a/n: Sorry I didn't update yesterday! But I'm updating now so here's chapter eight!!!

Always,
Kylie

Live and work but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it. -Eileen Caddy

School has always been important to me so I make it a point to try hard to succeed. Of course exams and paper deadlines aren't easily met when you have a family at home to take care of.

So I do it all. I go to class; take care of my baby and give her all the attention she needs; I make dinner for my family; I make sure my husband gets his attention; and I finish my schoolwork in an effort to meet my deadlines. Especially with exams coming up, my agenda has kept me up at all hours of the night, in order to keep up with school and my family.

It has definitely got to the point where I can genuinely say that I'm overworked…

The week of finals was incredibly hectic. By the time it was Wednesday and I had three, incredibly hard, incredibly long finals the next day. It was a wonder I had managed to complete the first five finals and achieve passing grades.

Wednesday after my fifth final I stumbled into the house carrying Willa's car seat and trying to balance all of my books with my wand. They managed to make it inside before they fell onto the kitchen floor with a bang. I placed Willa's car seat on the floor and took out a pen to cross Wednesday off my finals schedule that was hanging on the fridge. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were complete. One more day and three finals to go…

I left Willa's car seat for a moment to pick up the books that fell. When I was no longer in her line of view, she began screaming her tiny lungs out. She was at this wonderful stage where she screamed bloody murder when she could no longer see me.

"Mama's here baby." I said as I struggled with the heavy stack of books that I needed to use for studying. Finally I had the books together and moved to pick her up. She smiled when she saw me. "Ok, we're going to go see the kitties and then mama has to study." I lifted Willa up and brought her back in the garage.

Instead of moving them, we put a small fence around them so Midnight and her kittens would have her privacy. We found good homes for each of them. Once they got big enough, the black and white one was going to Becki, Paul, and Anna; the orange one was going to Sasha and Trey; the brown one was going to Graye and Nick, the white one was going to Neville, Luna, and Phinny (when he's born of course); and finally the gray and black one was going to Willa. Her name was Mimi (my choice, I figured it would be easier for her to say once she could speak). Willa was very fond of the kitten and vice versa.

"Look, baby its Mimi." I said, pointing to the cat. "It's your kitty." Willa smiled at the kitten and reached her hand out. Mimi looked up when she saw Willa. She stretched out and Willa giggled. I smiled as I watched the interaction but knew that I had studying to do. "Ok, come on." I brought Willa back inside where I attempted to hold her and get my books from the kitchen counter to the coffee table. They fell in a heap on the table, knocking into the vase that held flowers Ron brought home for me.

"Frick! Frick! Frick!" I exclaimed. Willa laughed. "This is so not funny." I assured her. I got the mess cleaned up with my wand and then placed Willa on her play mat in the middle of the floor. She cried when I went to sit down and study.

I picked her up and brought her to the couch with me. "Fine, we'll study together." I told her, settling Willa and myself on the couch with a book. "But we have to study hard because mama needs a good grade on this."

"Ohyaehaa." Willa said as she reached for the page.

"No, no baby." I took her hands away and turned her around so she wasn't playing with the book. "Ow!" She yanked on my hair. "Come on baby, please be good for mama." I turned her back around and held the book further out. It was hard to read this way but at least she wasn't interrupting me.

I repeated facts out loud and that helped slightly. As I was working my way through the important times in history and attempting to take notes, my cell phone rang. Willa who had been incredibly close to sleep was now wide-awake, watching curiously as I answered the phone.

"Hello?" I put Willa into a sitting position on the couch. Since she could still see me, she didn't cry.

"Hello my love." Ron said from the other line. "How did your finals go today?"

"Well, after staying up until three a.m. and having to get up at six I managed a pretty good grade and a nap as soon as I was done. Of course that didn't go over too well with the professor." I replied. It was the truth. Willa lifted her arms, indicating that she wanted me to hold her.

"Ah! Ah!" She said, which was her way of saying, "Up mama! Up!" I lifted her up and attempted to balance the phone and my baby.

"You work too hard." Ron said from the phone.

"Yes, well there's only one way to pass the classes and that's to study until three in the morning and then feed your daughter before falling into bed too tired to even get over the covers." I said. Ron chuckled as I nearly dropped the phone.

"Well, it's almost over and then you can relax." Ron said.

"Right, relax." I almost laughed. Like school was my only stressful worry.

"Well, I'll be home at six. Do you think you can take a break and we can have dinner together? I'll bore you with the details of my day." Ron said. I laughed again and knew I couldn't say no.

"Yeah, that'll be fine. I'll make eggplant." I said.

"Oh goody." Ron said, sarcastically.

"You didn't let me finish." I protested.

"Sorry, go on." Ron said.

"And chicken for you." I finished.

"Sounds wonderful, love. Tell Willa I love her and I'll see you two at six." Ron said.

"Love you too. Bye." I hung up the phone and Willa reached for it. Since it kept her quiet I handed her the phone and put her back down. This kept her entertained for all of five minutes and then it was my job again.

Luckily she nodded off and I was able to put her in her playpen and get some studying in while she slept.

I managed to make a set of note cards with important dates on them and then another set for my French final before Willa woke up, hungry. It was more difficult to work with a now awake and more energetic than ever Willa. This time I laid on the floor with her and attempted to read through the chapter reviews while she shook a rattle in my ear and tried to get my attention.

"I'm sorry baby but mummy needs to study. I promise that as soon as I'm done with my finals we will play all the time, but I have to get a good grade." My attempts to dissuade Willa from shaking her rattle at me only made her squirm over next to me and whack her rattle at my book.

As the time grew later I now had three tasks to complete: dinner making, baby entertaining, and studying. I placed Willa in her highchair with a few toys. This kept her busy while I got the basic things out that I needed for cooking. Once she had either thrown the toys from the tray or they fell off she wanted to get out.

"Ah! Ah!" she said lifting her arms up to let me know that she no longer wanted to sit there.

"No baby, I have to make dinner for daddy." I said. My book was open on the counter and the marinade for the chicken splashed onto it. "Frick!" I exclaimed. Willa was amused by what was happening…oh if she only knew how stressed I actually was.

"Aieyayaahlaamaaayaada." Willa decided to talk to me since I wasn't going to pick her up. She talked to me and I responded to her while I made dinner and studied.

As I ducked to check on the eggplant in the oven Willa began screaming.

"I'm coming baby, I'm coming." I said. I let the oven door slam and I ran around the counter to pick her up out of her highchair. In the process I banged my hip on the counter. "Gosh darn it!" I exclaimed, wishing so much that I could just say "Goddamn it!" I never really realized how much those angry words helped make it feel better. I picked Willa up and her screaming ceased.

Just as I was walking back around the counter with Willa in my arms the top of the oven erupted in flames and my French note cards were burning along with it. My eyes stung with tears from the pain in my hip as I took out my wand.

"Aguamenti!" I shouted and nothing happened except the fire began burning the food on top of the oven as well as the note cards. The door to the garage open and Ron walked in with a smile on his face that fell as soon as he saw the fire. On instinct Ron took out his wand and said the spell. It worked for him.

Gray smoke billowed from the oven as I went to open the doors to the backyard. As soon as that was done I fell on the couch in tears. Ron was at my side. He lifted Willa from my arms and put one of his arms around me while I sobbed into his shoulder. My hip was in pain, I nearly burnt the house down, my French note cards were burnt, dinner was burnt and I couldn't take it anymore.

"It's all right." Ron said, rubbing my back.

"No, it's not!" I sobbed. "There's too much going on! I have to devote one hundred percent of my energy to Willa and then one hundred percent to my finals and then I've got to cook dinner! It's not working anymore, Ron."

"Hermione, you're overwhelmed." Ron said. "And I'm sorry I let it get like this." He kissed my forehead. "I know you've got school and right now that's the most important thing for you."

"But Willa's important too." I wiped away tears but a fresh batch replaced them.

"Listen," Ron said, "I'm going to take Willa to the ShoreHouse and I want you to stay here and study." He kissed me again. "I clean up this mess and then you'll have the whole house to yourself. Tomorrow after your last final we're going to work out a plan for next semester so this doesn't happen again." He pulled me in for a hug. "'Mione, I'm sorry."

"Me too." I said. I rested my head against his shoulder. "I tried to be the best mother, wife, and student but didn't think to ask for help when it got too crazy."

"Don't ever think you can't ask for help." Ron said. He smiled at me and I felt like the luckiest woman in the world to have him here to help me. He kissed me once more and stood up with his wand out.

The mess was cleaned up easily and Willa looked thrilled to have attention from her daddy.

"We'll be back in a couple hours." Ron said. "Don't worry about anything else but studying."

"Thanks." I hugged him and he left with Willa. I watched them pull out of the garage and then I went back to the living room where my books were waiting for me. I levitated them all upstairs where I dropped them on my bed in a heap. I changed into a pair of blue sweatpants and a white tank top before crashing on my comfortable bed and beginning to study.

I got pages of notes filled in, tons of note cards to study from, and memorized all the important dates in history. By the time Ron and Willa got home I felt ready for my three finals the next day.

"Hey." Ron said, carrying a tired Willa into the room. "Willa's going to say goodnight before I put her to bed."

"I can take care of that." I stood up and lifted Willa from Ron's arms. "Hey girly."

"Are you sure?" Ron asked. I nodded.

"I just need a few minute break. I'll put her down." I said. Ron kissed Willa's forehead and Willa and I left the room. It took me several minutes to get her ready for bed and then a few to wait while she fell asleep. Finally I returned to the bedroom where Ron was looking over my notes.

"I was thinking." Ron said, placing my notes down. "What if I take Friday off and we just have a long weekend, the three of us?"

"Why?" I questioned. I fell onto the bed and he wrapped his arms around me.

"Well, all work and no play isn't good as you proved earlier. I think we should take a break this weekend. 'Mione if you work too hard it has negative effects." Ron said. I laughed and turned around to kiss him.

"Ok!" I agreed happily. Ron leaned in to kiss my and my arms encircled his neck. After a moment, things got too heated and we both pulled away. "Study." I said, breathlessly.

"Yeah." Ron scratched his head. "I'm going to go study." He looked confused for a moment. "I mean…TV." I offered him a smile before he walked out of the room.

x

"I passed! I passed!" I ran into the house yelling happily. I found Ron and Willa in the backyard. Ron was reading to Willa. Ron stood up and came over. I jumped into his arms. "I passed all three exams!" I shouted.

"That's great!" Ron said. He spun me around.

"Ah! Ah!" Willa called from her chair. I went and lifted her up.

"Yes, that's right baby. Mama promised she would play with you once she finished her exams!" Willa giggled happily when I kissed her nose. "What should we do?" I asked Ron. "Beach? Pool? Heck, let's take a trip somewhere!" Ron laughed at my excited mood.

"Disneyland!" He announced with a cheerful smile on his face.

"Ok!" I agreed, feeling giddy and excited. I had just finished all my exams and I could take a break! "Oh, Ron we have to get a picture of Willa with Mickey Mouse!" I said. "And Snow White…oh and Cinderella!" Ron laughed as I went on about everything we had to do. "And we have to get her one of those Mickey Mouse hats with her name on it." I decided.

"Ok." Ron said as he listened. We walked inside discussing our plans for the next day while Willa excitedly smiled, knowing there was something going on.

The next day we hit the road pretty early. Willa was napping in the back seat while we drove the forty-five minutes to Anaheim, California. I was excited about this and had the camera with me to take tons of pictures of Willa enjoying herself. Ron was excited too. He couldn't wait to take Willa on small rides and buy her Disney stuffed animals.

Our trip to Disney was quite the event. Willa got excited when she saw all the bustle and excitement but she wasn't too fond of the big scary mouse. She did take a picture with Snow White and I and Cinderella but I think the people in the animal costumes scared her a little. Ron took her on every ride meant for little children. The Alice and Wonderland ride, which Ron said she enjoyed very much; Peter Pan's flight where Ron pointed that we were sailing over London to her; Dumbo the Flying Elephant where she giggled happily; the King Arthur Carousel where I got pictures of her enjoying herself; and we went on the Storybook Land Canal Boats.

In the afternoon when Willa nodded off in the baby carrier, Ron and I walked around and shopped for everyone who was coming up to visit next week.

We got t-shirts and Mickey, Goofy, and Donald Duck stuffed animals for Lex, Max, and Greg and we got Minnie Mouse dresses and stuffed animals of Ariel, Cinderella, and Belle for Lily, Cecilia, and Penny. We also got a Snow White one for Willa as well as her Mickey Mouse ears and several Disney t-shirts. For the adults we purchased t-shirts and interesting character hats that they would surely find funny.

By the time Willa woke up, we had bags and bags of things for our family and a lot of time to spend in Disney.

"This is so much fun!" Ron declared. "I say we skip our responsibilities every Friday and come here." He joked. I laughed and we walked through Fantasyland with Willa watching the place and people around her in amusement. She was now wearing a purple shirt with a picture of Tinkerbell on it over her skirt. I had on the same one in a adult size with my denim capris and Ron had on a white Mickey Mouse t-shirt with his jean shorts.

"It is fun. Thank you for making me relax for a day." I said.

"Anytime my love." Ron said; he leaned down to kiss me. Willa pursed her lips together as if she wanted a kiss too.

"And one for you too little girl." I said, kissing her cheek and letting her kiss mine. She smiled and Ron led the way to The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride.

We watched the parade after riding a few more rides and then when it began to get dark, we got ready to watch the fireworks.

The loud bang that scared Willa at first actually interested her when the kaleidoscope of colors illuminated the sky.

"Ahyalaya!" Willa said excitedly, in my arms as she watched the fireworks explode. Ron smiled at me while Willa watched, transfixed with the sky. I smiled back at Ron as he put an arm around me and we turned our attention to the fireworks.

Willa slept during the ride home. It was past her bedtime but we figured that today was a special occasion so it was ok.

I stretched out in my seat and rested my head back, turning and smiling at Ron.

"I had a lot of fun today." I said to him. "Thanks." Ron smiled back at me momentarily before turning his focus back to the road. I turned back to take a peek at Willa sleeping. Her stuffed doll of Snow White lay next to her in her car seat. I smiled and lay back in my own seat, shutting my eyes.

I awoke when we arrive home and brought Willa inside while Ron struggled with the bags.

"Put them by the coffee table. I want to sort though them and wrap them with the Mickey Mouse wrapping paper." I instructed Ron. I placed Willa on her play mat in the middle of the floor and left her toys down near her.

"I don't think that falls under the category of relaxing." Ron said, dropping the bags of gifts on the floor. "Save it for tomorrow." He yawned and fell onto the couch. I sat next to him and rested my head against his shoulder.

"Ok." I agreed. To be honest I wasn't too keen on giving up this relaxed blissful feeling. We both watched Willa as she discarded her new toys, looking for her usual rattle. Seeing it was out of reach, she began to pull herself along on her belly to grab it. When this wasn't fast enough for her, she pulled herself up on her knees and began crawling after it. Ron and I jumped up with smiles on our happy faces.

"She crawled!" Ron announced the obvious.

"She did." I said, beaming from ear to ear. Ron and I got down on all fours next to her and watched as she reached her rattle and moved herself into a sitting position. When she saw us next to her, smiling at her she smiled happily and shook her rattle at us. "Look at my big girl. You're crawling now!" I said. I kissed her forehead and she giggled. My baby was crawling! She was right on schedule with everything! All of the books said that magic babies developed slightly faster than muggle babies but Willa was reaching each milestone in her development as early as possible. She was brilliant!

"Wil, you're growing up too fast." Ron said. "Soon you're going to be walking!"

"Eiahlladaayaa." Willa said. Ron and I smiled and waited for her to crawl again but for now she was perfectly content with sitting there shaking her rattle.

There's nothing like taking a relaxing day with your family and then watching your daughter crawl for the first time to end the perfect relaxing day. As important as school is to me, I've found that if I don't take the time to relax or allow someone to help me that it can be overwhelming.

School, being a mother, and a wife are all difficult tasks when put together and once in a while I've got to take a step back and refrain from overworking myself. For now I've got the whole summer to relax with my daughter and husband. Perhaps we'd even go back to Disneyland again…

REVIEW PLEASE!!! If I get enough reviews I'll update again tomorrow. Friday I'm going camping so I won't be able to update for the entire weekend but I'd like to put nine up before I leave so please review!!!!

-Kylie