AN: Just a quick note; a big thank you goes out to everyone who took the time to review my story. It is very much appreciated!
Part 12
Mac was with Harriet the next Monday when she turned up at the school to pick up the kids. AJ was having a couple of friends over and there wouldn't be space in the Roberts family car to fit them all, what with Harriet having picked the twins up from daycare early that morning. Mac had volunteered to drive some of the kids in her car to Bud and Harriet's house, then stay around to watch Harriet's children while she drove the other kids home, later on.
"I don't know how to thank you enough, Colonel," Harriet expressed her thanks.
"It's no problem at all, Harriet, you know that," Mac chided her, "You know that Harm and I love our God-children…He'd be happy to help out too, if her weren't so darn busy at JAG. But ask him any other time and he'd jump at the chance to baby-sit."
"I might leave that a while," Harriet confided, "There are so many kids in our house, these days, I don't think he'd be able to handle them all. I know you can, but things are different with a man, if you know what I mean…"
"Yeah," Mac chuckled, smiling broadly, "Thank goodness women have the ability to multi-task!"
Harriet laughed along as she and Mac made their way into the school and found AJ's classroom on the second floor.
"Hey there, buddy!" Mac exclaimed when her Godson came running over, from where he had been playing with other children in the games corner, "Are these your friends?"
Two other little boys had followed AJ over.
"Hi Mrs. Roberts!" they greeted, "Hello, Ma'am!"
Mac chuckled at how foreign their 'ma'am' sounded. It almost sounded like they were going to continue the word and say 'marmalade.' There were a few little things she still hadn't gotten used to since she had been here.
"This is AJ's Godmother," Harriet informed the polite little boys, "She's going to be helping to get everybody home, today. Three of you will go in her car, and one of you will be coming with AJ, Jimmy, the twins and I."
The boys had now made their way over to the twins in their car seats, pulling faces for the babies.
"Hello Nicki!" the boy with red hair greeted one of the twins.
"My Mum's having a baby next spring," he then informed the group proudly.
"How's she doing, Gerry?" Harriet asked the child, "Is her morning sickness any better?"
"She's okay most of the time," Gerry nodded, "But then things sometimes happen that make her lose it…Like cookies. She can't stand the smell of cookies, right now."
"Ooo!" AJ winced, "When my Mom was having the twins, we couldn't keep things around the house that would make her feel ill…Do you mean that you're not allowed cookies at all?"
"Nope," Gerry shook his head, "And no doughnuts, cakes or Lamingtons either…"
"What's a Lamington?" AJ asked, curiously.
He was now very well enculturated into British society, (primary two British society, that is!) but every now and then he came across something he didn't know about.
"Ooo," his other friend, Jamie showed his enthusiasm for baked goods, "They're like these sponge fingers, dipped into this chocolate-fudge stuff, then rolled in coconut. They're out of this world! Safeway supermarkets import them from Australia, where they're made."
"And coconut," Gerry suddenly added, "She can't have coconut either. My Dad's going mad because it means he can't have Chicken Korma. She smells the coconut milk in it."
Mac couldn't help but laugh at these articulate little seven-year-olds. They were like a little tag-team.
"Anyway," Gerry picked up again, "We can't have cookies and I don't mind so much because Mrs. Roberts sends some extra with AJ sometimes, in his packed lunch. You make the best cookies, Mrs. Roberts. Even better than my Grandma's."
"Thank you, Gerry," Harriet just smiled at the boy who she had really come to like, "Well, I think we should probably get the rest of you together, before we go down to the kindergarten and get Jimmy…AJ, where are Tiegan and Tyler?"
"Tyler got sick during lunch," her son told her, "He went down to the nurse's office and once school ended, the teacher said that Tiegan could go down there and keep him company."
"Okay then, let's go and get Jimmy, then Tiegan and Tyler. We go that way to the car, anyway," Harriet proposed, adding, "I hope Tyler hasn't got what Jimmy had…"
After they got to Jimmy in the kindergarten, one of the twins started fussing, so Harriet took the baby out of the car seat and just carried the two, one in each arm. The other children didn't give any trouble, Gerry even offered to take the car seat from Harriet so that she could focus on the fussing baby.
"You're so thoughtful, Gerry," she complimented the boy, "Tell Mrs. Rabb how many brothers and sisters you have at home."
"Five sisters and three brothers," Gerry told Mac, adding, "and another of one of those, once the new baby arrives in spring."
"Wow!" Mac exclaimed, understanding now how the child had probably become so articulate, obviously learning much socialization and responsibility from his siblings, "How old are they?"
"Nineteen, sixteen, fifteen, twelve, ten, nine, five and four," Gerry reeled them off, "Gina doesn't live with us anymore, but she and her boyfriend are just down the street."
After picking up Jimmy and a bit more chat, they made their way to the nurse's office.
The twins had by now fallen asleep, so Harriet put Nicki back in her car seat.