honey, I have never regretted one minute of my life. You and your sisters are the best thing that I have ever done. And as far as this morning goes, I wouldn't have traded it for the world. It was far too entertaining. Fighting and arguing is what siblings do. I never had that with my brothers and sister. My brothers were too busy ignoring me or torturing me and well…you know Kristina's story. As far as I'm concerned, it is what makes us the perfect family."
Sam smiled as she listened to her mother. "Where is all of this coming from?" Alexis asked.
Sam shook her head. "I don't know, it just…I thought…"
"Don't think and don't question. The only thing that I will ever be sorry about is that I had to wait twenty-six years to live my life with you."
Sam smiled and gave her mother a hug. "Now, go get dressed. Ric picked up Molly, we're dropping Kristina at Jacqui's and you and I are going to the movies and the mall."
Sam smiled and darted off to her bedroom. She stopped briefly at the top step and turned to her mother. "Thanks, Mom."