"Boys, look what just came today," Mom waved letters in our faces. "Your guys' school schedules and supply lists! After we look at your schedules, we can go get supplies for you guys!"
I groaned outwardly, causing Hannah to copy that noise. With a laugh, I looked at her as she cooed and kicked her feet playfully, trying to be just like me. Mom chuckled at Hannah and so did Brad. Brad, Mom and I were almost always amused by something she did.
"Are you feeling your big brothers' pain?" Mom chuckled as Hannah watched from the play mat.
It read:
Dear Mr. and Mrs. Taylor,
On behalf of Huron Middle School, I am happy to welcome you and Randy to the 1994-1995 school year! We're looking forward to a productive partnership with you to make sure that Randy is using all his potential! In order for that to happen, he needs it from school and more importantly, from home! We share the responsibility for your son's success and we'll do our best to carry that out! We ask that you guide and support your son's learning by ensuring that he:
Attends school every day and on time, ensuring that he's ready to learn!
Completes all homework given by his teachers!
Reads daily to develop a love for reading
Shares daily with both of you so that you know what's going on in his life!
Informs you if he needs any support in any subject
Know that you expect him to excel in school and go on to college.
At orientation, your son will get a booklet that will be his guide to middle school! Orientation will be on the 22nd of August! School begins on August 29th! For Randy, it begins at 8:00, but for eighth graders, it's at 9:30.
Yours, Mrs. Princeton
Huron Middle Principal
"Mrs. Princeton's awesome, Mom! She's really hot," Brad gazed dreamily.
"Bradley," Mom warned. "That's not how to talk about women."
Brad pouted but looked at me with a smile at the thought of Ashley being in his class and I was doing the same about Beth.
"Do you guys want your schedules now?" Mom asked with a smile.
I rolled my eyes. "No, I wanna be surprised! Yes, I want it."
Mom laughed and handed them to us. With a grin, I looked over at Brad who smiled at me and raised his eyebrows. It seemed that Brad was all knowing about junior high and next year, he would be about high school. Having a brother that was only one year older wasn't a bad thing anymore.
"Brad, what's your schedule?" I asked curiously.
"First is history with Mrs. Dorcas. Second is auto shop with Mr. Jackson. Third is English with Mr. Williams. Fourth is study hall with Mrs. Baxter. Lunch is A. Fifth is science with Mrs. Brennan. Sixth is Spanish with Mrs. Bruno and seventh is math with Mrs. Green," Brad smiled. "Yours?"
"First is English with Mrs. Nichol. Second is history with Mr. Whittmore. Third is art with Mrs. Brown. Fourth is study hall with Mrs. Baxter. Lunch is A. Fifth is science with Mr. Hill. Sixth is Spanish with Mrs. Lopez. Seventh is math with Mrs. Green, just like you. We have two classes together!"
Brad grinned at me. "That's not coincidental. I asked that we have the same study hall so that we can still be like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. Math is because you're in the same math level as me, I'm not very smart at it."
I grinned happily. "Who's Mrs. Green?"
Brad groaned. "Ugh, she is the most annoying person on the planet. She's not only strict, she gets mad when I do stuff. It's stuff that not even Al gets annoyed with, in fact, he'd have helped us."
"You know, since we'll be together, we can cause all sorts of trouble," I looked around seeing that Mom was playing with Hannah.
Brad grinned. "That's why you're the brains, Randy."
Mom laughed softly. "Are the two of you partners in crime again?"
I nodded. "I think we are."
"And you can sit by me with Jeremy at lunch. Vinnie's even meaner at lunch than he is at home."
Mom smiled at us. "I'm happy to see you two back to being friends again."
I laughed with a grin. "So am I! Tom and Huck are back!"
Brad laughed with an evil smirk. "Let's go find Mark!"
….
I carried Hannah over to where Jill was cooking and looked at the pot in disgust. It was chili and normally I love chili, but hers is always disgusting. No offense to Jill, but I always was happy when someone else cooked. The boys felt the same, but my gut told me that Hannah would probably take Jill's side. Being the only girls in the house makes them a lot closer.
"Hi. I'm Tim, your narrator. Jill is cooking what looks like mushy sauce with beans. It's not only inedible, it's disgusting," I teased.
Jill rolled her eyes with a laugh and kept cooking. "Great example you're setting. Is Daddy mean to Mommy?"
Hannah had focused her gaze on me and her gaze met mine. By just looking at her, my heart melted at seeing my baby girl. She had Jill's brown hair, but she had my blue eyes, which I adored. Though blue eyes were recessive (small chance to occur if there were dominant genes), all the kids seemed to inherit them.
"You have the prettiest blue eyes, princess. They're as blue as the ocean," I rocked her and she looked at me curiously.
Jill kissed me and went back to cooking.
"As the cooking continues, the house continues to smell bad. Jill's attempting to cook but is unable to make the food inedible, thus ruining the chili."
Jill rolled her eyes at me. "You know, that can be very annoying and you're acting like a toddler. Does the baby need a naptime?"
I laughed. "No, I need my blankie and bib."
"Speaking of bibs, we need to start putting a bib on Hannah when she starts eating soon since she'll be drooling a lot more."
I tickled Hannah's chin and made her laugh. "Is my baby girl finally starting to get teeth like a big girl?"
Jill kept cooking and I carried Hannah over to the couch, holding her in my arms. I saw so much of Jill inside of her. I hoped that Hannah would turn out to be just like her mother. I loved her no matter what either way.
"Baby girl, you look just like your mommy."
Hannah gave me a curious look and smiled at me curiously, babbling at me. With a gummy smile, she cooed at me and I melted.
"Dad!" Randy ran in. "Hi, Sissy! Can I sit in the audience and take care of Hannah for you after school with Brad when school starts?"
I thought about it. "I don't see why not. We have a changing table in the bathroom, plus you and Brad seem to be able to keep her under control."
Randy grinned at me. "That's awesome! Hi, Hannie!"
Hannah cooed happily, recognizing her big brother. She flailed her arms happily and seemed to just melt Randy. It was something that Jill and I didn't take lightly. It was a relationship that we adored. We also knew that it was a vital one. For some reason, Randy relied on Hannah and vice versa, but we didn't question it. It wasn't sexual or weird (just a big brother's love) so we loved it.
"Aww, did someone recognize their big brother?" Jill smiled as Randy took her and seemed overjoyed with her.
Hannah seemed ecstatic to be in Randy's arms.
"Mom, guess what? Dad's letting me and Brad be in the audience to help take care of Hannah after school! Is that okay?"
Jill nodded approval. "It gives you a chance to do homework too."
I chuckled at them and saw Randy's face light up like a Christmas tree. Any time that boy could take care of Hannah, he jumped at the chance. He didn't take his job as a big brother lightly. I often warned people not to think lightly of how he cared for Hannah (or how Brad did) since that didn't settle well with either.
"I think someone's going to have a best friend to play with when she gets older," Jill smiled at Randy.
Randy rocked her. "Mom, why doesn't Uncle Jeff seem to like Gracie, Claire and Hannah very much? He likes us."
"Well, he may not be used to having nieces. Girls act differently than boys do. Just know that Uncle Marty loves his nephews and niece equally."
"I just realized that Hannah will have two playmates that are her same age and her same gender to grow up with."
Jill laughed. "That'll be so cute!"
…...
I put Hannah on the changing table and she started to squirm, trying to get down. Yesterday, she had started moving around when I had changed her diaper. It was a moment I had been dreading for awhile now. It meant that she'd start becoming mobile and would be a lot harder to keep up with. It wasn't all bad though. She had rolled over yesterday and it amused Tim and me.
"Mom, do you want some help?" Randy asked eagerly.
I nodded with a smile. "I'd love that and I'm sure Hannah would too."
"Peek-a-boo!" Randy played with Hannah.
Hannah laughed as I was able to get her diaper off her and started changing her diaper.
"Is your big brother being silly?" Hannah laughed.
Hannah cooed happily.
Randy laughed. "Do you see Bubby's tongue? Copy what Bubby's doing."
Hannah stuck her tongue out and made herself laugh.
I closed her diaper and smiled. "Thanks…Bubby."
