Still a few feet from the front door Ava could hear her children's early morning antics. It sounded like Spence was trying to scream down the house and she could imagine that Cat was at him a few swift jabs for his efforts. They had broken her out of kicking, biting and mostly punching him but the slaps and quick jabs remained. If the kid made it out of childhood without permanent marks it would be a miracle. Considering that Spence was a Spencer and a Wolf his parents were amazed at how unfazed he was by his sister's abuse. Stino was the calm even keel child. Only when he was extremely ill or sleepy did his genetic predisposition to snarkiness emerge and even then it was rare for the boy to have a tantrum. In fact Ava could barely remember the last time he'd had one. The one instance his inner bitchiness came through was day they were visiting the farm just after Natalia left Spaulding and returned to school. There was a mandatory study group and she was attempting to leave the house with taking him with her. He threw one hell of a fit and of course ended up tagging along with his abuela.
Cat was a fifty fifty mixture of both her grandmothers and it wasn't easy for anyone especially the grandmothers in question who were stuck trying to negotiate with a three year old. Neither side wanted to give and it was a battle to try to get the girl to do things their way when she had her own ideas. Cat, when she was in a good mood, was quiet and the only child that could be left in her bedroom alone without worry. Stino was not too bad but whenever he got curious about the inner workings of something it was a sign of trouble. The wall outlets were covered especially for him. A DVD, laptop, and blender had all been victims of Stino's curiosity. A quiet Spence was almost unknown and an immediate cause for worry for more reasons than could be named in one lifetime. Cat however amused herself for hours on end. She played well with others and she listened to whomever was watching her, when she was in the mood. To be fair she was very good nine days out of ten but on that tenth day heaven help you. The kid could hold a grudge like luggage and if you pissed her off in the slightest on her off day it was downhill from there. She cried, whined, refused to move or even sit up. A hyper Spence and an inquisitive Stino were preferable any day to a moody Cat.
Spence was the stereotypical three year old boy on the Old Navy or Target catalogs. He constantly smiled and laughed. Even when he was teething he was in a pretty good mood. He was always moving and always jumping around. His brother's lectures and his sister's frequent slaps did nothing to faze his sunny attitude but let his sister stick her tongue out at him and he almost went into fits. Every few hours he was getting love taps from his sister no biggie but let her put her fingers in her ears and wiggle said fingers with her tongue exposed towards him and it was on. She didn't do it often just when she knew it would piss him off the most. True Spencer and Wolf skill, her grandmothers were very proud. They knew early who the shark of the family would be.
"Spence stop jumping. Mommy Spence is jumping on the sofa" Ava heard Stino yell.
"Spence stop jumping now and Stino remember to use your inside voice"
"Yeah were you raised in a barn" Ava said walking into the door as she was hit on all sides by three rugrats converging and promptly forgetting Ashlee's rules on inside voices.
"Momma, momma" Spence and Stino said as they grabbed her legs while Cat used her brothers bodies to climb up and fling herself into Ava's arms.
"Be careful Cat" Ashlee warned taking all her children and wife into her arms. "Are you okay" she whispered into Ava's ears.
"I'm good babe" Ava laughed as Cat wiggled her fingers in Ava's underarms. From below the boys were demanding to be held like the sister and Ashlee feared for the day when Ava was no longer able to hold all the children at once. She was pushing it even now Ashlee thought.
"Are we getting ready for a party or what?"
"Party!PARTY!PARTY" the kids chanted jumping up and down circling their grandmother. "PARTY!"
"Well then we better get busy then" Olivia said immediately taking control and assigning roles to each member of her family. "So who wants to go to the store with me and whose gonna help abuela make the food?" The house filled with me's.
The rest of the morning found the children switching between helping Olivia outside grilling steaks and vegetables and Natalia and Ashlee inside baking cakes and pies. Ava, never an asset around food, was relegated to gathering the flatware and plates. There wasn't an opportunity to play with fire or nibble snacks with Ava so she was solo for most of the day. By the time school was out and everyone home from work the house was filled family, friends, and neighbors all gathered to celebrate the twin's birth. Standing alone watching Bill and Shane run away from a gang of children armed with supersoakers Ava saw her stepmother ease towards her to offer up a beer. "Hey how are you doing sweetheart?"
Looking at the woman she considered not only a mother figure but also a good friend Ava tried to distract Reva from the scent of her impending depression. She could feel it coming on like the faint traces of a headache that starts at the back of the head and aggressively moves forward to the eyes. Right now wasn't the time to deal with it, right now she just wanted to pretend that the anniversary of her children's birth was the ultimate antidepressant. "I'm fine Reva. How are you doing?" said answering with a smile that didn't reach her eyes.
"I heard about what happened to your cousin and that little baby still in Germany. Whatever we can don't hesitate" she offered staring at the taller woman looking for glaring signs of illness.
"Thanks Reva. We decided that it was best that we return home for the duration"
"So I got another person to add to the babysitting list"
"Yeah it will be good to spend more time with Colin even if it is in the middle drama pit called Springfield" Ava laughed trying her best to maneuver away from the other woman. "I guess I better bring some more food outside before the natives get restless"
"Ava stop"
"Reva"
"No just stop okay. I think you should get back in touch with Dr Rice since Dr Campbell left Springfield" Reva said getting straight to the point.
"People die Reva Jesus. Its been happening for millions of years I don't think people were booking appointments with the neighborhood shrink then"
"Natalia told me about your talk with her."
"Fuck. Trust her to blab about"
"Stop fussing and trying to distract me because its not going to work. This isn't my first rodeo cowgirl. So lets get on with you telling me all the reasons you can't and I tell you all the reasons you have to"
"I can't leave my wife and children for weeks to finger paint and give group hugs. I have a baby to get home and a family to relocate"
"I never said that you should go inpatient. I'm sure she could suggested someone else local. You and Dr Campbell seemed to make a good fit"
"I just found out my cousin died maybe I'm allowed a few days to fucking grieve shit!"
"I'm not saying that you aren't but do you really want to risk going through a bad spell now? Do you want your family to go through that with you? Maybe you should get up off your pride for a second and think about what they need instead of what you want"
"Who The Fuck you think you are harassing my daughter. I don't know what your fucking problem is but I want you off my property right now or I will have the police to escort you off."
"Olivia you need"
"No what I need is for you to leave my life you hateful bitch. You have absolutely no right to talk to my daughter that way and I don't know why you're even here in the first place. Colin is her brother and he will always be welcome but you are like a fucking bug that won't fly away."
Seeing that people were starting to walk towards them to see the latest bitchfest between the long time rivals Ava tried her best to minimize the situation. "Mom calm down"
"I will not calm down Ava she has no right to talk to you that way and I for one am not going to let her get away with bullying anyone in my family"
"Why don't you listen to your daughter and mind your own"
"Ava is my business bitch"
"Mom" Ava yelled pulling Olivia into a dark corner. "Mom please chill okay this is supposed to be family fun remember not cage fighting"
"She has no right to talk to you that way" Olivia growled still trying to calm her voice and blood. "Who the hell does that chic think she is. I don't understand why you even bother with her beyond contacting Colin."
"Mom she was just trying to help"
"That's the point you don't need her damn help. I'm going to get your cousin home and I won't need her loud mouthed interference to do it."
"It's more than just that mom"
"Then whatever you need I'll get or find for you. I don't want you to worry about anything sweetheart. I will go to the ends of the earth for my family. I don't ever want you to doubt that" Olivia sighed taking Ava into a tight hug and reaching up to kiss her forehead.
"I know but somethings even you can't do. I think I'm going to get an appointment with someone and maybe get back on Welbutrin or something"
"Ava"
"Mom I know what it feels like to loose someone and I know what it feels like to be depressed and this isn't just feeling sad. I don't want Ash and the kids to suffer through this. I don't want to go through it again."
"Baby"
"It's no one's fault mom. You and Natalia have been phenomenal taking care of me and my family but this is something I have to do for myself. You know?" Ava whispered trying to calm her still anxious mother down.
"Okay but if you need anything at all anything Ava I want you to promise to tell me. I can't stand thinking that you have to go to Reva or anyone else because you didn't think that I could help. Or you didn't trust me to"
"Is that what that was? Mom there isn't a moment that I don't know I can depend on you. Every time you've come through for me no matter the situation or how crazy you thought the idea was. Every time the kids scream and yell to come back to the farm to see you and Natalia. Mom you should know by now how much I love you. I know we had some rough times in the beginning but that's over. I love Reva yes but she won't ever be my mom"
By the time they returned to the party everyone was gathering to open the presents. Ava saw Olivia walk up to Reva and offer her a serving of Natalia's potato salad that she loved and knew that it was as close to an apology that the woman was going to get. Spence and Cat allowed their brother to help them open gifts but immediately snatched them if they were better than what they were currently holding. Blake and Doris had to gently take the opened toys away from the pair or some would have been easily trashed in their haste to get to the next shiny box. By the time the sun was beginning to set Fancy had returned home with her father and stepmother for two weeks and Reva was headed out the door dragging Colin behind.
"Hey C how about in a few weeks after I find a place to stay you, me and Sarah go to Adventure Landing and play laser tag" she said taking the boy in her arms to hug goodbye. To his mother she offered a smile and "thanks. Ash and I are going to check out some of the names Dr Rice sends us tomorrow"
" No problem. I'll put you down for Monday and Thursday nights eight to eleven if I the baby sitter quits on me"