First in Series:
Ages: Melinda: 6
Tessa: 3
Anna: 6 months
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Melinda jumps onto our bed. "Get up here, Tessa!" I hear here whisper. Another second later and I feel another bump on the bed, and Tessa crawling around.
I turn over on my side, and open my eyes. "Did you hear something?" I ask Leo.
"No, nothing."
The girls sit quietly on top of the sheets, knowing what was about to happen. It is something that we had been doing almost every morning for the past 3 years.
"Ready?" I mouth to Leo,
He nods. We both sit up quickly and grab the girl closest to us. We tickle them, while they scream in delight. After a few minutes, we all fall back, exhausted.
"What we doing today?" Melinda asks, in her sweet childish voice.
"Do today!" Tessa repeats, still giggling.
"What do you two want to do? Leo asks them.
"Zoo!" Melinda screams. It was always her favorite place to visit. Even if we had just gone there, she would still beg us to take her back.
"You want to go to the zoo? See the monkeys and the elephants?" I say, excitedly.
Melinda and Tessa both nod.
"Okay, then you two munchkins better go get ready, before we leave you!"
They both jump off the bed and run to their rooms. I turn to Leo and say, "Guess we should get up also." I turn and start to get up when Leo grabs my arm.
"One second," he says, pulling me back. I turn around, looking at him. "If you think you are getting off this bed without kissing me, you are crazy," he says, looking completely serious.
I giggle, "What if I don't?" Without giving him any time to reply, I lean down and kiss him passionately. "Ah, now, I don't want to get up." I mumble, my lips still centimeters above his. I start kissing him again, both getting more passionate.
A small giggle from the doorway interrupts us. We break our kiss and glace to the source. Melinda stood there, giggly uncontrollably. I sit up quickly. "Uh, Melly. You are already ready."
She nods, still giggling.
"Well, how about you go pick out an outfit for Anna?" I ask her.
She runs out of the room, to go find clothes for her baby sister.
I give Leo one final kiss, and then get up to get ready for the day. I get in the shower first, while Leo goes to help Melinda with Anna. We then trade places, I get the girls shoes and socks on, make sure they are actually ready, and Leo gets the luxury of the shower.
Once all the girls were officially ready, I led them downstairs. "Who wants to help make pancakes?"
Melinda and Tessa both shouted out, "I do!"
I strap Anna into her highchair. I grab a bowl and the other supplies. "Okay, Tessa, you can stir, and Melinda you want to measure the ingredients?"
"Yay!" they cheer. I grab the stool for Melinda to sit on. She was too short to reach the counter by herself, but she was a great cook. I used to joke that she could read cookbooks before anything else.
I lift Tessa up to the counter, so she could stir once her sister put the ingredients in.
I helped them when they needed it, but for the most part, they did it on their own. While they were cooking, I was feeding Anna. I was about to get up and actually cook the pancakes when Leo came down.
"No, sweetie, you stay there, I will cook them," he said.
Leo went into the kitchen, and Tessa and Melinda came running into the family room where I was sitting. "Can we watch cartoons, Mommy? Please!" they beg.
I gave in, "Go on." I told them, handing them the remote.
After a few minutes, when Anna was done and I had burped her, I left and went into the kitchen. "Are they almost ready?" I ask Leo.
"Almost," he replied, flipping some over.
I put Anna back in her high chair, and walk over to the stove. I smile. Leo had made various shapes with the batter, an M, T, and A for our girls, and an M and D for us, Mommy and Daddy.
"Thank you." I whisper in his ear, kissing him. "Better check the pancakes," I say after that, because out of the corner of my eye, I could see some edges getting a little dark.
"Melinda! Tessa! Breakfast!" I call them in. Within seconds, both girls are running into the kitchen, quickly sitting down. I join them, while Leo serves us.
Thirty minutes later, after I had sent the girls to wash up again, t get off the syrup, Leo and I cleaned up the mess they had made in the kitchen.
"Any news from up there?" I asked, motioning with my head. Demons had been getting so far and few between since we vanquished the source, and once Melinda was born, my sisters moved out into their own places. Even Leo was not being called as much, although, he still did go up there every few days to just check on things.
"Well, I have the whole week off… well, ya know, unless something major happens.
I break out into a huge grin. "A whole week?" I say, disbelieving. I hug Leo, grateful.
Melinda came running into the kitchen, and Tessa, who was still slow on stairs, about a minute later. "So, when are we leaving?" Melinda asked impatiently.
"Right now. Just get your jackets," I grab my jacket and Anna's diaper bag.
On the car ride there, Melinda and Tessa impersonated… I mean im-animal- ated, different animals.
Once we arrived, Melinda jumped out, and waited, impatiently running around in circles, waiting for us to get the stroller ready. We had brought the double stroller, so Tessa wouldn't have to walk that far, and so we didn't have to carry her all day.
We finally enter in the gates and Melinda runs up to the nearest exhibit. "Mommy, daddy, flamingos!" she shouts, excitedly pointing at the bright pink birds.
We stayed there for a few hours, until mid afternoon. The entire day was like that, Melinda running ahead, getting all excited about the animals, and not ever wanting to leave. When we finally said it was time to go, she just kept talking about all the animals and what her favorites were.
"I liked the monkeys the best. They kept jumping around in the tress." Melinda said.
"Me liked da lions. Grrr!" Tessa imitated.
Once we finally arrived home, Tessa and Melinda, never running out of energy, ran into the back yard to play. I went upstairs to change Anna's diaper and put her down for a nap.
"I got all the stuff outta the car." Leo said.
I turn and face him, "I so want to take a nap also." I say, looking at Anna who was already asleep.
"You know I can watch the girls."
"Yeah, but then I would feel guilty." I sigh, and we both walk outside to watch the girls. I take the baby monitor outside with us, so in case Anna woke up for some reason, we could hear her.
Outside, the four of us played a weird game- a cross between soccer and catch. In about an hour, we were all exhausted, even the girls, and I heard some noise from the monitor.
We all go inside and collapse into the couch. I only move when I actually hear crying for the monitor. "Ugh, I guess I should go get Anna."
I reluctantly pull myself up and climb up the stairs. "Hey Anna," I say, entering the room.
"Mama!" She shouts, delighted.
"Yeah, you had a chance to rest," I say to her.
I carry her downstairs, and put her in the playpen. I then sit back down on the couch. "So now what?" I ask, sighing.
"We sit here until we all have as much energy as her." Leo says, glancing at Anna.
We all turn and look. Anna was crawling around like crazy, picking up toys and putting them back down.
That peace only last another ten minutes, when Tessa said, "Mommy, I hung- wey."
I look at Leo and Melinda. They both nod in agreement. "Okay, Okay, I will start dinner." I sigh, getting up.
"Okay girls, lets go get ready for bed." Leo says, shooing them up.
The girls start to protest and I ask, "Leo, its only 5:30, they don't need to get to for bed yet."
"I didn't say they had to go to bed, I just said they had to get ready for bed. Leo replies, cryptically. He picks up Anna and herds the girls upstairs.
I walk into the kitchen and try to figure out what to make. Eventually, I see a box of macaroni and cheese. I sigh, it is nothing like what I used to make, and what I wanted to make, but, I was still exhausted, and I didn't feel like making anything fancy.
I had the water boiling when Leo and the kids came down. "What's the surprise daddy?" Melinda was begging him.
"Yeah, I am kinda curious myself." I continued.
"After dinner," Leo says. "Now, how about you two set the table?"
Melinda got the bowls out, Tessa did the silverware, and Leo strapped Anna into her highchair.
I finished the mac and cheese and served everyone. The girls ate quickly; I think to find out what the surprise was.
Finally, dinner was done, and the tables were clean. "Okay Leo, are you going tell us?"
"One second" Leo left the room, and then came back in a few seconds later.
"Cinderella!" Melinda squealed.
"Kinderella!" Tessa shouted.
We all went into the living room and got comfortable. Before the movie was over, all the girls were asleep, and I nearly was. We carry the girls upstairs and put them in their beds.
We put Melinda to bed last, and stand in the doorway, watching her.
"I love her like this, its so peaceful," I say, resting my head on Leo's shoulder.
"I know, we are the luckiest people in the world."
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"In about eight months, we are going to be lucky again."
"What?" Leo says, shocked. He pushes me off his chest and turns me to face him. "You mean…?"
I nod, excited.
Leo places his hand on my stomach. "I can't wait."
Ages: Melinda: 6
Tessa: 3
Anna: 6 months
"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Melinda jumps onto our bed. "Get up here, Tessa!" I hear here whisper. Another second later and I feel another bump on the bed, and Tessa crawling around.
I turn over on my side, and open my eyes. "Did you hear something?" I ask Leo.
"No, nothing."
The girls sit quietly on top of the sheets, knowing what was about to happen. It is something that we had been doing almost every morning for the past 3 years.
"Ready?" I mouth to Leo,
He nods. We both sit up quickly and grab the girl closest to us. We tickle them, while they scream in delight. After a few minutes, we all fall back, exhausted.
"What we doing today?" Melinda asks, in her sweet childish voice.
"Do today!" Tessa repeats, still giggling.
"What do you two want to do? Leo asks them.
"Zoo!" Melinda screams. It was always her favorite place to visit. Even if we had just gone there, she would still beg us to take her back.
"You want to go to the zoo? See the monkeys and the elephants?" I say, excitedly.
Melinda and Tessa both nod.
"Okay, then you two munchkins better go get ready, before we leave you!"
They both jump off the bed and run to their rooms. I turn to Leo and say, "Guess we should get up also." I turn and start to get up when Leo grabs my arm.
"One second," he says, pulling me back. I turn around, looking at him. "If you think you are getting off this bed without kissing me, you are crazy," he says, looking completely serious.
I giggle, "What if I don't?" Without giving him any time to reply, I lean down and kiss him passionately. "Ah, now, I don't want to get up." I mumble, my lips still centimeters above his. I start kissing him again, both getting more passionate.
A small giggle from the doorway interrupts us. We break our kiss and glace to the source. Melinda stood there, giggly uncontrollably. I sit up quickly. "Uh, Melly. You are already ready."
She nods, still giggling.
"Well, how about you go pick out an outfit for Anna?" I ask her.
She runs out of the room, to go find clothes for her baby sister.
I give Leo one final kiss, and then get up to get ready for the day. I get in the shower first, while Leo goes to help Melinda with Anna. We then trade places, I get the girls shoes and socks on, make sure they are actually ready, and Leo gets the luxury of the shower.
Once all the girls were officially ready, I led them downstairs. "Who wants to help make pancakes?"
Melinda and Tessa both shouted out, "I do!"
I strap Anna into her highchair. I grab a bowl and the other supplies. "Okay, Tessa, you can stir, and Melinda you want to measure the ingredients?"
"Yay!" they cheer. I grab the stool for Melinda to sit on. She was too short to reach the counter by herself, but she was a great cook. I used to joke that she could read cookbooks before anything else.
I lift Tessa up to the counter, so she could stir once her sister put the ingredients in.
I helped them when they needed it, but for the most part, they did it on their own. While they were cooking, I was feeding Anna. I was about to get up and actually cook the pancakes when Leo came down.
"No, sweetie, you stay there, I will cook them," he said.
Leo went into the kitchen, and Tessa and Melinda came running into the family room where I was sitting. "Can we watch cartoons, Mommy? Please!" they beg.
I gave in, "Go on." I told them, handing them the remote.
After a few minutes, when Anna was done and I had burped her, I left and went into the kitchen. "Are they almost ready?" I ask Leo.
"Almost," he replied, flipping some over.
I put Anna back in her high chair, and walk over to the stove. I smile. Leo had made various shapes with the batter, an M, T, and A for our girls, and an M and D for us, Mommy and Daddy.
"Thank you." I whisper in his ear, kissing him. "Better check the pancakes," I say after that, because out of the corner of my eye, I could see some edges getting a little dark.
"Melinda! Tessa! Breakfast!" I call them in. Within seconds, both girls are running into the kitchen, quickly sitting down. I join them, while Leo serves us.
Thirty minutes later, after I had sent the girls to wash up again, t get off the syrup, Leo and I cleaned up the mess they had made in the kitchen.
"Any news from up there?" I asked, motioning with my head. Demons had been getting so far and few between since we vanquished the source, and once Melinda was born, my sisters moved out into their own places. Even Leo was not being called as much, although, he still did go up there every few days to just check on things.
"Well, I have the whole week off… well, ya know, unless something major happens.
I break out into a huge grin. "A whole week?" I say, disbelieving. I hug Leo, grateful.
Melinda came running into the kitchen, and Tessa, who was still slow on stairs, about a minute later. "So, when are we leaving?" Melinda asked impatiently.
"Right now. Just get your jackets," I grab my jacket and Anna's diaper bag.
On the car ride there, Melinda and Tessa impersonated… I mean im-animal- ated, different animals.
Once we arrived, Melinda jumped out, and waited, impatiently running around in circles, waiting for us to get the stroller ready. We had brought the double stroller, so Tessa wouldn't have to walk that far, and so we didn't have to carry her all day.
We finally enter in the gates and Melinda runs up to the nearest exhibit. "Mommy, daddy, flamingos!" she shouts, excitedly pointing at the bright pink birds.
We stayed there for a few hours, until mid afternoon. The entire day was like that, Melinda running ahead, getting all excited about the animals, and not ever wanting to leave. When we finally said it was time to go, she just kept talking about all the animals and what her favorites were.
"I liked the monkeys the best. They kept jumping around in the tress." Melinda said.
"Me liked da lions. Grrr!" Tessa imitated.
Once we finally arrived home, Tessa and Melinda, never running out of energy, ran into the back yard to play. I went upstairs to change Anna's diaper and put her down for a nap.
"I got all the stuff outta the car." Leo said.
I turn and face him, "I so want to take a nap also." I say, looking at Anna who was already asleep.
"You know I can watch the girls."
"Yeah, but then I would feel guilty." I sigh, and we both walk outside to watch the girls. I take the baby monitor outside with us, so in case Anna woke up for some reason, we could hear her.
Outside, the four of us played a weird game- a cross between soccer and catch. In about an hour, we were all exhausted, even the girls, and I heard some noise from the monitor.
We all go inside and collapse into the couch. I only move when I actually hear crying for the monitor. "Ugh, I guess I should go get Anna."
I reluctantly pull myself up and climb up the stairs. "Hey Anna," I say, entering the room.
"Mama!" She shouts, delighted.
"Yeah, you had a chance to rest," I say to her.
I carry her downstairs, and put her in the playpen. I then sit back down on the couch. "So now what?" I ask, sighing.
"We sit here until we all have as much energy as her." Leo says, glancing at Anna.
We all turn and look. Anna was crawling around like crazy, picking up toys and putting them back down.
That peace only last another ten minutes, when Tessa said, "Mommy, I hung- wey."
I look at Leo and Melinda. They both nod in agreement. "Okay, Okay, I will start dinner." I sigh, getting up.
"Okay girls, lets go get ready for bed." Leo says, shooing them up.
The girls start to protest and I ask, "Leo, its only 5:30, they don't need to get to for bed yet."
"I didn't say they had to go to bed, I just said they had to get ready for bed. Leo replies, cryptically. He picks up Anna and herds the girls upstairs.
I walk into the kitchen and try to figure out what to make. Eventually, I see a box of macaroni and cheese. I sigh, it is nothing like what I used to make, and what I wanted to make, but, I was still exhausted, and I didn't feel like making anything fancy.
I had the water boiling when Leo and the kids came down. "What's the surprise daddy?" Melinda was begging him.
"Yeah, I am kinda curious myself." I continued.
"After dinner," Leo says. "Now, how about you two set the table?"
Melinda got the bowls out, Tessa did the silverware, and Leo strapped Anna into her highchair.
I finished the mac and cheese and served everyone. The girls ate quickly; I think to find out what the surprise was.
Finally, dinner was done, and the tables were clean. "Okay Leo, are you going tell us?"
"One second" Leo left the room, and then came back in a few seconds later.
"Cinderella!" Melinda squealed.
"Kinderella!" Tessa shouted.
We all went into the living room and got comfortable. Before the movie was over, all the girls were asleep, and I nearly was. We carry the girls upstairs and put them in their beds.
We put Melinda to bed last, and stand in the doorway, watching her.
"I love her like this, its so peaceful," I say, resting my head on Leo's shoulder.
"I know, we are the luckiest people in the world."
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"In about eight months, we are going to be lucky again."
"What?" Leo says, shocked. He pushes me off his chest and turns me to face him. "You mean…?"
I nod, excited.
Leo places his hand on my stomach. "I can't wait."
