CHAPTER 2:
When they reached the front door of their house, Amanda realized that Declan kept the keys in his pocket when he ran out earlier.
"Babe, can you unlock the door for us?" Amanda asked as Declan took the key out and opened the front door.
"So what would you like for dinner?" Declan asked.
"Hmmm, I'm kind of in the mood for pasta." Amanda said.
"My weekly day program has cooking classes and other life skills classes so they taught me how to make pasta, so I think that can be arranged." Declan said as he went into the kitchen.
"How about we pop in a movie after dinner?" Amanda suggested.
"Sounds like a plan." Declan said he started to cook the sauce.
"So what are you going to do about your day program once you get a job?" Amanda asked.
"Not sure right now. But I'll figure something out once I get hired." Declan said.
"Don't you have a job coach?" Amanda asked.
"I do. I'll ask her." Declan said.
"Good. She might be able to help." Amanda said.
While he was cooking, their three year old daughter Jesse, just came home from a playdate with a classmate. After Jesse came in through the front door, she went into the living room and saw Amanda sitting on the couch while Frannie was asleep on her big girl bed.
"Hi, Mommy." Jesse said.
"Hey, sweetie." Amanda said, hugging her daughter.
"Where's Daddy?" Jesse asked.
"He's in the kitchen cooking dinner. How was school today?" Amanda asked.
"It was a good day today." Jesse said.
"Did anything happen today at school?" Amanda asked.
"Just another day of fun." Jesse said.
"That's always good. Did you have a good playdate with Chrissie today?" Amanda asked.
Chrissie and Jesse have been best friends since two weeks into the school year. And they've had weekly playdates at each other's houses since then.
"Yes, Mommy." Jesse said.
"Good." Amanda said.
"Chrissie wants to know if she can spend the night here sometime." Jesse said.
"You mean, like, have a sleepover?" Amanda asked.
"Yeah. Can she?" Jesse asked.
"Maybe this weekend you two can have your sleepover." Amanda said.
"Okay. I'll tell her at school tomorrow." Jesse said.
"Maybe we can find matching sleeping bags and pajamas." Amanda suggested.
Jesse smiled at the idea and asked her mother if she and Chrissie could tag along to help pick out the sleeping bags and pajamas. This way, they could see what they would look like before Amanda bought them.
"We'll discuss it with Chrissie and her mother before school tomorrow." Amanda said.
"Okay." Jesse said, smiling at the possibility that she and her best friend could soon be having their first ever sleepover.
Jesse and Chrissie both agreed that their first sleepover is something they want to remember forever.
Dinner was ready minutes later, so after Declan plated the pasta, he called Amanda and Jesse to the kitchen for dinner. They sat down and Amanda smelled the food. While they were at the dinner table, Jesse told Declan about how she may be having her very first sleepover soon. He was so happy for her.
"Daddy, do you do sleepovers with your friends?" Jesse asked.
"Well, maybe when I was much younger I did. But not anymore." Declan said.
"Why not?" Jesse asked.
"Well, people grow out of doing specific things at a certain point in their life." Declan explained.
"What about you, Mommy?" Jesse asked.
"Well, before I got pregnant with you, I would often have a ladies night out with my friends. But we never had actual sleepovers during those." Amanda explained.
"Mommy, next time, you should sleepover at Auntie Liv's house and then Daddy can have his friends over for a sleepover." Jesse told her mommy.
"I'll see if some of my friends are up to it or not." Declan said.
"Babe, your friends either have down syndrome, autism, learning disabilities…" Amanda explained, before being cut off.
"I get the point, babe. But I can still ask them if they'd be up to it." Declan said.
"I'm sure that they would like that. Can we eat now?" Amanda asked as the family did so.