Chapter 5- Stranded
"You're all sick?" Tessa asked. The twins sneezed simultaneously. "I guess you are." She answered her own question. Her own bed was only big enough for her and Sophie, what was she to do?
"Can we please have a glass of water and some medicine please?" Olivia asked.
"Of course." She said, as she got up, leaving a half asleep Sophie in her bed.
"And may we please have tissue?"
"You sure can." She said.
………………..
Tessa was surprised at how easy it had been to put the twins back to bed the night before. Now she sat in the living room window seat. Outside a light snow had begun to fall. She was surprised. She had thought that it was too late in the year to snow, and then she realized that she was wrong. At all costs she was not taking the kids out in that that day. She just wouldn't do it! She refused!
"Wow!" She heard Zoë say as she came down the stairs.
"Wow what?"
"Look at that snow! Well, I'm off."
"You're going to school?" She asked.
"Sure I am, why?"
"Come here." Zoë walked over to her sister who put her hand on her forehead.
"You're warm, very warm but you don't feel too awfully bad."
"Good, cause I'm going."
"Okay, but can you get there by your self?"
"Sure, besides, Lauren and Lizzie should be here soon anyway."
"Okay. But if you feel worse let me know."
"I will, and by the way, Rose and Eve would love too see you, oh and so would Jodie."
"Of course. If you see any of them today tell them to stop by."
"I'll be sure to. It's not as though I don't see Rose almost everyday anyway." Suddenly there was a knock at the backdoor.
"That's them; I better go." Zoë said as she picked up her backpack, hugged her sister and skipped out the door. As soon as the back door shut Tessa heard three pairs of little feet coming down the stairs.
"Hi guys." She said to them. "Feeling any better today?"
"On the contrary, I'm afraid." Olivia said.
"No." Michael said, not understanding what his sister had said at all.
Sophie simply sneezed and reached for her sister to pick her up. She did so and then proceeded to ask the kids what they were going to do with the rest of their day.
"Bed." Olivia said.
"No school." Michael practically begged.
"Of course you won't be going to school, you aren't well enough for that. Today you are going to stay in bed and play board games, okay?" The twins and Sophie cheered.
………………..
Tessa was relieved to find all of the kids napping in the twin's room when she went to check on them. Olivia was in her bed with Sophie by her side. Of course Sophie had fallen asleep with her teddy bear in her arms, as always. But unlike the typical three year old, Olivia had fallen asleep with a second or third grade level book laid open across her legs. Tessa picked the book up, closed it and placed it on the nightstand as she silently wondered rather or not Olivia could truly interpret the context of the volume at such a young age. Michael had fallen asleep with nothing in his arms. He had not taken his teddy bear to bed, because he wanted to prove that he was too old for it, ironically, he had fallen asleep with his fingers in his mouth. She laughed at this and then headed back downstairs, where she had already began making dinner.Tessa went to awaken the kids an hour later. When she reached the twin's room she was very surprised to find the room that she had left so peaceful only a mere hour beforehand in such utter anarchy. Michael and Olivia were screaming at each other, and Sophie held her hands tightly to her ears.
"Guys, what's this all about?" Tessa demanded. She could barely hear herself speak over the chaos. Sophie shot her a desperate look.
"You guys!" She screamed as loud as she could muster. The room became silent all at once, and the twins immediately turned their full attention to Tessa. "What is this all about?" She asked, managing to speak in a much softer tone.
"Michael called me a know it all again, I persisted to tell him that I wasn't what he called a 'know it all, but that I am merely an intellectual."
"That proves my point!" Michael said.
"No it doesn't!" she shouted in reply as she threw her book at him, this set a chain reaction and they began to argue once more.
"Enough!" Tessa said. "I've had enough with this. Guys. You love each other, right?" The twins nodded.
"She's my best friend." Michael whispered.
"Well then, may be you should consider the fact that you guys are just different from each other. No one is the same you know, that's what makes every person unique."
"What's that?" Michael asked.
"Unique? Well, that means that each person is different, for example they look or act different, or they like different things. Or may be even, they are good at some things but not others. What do you guys think?"
"I'm sorry Olivia." He said, a sense of shame could be detected in his voice.
"I apologize for my behavior as well." Olivia replied, Tessa saw a small tear roll down her cheek.
"Good. I'm glad you've worked things out." She smiled. "No more arguing. Not while I'm here anyway." She laughed, as she left the room, happy to have restored it to a peaceful state.
……………….
Monica awoke the next morning, the sun shinning brightly in her face. She smiled. She tightened her grip on her husband. She felt his grip on her tighten as well and he kissed her.
"Good morning, Angel Girl."
"Good morning Andrew." She sighed. She laid there for a few moments and then opened her eyes. And once she did, she realized that they were in a whole different place. While the setting was still tropical there was no hotel nearby, no life at all, or at least human life anyway. When she looked ahead of them all she could see was pure ocean. Clenching onto the raft that they had ended up falling asleep in, the realization of what had happened to them finally came to her. She sat up quickly, causing Andrew to truly wake up.
"What is it, what's wrong?" He asked.
"Andrew, I think that we're stuck on a deserted island." She said simply and calmly. Andrew sat up and looked around him. He nonchalantly fell back on to the raft.
"Andrew?!" She asked, surprised by his passive action.
"It's not like this is all going to be that bad." He said, pulling her back down. She laughed as her face hit the raft. He climbed on top of her and started kissed her face and neck.
"No, I guess, this won't be that bad." She said, kissing him back. They laid there for a while, listening to the sounds of the tropical morning.
"Do you ever wish, Andrew, that when we lived on earth in human form that we lived by the ocean?"
"You know," he said as he enjoyed holding her in his arms. "I don't think I've ever really thought about it that much."
"You've never thought about living by the ocean?"
"No, have you?"
"Of course."
"I have an idea."
"What's that?" She sighed.
"How about when summer comes we all go to Cape Cod?"
"Oh, Andrew I love it!" She exclaimed throwing her arms around him. He kissed her forehead in reply.
"Well, we will look forward to that. And to much, much more of this." He said kissing her lips firmly, yet quickly and somewhat passionately. "It is however, time to get up Mrs. Wings."
