It was two years later. Josie was nine years old, and the twins were four. And Jack and Rose had their hands completely full with them.
One morning, Jack and Rose's alarm clock suddenly went off. "It's morning already?" Rose whined as Jack turned off the alarm. "I went to sleep five minutes ago."
"I know," said Jack. "We need sleep."
Rose wrapped her robe around her shoulders and slipped her feet into her slippers. She walked to the bathroom, brushed her teeth and hair, and returned to find Jack still asleep. "Wake up, sleepy head," she whispered, kissing him.
"I'm up, I'm up," he murmured.
"That's a joke, right?" Rose asked with a smile.
This time, Jack actually sat up and got out of bed. "There you go." They walked downstairs, and Rose made breakfast while Jack made coffee. "What do you have going on today?"
"Nothing really," said Rose. "I have to run some errands but other than that, I'm free. Why do you ask?"
"How about you come meet me at work today for lunch? We both probably need a midday pick-me-up," said Jack.
"That's perfect," said Rose, kissing his cheek. "I'm going to wake the kids." Rose walked up to Josie's room. "Josie, darling, it's time to wake up."
Josie scrunched her eyes and yawned. She was a beautiful little girl, and Rose thought she looked adorable when she was just waking up. Finally, she opened her beautiful blue eyes and looked at Rose. "Good morning, Mommy," she whispered.
"Good morning, darling," Rose whispered back. She stood up and walked to Josie's closet. "What color dress do you want to wear today?"
"Purple," said Josie.
"You always want to wear purple," said Rose.
"Yes, I do," said Josie with a smile.
"Okay, I took out your violet dress with the ballet flats, and breakfast is downstairs," said Rose. She left and then went to Maddie's room. "Maddie, time to wake up," she whispered. She pulled the window shades open.
"No," said Maddie. "I'm not getting up."
"Come on, Maddie," said Rose. "We need to get up, we need to get moving."
"Okay," said Maddie, and she stood up.
"I'm taking out your yellow dress for you, okay darling?" Rose said before she left. Next stop was Myles's room. "Myles, it's time to wake up."
"What time is it?" Myles asked.
"It's seven thirty," said Rose with a smile. "Do you want me to pick out something for you to wear to preschool today?"
"Yes please," said Myles tiredly. "I want to wear my soccer shirt."
Rose took out a soccer shirt and pants and left the room. "I'll see you downstairs, darling." Rose returned to the kitchen, where Jack was setting down placemats on the kitchen island for the children to eat. "All three kids are up."
"Great," said Jack. Suddenly, Josie walked downstairs. "Good morning, Josie."
"Good morning, Daddy," said Josie. "What's for breakfast?"
"Scrambled eggs and English muffins," said Rose.
"Yum!" Josie said as she sat down for breakfast. The twins came down after and ate their breakfast. Meanwhile, Jack and Rose quickly packed all three lunches and quickly ate their own breakfasts and drank their own coffee.
Suddenly, the school bus pulled up. "Bye," said Josie, as she ran out the door holding her English muffin.
"Have a great day," said Rose. Then, a mom from the twins' preschool showed up to pick up the twins, since it was her carpool day. Rose packed the twins away in the car and then closed the door.
"Now I have to get ready for work," said Jack. He quickly got dressed while Rose did her makeup and brushed her hair and got dressed.
"By the way, we have to be home before Maddie's bedtime," said Rose. "I promised her a princess tea party."
"Right, okay, so I should be home by six tonight," said Jack, as he was picking up his car keys.
"Well since I have to go to the grocery store, I'll drive you to work," said Rose. She and Jack got in the car, and they drove to Jack's office. "I'll be here at twelve thirty."
"Perfect," said Jack. "I love you."
"I love you too," said Rose.
Rose drove away and ran her errands. She went to the grocery store to buy ingredients for the next few meals, snacks for the children, and other household items. The next stop was the pharmacy to pick up Jack's medications and cough medicine. Rose checked her watch; it was already twelve o'clock! Rose quickly checked out of the pharmacy and drove home, dropped the groceries, and returned to Jack's office.
Rose pulled up at Jack's office. She parked the car and entered the office. She took the elevator to Jack's floor, and knocked on Jack's door. "Come in!" Jack said.
"Hey," said Rose, bending down to his chair to give him a kiss. "How's your day going?"
"I've had three cups of coffee today and I'm still exhausted," said Jack.
Rose sat down across from him and took out the lunches. "I've had four."
Jack chuckled and took a bite. "This sandwich is delicious, where did you get it?"
"Oh, I made it at home," said Rose.
Jack smiled. "You've been holding out on me, Rosie," he said. "What've you been doing today?"
"I stopped at the supermarket, grocery store, and pharmacy, and after this I have to check in at work, then it's my turn to carpool for the twins, and pick Josie up from dance. And I have to do all of this and be home in time to make dinner, work a little at home, and hopefully be done by bedtime."
"Is there anything I can take off your plate?" Jack asked.
"Can you make dinner tonight?" Rose asked. "If not, I can do it but-"
"No, I can do it. I'll be home by six o'clock tonight. You?"
"Hopefully six thirty," said Rose. "And I'm seriously hoping we can do everything and be asleep by eleven."
"I'm exhausted," said Jack.
"We need sleep," said Rose, "and we need… sleep."
"Yes, we do," said Jack. "We'll find time; don't worry."
"Promise?" Rose smiled.
Jack kissed her. "Promise."
Rose left Jack's office and drove to her office. She checked in at the office, picked up some materials that she needed, and left. Then, she drove to the preschool. She entered and saw the two blonde children sitting and playing a game. "Hi, Mrs. Dawson," said the teacher. "We did some coloring today, and I thought you would want to see your children's work."
"Yes please," said Rose, taking the artwork. She looked at it and was stunned. "Oh, wow, this is amazing."
"We thought so, too," said the teacher. "It's way beyond the abilities of most four year olds."
Rose looked at the drawings. The one with Maddie's name was a portrait of herself, which was somewhat accurate, but incredibly complex. The one with Myles's name on it was of a plant. "Thank you so much," said Rose. She walked over to the twins.
"Hi Mommy," said Myles, wrapping his little arms around her.
"Hi darling," said Rose, kissing both of er children's heads. "I have your artwork, it's beautiful."
"Mommy, can we go home now?" Maddie asked, her greenish eyes reminding Rose of her own.
"Sure, Maddie," said Rose. She took each of their hands and walked them to the car. "Are you buckled in?"
"Yes," they said together, and Rose drove away.
"Okay, now we have to pick up your sister," said Rose. She drove over to the dance studio, took the twins out of the car, and entered the studio. Josie was dancing in the main studio, and Rose was watching from the gallery. Finally, she had finished, and Josie came out to Rose.
"Mommy, you're here," said Josie, jumping into Rose's arms.
Rose kissed her blonde curls. "Yes, I'm here. Are you ready to go, darling?"
"Yeah, I'm hungry," said Josie. "What's for dinner?"
"I don't know, Daddy's cooking tonight," said Rose. She and the kids started walking to the car. She made sure all three kids were buckled in before driving away.
Finally they arrived at home, and all three kids ran towards Jack. "Daddy!" they yelled.
"Hi guys," Jack said. He hugged all three of them. After, all three of them disappeared to their own rooms and activities. "Hi sweetheart," Jack said, kissing Rose.
"Hi," Rose greeted him. "Is there any leftover coffee?"
"I made another batch," said Jack. "I just got a feeling we would need it tonight."
"You're the greatest," said Rose, pouring herself a coffee.
Maddie skipped downstairs. "Can we have my princess tea party now?"
Rose smiled. "Yes, I'll be right up."
Rose gave Maddie her princess tea party, like she had promised. Then, she returned downstairs, where Jack was cooking. "How was the tea party?" Jack asked with a smile.
"It was good," said Rose. "By the way, I have to show you something." Rose reached into her purse and took out the artwork.
Jack took it from her and looked at it. "What is this?" he asked.
"Maddie and Myles's artwork from class," said Rose. "Josie may not have gotten your artistic talent, but the twins certainly did."
"I-it's amazing," said Jack, amazed. "How did we never know they could do this?"
"I'm not sure," said Rose. She sat at the counter and took out her books and notebooks for work. She worked for about an hour before Jack told her dinner was ready. "I'll go get the children."
Rose went upstairs and brought down the children to eat. Jack and Rose sat with the children while they ate their dinner, and then put them to bed. Finally, all three children were asleep. Jack and Rose returned downstairs to eat their own dinner. "I'm exhausted," said Jack. "And it's only… eight o'clock."
"So am I," said Rose. "Do you remember when Josie was a baby and I told you that parenting was easier than I thought it would be?"
Jack chuckled, and smiled at the memory. "Yes, I do."
"Well, I stand corrected," said Rose. "It's exhausting."
As soon as she said that, she heard a voice coming from upstairs. "Mommy?" Myles called for her.
"We better go up there before he wakes the…"
"Mommy? Daddy?" Maddie and Josie called from upstairs.
"… Girls." Jack sighed, and they returned upstairs for the second time.
Jack and Rose had put them to sleep for the second time, and they had cleaned up the kitchen. Finally, they had gotten upstairs and were about to go to sleep themselves.
"It's only ten o'clock," said Jack with a smile. "As long as we go to sleep before eleven, we'll get eight hours of sleep."
"Whatever will we do for the next hour?" Rose smiled. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and took him back to the stars.
