Ashley knew there would be an adjusting period for her and the kids. She never guessed it would be so hard. It had only been a week. She didn't know if it was because they weren't allowed everywhere and walking the same white wall hall everyday trying to tire out Iris was boring. She was also having a hard time sleeping in a new place. Right then she was trying to convince a very tired Iris that she needed to lay down. The TV seem to overstimulate the girl. Even calming music seem to hype up Iris. Even the babies seemed to be extra fussy lately. Ashley decided to lay down beside Iris on the mattress they used for nap. It was dark except for a few dim lamps in the room. She woke up two hours later to the phone in the room ringing. Ashley carefully got up from the mattress and went to the phone.
"Hello." Ashley answered softly
"Is Iris awake?" Darius asked.
"Yeah she just woke up." Ashley looked at the girl rolling on the mattress.
"Could you bring her to the infirmary, please?" Darius asked.
"Sure just let me grab her cup of milk and I will bring her right up." Ashley said. She hung up the phone. Some assistants came in to the room to help feed the babies. An assistant handed Iris a sippy cup up milk.
"Thank you!" Iris said as she began to drink her milk.
"Come on Iris daddy wants to see you!" Ashley held out her hand. Angelica began to scream and Ashley picked her up getting a warm bottle from a assistant before leaving the room.
A guard led them up to the infirmary. With out Ashley knowing Iris handed the guard her sippy cup. The guard smiled he had had that post for the past week and the girl was always handing him papers ,cups or some little trinket. The infirmary was a little busy. Ashley grabbed Iris's hand before she could run to Darius. She pulled the child out of the way. She pulled them into the corner so they were out of the way. Angelica was cooing on Ashley's shoulder.
"What do you mean you don't know Lieutenant Tyler? You did his pre mission blood work yesterday Dr. Frasier !" Sam insisted from a bed.
"I'm sorry Major but I've never met a Lieutenant Tyler. Now please calm down I don't want to sedate you!" Janet soothed.
"Colonel Mitchell and Lieutenant Tyler were pinned down we have to go back! How is Martouf?" Sam asked agitated.
"He got a burn on his back but Lantash will take care of him. We will send a team back as soon as General Hammond says it is safe." Janet said.
Darius walked over to Iris and Ashley. Iris went over to him and he picked her up.
"Thanks for bringing her. I wanted you to know, Iris, I'm not going to be here for the next week. My sister is having her baby today or tomorrow. My parents just called and said that they were taking her to the hospital. So you behave for Ashley. I will bring you back treats." Darius kissed Iris on the check and pressed his head against hers.
"Why can't I go with you?" Iris asked sadly.
"Maybe one day, sweetheart, but right now you have to stay here." Darius bounced Iris.
"Ok." Iris sighed.
"How are you doing?" Darius asked Ashley.
"I found out that I'm not sleeping because I'm napping with Iris." Ashley chuckled.
"You're not sleeping?" Darius asked frowning.
"I'm adjusting to a new place to sleep I'll be fine in a few days." Ashley assured.
"Ok. Let's us know if you are still having problems sleeping." Darius nodded.
"What is your sister having?" Ashley asked.
"Another boy! I think his name will be Patrick Andrew but she wants to see him first! I better be going. Thanks again for taking care of her!" Darius hugged Iris again before putting her down.
"This is for after lunch!" Darius added handing Ashley a lollipop for Iris.
"Bye, daddy!" Iris perked up a little at seeing her favorite treat.
"Do you think Iris and I could eat in the commissary again? Just as a special treat." Ashley asked before Darius walked away.
"I don't see why not. Just one dessert." Darius shrugged and held up one finger to Iris then winked at Ashley.
"Alright are you ready to take Angelica back to the nursery the we'll go get some lunch?" Ashley asked Iris as Darius left the infirmary.
"Baby Angelica can come with us." Iris said taking Ashley's hand.
"That's sweet! Ok let's go eat." Ashley walked out of the infirmary she saw the guard holding the sippy cup.
"Is that what you did with your cup? I thought you threw it away again!" Ashley reached for the cup. The guard handed her the cup and Ashley put the cup in a bag that she carried with her. It was a small black book bag that had a couple of diapers, wipes, changing pad and empty bottle. It was used to carry things and in case the babies needed a diaper while on a walk. They were walking to the commissary when the baby began to fuss.
"Is there a bathroom on this floor? The baby has a bad diaper." Ashley ask wrinkling her nose.
The guard nodded and showed her to the bathroom. Iris wouldn't follow Ashley in the bathroom. Iris took the guard's hand.
"Do you mind watching her for a minute I won't be long?" Ashley asked.
"We'll be here." The guard said. Ashley smiled in thanks and went to change Angelica. Ashley quickly changed the baby and washed her hands. Ashley came out of the bathroom with the baby. Iris was running a few steps away from the guard until he snapped his fingers and she come right back to him giggling.
"Thank you for watching her! What is your name?" Ashley asked as she fixed Angelica's purple pants.
"Alex Oliver." He smiled giving her Iris's hand.
"Ashley Nikola!" She took Iris's hand back. They were making their way to the commissary when a tall man in a suit and tie walked up to them angrily. Iris his behind Ashley's legs.
"What is that creature doing in the halls of a base?" The man growled at Iris.
"We were going to eat!" Ashley held Angelica closer and put her arm around Iris.
"Come with me!" The man demanded. Ashley had no idea who this guy was but she hadn't and probably wouldn't meet everyone on the base. Angelica was being fussy again most likely because of the guys tone. Ashley finally had to stop and pick Iris up because Iris kept tangling herself in Ashley's legs. They made their way to General Hammond's office where the man knocked loudly on the door. The man ushered them in the office. Ashley sat Iris in a chair at his desk.
"Can you tell me why this monster was running around the hall?" Simmons asked angrily.
"This is Ashley Nikola she is in charge of the kids. Sometimes Iris gets away. Did you ask her instead of parading them in my office, Colonel Simmons?" Hammond frowned. Ashley looked upset and agitated. The woman had only been with them a week. If this was Iris's first time escaping then the woman was doing a better job then the guards were doing the first month Iris lived in the mountain.
"Darius had asked me to bring Iris up to the infirmary. After that I thought we could go to the commissary to get lunch. The baby got a dirty diaper so I left Iris with the the guard. The guard ,Alex Oliver, was letting her run a few feet then she would come back. She was never out of arms reach in case something happened. Then this man came up to us and demanded we follow him." Ashley explained.
"So now we have money in the budget to pay for a monster nanny?" Simmons frowned.
"The only monster I see here is you, sir. I see a baby, a very scared child and General Hammond. You are the only acting like a monster. Can I please go get lunch now, sir?" Ashley asked Hammond.
"You can go!" Hammond dismissed.
Ashley took Iris's hand and scooted past Simmons to leave the office. After lunch they finally made it back to the nursery. She would never complain about a boring day again. The babies were awake when they got back.
"Why don't we put the babies in their bouncy chairs then you and I can do a art project?" Ashley asked grabbing a bouncy chair to put Angelica in.
"OK I want to use makers today!" Iris said as she helped pull out another seat that was under the crib.
"We can do that!" Ashley smiled. They drew with markers and Ashley helped hang the picture up. The room was slowly looking more like a children nursery instead of a white lab. After art Ashley put on a movie for Iris and had a little playtime with the babies. She like to get to know each little personality they were getting already. It was getting late and Ashley ordered dinner for Iris and herself to be sent down to the nursery. Soon there was s knock on the door. She let Daniel and Dr. Lee in the room.
"Hey I heard you had an adventure today?" Daniel chuckled as he picked up Simon.
"Yeah I don't want to run into that guy again!" Ashley shook her head.
It was a couple nights later and all the men were in the nursery feeding the babies.
"I'm glad you are safe Colonel Mitchell!" Ashley said as Cam sat down to feed Violet.
"Thank you!" He smiled.
"So Ashley figured out why the babies have been so fussy every month and lately ." Teddy informed. They all looked at Ashley.
"I did some research and found out that some plants grow more during the full moon! I told the assistant fixing the bottles with an extra ounce to see if it would help the fussiness. They ended up needing two extra ounces during those three days and have gone back to their regular five ounce bottles. The assistant also adjusted their chlorophyll intake with the extra ounces." Ashley explained.
"That's why they were so miserable last month we were starving the babies for three days!" Daniel shook his head.
"Well I wanted to see why I wasn't sleeping and realized it was a full moon. I looked to see if the full moon affected babies and plants the article said certain plants grow faster during the full moon so I figured them being so fussy might be them growing a little bit during the full moon. Making them more hungry." Ashley explained.
"You don't sleep during the full moon?" Dr.Lee asked curiously.
"I dont get much sleep! I'm one of the people that is affected by the gravitational pull of the moon. It's hard to explain but something about the way the gravity changes during the full moon. I'm better now that it is over been sleeping like a baby!" Ashley shrugged.
"Thank you for figuring out what was happening with our babies." Cam said as he looked down at the cooing Violet.
"Glad to help! Do you guys mind staying here while I go give Iris a shower? So I don't have to wait for the assistants to come stay with the babies then shower her and come back give the babies a bath. I still have to do the kids laundry." Ashley asked
"Sure!" Teddy said and the others nodded.
"Thank you!" Ashley grabbed Iris's shower bag and Iris's hand then went to give her a shower. When she returned back to the nursey Ashley was surprised to see Dr. Lee bathing Angelica and the others putting the babies in their pajamas or in their cribs.
"Thank you!" Ashley smiled.
"Glad we could help!" Daniel patted her on the back.
Saturday morning
Daniel yawned at the stop light. It was eight thirty in the morning on a Saturday and he had a van full of kids heading to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo for Lola's birthday party. Cam had a surprise for Lola and Devlin but had to go off world. Carolyn went to pick up Cam and her parents. Janet had Lola, Devlin and Jordan sleeping over at her house. Which means he had to get out of the house for the night. He had moved into Janet's house about three months ago. They had decided to keep it quite. Cassie was fifteen she promised to keep it quite; she loved Daniel and he loved her. As long as he made Janet happy Cass was fine keeping their secret. They borrowed Darius's van so they could drive everyone to the zoo.
"Didn't get enough coffee in you this morning?" Janet chuckled looking at Daniel.
"Guess not!" He smiled. He just couldn't sleep well when she wasn't besides him.
"I see the zoo!" Lola sang from the back.
"It's to early to be that awake birthday girl!" Daniel griped playfully.
"She's like this every morning!" Devlin's sleepy voice came from besides Lola.
They pulled into the zoo parking lot and because they were there thirty minutes before the zoo opened they got front row parking. He saw other cars pulling in and knew they were there for Lola's party. It was still a chilly February morning. It was mostly Carolyn, Janet and Cassie that had planned the party. Cam really did try but was he off world most of the time. Daniel rolled Jordan out of the van as Cassie helped Lola out of the van. Lola wore a tan zoo keeper outfit under her pink coat. She also wore a tan matching bucket hat. She wore a pink backpack that she used as a doll carrier. Her doll Mabel went everywhere, except daycare, with her. Mabel was wearing a matching hat. Daniel was helping Janet get some wagons out of the trunk. When Lola began to jump up and down.
"Grandma and Grandpa Mitchell! Hank and Kim!" Lola squealed as they came up to the van with Carolyn.
"Birthday princess!" Frank Mitchell scooped Lola up with one arm. Devlin hugged Wendy Mitchell then went to hug Hank Landry and Kim Landry. Carolyn smiled her parents were surprised not only when she wanted them to meet her boyfriend but her boyfriend's children when they wanted her to come home for Thanksgiving. They fell for Devlin's sweet nature and the little tornado energy Lola was. They even like Cam! Hank took Lola from Frank as Devlin went to hug Frank. Both sets of parents were happily adjusting to being in the grandparents role.
"Someone is ready for her birthday party!" Hank chuckled giving her a tickle.
"I'm five years old!" Lola said proudly.
"A whole hand full! I think you're going to be good at being five!" Frank smiled. The adults smiled at the girl's confused face.
"Who are your friends?" Wendy asked.
"That's Jordan, Cassie, Janet and Daniel." Lola pointed to her friends.
"Jordan why do you keep rubbing your eyes?" Carolyn noticed the boy kept rubbing his eyes harshly.
"I forgot my sunglasses and the sun is very bright." Jordan continued to block the sun from his eyes.
"Hang on!" Daniel opened the passenger side door to the van and reach over to the glove box and grabbed something. He handed Jordan a small pair of black sunglasses.
"Thank you! I forgot uncle Darius put those in there for me!" Jordan put on the sunglasses on.
"I'm glad I saw them when the glove box fell open earlier." Daniel smiled. Jack and Sam walked up pushing Hannah's stroller. Jacob and Martouf were with them. Lola greeted them with hugs; so did the the other kids.
"Is baby banana asleep?" Lola asked. Sam pulled up the blanket so Lola could peek in on Hannah. Lola put her hand over her mouth so her giggle wouldn't wake Hannah.
"Really Jack?" Sam chuckled showing everyone the sleeping Hannah with her mouth wide open and tiny sunglasses on her face.
"She looks like me in college!" Jack shrugged.
"What does that mean?" Lola asked.
"What are we going to do first, Birthday Cat?" Jack changed the subject.
"We're going to get to paint with a porcupine, skunk or armadillo!" Lola said excitedly.
"That sounds like fun, Lolo!" Sam smiled.
"That's why we had to be here so early. They can only do four kids at a time. Then we have to spilt the kids into of what animal they want to paint with." Carolyn explain.
"What animal are you going to paint with Dev, Cass and Jordy?" Lola asked.
"What animal are you going to paint with?" Devlin flipped the question back to Lola.
"I'm not sure! I think the skunks." Lola nodded.
"I'm like you Lo the skunks are cool but the porcupine is really cute!" Cassie gushed.
"I'm doing the porcupine that sounds really cool!" Devlin nodded.
"I can't do it because of my wheelchair we tried when we first moved here. Uncle Darius got really mad. They said it scares the animals and it was for my safety!' Jordan explained.
"I talked to several people and they said your wheelchair shouldn't be a problem. If they won't let you in to paint with your chair we will help you walk in the room and you will get to paint." Carolyn promised.
"I would like that!" Jordan smiled.
"When is daddy going to get here, mommy?" Lola asked. Lola had started calling Carolyn mommy recently and Carolyn didn't mind. Devlin even called her mom sometimes.
"He had a meeting and then he will be here soon." Carolyn assured.
"His meetings could last days!" Lola whined dramatically.
"No not today I promise! He will be here soon!" Carolyn soothed!
"It looks like your friends are waiting at the front for you! We should go say hello!" Janet reached out her hand for Lola to take.