"Are you serious? It's mine?" Mason yelled, standing up on his bed in excitement, his dad's iPhone in his hand. Charlotte and Cooper grinned and nodded. "Now that your daddy's upgraded, he doesn't need it anymore, and you walk from school to the practice, so it's important for you to have a phone." Charlotte told him, knowing that with Cooper as Mason's dad, there was no chance the kid wouldn't have games on the thing. Charlotte stood and straightened out her pants. "Well, i best be off, Violet will be here in a few minutes, and i, have three girls to get to swimming before they see Aunty Vi and i never get them out of the door." She drawled, folding her arms across her chest. Cooper stood too and wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her cheek. "Okay, go then, but i want first hug when you get back. And photos. Lots and lots of photos." He told her, letting her go. Charlotte laughed as she saw Masons screwed up, disgusted face and grabbed his head and gave him a kiss. "Be good" She told him, leaving the room.
Charlotte was sitting at the edge of the swimming pool, checking for emails on her phone, while her three daughters spent one on one time with a swimming instructor each. She looked up as she heard one of her girls scream, but smiled when she saw it was only Rachel, complaining because her teacher had let go of one of her hands. Out of all of her children, Rachel hated the water the most, but Coop had told Charlotte that with a pool in the garden, she was going to learn how to swim.
Georgia loved swimming, and was the easiest one to get out the door in the mornings for lessons, and the first one in the pool. Caroline liked swimming too, but liked sleeping in more. She was hard to get up and ready every Saturday morning. She wanted to lie in bed and sleep longer, something that Charlotte swears is a 'Cooper gene', so Charlotte had to dress her practically half asleep. And then there was Rachel, who fought her momma every time the swimming costumes came out. There were tears, screaming, shouting and pouting every time. If it wasn't such a valuable life skill, she wouldn't force her to go, but she needed to learn. She'd rather have a crying baby girl than a drowned baby girl.
Charlotte was bent down to the same level as her triplets, and drying off Georgia, who was last to be helped back into her clothes. Her sisters were both sitting on the bench munching on a banana, their lips slightly blue from being in the pool for so long. Charlotte pulled up Georgia's skirt and kissed her cheek, handing her an opened banana. "There you go princess." She said, standing up again. "Are i a princess too Momma?" Rachel asked, trying to get off the bench, her tiny legs not quite reaching the ground. Charlotte helped her off, then lifted Caroline to the floor. "Yes, you are all my princesses." Charlotte told them, picking up the swimming towels and shoving them into the girls backpacks. She handed them out to the respective girls and they put them on dutifully. As Caroline and Rachel raced off to the exit, Georgia hung back and took hold of Charlotte's hand, sticking close to her momma's side. She smiled down at her daughter and continued the walk outside the building, finding the other two waiting by the side of the road, their hands already linked. Charlotte took hold of Rachel's hand and guided her three toddlers to the car, letting go of their hands and pressing the button on her keys to open the doors. She got into the driver's seat, knowing that all three girls were too stubborn and viewed themselves as 'too old' to let mommy do it for them.
"Everyone buckled?" She asked before starting her engine. When she heard three little voices reply with a yes, she kicked the car into gear and reversed out of the parking lot.
Caroline, Rachel and Georgia were all waiting impatiently for Charlotte to unlock the front door to the house to let them in. "Okay, no tackling Aunty Vi again, okay? Let her breathe." Charlotte warned them, swinging the door open. As her three monsters ran into the house, screaming out for their favourite family friend, Charlotte shut the door and took her shoes off.
Walking into the lounge, she found Violet, sitting under three very excited little girls, and Cooper, standing and laughing. She slipped an arm around his waist and gave him a cuddle, watching their girls. She looked up at him and smiled when he gave her a kiss. "I think Mason wants to talk to you. He's in his room." He told her, giving her another kiss. Charlotte frowned and leant her head against his chest. "Is everything okay?" She asked, once again feeling blessed to be a part of such an amazing family. "I think he's bummed about that A still. He really wanted an A+" He told her quietly. She nodded and tapped his bum playfully. "Tonight, i promise." She winked at him, leaving the room to go talk to Mason.
