Chapter 7
"Good morning sweetie!" Penny greeted her daughter as they eat breakfast in the kitchen.
"Good morning mommy...good morning daddy." Sarah said while rubbing the sleep off her eyes.
"Good morning honey...come on, what do you want for breakfast?" said Leonard, pulling his daughter to sit on the chair.
"Where's my brother?" asked Sarah, looking around the kitchen.
"Oh he's in the barn with Wyatt, he's teaching him how to ride Rainbow Girl." said Susan.
"Why?" Sarah asked, becoming a little upset.
"Why not?" Penny said, giving her daughter a blank expression.
Sarah sighed. "Nothing...it's just that Rainbow Girl and I already have a connection...and I don't want William taking her away from me." said the little girl.
"He's not taking her away from you. And it's not your horse, it's your grandpa's." said Leonard.
"But still..." Sarah said, unable to reason herself.
"Here...just eat your breakfast so you could join them in the barn." said Penny, putting some food on her daughter's plate.
Sarah quickly took her spoon and fork and began eating, hoping that her brother hasn't 'stolen' her pony yet.
After almost ten minutes, Sarah finished her breakfast and quickly ran out the door towards the barn. The couple laughed and decided to follow their daughter who they knew would definitely make a scene with her brother and grandpa.
Sarah reached the barn the same time as Wyatt was leading the horse back into the stall before helping William off the saddle.
"What are you doing?" asked Sarah.
"I asked grandpa if I could ride Rainbow Girl...you're right, it was so much fun!" said William, giving his grandpa a high-five.
"You're a natural buddy...the pony was so at ease with you...she didn't get agitated or something." Wyatt said.
"Thanks grandpa." said William as Penny pulled her son to hug him.
"I'm so proud of you sweetheart." said Penny, kissing her son's cheek.
"Thanks mom." William said.
"Grandpa...it's my turn now!" Sarah said as she stepped forward.
"Oh I'm sorry princess...but I have to go to town today, I have some business to take care of." said Wyatt.
Sarah frowned and bowed her head. "Oh?" she said, giving them a sad look.
Penny knelt in front of her daughter to reassure her. "Don't worry sweetie...I'll take you out in the field." she said, making Sarah excited.
"Really mommy?" asked the young lady.
"Of course!" said Penny making Sarah jump and hug her mother tight. "Come on, let's get you on the saddle." she said, taking a mounting pedestal so she could put her daughter on the pony's back.
Penny made sure the pony's halter was tied to the side before carefully lifting her daughter up onto the pony's back, mindful if the animal would buckle or rear.
"Are you okay?" Penny asked her daughter as Sarah steadied herself on the saddle.
"I'm okay mommy." said Sarah.
Wyatt then tapped William on his shoulder. "Okay, so I guess I'll leave you guys to it then?" said Wyatt.
"I got this dad." Penny told her father.
"Dad, can I come with grandpa to town?" William asked Leonard.
"Yeah sure! If your grandpa is okay with it?" said Leonard.
Wyatt lightly ruffled his grandson's curly hair. "Come on buddy...I think your math skills would be helpful for this." he said as they started to walk away. "We'll pass by that nice burger place on the way home...what do you say?" he asked.
"That sounds good grandpa." said William as Sarah looked at them, undecided if she would join them or ride the pony around the field.
"Are you okay sweetheart?" Penny asked her daughter.
"I'm fine mom...I'll let them have fun on their own." Sarah said, making her parents laugh.
"Fine...now let's get you out in the field...hold on tight." Penny said as she slowly pulled the pony out of its stall and out of the barn while her daughter kept her balance on the saddle. "You okay back there?" she asked the little girl.
"I'm fine mommy." said Sarah before leaning forward to rub Rainbow Girl's mane and neck. "Hey...you're a good girl huh?" she said as they walked out of the barn and into the field while Leonard stood by the fence, watching his wife and daughter.
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It was almost time for lunch when Wyatt and William came back into the house, laughing and having a nice conversation.
"Hey guys! Looks like you had fun huh?" Penny said as she pulled her son to kiss him on the cheek.
"We did mom...we went to this nice burger place where they serve unlimited fries...I must have eaten four pounds of potatoes." said William, rubbing his tummy.
"That sounds like fun...what else did you and your grandpa do it town?" asked Susan.
"Weill I met with the guy that sells us animal feed and fertilizer for the crops and William here did his math wizardry and got us a good deal!" Wyatt said proudly.
"Really? What did you do sweetheart?" Penny asked, proud of her son.
William gave them a weak smile. "It was nothing really...I just told grandpa he would save some money if he bought stuff for the farm on a quarterly basis instead of every month." said the young man.
"That's not all of it...he managed to get a deal to have the guy deliver the stuff here instead of me picking it up from his shop. That will definitely save me some gas money...not to mention a big relief on my back." Wyatt said.
Penny tightly hugged her son. "Sweetie that is so amazing! I'm so proud of you!"
"Not only that, the guy saw how good William was with math and stuff so he asked him if he could check his books for anything out of the ordinary." Wyatt said.
"And did he find anything?" asked Susan.
"Yeah...it turns out that one of his clerks are putting the wrong prices on some of his items, that's why he's been sort of losing some money for the past few months now." said Wyatt.
"Wow! You're like a math detective buddy!" said Leonard, giving his son a high-five.
"Not really dad...I mean, as soon as they showed me their spreadsheets, it was easy to spot where they made a mistake. After that, it was easy to fix their mistakes." said William.
Penny hugged him tight and showered him with kisses. "My son is so smart! I'm so proud of you!"
Sarah decided to snuggle up to her mother as well, not wanting to left out. "You're proud of me too, right mommy?" said the young lady, making them all laugh.
"Of course sweetie! Come here!" Penny said, puling her daughter in to kiss her cheek.
William wiggled himself out of his mother's arms. "Okay...I need to breathe mom." he said.
"Good job buddy!" Leonard said, tapping his son's shoulder.
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Later that night, William and Leonard were in the living room looking at something on the computer when Sarah and Penny came in to join them.
"What are you doing daddy?" Sarah asked before sitting beside her father.
Leonard put his arm around his daughter. "Look..your brother and I are checking out this ranch in California...look...they teach kids how to ride properly." he said, showing her the screen.
"Yeah...I asked dad if I can continue riding once we get back home." said William.
"That sounds like fun huh?" Penny said, glancing at the screen.
"You're gonna take riding lessons?" Sarah asked her brother.
"Yeah...mom and dad are okay with it." said William.
"What about me?" asked Sarah.
"I thought you were gonna stay here in Nebraska with grandma and grandpa?" William said, before looking at his parents, a clear sign that he was up to something.
"He's right honey...your mom and I were talking about it yesterday and we kinda agreed that we want you to be happy." Leonard said, picking up on what his son was up to.
"Are you really gonna leave me here?" Sarah asked.
Penny leaned in and kissed her daughter. "Don't worry sweetie...we still have a few days to decide." she said.
"Well one thing's for sure." said William.
"What is it buddy?" asked Leonard.
"If you and mom decide to leave her behind, I'm gonna be the only child again. I surely won't complain in having all the attention from you and mom from time to time dad...taking care of me...having the TV to myself...and Buster." said William.
"Okay buddy...no need to tease your little sister. Like I told you, I still don't want to leave her behind." Leonard said, obviously playing on Sarah's indecision.
"I know dad...but I can't wait until I redecorate the treehouse with whatever design I want." William said.
"Why are you gonna ruin the treehouse!?" asked Sarah.
"Well if you're here in Nebraska, you can't do anything about it right?" said William, looking her in the eye.
Sarah then turned to her mother for help. "Mommy, William's gonna ruin my treehouse!" she said.
"It's not gonna be your treehouse anymore when we leave you behind." Penny answered.
Sarah frowned and started crying. "Why are you so mean to me!?" she yelled, crying her eyes out when Wyatt and Susan joined them in the living room, surprised to see the young lady crying and throwing a tantrum again.
"Oh my god, why is Sarah crying?" asked Susan.
"William is gonna ruin my treehouse grandma!" Sarah said while Penny was trying to comfort her daughter.
"What treehouse?" asked Wyatt.
"I built them a treehouse back home...half is painted pink with lots of flowers and bunnies while William's half is just painted green." Leonard told Wyatt and Susan.
"And why do you say your brother is gonna ruin the treehouse?" Wyatt asked.
Sarah took a deep breath and gathered herself. "Because if I stay here with you and grandma, he can do whatever he wants with it." said Sarah.
Wyatt nodded. "Oh? Now I get it." he said, giving a sly look at his grandson.
"You see how selfish William is!?" said Sarah.
"I don't think it's fair to call your brother selfish honey." Susan said. "You told us that you wanted to stay here so you could take care of the animals right?" she added.
"I did grandma...but why does he have to ruin everything?" said the young lady.
"Okay fine...I promise I won't do anything to the treehouse." William said, earning a smile from his parents.
"You hear that? Your brother promises not to touch the treehouse." Leonard said to his daughter.
"Now I don't know if I'm gonna believe you or not." said Sarah, making them all laugh.
Penny smiled and pulled her close. "Don't worry sweetheart, I'm gonna make sure your brother doesn't ruin the treehouse." she said, hugging her daughter.
"Thank you mommy." said the little princess.
"Now come on...I'll put you to bed...we need to be early tomorrow." Penny said.
"Where are we going mommy?" asked Sarah.
"To Nana Juliet's...she's gonna teach me her apple pie recipe." Penny said, making the young lady smile.
"Okay mommy...I'm sure it's going to be delicious." said Sarah as Penny held her hand towards the stairs.
"I hope so too sweetheart!" said Penny.
Sarah then looked back and stuck out her tongue towards her brother before following her mother upstairs.
Wyatt and Susan looked at each other and took a deep breath, shaking their heads in disbelief at how sassy their granddaughter is. "Just like Penny when she was that age." said Wyatt.
Leonard laughed and tapped William on his shoulder. "Good job buddy...I think it's working." he said.
"We have to be subtle about it dad...she might see through our ruse, then it's gonna be harder to make her come back to California with us." said the young man.
"Don't worry buddy...I'm gonna give your mother a heads up so we could ease it in slowly." he said, giving his son a high five.
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The next day, the young family arrived at Juliet's house.
"Nana!" Sarah exclaimed as she ran to hug her great-grandmother.
"Oh sweetheart! I missed you so much!" Juliet said as she hugged the young lady, grateful for her affection.
"But we were here just the other day?" said Sarah, making the old lady laugh.
"I know...but if I had my way, I want you here every day." Juliet said before hugging William. "Come to grandma William." she said.
"Hi Nana. How are you doing?" William said.
"I'm doing okay now." Juliet said. "I just can't believe that you guys are going back to California in a few days." she added.
"We can still visit you Nana, right dad?" William said.
"Sure buddy...we can visit when you have a break from school." Leonard said.
"We can talk about that later...come on, I'm gonna teach your mommy how to make a true apple pie." said Juliet, pulling the kids toward the kitchen.
"I'm gonna help you Nana!" Sarah exclaimed, making them all laugh at how excited the young girl gets when it comes to food.
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After a few hours, William and Sarah sat at the table forking up a piece of the apple pie that Penny made under Juliet's watchful eye.
William gently blew on the pastry on his fork before putting it in his mouth.
"Well?" Penny asked her son.
"Wow mom, this is really good!" William said while chewing his food.
Sarah quickly blew on her pie to cool it down a bit before taking a small piece and putting it in her mouth. "He's right mommy! This is so delicious!" Sarah exclaimed, savoring the sweet pastry in her mouth.
"Aww...thank you sweetheart! I'm glad you guys like it!" Penny said, lightly pinching her kid's cheeks.
Leonard forked a piece and ate it. "They're right honey...this is delicious! Good job!" he said.
"Yeah this is as good as the one grandma made when we arrived." said William.
Penny smiled at her son, glad to hear his compliments. "Don't worry sweetie, I'm gonna practice making more when we come to California...you know, to get it right like what Nana did." Penny said to her son.
"Okay mom...maybe we should make a chart so we could optimize the amount of ingredients to use." William said.
"That sounds like fun...mixing math and cooking!" Penny said, giving her son a high-five.
"Good call buddy!" Leonard said, tapping William on his shoulder.
"You're gonna make some more at home?" Sarah asked her mother.
"Yeah...it's gonna be fun, right sweetheart?" Penny said to her son.
"Yes mom...and I'm sure Buster would find a way to have a piece of it." said the young man, making his parents laugh.
"What about me?" asked the young lady.
"What is she talking about?" Juliet asked.
"Sarah wants to stay here in Nebraska so she can be with her pony...and have more of your apple pie Nana." William said.
"And who's gonna take care of you here young lady?" Juliet asked Sarah.
"Grandpa and grandma will take care of me...and I'm a big girl now...they don't have to change my diaper or something." said Sarah.
"But it's not their job to take of you." said Juliet.
"Nana is right. Grandpa and grandma may like it when we're here but they're still not our parents." William said.
"But grandma says she wants me to stay!" Sarah reasoned.
"That's because she's just being nice." William said. "Not to mention they're not getting any younger anymore." he added.
"Your brother has a point honey." said Leonard.
"I'm still staying!" Sarah said, folding her arms and pouting her lips at them.
Leonard sighed and looked at Penny and William. "Okay fine...I guess it's just gonna be me, you and your mom huh?" he told William.
"It's totally fine with me dad...at least I get to choose which place to go for a change." said the young man.
"Uh...what are you talking about?" asked the young girl.
"Oh, your brother and I were talking about which theme park to go next when we go back to California...we already visited Disneyland but there's still other parks to visit." Leonard said, knowing that this will be their last 'bullet' against his daughter.
"At least we don't have to worry about height restrictions on those scary roller-coasters." William said,
"I guess you're right buddy." Leonard said.
"You're gonna go to other theme parks without me?" asked Sarah.
"Why not? We're gonna do it on a weekend when there's no school." Leonard said to his daughter.
Sarah grunted, feeling her patience running out. "I know what you're doing...you're just saying that so I'll come back to California with you and mommy!" said the young girl.
"No we're not...even if you're with us or not, we're still gonna go because that's what families do...we do stuff together." said Leonard.
"If I come back to California, will you take me to that ranch so I can learn to ride horses too?" asked Sarah.
The couple smiled at their daughter. "Sure sweetheart." Penny said.
"And you're not gonna ruin my treehouse?" Sarah asked her brother.
"I already promised didn't I?" William said.
Leonard gave his daughter a big smile before pulling her close for a hug. "Come here honey." he said as Sarah hugged her father. "Listen to me, your mom and I love you and your brother all the same and we want nothing but to make you guys happy...do you understand?" he said.
Sarah nodded. "Yes daddy." she said before resting her head on his shoulder.
"So it's settled then...you're going back to California with us?" asked Leonard.
"Okay...but I'm telling you, if you don't make good on your promise, I'm gonna be furious and I won't talk to you and mom anymore." said Sarah, making them all laugh.
"Okay honey...fair enough." Leonard said, kissing his daughter's cheek.
"I think it's for the best dad...at least the house would be quieter place for a change." said William, taking a swipe at his sister and making his parents and Nana laugh.
"Good call sweetheart!" said Penny, quickly kissing her son's cheek while Sarah stuck out her tongue to her brother.
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"I really thought you were gonna stay with us." Susan said as she hugged her granddaughter for the last time as they dropped off the young family at the airport.
"I know my mommy and daddy are gonna be sad if I'm not with them so I decided to go back with them." Sarah said, making William roll his eyes.
"That's not what really happened." said William,
"Yes it was!" Sarah said as Leonard ruffled his son's hair, telling him to let it go.
"I'm gonna miss you princess." Wyatt said, hugging his granddaughter tight.
"I'm gonna miss you too grandpa!" Sarah said, hugging her grandpa back. "Take care of Rainbow Girl okay?"
"You got it honey...I'll make sure to give her a carrot or an apple from time to time." Wyatt said, kissing his little princess.
"Bye grandma!" William said as Susan hugged him, showering him with kisses for the last time.
"Ugh...I'm gonna miss you guys!" said Susan, wiping off her tears before standing up to hug her daughter.
"Bye mom...we'll call you when we get home." Penny said.
"Have a safe flight guys." said Wyatt, shaking Leonard's hand and ruffling William's hair.
"Bye grandpa!" William said, hugging his grandfather.
"Okay...let's go so we could check-in our stuff at the counter." said Leonard.
"Bye guys...give us a call when you get home okay?" said Susan.
"Bye grandma! Bye grandpa!" said Sarah and William, waving goodbye to their grandparents as the couple led the kids into the airport gate.
Leonard looked at his kids and somewhat wished they had the same relationship with his own parents. He saw Penny looking at him and smiled at her. "Hey, what are you thinking of?" asked Penny.
"Nothing much honey...let's just get checked-in." he said.
Penny leaned in and kissed his cheek. "I know you're a little wound up since we haven't had any for three weeks. But don't worry, you'll get some when we get home...I promise." she whispered in his ear.
Leonard felt the goosebumps on his arms and neck. "I can't wait." he said, giving her a goofy smile.
Sarah suddenly pulled her father's hand. "Daddy, can we buy some souvenirs later?" she asked.
"No problem honey...we'll just check-in our stuff and get our boarding passes okay?" Leonard said.
"Okay daddy." she said before facing her brother. "I'm gonna get something for Buster." she told William.
"I don't think they have something for dogs inside Sarah...but maybe we could look for a small chew toy or something." said William as they went towards the check-in counters with Leonard handing their papers to the airline crew.
Sarah smiled at her brother. "Okay, let's get a cheap one so it won't be a waste when Buster rips it apart." said the young girl, making her brother laugh.