Environmental Gifts

Slipping up behind Elijah, he wiped the little boy's mouth with half a paper towel, titling the little chin back and noting the boy's high cheekbones as he did so. "If that insatiable appetite of yours continues, you will outgrow Ethan soon. Would you like that, my little man, to get as tall as Ethan?"

The toddler grinned with delight, and Tony swung him out of the chair and onto the floor, grabbing the suitcase and setting it beside the chair. Handing Elijah his empty bowl and glass he directed him to place the dishes by the sink.

Ava followed, but it took a little longer for Tony to help the others finish and then deal with dishes and the cleanup.

Hearing the television come to life in the den as he loaded the dishwasher Tony called out

firmly, "No television during the day," and then strode purposefully into the room when he heard no change in the volume. As he suspected, they had ignored him.

Ethan and Elijah stood in front of the set, evidently mesmerized by the screen, while Ava and Levi had taken seats on the floor.

Determining Viv's whereabouts interrupted his immediate mission, and he hurried to the sofa where she struggled to climb up onto the cushions using her elbows and knees. It was impossible not to smile at the determination. He righted her, then returned to the television and pressed off the power button.

Loud protests followed, but Tony refused to reconsider and held his palms out as a signal to stop. "Absolutely no television will play until evening, and only then only if I have approved the choice. We are not spending our days glued to videos."

"That's stupid." Having worked himself up into some outrage, Ethan practically spat the pronouncement as he awarded Tony an angry glare.

The response followed immediately. "Watch the way that you are talking to me, Young Man," Tony warned, raising his eyebrows and staring directly at Ethan. "Because if your tone of voice sounds disrespectful the next time you use it, and if your attitude does not improve instantly, I will respond with a consequence."

"I want to see the tv!" Levi insisted, folding both arms defiantly across his chest and joining the opposition. "The daddy is mean to cut off our show."

"Mean or not, I control the television, and my decision has not changed," Tony assured him. "Please know that the same promise applies to you. I would hate for your day to really begin with a punishment, but oh well, if you earn one, I will give one." He narrowed his eyes, and Levi, suddenly ready to protect himself, changed from a frown to a small grin.

Amused at the transformation, Tony continued. "Now, this morning I plan to explore this neighborhood, and this afternoon we will get some shopping done after naptime. We need to get going though. Chop, chop! I expect all of you to have used the bathroom and brushed your teeth in the next ten minutes. Clear?"

Jumping up to obey, Ava grabbed his hand and frowned, "Will the daddy brush his teeth, too?"

"Oh yes," Tony smiled, "indeed I will, but Elijah, Vivienne, and I will brush ours together. I thought the big kids could work alone without supervision."

Flattered to have been included with the more mature group, Ava squared her shoulders. Eyeing the little ones in question, she tilted her head. "But will the daddy make me pigtails today?"

Tony recoiled, having barely managed to supervise just getting five heads brushed and hair detangled with a minimum of tears that morning. He certainly had no aptitude for styling hair, nor did he have a burning desire to learn.

She regarded him hopefully. "Please?"

Pursing his lips he felt his resolution weaken with her plea and he compromised. "Know what? We have none of those little barrette things we need to tie up the pony tails. How about we look for some today, and then tomorrow we'll try?"

Delighted, she clapped at the idea of new hair ornaments. "Can I get ribbons, too?"

Happy to have bought himself time to find out how to make pigtails, he immediately agreed, then got back to business.

"Ok, all of you get ready," he ordered, calling to Elijah and Viv to follow him. Viv scooted off of the sofa, her diapered bottom in the air as she scaled to the floor.

Tony deliberately waited until the three oldest trekked from the room before he did, making sure they did not touch the television.

One small battle won, but an important one in the grand scheme of managing five children.

He grinned at the triumph.

Half an hour later they trekked through the woods, rambunctious and eager, with Tony pointing out types of trees and bushes as the kids stomped joyfully towards the river which wound its way throughout the neighborhood. Their excitement at encountering deer, and chipmunks, and even squirrels delighted him, and watching them play with such abandonment filled him with a peace which had eluded him since he first agreed to protect them.

Later, tromping back onto pavement and winding their way around the subdivision's streets they passed homes which clearly housed other kids.

Tony appraised the lawns. From the looks of things, the children would not suffer from a lack of friends while in Athens! Just noting the contents of yards Tony felt confident that their neighbors ranged from preschool to high school.

Better yet, at a couple of homes children played in their yards. In the way that little ones do, Tony's five exchanged promising and curious glances with the new kids they encountered, and Tony congratulated himself on insisting they share this activity.

He predicted their stay would end with some friendships formed for his little ones, and created within a couple of days, at that.

Returning to the house he gave them carte blanche to play in either the sunroom or the fenced yard, refusing all pleas to activate the television.

Gathering the house phone and the list of predetermined contacts in Athens, he lounged against a counter in the kitchen which offered him a view of both the screened porch/ sunroom and the backyard. Drumming his pen against the counter, he dialed while craning his neck to follow Vivienne's progress towards the picnic table, which Levi had scaled to pull himself against a tall pine.

Smiling softly, Tony felt a swell of pride as the little boy wrapped his thin arms and legs around the tree and began to shimmy his way over the rough bark.

A gruff voice snapped him from his preoccupation, and he stammered an introduction to the Commandant at the Navy School, who softened once he realized who had called him. Certainly, he assured Tony, he had expected to hear and to receive a report on his status in Athens.

Beginning a bulleted list to document anything important, Tony peeped into the sunporch as he wrote. Elijah sat curled in one of the rattan chairs, gazing at nothing in particular.

After comparing and contrasting Tony's future duties at the Navy School and the position of all five children, the Commandant assured the young man that until Tony secured day care for the smaller ones and school began, he had the names of two sitters cleared by a hiring agency and vetted by him personally, who could at least provide some relief. The older man emphasized the last thought with a belly laugh, advising his newest employee to take advantage of any chance to shop childless.

Tony jumped at the opportunity of babysitting help, and the Commandant and he spent the remainder of the conversation clarifying funding for the running of the household. Together they finalized his responsibilities for his first official day at work before disconnecting.

Leaving the phone on the counter Tony strode to the breakfast room doorway where he could get a view of the porch and the yard. Ava had found an earthenware flower pot and moved from one flowering bush to the other, picking flowers and dropping them into her pseudo vase.

Suddenly he felt a stab of panic and pivoted. Where was Elijah? Jogging towards the outside door he grabbed the handle at the same time he spied the toddler, who swung on the old fashioned two seater swing suspended from an iron frame. Too little to make it into the seat, Elijah had grabbed it from the bottom and managed to pull his upper body onto the red seat. Tony could hear him singing as his legs swung.

Vivienne still inspected Levi's tree climbing progress with fascination.

Thrusting his hands in his pockets Tony watched the four outdoors a couple of minutes before turning to regard Ethan. "Why don't you join the others?"

"Maybe 'cause I want to be alone," snapped the nine year old, eliciting a raised eyebrow from Tony.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but have I not spoken to you once today about that tone of voice and disrespect?"

Choosing not to respond, Ethan glanced down at his hands- guiltily, Tony hoped.

"So to make sure that we think in tandem here, I am the adult and you are the child. You, the child, have been given two generous warnings about disrespect, both coming after breakfast and before lunch. Therefore, if you try this again, you will need to expect a punishment, a consequence from me."

Ethan clenched his jaw but did not respond. Tony tilted his head slightly, then made his way back to the kitchen.

His point had been pretty clear.

Checking the first sitter's number, he dialed, hoping for the best. No one answered, but he did have the opportunity to leave a message.

Luck surrounded his second attempt, though, and he found himself speaking personally to a graduate student who babysat to earn extra money. Even better, she owned a car and could drive herself, and agreed to come that day at lunch.

Tony nearly danced with delight. He had not gotten a moment to himself in days, and the prospect of lunch away and then tending to shopping without five mouths and ten additional hands seemed positively utopic.

Tony's brow furrowed as he repeated utopic in his head. Utopia was the state, a noun, he knew, but did such a word as utopic exist as the adjective for it?

Smirking, he whistled under his breath. What did it even matter if his high school English teacher would approve?

Soon he would exploit the freedom of sliding behind the wheel without counting heads, double checking child restraints, or supervising a soul other than himself!

The visual reminder cheered him, but quickly he turned to practical matters. Necessity demanded he present the sitter with a job she could conceivably handle, which meant beginning preparations for lunch at the same time that he composed notes about specifics for the children.

Double checking all of them, he grinned when he noted that a couple of kids from the neighborhood had wandered into their yard, assessing the ages and social skills of his brood from right across the fence.

Suddenly Ethan slid past him like a whirlwind and left the sunroom, slamming the screen as he headed into the yard. Moving back through the breakfast room to the kitchen and his note taking, Tony considered the motivation for Ethan's hasty departure might feature their school aged neighbors.

A commotion of activity and burst of noise permeated his thoughts, so he retraced his steps and strode into the sunroom in time to see Levi helping Elijah off of the ground by the swing.

Alarmed, he hurried into the yard himself. Voices from everyone except Vivienne called out to him as he appeared on the scene. Kneeling down to check Elijah, Tony gathered from the accusers that Ethan deliberately had shoved the swing to knock the younger child to the ground.

Brushing off the debris at the same time that the little boy clutched Tony behind the neck, Tony did his best to calm him before placing him astride his hip and to carry him inside.

Locating Ethan ambling alongside one area of the fence, Tony snapped at him to head directly into the house. Trying to appear unconcerned, evidently as a bid to impress their visitors, Ethan strolled sedately after Tony.

Not positive that Tony identified Ethan as the culprit, Ava and Levi rushed over to remind him again that Elijah's status was that of victim, and Ethan's that of the aggressor. Yanking at his hands, they passionately provided their eyewitness accounts.

He couldn't help but grin at his concerned little citizens.