Notes: Thanks to Mari and Sammy for being their always awesome selves. Thanks to SuperSammy for the title!
Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for your amazing support! It is always appreciated.
Hope you enjoy!
What Really Counts (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
"Seven … eight … nine …"
DJ heard counting coming from Angie's room as he neared the doorway and peered inside. His sister was seated on the floor with her backpack open beside her and an array of brand new school supplies arranged in front of her.
"What are you doing, Angie?"
She looked over her shoulder at him. "I'm counting my school supplies to make sure they're all there."
He stepped farther into the room. "But school doesn't start for a couple of weeks still."
She nodded, picking up the colored pencils from the floor that she had been counting. "A lot of sleeps," she acknowledged, and started counting again. "One … two … three … four …"
"Mommy said we have time to play Uno before dinner. Do you want to play?"
Angie inhaled, clearly tempted by the prospect of her current favorite game. She bit her lip, glancing at the school supplies. She looked back at her brother. "I'll be done soon," she said. "Then I'll play, okay?"
He nodded. "Okay. We'll be downstairs."
She smiled and returned her focus to her counting. "One … two … three …" she began again.
He watched for another moment, waiting to see if she changed her mind, and when she didn't he headed downstairs. Catherine was entering the living room having retrieved the Uno deck from the playroom as he reached the bottom.
"Hey, honey," she said. "I've got the cards. Did your sister want to play?"
"She said she would when she's finished.
"What's she doing?"
"Counting her school supplies."
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Again?"
"Yeah."
"That's three evenings in a row," Catherine observed, glancing up toward the bedrooms.
"She's really excited about school, isn't she?"
Catherine smiled at him. "She really is." She waved him over toward the dining room table so they could play.
"She went to preschool, though," DJ said as he sat down. "So it's not the first time she's ever going to school. Why is she so excited?"
"Well, this is big kid school," Catherine said. "And that's really exciting for her because you go to big kid school, and you're her big brother so you're the coolest person in the world to her and she wants to be like you."
His eyes widened. "I'm the coolest person in the world to her?"
Catherine smiled. "Of course you are."
"Even cooler than Daddy?"
Her smile grew. "Even cooler than Daddy."
"Whoa," DJ whispered.
Catherine laughed lightly, not surprised by his amazed and unassuming reaction. She gave the cards a couple of quick shuffles and handed over the deck. "Now time for some counting of your own."
He blinked, having been lost in thought, and smiled, sitting up and taking the deck. "Seven cards?"
She nodded. "Seven."
The next day at the Rollins' condo, DJ waited until Elizabeth took Angie to gymnastics practice before bringing Joseph and Grandma Ang into the living room and sitting them down.
"What's up, buddy?" Joseph asked.
"I have an idea but I need your help," he replied, looking at them both.
"Of course, honey, but are you sure you don't want to wait for your sister?" Ang asked.
DJ shook his head. "It's a surprise for her."
Joseph and Ang shared a smile at that. "What's the idea?" Joseph asked.
"Well, Angie's been counting her school supplies a lot because she's so excited to go to school. I think she'd really like to be able to count the days, too, so I want to make her a calendar, but I want to make a special calendar. You know the one you have for December, Grandma Ang? With the little doors for each day and you open one door each day and there's a little treat and that's how you know how many days are left till Christmas."
She nodded. "The Advent calendar."
"Do you think we could make something like that but for back to school?" DJ asked hopefully.
Joseph smiled. "Absolutely. I think that's a fantastic idea."
Ang opened her arms for a hug. "It's so thoughtful," she agreed.
DJ beamed. "I thought maybe we could use a big cardboard box, but I'm not sure how to make all the doors."
"I have an idea about that," Joseph said, "and I definitely have some cardboard boxes we can use."
"What do you want to put inside each door?" Grandma Ang asked.
DJ smiled at her. "That's what I need your help for."
"Mommy! Daddy!" Angie squealed when Catherine and Steve arrived at the condo for dinner that evening. "DJ has a surprise for me but I can't see it until you got here!"
"A surprise for you?" Catherine said, raising her eyebrows in question even as she greeted both Angie and DJ with hugs and kisses. She glanced over at her mother. "What kind of surprise?"
Elizabeth shrugged. "Don't look at me," she said with a smile. She nodded to DJ, Joseph, and Ang. "Those three were conspiring while we were at gymnastics."
"Oh really?" Steve asked, lip quirking up in an amused smile after greeting both kids.
"Can I see it now, DJ?" Angie asked, bouncing in excitement. "Please please pleeeease?"
He nodded, just as excited. "It's in Grandma Ang's room. You go in the living room and I'll bring it out."
"Okay!" she said immediately and ran off. Joseph went with DJ to retrieve the surprise while the others followed Angie into the living room. The five-year-old had sat momentarily on the edge of the couch cushion, but couldn't contain her excitement and jumped up, bouncing from one foot to the other in the middle of the room.
"What do you think it could be?" Elizabeth asked, taking the vacated seat on the couch as Steve helped Ang into her chair.
"I don't know!" Angie said, ready to burst. She stopped as DJ and Joseph came into the room with a large object covered in a tablecloth. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Is it Felix?"
DJ laughed. "No, not Felix." They set the object down on the coffee table. "Ready?" he asked his sister, grasping the top of the tablecloth.
"Yes, yes, yes!" she exclaimed.
He pulled the cloth off with a flourish and they all looked at what was revealed. Joseph had indeed found the perfect size cardboard box and DJ had decorated the sides with drawings of pencils and backpacks and other school supplies along with some fun cartoon drawings of himself and Angie, a few fairies, and Felix the goat. They'd made a triangular prism out of more cardboard and glued it on top of the box with the words Days Until School written across the front.
"Oh wow, honey," Catherine said, coming around for a better look. There were small doors cut out of the cardboard that had once been the bottom of the box and DJ had numbered them one to twenty-four, with a little half circle cut out to make each door easier to open.
"It's like the calendar Grandma Ang has for Christmas, remember, Angie?" DJ said. "But this is for school. You can open a door every day and count the doors that are still closed, and that's how many days are left until school starts."
Elizabeth clasped her hands together. "Wonderful!"
Angie gaped. "I can count them?!" she asked excitedly.
"Yeah!" DJ said. "See, one and two are already open because those days are gone, but you can open number three because it's August 3rd."
"Can I open it now?" she asked, looking around for permission.
"Go ahead, baby girl," Catherine said.
Angie stepped forward and carefully opened the little door with the number three. "It's like a fairy door …" she began and then gasped. "There's a cookie! A little cookie!"
DJ beamed. "Grandma Ang made them while Grandpa and I were making the calendar. They're mini chocolate chip cookies."
Angie took out the little cookie that had been wrapped in a bit of plastic wrap. She looked at it, and then at the rest of the doors. "Is there a cookie behind all the doors?" she asked hopefully.
DJ nodded, grinning. "Yep!"
"That is so clever and thoughtful, sweet boy," Catherine said, kissing his head.
"It is," Steve agreed, smiling proudly at him. "And I'm very curious about the construction," he added.
Joseph stood a little straighter. "I've gotta say I'm pretty proud of that."
"Can I eat the cookie now?" Angie asked, surprising no one.
"How about you count the days left till school first," Catherine suggested.
Angie nodded eagerly and they watched as she counted the closed doors, as DJ had told her. "Twenty-one!" she announced. "Twenty-one more days till school! Twenty-one more sleeps!" She threw her arms around her brother. "Thank you, DJ! I can count every day!"
"You're welcome," he said, smiling happily at how much she clearly loved the calendar.
Angie opened the wrapping on the cookie and broke it in two. She handed one half to DJ. "Here, DJ."
He shook his head. "That's okay, Angie. You can have it all."
She remained adamant. "We'll share," she insisted, then smiled brightly. " 'Cause we're both going to big kid school in twenty one more days!"
Hope you enjoyed!
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