I absolutely adore you all! Thanks so much for the encouragement and the reviews. I have to say, you're all so understanding, and I love hearing your stories that relate to these chapters (: So keep it coming! Also, some of you are spot on in guessing where I might be going with this story ... I will share one thing since one of my lovely reviewers brought it up: you will see more kid interaction in the future (: Alright, so I don't know if I can stick to posting every day again, but I'll definitely do it as often as I can. That being said, my exams are coming, so beware! Sorry for any mistakes, I'm editing this pretty late at night. Enjoy!


Lesson #49: Hugs are always free.

"Ma, where's Dillo?" Gared asked as he looked up from the masterpiece he had been creating with his crayons. In truth, the picture was more like a scribbled mess, but that didn't matter. In my mind, my babies were geniuses in every skill area.

I snickered as I heard his name for my father. It turned out that after a while of referring to my father as the 'Weird Dildo Man' my children had picked up on only one of those words. In the end, your grandparents had received the weirdest names in all of grandparent history: Weird Dildo Man became 'Dillo', Granny Renee became 'Ranny', Daddy Cullen became 'Caddy', and Grandma Esme became 'Esm'.

"He's out with Caddy picking up some dinner," I murmured before turning back to my work.

"Ma," Gared called again.

"Yes, Gar," I looked up from my laptop.

"Where's Uncle G?" he asked.

"At home with Uncle Paul," I answered.

I turned back to my screen and let out a sigh. Playing with you all and balancing work was proving to be harder nowadays. I had managed to finish college after a large amount of persuasion from my parents and your dad, and ended up doing two years of grad school. In that time, Edward had conducted a lot of his research from home, and though I took a lot of online courses, Esm had to watch you most days of the week. You probably won't remember it, but it was a hard time for all of us. I missed you every moment I stepped outside of our house, and Edward was having a hard time getting his work done. Thankfully, it soon paid off.

Once I graduated, I was hired by a big name advertising firm. I was still relatively low on the totem pole, but with mine and Edward's salary, we were finally able to afford this house. That was a big milestone in our lives. We knew that we were holding your uncles back by having them live here, but we also knew that we couldn't afford the house if they moved out. When your Aunt Jessica got pregnant, we knew we couldn't hold onto Uncle Riley any longer. Soon after, Garrett found his partner, Paul, and was itching to move out as well. Emmett was the last to leave.

Note: Sometimes you don't realize how much your loved ones give up for you.

Tip: Remember to thank them every now and then.

But Edward and I found our footing. We were able to contribute a considerable amount to paying off the mortgage, and were at a place where we could complete our payments in a reasonable amount of years. Additionally, we were steadily tucking away money for schooling. It was a lot of responsibility, but with our family, anything was possible to handle.

"Ma," Gared called.

"Gar? Maybe you should go find Roy and play trucks with him," I suggested.

"Oh," he frowned as he looked back at his drawing, and continued scribbling half-heartedly. My eyes stung with tears of frustration; I hadn't meant to dismiss him like that.

"I'm sorry honey," I sighed, "What do you need Gar-bear?"

He smiled at his nick-name, and discarded his drawing supplies. I took in his plump cheeks as he ran over to me and threw his small arms around my waist. My heart melted immediately. Being the last of the boys born, Gared was my mama's boy.

"I just wanted a hug," he mumbled into my chest.

"Gared?" I kissed his blond curls, "You never need to ask Mommy for that."

Note: You're all worth every sacrifice we made.


Like it? Love it? Hate it? Kind of think you can top these 'weirdest grandparents' names in all of history' ? Let me know, I'd love to hear!

~CH