Please see chapter one for disclaimer. Thanks. I also do not own Uno, Microsoft Word, or any fast food chain mentioned in the chapter.
A/N: Thank you for so many positive reviews! It makes my writing seem easier. When you finish reading, please remember to review!
Thank you to GeorgeStultsFan for pointing out an error in the chapter that has since been fixed.
Sunrise
Chapter Three: A Busy Day
Meanwhile…
Mary Rivera sighed and looked around her at the mass chaos that had unfolded. Meg and Charlie played a rather loud game of 'Uno', while Mia screamed loudly that she wanted to play too. It would have been nice if either of the older children would have let the four year old join them, but of course it wasn't happening, nor did Mary suspect it would ever come true tonight. The other twin, Emily, was walking around carrying her baby doll, singing ear-piercing lullabies. The loudest of all, however, was Riley, who was occasionally breaking into sobs and yelling "Mama". She yawned and looked at the clock. Lucy and Kevin would be home soon, thank goodness. She approached Riley, who was, at the moment, quietly playing with her toes. She reached down and picked her up.
"I think it's about bedtime, cutie. Why don't we go put your pajamas on?" She asked quietly. Riley's sweet smile quickly changed to an angry frown.
"No! No bedtime. No! No!" She protested loudly. Mary shook her head, frustrated. This was never going to work.
"All right. I guess you can stay up until mommy and daddy get home." Riley smiled triumphantly as her aunt placed her back on the ground. As Mary stood back up, she heard the garage door opening. Lucy and Kevin were home, and just in time. They walked through the door moments later.
"How were they?" Lucy asked. Mary smiled.
"They were fine…loud, but fine. I'm used to having one child around, and this evening I had five!" They both laughed. Lucy reached into her purse and grabbed a twenty dollar bill, holding it out to Mary.
"Oh! You don't have to pay me Luce, I love watching my nieces." She told her sister. Lucy looked reluctant for a moment, but then put her money away. She hugged Mary.
"Thanks so much for doing this on such short notice."
"It's no problem!" Mary said. "Charlie!" she called, "Come on, time to go home!" The five-year-old obediently came over to his mother. "Bye girls!" She called.
"Bye Mary, bye Charlie." Lucy and Kevin said together, then laughed. After Mary and her son had left, Lucy turned to the living room, which looked like a small tornado had been through.
"Come on Riles." She said, picking up her youngest child. "It's bed time."
"No!" Riley cried. "Stay up!" Lucy laughed and shook her head, carrying the squirming child into her bedroom and laying her in her crib.
"Goodnight, sweetie. I'll see you in the morning." Riley answered with another loud "no" but Lucy ignored it and left the room, shutting the door behind her. Riley cried loudly for five minutes, but finally settled down as her mother tucked in Emily and Mia, and her father tucked in Meg. When she was finished, Lucy walked out into the living room to survey the damage. There were tons of games out, with the added touch of Uno cards sprawled over everything. There were two baby dolls on the sofa with a baby doll stroller on its side in front. She put her hand on her head, which felt like it was going to explode. Ever since Kevin had suggested that they have another baby, her headache had been getting worse and worse, and now she felt as if she was going to die. Kevin came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"What's wrong?" He asked her, seeing the look on her face.
"My head just hurts. I'll go to bed right after I get this cleaned up." She said, starting for the mess. Kevin stopped her.
"Go to bed, I'll clean this up." He told her. Lucy smiled and thanked him. They kissed and Lucy started down the hall to their bedroom. Kevin looked at the mess. Maybe offering to clean this up himself hadn't been the greatest idea. With a sigh, he leaned forward and began picking up the mess.
David Camden shook his head angrily as he stared at the blank word document on his laptop screen. He had been working on his column for the Glen Oak tribune for the last forty-five minutes, yet was still left with nothing. He was completely out of ideas, and it was beginning to really frustrate him. He thought hard for a subject of a column. Just then, his wife, Anna, entered the room. She went up behind where he was sitting in his chair and put her arms loosely around his neck. She began kissing his neck and ear. He shook his head.
"Anna, I'm working." He said in a monotone voice, not taking his eyes off the computer screen. Anna surveyed what her husband had finished so far. Seeing that he had nothing, she laughed.
"Working, huh?" She asked playfully. David ignored her. She huffed and stood up, crossing her arms over her chest. "Fine, be that way." She said. "I'm going to go get some lunch, do you want anything?" She asked.
"From where?" David asked, still sounding monotone.
"Oh, I don't know…Panda Express, or maybe Wendy's…oo, Wendy's sounds good." David gasped.
"Fast food! I'll write about fast food!" He cried.
"That's nice. Do you want anyth—"
"Shh! I'm thinking!" David cut her off. Anna shook her had and walked out of the room.
"Men…"
Ruthie Petrowski let out a sigh of relief as she felt the wind in her hair. She had just finished giving her last horse riding lesson of the day, and decided to take a ride on one of the horses before she headed home for the day. The horse, Stormy, galloped along the horse trail that ran along the outskirts of the nearby park, where she often brought her children to play. She glanced at her watch. It was 4:48. "4:48 already?" She wondered to herself. Her last lesson had ended at 4:30, and it didn't feel as if it had already been almost 20 minutes. "Oh well. Time flies." She thought. "I should head back soon. Peter has that meeting tonight for…oh I don't know, I wasn't really listening. I think he said it was at 5:30. I hope he's giving dinner to Cameron and Allison before he gets ready." She sighed as she realized that she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn't even realized that she was at the end of the trail. Story slowed to a walk until Ruthie dug her heels into his side to get him to trot again. They soon arrived back at the stable, where she put Stormy into his stall. She grabbed her purse from the small cabinet near the ground, and started for her car. When she arrived home at 5:15, she was greeted by Peter at the door entering from the garage to their home.
"Where have you been?" He questioned. "I have a meeting at 5:30, I told you!"
"I know, I know." Ruthie answered, pushing past him to get into the kitchen. "Did you feed the kids?"
"No, I've been getting ready to go. We're right in the middle of rush hour, I better not be late. I'm leaving now, bye." He pecked her quickly on the cheek then climbed into his car and backed out of the garage. Ruthie shook her head.
"Cam! Allie!" She called. The kids came into the kitchen. "What do you guys want for dinner?" She asked.
"Spaghetti!" Cameron cried excitedly.
"Pasketti!" Echoed Allie. At four, the same age as Lucy's twins, she had mostly mastered the English language, but she still had some trouble with some words. Ruthie opened the fridge and grabbed the back of left of spaghetti noodles. She put them into three bowls and reheated them in the microwave while she got the left over sauce out of the fridge. After the spaghetti had been reheated, she but the sauce in and did the same. When the microwave beeped, she pulled out the container of sauce.
"Cameron, do you want sauce?" She asked.
"Yes please." He answered.
"Allie?"
"Nope." Ruthie put sauce on her and Cameron's noodles, then carried the bowls over to the table, where they all took a seat and began eating. "Thank you, mama." Allison said.
"Your welcome, sweetie. So, how was school, cam?"
"Fine." He answered, like he did every time she asked that question. She turned to her youngest child.
"And how as school for you, Allison?"
"Fun." She answered excitedly. "We got to do finger paints today! Me and Kylie sat together and it was fun." She answered, all in one breath.
"That's cool. And did you have fun with Jenna after school?" She asked. Since Allison was only in preschool, she only had to go to school for a half day, and since Ruthie and Peter both worked, Ruthie had to have a babysitter daily. Jenna, the babysitter, was a senior in high school, and because she had enough credits taken care of already, she got out of school at 10:28. She picked Allison up from school at noon, and stayed with her until Peter returned home after finishing work and picking up Cameron from Kindergarten.
"Yeah! We played dollies." She said happily. Dollies was one of Allison's very favorite games. As the evening continued, they finished their dinner, and decided to watch a movie, just the three of them. As they did so. Ruthie began to realize how glad she was she didn't work late. As much as she loved her job, she loved her family much, much more.
A/N: I hope that you liked this! Please don't forget to review. Look for chapter 4, coming soon to a computer near you!
