Hi guys! I normally don't do this, but I've been nominated as 'best overall author' for the Pitch Perfect awards and Three Times the Giggles, has been nominated as 'funniest story'! It would mean so much to me if you voted- through review or PM. The winners are announced on June 10th.
Have a great day/night wherever you are!
Aussiebabe290 (Rhyleigh) x
PS: Who can believe these babies are ready to start SCHOOL?
When Beca and Jesse enrolled their babies into kindergarten, they were informed that all three of them would be in the same class, at least for their first year of school. They'd agreed that it would be for the best- Jack, Molly and Toby had never been separated before.
So Beca's disgust was made quite clear when, three days before school started, they were informed that the triplets would be put in separate classes.
"You can't do that!" she protested. "You can't tell me that my triplets are going to be separated! It's a whole new environment, they have to get used to it and they're under the impression that they're going to be together!"
The principal, while being apologetic, didn't budge on the matter.
Later that night, almost in tears, Beca faced Jesse. "They're going to hate it", she informed her husband, scrubbing at her face with the back of her hand.
Jesse sighed heavily, pulling Beca into his arms and kissing the top of their heads. "We'll sort it out", he promised her.
Jesse smacked his phone down onto the table, sighing in frustration. "I'll get the kids", he told Beca, who nodded.
(Breaking the news to her babies wasn't something she had wanted to do. But the principal was apparently just as stubborn as she was.)
"Guys", Jesse called, standing at the back door. The boys were on the trampoline and Molly was sitting on the swing, paying no attention whatsoever to what their father said. "Guys! Come inside for a moment, Mummy and I have to talk to you".
"What?" Toby wanted to know, sliding off the trampoline and padding towards Jesse.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked, almost suspiciously.
"Come inside, Mummy and I need to talk to you".
Once they were inside, Beca sat them down at the kitchen table before passing around chocolate chip cookies. Jack eyed his siblings suspiciously, leaning on his elbow. "What?"
"Remember how Daddy and I said when school starts, you'd all be in the same class?" Beca said carefully.
"Yeah?"
"Well, I had a phone call yesterday… and it looks like that you guys are all going to be in different classes. Toby, you're going to be in Mrs Kennedy's class, Molly will be with Miss Havenstein and Jack will be in Miss Shields' class".
"What?" Molly looked at her mother in a mix of shock and horror. "So we're not gonna be together?"
"Why not?" Jack demanded.
"Why? We're not even naughty!" Toby protested, and Jesse bit back a smile (because Toby was the troublemaker. Molly might have been the mastermind, but Toby always initiated it. It made Fat Amy proud). "Mama you said we'd be together! We're not naughty!"
"Toby you're a little bit naughty", Jack said, holding his fingers half an inch apart.
Toby poked his tongue out at them.
"A little bit", Molly emphasised. "But Aunt Amy says that's okay".
"Don't listen to Aunt Amy", Beca interjected. "Never listen to Aunt Amy".
"What about when she says 'I love you little weirdos the bestest'?"
"Best", Jesse corrected.
"No, she loves us the bestest".
"You can listen then".
"What about when-"
"Let's get back to the point of this", Jesse said, waving his hand at his daughter. "When school goes back, you guys are going to be in different classes. And we know that's never happened before".
"When Molly got a new room", Toby said suddenly. "Then we were 'part".
"Toby, Molly's room is literally three steps away from you guys".
"But we're not roommates anymore".
(Beca hadn't realised how sad she would be when her babies no longer pronounced 'roommates' as 'womb mates'.)
"Why not, Daddy?" Jack said, going back once more to the original topic, crumbling his cookie a little.
"Because the school was…" Jesse's voice trailed off a little, unsure how to finish that sentence.
"The school made a mistake", Beca said instead, and Molly frowned.
"That was dumb", she voiced, and Beca didn't even bother reprimanding her.
"Come on guys, bedtime", Jesse called, rounding them up and herding them towards the stairs. "Kindergarten tomorrow!"
"I still wanna be with Molly and Toby", Jack grumbled, and Jesse dropped a kiss to the top of his head.
"You guys are going to love school".
"Mama".
"Mmm?"
"Mama".
"Mmm?"
"MAMA!"
Beca sat bolt upright in bed, blinking blearily at her son. "What's wrong?" she yawned, pulling Jack onto the bed. "It's early, you should still be asleep!"
"Is Toby okay?" Jesse murmured.
"Jack".
"Is Jack okay?"
"I don't wanna go to school. And Molly and Toby don't too".
"Hey Mummy", Toby said from the doorway, puling Molly into the room and hauling himself onto the bed.
"Guys", Jesse protested. "Go back to bed! You've got school in the morning!"
"But I don't wanna go, Daddy". Molly put her head on his chest and Jesse sighed heavily, running his fingers through her wild curls.
"Why not?" Beca yawned, reaching over and flicking on the lamp. The light bulb encased the room with a warm glow, and showed Beca three scared little faces.
"I don't wanna go without Molly and Toby", Jack confessed. "We HAFTA be together".
"Yeah", Molly said.
"Tobes, what about you, my man?" Jesse checked (Toby may have been the youngest, but he was their daredevil and by far the bravest).
"I wanna sit with Molly and Jack", he sad determinedly.
"Guys, it's two thirty in the morning", Jesse told them. "Can you please go back to bed and we'll discuss this later?"
He was glad he had such obedient five year olds. Because the three of them snuggled down between Jesse and Beca, falling asleep almost immediately. Beca bit back a smile, leaning on her elbow to face Jesse, looking over the top of her babies' heads as they sleep-snuffled their way into a deep slumber.
Beca didn't get much sleep that night. She had a foot in her ribs, an elbow wedged into her boob, and the gentle snuffling of her five year olds. And then thoughts of her triplets heading off to school, being separated for the first time in their lives.
"Beca", Jesse groaned, just after five. "I can hear you thinking. They'll be up in twenty minutes".
"I'm worried for them".
"They'll be fine", Jesse said softly. "They know some kids, they'll make friends. They're going to be fine".
Beca slipped out of the bed, careful not to disturb Jack.
"Beca, where are you going?"
"I'm making them muffins for breakfast", she decided (because apparently she was that mum). "Blueberry. They can have one in their lunch, too".
Jesse sighed heavily, before easing his arm out from underneath Molly and following her out of the room. Their kids slept through the night six out of seven days out of the week, and yet Beca didn't.
He sat at the breakfast bar with a mug of coffee cradled in his hands, as Beca wandered around, gathering ingredients for blueberry muffins.
"They're going to hate it", she said after a moment.
"Becs", he said gently. "It's gonna be a change, but they adapt to things pretty well. It's not like they're going to three different schools, they'll just be in different classes. They'll have recess and lunch together and can play together in the playground. We'll check out who's in their classes when we get there- Molly will hopefully have Hallie or Abigail- they'll love it. I liked school".
"Of course you did! Look at you, you're the biggest nerd I know!" she laughed.
"I thought that title went to Benji".
"You're my favourite nerd", she shrugged. "Benji is pretty high up there on the list".
"Ask Jack about Star Wars".
"This is why we need Katie there to intervene", Beca complained. "Now I'm raising a little Star Wars nerd because he spends too much time with his godfather. God, can you imagine little Applebaums running around?"
"I'd be totally checking the insurance on the house; Benj has been teaching them magic tricks".
Beca laughed again, folding the ingredients together in the bowl.
"They're gonna be fine", Jesse said again. "Now, let's get this done. Where's the camera?"
Beca packed their favourites in their lunchboxes. Peanut butter and jam sandwiches, a blueberry muffin, apple slices and a strawberry kiwi juice pouch (she wondered where they got that taste from). And she got out the shirts she'd gotten, specifically for their first day of school.
Chloe had had the idea to begin with. And she had brought it to Beca, who had thought it was wonderful. Which was why she was holding three huge shirts, with the year of their senior year graduation written on the front in permanent marker.
"They're going to hate it in about five years", Jesse chortled. "We're the coolest parents ever".
So Jesse's nerdiness had rubbed off on her over the years. And perhaps in their before-children days, she had actually sat down in front of a gaming system with her husband (or boyfriend, as he was then) and Benji.
It wasn't long before all three of them wandered downstairs (Toby voicing that both Molly and Jack had kicked him awake, and he felt it only necessary to wake them up too), grinning when they found blueberry muffins and fruit at their places.
"It's a special breakfast!" Toby said in delight, his complaints at his siblings forgotten.
"It's a very special breakfast", Beca agreed, pouring juice into their cups. "So eat up, we've got to get ready for school. And Daddy and I have to get photos".
"What's this?" Toby asked suspiciously, as Beca passed him a shirt.
"Put it on, please", Jesse told him cheerily, handing the others to Molly and Jack. "Mum wants to get photos in the front yard before school".
"We're already dressed for school", Molly said in confusion.
And they were. All three of them we wearing new clothes, their sneakers tied and their hair properly brushed (and, in Molly's case, tied in two neat braids over her shoulders). But Jesse was determined that those shirts were going to be a Swanson family tradition.
"Daddy, this is a bit weird", Toby voiced.
"Yeah, this is weird", Molly agreed. "My shirt is so big!"
"That's because its gonna fit you when you're eighteen, baby".
"Daddy, that's a million years away!" Jack protested.
"I wish, baby", Beca chuckled. "Smile guys!"
"No Mama".
(It took some coaxing, but she got one photo with all three of them looking at her and smiling.)
"They didn't even wave!" Jesse protested, turning to his wife. "What is that about? We've done everything for them for nearly six years, and they didn't even wave goodbye!"
Beca was speechless, as she watched them disappear into their respective classrooms.
"Didn't even wave", Jesse continued to mumble, as hand in hand they headed towards the car. "Freaking ridiculous..."
When Beca and Jesse arrived at the school that afternoon, they were bombarded by three five year olds, running from three different directions, speaking all at once, trying to be louder than their siblings.
"School was so much fun!"
"Miss Havenstein is so nice! And I get to sit with Abigail!"
"Today we talked about all the letters and Annelise was special because her name started with A. But everyone calls her Lise".
"So was Abigail!"
"We're gonna go on a field trip this year! All together! We're goin' to the 'quarium!"
"And we all sat together at lunch!"
"There's a girl in my class who's a twin and her sister looks just like her!"
"Guys!" Jesse laughed over the top of them. "Did you have a good day?"
"YES!"
Jesse nudged Beca with his hip. He wasn't one to say I told you so, but she had practically asked for it. "See, Becs?"
She rolled her eyes at him. "Don't even say it". But she broke into a grin, seeing the way the triplets were beaming at her. "Let's go home, hey? Celebratory first day of kindergarten dinner tonight!"
Beca Mitchell took a photo with Instagram: first day of kindergarten. "Look at the camera guys!" "No Mama" #ItsTheThoughtThatCounts #LifeWithTriplets #FirstDayOfKindergarten #HowAreMyBabiesOldEnoughForKindergarten?