"Are you sure you can handle things, Stef? I know I will only be gone two nights, but you will have all five kids. I bet we could find someone who could keep the kids at least part of the time…"

"Seriously, Lena, you act like I am a stranger to our children. I am their other mother, you know. We will be fine. I have lots of people I can call, but I will not need to because I have already have the days off of work due to the stitches. See, it was a win-win. I cannot wait to take care of our babies on my own while you go learn more about being a principal."

Lena was leaving for a three day conference as soon as Stef could get her out the door. Originally Sanchez was going, but she had to drop out at the last leaving a spot for Lena. It would be the first time she had left the twins overnight and she was rightfully nervous. Stef had only watched all five kids by herself for short periods of time. Lena knew how hard it was going to be and how much she was going to miss all of them.

"Remember that Brenda is going with me, so she won't be available to babysit. I will call at bedtime and at other times. If you need me you can call, too. Remember to use sunscreen on all our babies, not just the fair skinned ones. You remember the article I read about us darker skinned people and skin cancer… Don't take them swimming unless you find someone to go with you… Do you have the pediatrician's number?"

"Yes, dear, remember that I am not new to this. I will also try to read with them and whatever else you want done. We will be fine."

"I know… Please, don't give Callie any coffee. Or any of the others for that matter. Jesus needs his meds twice a day. I moved Mariana's appointment, so all the days should be open for anything. Jude has been coughing a little. Be sure to use the humidifier in his room tonight. I made a few meals that just need to be reheated. They are in the refrigerator."

"I was there when you made them, Honey. If you have everything, let's go on downstairs so you can say bye to the kids before you go. I've got this." Stef took Lena's bag and escorted her down the stairs. "Babies, come say bye to Mama. She is ready to leave!"

Four sets of feet were heard scurrying from the family room. Jude starting whimpering when he realized everyone else left him. He was a fast crawler and could stand up on his own, but he still couldn't keep up with this siblings. While Lena said good bye to the others, Stef went and got him. "Hey, Little Man! Mama is going bye bye for a few days, but I am going to be with you all the time. We are going to have so much fun." Jude gave her a big smile.

"Oh, there is my other baby. Bye bye, Jude!" Lena said taking him out of Stef's arms and giving him a few kisses. "I love you!"

"Mama!" Jude answered with a gurgle.

"I wish I could just take my little baby with me. Maybe I could… What do you think, Stef?"

Stef gently took Jude from Lena. "I think that would not be the best plan. Jude will be much happier at home with everyone else." Stef kissed her wife again and looked at her phone to see the time. "You need to go. You are supposed to be meeting the other people going at the school in five minutes."

Lena said goodbye one more time. As she left the house Mariana burst into tears. "Mama!"

Stef picked her up and she struggled some. "Hey, calm down, Miss Thing. I am staying with you the whole time. We are going to have such a great time together."

"Mama!" Mariana screeched again.

"She will be back in a few days." Stef looked toward Callie for support.

"Mommy will probably let us go to McDonalds for lunch today, Mari. We can play in the tubes and eat french fries with ketchup."

Mariana stared at Callie a moment before drying up her tears and smiling a little. "We go now, Mommy?"

"Not yet. It is still too early for lunch. You just ate breakfast. Right now, you guys can go back into the family room and finish your movie while I clean up the kitchen." Stef carried both Jude and Mariana into the family room a deposited them onto the blankets on the floor. Everyone settled in to watch the movie. "And Mama was concerned about us…."

XXXX

Stef drove the kids to the McDonalds with a place to play. She unloaded them from the car. "Okay, stay with me as we walk across the street."

"Mama doesn't it do it like this, Mommy." Brandon said. "Callie and Jesus need to hang on to you so that Mari and I can hold their hands."

"I think we will be okay today, B. We will just stay together." Brandon shrugged as Jesus took off running. "Jesus, slow down and stay with Mommy! Callie, come get my free hand." Stef said noticing that Callie was also getting ready to take off. Stef finally made it in and caught up with Jesus. When they got into the restaurant the line was fairly long. "Okay, how about if all of you except Jude go play in the play area while I get the food."

Jesus took off running, but Brandon once again looked at his mother strangely. "Mama doesn't let us out of her sight when we go places. Are you sure we can go without you?"

"Mama also never brings you to McDonalds. The playground is safe. Go on."

Brandon hesitantly followed Jesus. Mari and Callie stayed right there. Even though Callie had much more confidence now than she did before, she still was uncomfortable in a place crowded with strangers. Mariana was just sort of clingy as she had been since Lena left.

Stef was able to place the order before an angry looking lady came to find her. "Are you the mother of those two boys in the Play Place?"

"I did send two of my boys back there, but I cannot be certain you are referring to my boys." Stef said sort of hoping it was someone else's kids.

"The smaller of the two just bit my daughter. The bigger one pointed you out as his mommy. At first I didn't believe him, but then I saw that you had a little girl that looks just like the biter…" The lady looked at Stef and then her other children and got a judgy sort of look on her face. "Come remove your child before I call a manager and have all of you thrown out!" The lady turned around and headed back for the playground before Stef could get a word in.

Stef was still carrying Jude and had both of the girls with her as she followed the lady to the playground. Brandon immediately dragged Jesus over to her. "The other girl was kind of bad, Mommy. She said we couldn't use the slide. That's why she got bit."

"Biting is never okay. Now you are going to have to sit with me instead of playing, Buddy. I am very disappointed in you. We are going to talk more about this when we get home." Jesus hung his head in remorse. Stef then turned to the other kids. "You all may go play, but be nice to the other kids."

The kids ran off, but soon the lady was back. "Your little girl just said she was going to hit my little Sophie for getting her brother in trouble. I don't know what sort of family this is..."

"I do! I have two mommies!" Jesus practically shouted interrupting most conversations in the area. "Mommy is a cop, but not the bad kind like the ones that took Madre away…" Stef was able to get a hand over his mouth before he could say anymore.

"We are very sorry. I will talk to my daughter." Stef said, but then she noticed that the person from the counter was bringing her food. "We are done playing for a while anyway. Again, we are very sorry. I assure you that my wife and I do not condone violence of any kind."

"There is some evidence to the contrary as two of your children have attacked my little girl…."

Stef took that opportunity to gather up her children and take them out of the play area to eat. She passed out the Happy Meals along with the Sprite that Lena would have forbidden. "Are you doing to take our toys out, Mommy? Mama says no toys at the table…" Brandon suggested again trying to be helpful.

"Yes, but Mama isn't here. I think we can all handle having our toys in our bags while we eat, right? We have a much bigger issue here anyway." Callie looked at Stef with guilt. "I should not have to take two of my children out of the play area to keep them from attacking another child. Hitting is not okay, Callie."

"But Mommy, I didn't hit." Callie's eyes welled up with tears as she once again had been sure she was doing the right thing in defending her brother's honor. "That girl was mean to my brother. Brandon said so. She said not nice things about our family, too."

"Saying you are going to hit someone is almost the same as hitting them. Particularly if your brother just bit the same person. When we go places and you act like this, it makes it seem like Mama and I are not doing a great job…"

"Mama isn't here." Brandon said simply as he continued eating, but saw Jesus just playing with his toy.

"I want Mama!" Mariana wailed.

Stef pulled her up onto her lap. "I know, Miss Thing, but she will be home in just two more nights. In the meantime, Mommy is here. I love my babies and I am so happy to have the chance to be with you for the next few days."

"If you are so happy to be with us, are we still in trouble, Mommy?" Callie asked with a slight grin.

"Oh, yes. I love you and your brother so much that you are both in lots of trouble with me still." Stef said laughing a little knowing she really was sort of pleased with Callie's actions and had no intention of disciplining her. "Jesus, put the toy down and eat your hamburger, please."

"I don't like it. I only like the fries. More fries?"

"No…." Stef noticed that he had used a lot of ketchup on his fries and then that remembered his hamburger was plain as that is how Callie and Brandon ate theirs. "How about if we add some ketchup?"

Stef opened a packet and squirted it out on his hamburger. He took a little bite. "Much better! Thank you!"

"You are welcome, Buddy. We will remember that you like ketchup on yours. How about you, Miss Thing? Are you ready to sit in your own chair and eat?" Mariana clung a little tighter and shook her head. "Well, I think we will take your food with us as it is time for us to go now."

"But Mommy! I wanted to play more. I think that girl is gone. We could all play nicely now. Please?" Brandon pleaded.

"No. Mariana doesn't seem like she is in the mood to play much Jesus is still in trouble. Callie isn't done eating. I am sorry, but we are not staying for just you to play."

"Jude wants to play, too. Don't you, Baby?" Jude babbled and smiled at Brandon for the attention. "See?"

"I see, B, but we are still not staying to play today. Next on our schedule is naptime. Specifically naptime for four smallest. I will let B stay up with me."

Callie put down the last few bites of burger. "I don't want to take a nap either. I will also stay up with you."

"Not today. Today you need a nap." Stef sort of wondered if Callie would still be needing afternoon naps all the way to adulthood. "Now eat. We are leaving in two minutes. Whatever you have not eaten is going in the trash."

"I want to take it home like Mariana." Callie said not picking her hamburger back up.

"Hmmm. Nope. Now you are down to one minute. Now eat." Stef said very sternly ready to face off with the five year old even in public.

"No!" Callie yelled crossing her arms.

Stef grabbed the rest of Callie's food before the little girl could react. "Well, it looks like your time just ran out." Quickly Stef gathered the rest of the trash and threw it away with Callie following just behind her trying to hold Stef back or get the food. Stef reached down and picked up Callie. "I don't want to do this here, young lady. You are already in serious trouble with me. Do you understand?"

"Yes, b-" Stef promptly gave Callie a little warning pat causing her to sigh. "Yes, Mommy."

"Good answer. Let's go home, Lady Bug."

XXXX

Stef was thankful that Callie had gone down for a nap without much more fuss. Honestly, the hardest part of her job as a mother was discipline and Callie was hands down the hardest. It didn't help matters that she saw so much of herself in her little girl.

Jesus was more impulsive and even with medication had more energy than the average four year old. However, he rarely argued and usually was instantly sorry. Even after nearly a year, Callie and Stef sometimes went head to head. If she had not been alone in public with all five kids, Callie would have been in more trouble. Now she had to come up with what she should do about both the biting and the blatant disrespect.

"So, B, has Jesus ever bitten anyone before?" Stef asked casually knowing that Brandon loved sharing how Lena would handle a situation.

"No."

"Well, do you have any ideas what would happen if Mama was around when something like that happened?"

"No. Mama doesn't let us go places without her. She would have stopped him before he did it." It was Stef's turn to sigh. "One time at school a kid bit someone, though."

"What happened to that kid?"

"I don't know, he was on the playground at recess and then he was gone."

"So, he didn't just get a time out and then it was all okay?"

"No, Mommy, I never saw him again. He wasn't in my class and I didn't know him very well, but he was gone. Ms. Roberts said he went to see Mama."

"Hmmm, well that does give me some ideas." Obviously Jesus's short time out would not be what Lena would prescribe.

When all of the big kid were back up, they started begging to watch a movie. "Mariana and Brandon may watch one after dinner, but Callie and Jesus may not watch TV for a few days."

The two offenders looked horrified and confused. Jesus was the first to speak. "Why, Mommy? I want to watch a movie!"

"You are both grounded for how you acted at McDonalds and you will both be going to be early. Mama and I do like the behavior that you showed."

Jesus and Callie still looked at Stef perplexed. "Jesus already got a time out, Mommy. I thought after a time out, all was forgiven." Callie said quoting a little from Lena.

"Sometimes it isn't that way. Biting is very bad."

"Well, I didn't bite or steal a car. Why am I in trouble?" Callie asked truly wondering.

"You threatened to hit that little girl and you also acted disrespectfully towards me. Both of those are unacceptable."

"But I stopped, Mommy. I was good when we got home. I thought it was just a warning." Callie broke down into tears. "This is a bad day." She said dramatically throwing herself onto the floor.

"It is fixing to get worse if you don't get back up." Stef threatened and Callie did get back up and glared at her.

"I want Mama!" Mariana started screaming again watching the whole scene. She also could not understand why Stef was saying that her brother and sister were still in trouble.

"How about if we just call Mama?" Brandon said pleading sort of loudly to get above Mariana. "I think she could fix this so we could all watch a movie today. I think the biting was a misunderstanding."

"No, B. I am just as in charge as Mama. What I say goes. They are still in trouble." Stef then turned to Callie. "If you are going to cry, go back upstairs and lay back down. You may come back when you are calm."

"I won't ever be calm!" Callie yelled on her way up the stairs. "I hate you and I only want to be with my mama. Not with you, Stef!"

The other kids looked on with horror. "You are grounded longer and there will be no cookie for you after dinner." Stef wanted to follow the girl up the stairs and spank her, but then realized she was much too angry with her right at the moment. Instead she opted for space and time. Callie joined them before dinner in a much better mood.