Caitlin had serious repercussions due to her misdemeanors in school. Two weeks punishment, no tv, no friends - basically she was on house arrest except from school and family functions. She loved that and of course she didn't go down with out a fight. Screaming, yelling, name calling - things that occurred on a daily basis. She wasn't on speaking terms with her parents, and her parents weren't very happy with her either…everyone for different reasons of course. Caitlin was angry for two reasons. First because she was grounded, though she wasn't mature enough to admit they were right in doing so, and second because of the new baby. Five years ago the Cohen family was blessed with the birth of twin sons for Seth and Summer, and two new baby brothers for Caitlin. She still hasn't forgiven them for that and now another Cohen delinquent is coming – great. Seth and Summer were angry at her for being suspended, for her behavior in school and her behavior and attitude at home and towards her parents.
Seth walked into their bedroom, soaking wet in only his swimsuit. He had a towel resting on his shoulders and was using the end to wipe off his face. He stopped midway to their bathroom noticing Summer sitting on their bed. She was wearing blue jean shorts and a white, long sleeved hooded shirt.
"What are those?" Seth asked wiping down his arms, drying himself off.
"Oh nothing really, just baby clothes." She leaned over a large box pulling out tiny baby clothes holding them up in front of her to admire how cute they were. She smiled then folded them up, placing them in a pile and then pulling out another one from the box. Every now and then she'd begin to laugh or 'awe' remembering when her little babies used to wear these.
"Baby clothes? Summer you're only two months pregnant, you have seven more months to go – I don't think we're in a rush to be sorting out baby clothes." Seth walked over to his dresser pulling out a navy blue shirt and khaki shorts.
"Well you can never be too prepared and anyways, I'm just sorting them out and remembering when the kids used to be able to fit in these. I just can't wait for the baby to come. I figure if we have a little boy we'll have plenty of clothes seeing how we saved all of the twins baby clothes. And if we have a girl, I'll have someone to dress up in little dresses and tights and all those frilly things – I'm getting excited just thinking about this."
"Let's just hope this kid doesn't hate us as much as the other ones do. That's all we need, another kid telling us how horrible we are for adding it into this dysfunctional family." Seth tilted his head to the side hitting his ear lightly to get the water out.
"I see, so you think this is a dysfunctional family huh? And that we're awful parents so I guess I'm just the only one who's excited that this baby is coming." She stood up from the bed and hurried into the bathroom and slammed the door.
"No, Summer, that's not what I mean." He shook his head and finished getting dressed and seeing how Summer locked herself in the bathroom, there was no need to stay there.
Caitlin was downstairs in the kitchen fixing a sandwich while her brothers were sitting on top of the peninsula watching her.
"I want one too." Brady said, his head resting on his hands.
"Yeah then make it yourself." She put the knife in the dishwasher and walked to the table with her back to her brothers.
"I'll tell mommy and daddy and then you'll get in even more trouble. Da-" Brady began to yell but Caitlin soon stopped him.
"You know Bray, this act is only going to work for so much longer. Mom's having another baby and this means you two won't be the youngest so…. pretty soon you can't get me in trouble anymore." She began to eat her sandwich.
"What do you mean?" He asked curiously.
"Everyone knows what happens when baby's come. They take up all the parents attention, cry all night long, crap in their diapers and everyone thinks it's cute." She shrugged and continued to eat. She took this opportunity to mess with their minds, seeing as she had power over them.
"Yeah well they'll still love us, we're their babies."
"Yes for now, but pretty soon we'll have an annoying brother or sister who will take up all of mom and dad's attention, they'll probably forget about you two."
"And you!" Zachary said yelling loudly, not liking what he was hearing.
"They already have, but I'm old enough to take care of myself. I mean I can dress myself with out assistance but you two…I don't know. They probably will forget to tuck you in at night, and forget about bedtime stories – they wont have time for that. And you'll have to put on your own clothes, forget mom picking out your outfits and if you can't, then oh well, you'll probably have to go naked. And then pretty soon they'll forget to make your breakfasts, and lunches and soon your dinners. Not to mention they'll probably be way too busy to even give you a shower so you'll reek. So not only will you smell bad but then everyone will probably make fun of you and you'll loose all your friends and –"
"That's enough!" Seth yelled walking into the kitchen only to interrupt his daughter's insightful conversation to his youngest sons. "Boys go into the living room please." The twins jumped down on the chairs they used to get up on the peninsula and walked past Seth into the living room. "What are you doing? I know you're angry with us but now you're lying to your brothers to try to get them jealous about the new baby? I just – I just… when are you going to grow up and act your age?"
"I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was just telling them how it is…. so when the stup - I mean baby comes they wont be surprised. And another thing, I do act my age it's just that you two are too busy with your stupid lives that you don't even notice me." She got up heading for the other room the fight was beginning.
"Hey, hey, you know that's not true. We give you plenty of attention, but do you know how hard it is to spend time with someone who constantly makes everyone's life unbearable. You get yourself in trouble and when your mother and I ground you, you have these outbursts like you don't know why we're doing it. I know teenage life is hard, I know that we've been busy with the boys and with work and everything…and now with the baby coming – but we're trying to understand you, but you're not making it easy on us." Seth's level of patience was wearing thin, no matter how much him and Summer tried to understand their daughter, it seemed the level of understanding moved further away. He leaned back against the countertop crossing his arms.
"Uh-huh. I need to get ready." She turned her back to Seth and walked towards the door.
"Need to get ready? Ready for what?"
"I'm hanging out with Brittany. We're going to the movies." Caitlin became inpatient, she wanted to go up to her room to get ready but was stopped to be interrogated by her father.
"You were, were you? Hmm, that's funny because last time I checked you were grounded."
"But dad!" She screamed back, walking back over to him and getting ready to argue it out.
"See this is what I mean. You have no respect to our authorities. You know you're punished yet you're going to play it out like I'm the bad guy." He grabbed the paper towels and placed them on the paper towel rack, figuring he could take the time to clean up a little.
"Please! Dad, I already called her and –"
"No Caitlin. I have to call Ryan and tell him you're grounded and can't see Brittany." He grabbed the portable phone and began dialing.
"Wait, dad…don't!" Seth dialed the number and after a few rings he began talking to Ryan. Caitlin began skulking towards the door and just as she reached the doorframe, Seth hung up the phone.
"Hold it. Ryan said he didn't know that Brittany was coming over and that she's on punishment as well. So let me get this right. You were going to sneak out of the house, come back after you were done doing whatever you two were planning, and then sneak back in. Then Brittany goes back home…and you'd get off the hook? Nice plan, but it's not going to happen. Cait –" The phone rang and he grabbed it from the counter to answer it. Caitlin left the room while Seth had his back to her and when he turned around he saw she wasn't there. Holding the phone in his hand he resignedly walked upstairs to their bedroom knocking on the door. "Summer?" He walked in the room seeing it was turned upside down, cluttered with baby things. "What are you doing in here?"
"Oh, nothing, nothing." She bounced off the bed, standing in front of Seth, her mood visibly different then a little while ago.
"It's Marissa." Summer grabbed the phone and began shooing Seth from their room, slamming the door in his face. He stood up against the door, his ear to it and heard giggling from the other side. He figured she was probably filling Marissa in on their little fight…they tell each other everything. He shook his head and ambled down the hallway to the twins' room. Brady and Zachary were hunched on the ground playing with their toy cars. "Hey boys. What are you two doing?"
They turned around to look at their father and Seth walked further in, sitting on the end of Zack's bed.
"We're playin cars." Zack sat on top of his legs and when Seth entered the room, he stopped what he was doing and picked up one of his cars to show his father. Seth smiled at him and commented on what a cool car he had then watched as he returned back to the mat to continue playing with Brady.
Seth gawked at the sight of his twin sons, they were no longer going to be their babies, in fact, and in seven months another child would come into their lives and change it – for the better. It wasn't that he wasn't joyful about the fact a new baby would be coming it all came down to the timing. They say a baby can come whenever; well this baby picked the perfect time. The boys were so little and to Seth they'd always be his babies just now, more then ever he was finally realizing they were growing up…that time was passing by, quickly.
"Can I talk to you two please?" The boys stood up and Seth placed them both on his lap. "I know Caitlin was telling you things of how life is going to be when the baby comes but it's nothing like that. She was right that newborns cry a lot, but it's because they can't talk like you and I can, and they cry to let us know something's wrong. Yes, things will change but I promise you that mommy and I love you two very, very much and a baby won't change that. Ever."
"But Caitlin said that once the baby comes, it will take up all you 'tention and you'll foget bout us." Brady said pulling on his ear.
"No, no. We'll have to spend time with the baby, feed him, play with him, and all that stuff that babies need…but you know what, you and Zack…you two can help us with that. We may be busy but we definitely will not forget about you two." Seth held his boys tightly on his lap giving them a kiss on the top of their heads.
"Promise?" Brady asked, staring up at his father with his big, chocolate brown eyes.
"I promise." Seth slid the boys down onto the ground and patted the tops of their blond heads. "I love you two, very much."
"We wove you too, daddy." The twins said in unison and then went back to playing. Seth smiled and then entered the hallway when Summer came running out, phone in hand.
"Whoa, is something wrong?" Seth asked seeing his wife vigorous, smiling and jumpy.
"I just got off the phone with Marissa, she suggested we all double date tonight. What do you say? A nice night out. You need one, we both do." Summer said tracing her index finger against Seth's chest.
"I don't know, I'm not really in the mood to go out." He squinted his face, the idea of going out to dinner not settling well in his head. "What about the boys?" Seth asked crossing his arms on the small of Summer's back.
"Caitlin!" She said as though she just realized that was an option.
Seth jeered at the sound of Caitlin baby-sitting the twins. "I don't think that'd be a good idea."
"Why? She's babysat for them before, and plus it's only for a couple hours. Maybe Brittany and Kiley could come over too so that Caitlin's not alone and for the boys to play with." Summer wouldn't stop until Seth said yes, so she kept on him until his answer changed.
"Wouldn't that be defying punishing her in the first place, her being with friends?"
"I can see you really don't want to go. That's fine…I'll go call Marissa and cancel." She pulled away from Seth acting upset – all just part of her plan.
"No, no, you're right. A night out would be nice. I'll go get ready."
"And I'll go talk with Caitlin." They pulled into a kiss, Summer's hand on the side of Seth's cheek and his hands stroking her back.
Caitlin walked into the hallway seeing her parents kissing and started to make chocking sounds. "Get a room. Disgusting." They pulled out of their kiss and Summer wiped her mouth a little surprised by their daughter.
"I'm going to take a shower." Seth jogged into the bathroom, shutting the door and turning the shower on immediately.
Caitlin walked towards the stairs, but Summer stopped her from moving further. "I wanted to talk to you. How would you feel about babysitting tonight?" Summer asked, hands on her hips.
She contemplated for a few seconds then looked to her mother. "Do I have a choice?"
"No, not really." Summer stood stern, tapping her foot against the floor and raising an eyebrow as she waited for an answer. "So you will?"
"Mom I don't really – "
"Brittany can come over. We're going with Ryan and Marissa so the girls will come over too. You and Britt will baby-sit the kids. Does that sound good?" She knew that'd settle it for sure, though no matter what Caitlin was babysitting.
"Yeah, whatever. They're going to bed early though."
"Their bedtime is seven thirty."
"Yeah but they can't tell time yet so I can put them to sleep whenever I feel like it." She chuckled at her mom and then hustled down the stairs whistling.
"Caitlin." Summer watched her daughter, shaking her head impressed by her daughters' tactics. She sighed and then remembering what she had to do, she ran down the hallway to get ready for dinner.
It wasn't going to be fancy, but she thought she'd dress up just a little bit since it's been years since she has. As she skimmed her closet for something to wear, she became depressed thinking that in a few months she wouldn't be able to fit in most of these clothes that fit her slender little body. She settled on a black, v-neck dress with sleeves that hung an inch from her shoulder onto the top of her arm and had extra fabric that draped a little in front. Her stomach was barely noticeable though in a few months that'd change. She wore her hair straight down and all that was left was the makeup. The amount of time it took her to get ready was the amount of time Seth spent in the shower. He walked in, dripping wet with a towel wrapped around his waist. Water dripped from his chest and his curly wet hair drooped onto his forehead as little beads of water ran down the side of his face.
"Wow. You look…you look great." He said in disbelief as he dried himself off. He put on boxers and hung the wet towel on the towel rack in their bathroom. He walked back into the main room over to the closet and rummaged for what to wear. He settled on a long sleeved dress shirt, which he wore unbuttoned over a red short-sleeved graphic t. He wore khakis and black dress shoes and was ready within ten minutes. He looked in the mirror against their bedroom wall and began fidgeting with his hair adding a little gel through his curls and after he adjusted it to the way he wanted, he wiped his hands off on a paper towel. "Is this fine?"
"Yes, you look great. If you can go call Ryan to come over, I'll go get the boys ready for bed."
He nodded his head and before he left the room he glanced at their bedroom clock. It was only six-thirty, way too early for the twins to go to bed. "Bed? It's not even seven yet."
"Well Caitlin wont get them ready for bed, so I'll get them ready ahead of time. Plus she'll probably put them to bed right after we leave anyways." Seth laughed and grabbed the phone, dialing his brother's number while Summer left the room.
She entered Zachary and Brady's room and stood in front of their bureau, pulling out their pajama drawer and grabbing two sets of pajamas. "Boys, it's time to get you dressed for bed."
"I'm not tired." Zachary said turning to look at Summer, beginning the early bedtime struggle. She motioned for him to come over to her side in order for Summer to get Zack dressed.
"I know sweetheart, but Caitlin's not going to get you ready for bed so I have to." She pulled off her son's shirt and dropped it on the bed and pulled down his forest green, football pajama top. She finished dressing him with somewhat of a struggle and moved onto Brady.
"Where are you going mommy?" Brady asked while she was dressing him.
"Daddy and I are going out to dinner with uncle Ryan and aunt Marissa. Kiley and Brittany are coming over and Brittany and Caitlin are going to baby-sit you three." She finished dressing him in a white long sleeved shirt, covered with red, white and blue dog bones, doghouses and dogs. She put on his pants and grabbed at their dirty laundry. "You two listen to Caitlin and Brittany, they're in charge tonight alright?"
"Okay mommy."
"Are you two hungry?' She looked down at her sons who seemed uninterested.
"No." Brady said engaging in a game of checkers with Zack. Summer sighed and walked out of the room placing the boys things in the dirty hamper. She felt her forehead and began breathing in and out; feeling nauseated and trying to stop it if she could. She couldn't though and she ran into the adjacent bathroom and threw up.
"Summer? Are you okay?" Seth asked standing at the doorframe after hearing Summer in the bathroom. She stood up, flushing the toilet then rinsed out her mouth with water from the sink.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Are they coming?" She joined her husband; standing side-by-side and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"They're on their way."
Caitlin was downstairs sitting on the couch watching an HBO movie, chomping away on ice cream. She was enthralled with the movie, laughs coming from the room. The doorbell rang once. No movement from her, not like she would have been able to hear it anyways with the volume being as loud as it is. Again, the doorbell rang and Seth yelled down for Caitlin to get it but she later claimed he never did. The doorbell rang for the third and then fourth time and now Seth came jogging down the stairs opening the door and breathing heavily due to running around.
"Hey, for a second I thought no one was home." Ryan said walking into the house, Kiley in his arms.
"Yeah well someone's a little hard of hearing." Seth said pointing into the living room where Caitlin was laying; clearly unaware to the fact company was here.
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ryan looked down at Brittany who shot him a glare and walked into the living room to see her cousin.
"So how are you Marissa?" Seth asked before turning around to catch Brady who decided it'd be fun to jump from midway off the stairs. "Brady, don't ever do that again." Seth took a deep breath, calming himself down from being scared by his son and when the little boy started kicking his legs wanting to be put down, Seth complied.
"I'm good, the baby and I are doing great. We just had our nineteen week check-up and we have pictures, want to see?" Ryan raised his eyebrows smiling, watching Marissa pull out the black and white sonogram pictures and handing them to Seth.
"Oh what a cute baby." He said looking at the blurry pictures and after all the ones he saw when Summer was pregnant, he still never really figured out what he was looking at.
"Seth, um, that's the baby's feet." Marissa said standing over Seth's shoulder and pointing it out to him. She grabbed one of the many pictures in the pile and put it into view. "This is the baby's face, isn't he cute?"
"He? As in a boy?" Seth asked looking at the picture still trying to make it out what he was looking at. It didn't really look like a face so Seth began to wonder if Marissa actually knew what she was looking at too.
Ryan and Marissa nodded excitedly. "The third time's a charm, huh Ryan." Ryan cackled and raised his eyebrows, smiling. He joined his hands together and stretched them out in front of him, cracking his knuckles.
Zachary joined his brother downstairs and the three kids conversed in the kitchen. Kiley showed them her newest cut and with some stares of amazement, the twins started filling her in with new developments as well.
"I got some new legos." Zack said thinking of new things.
"Not intewested." Kiley crossed her arms and searched around the room for something to do.
"Um, we got pokemon cards…mommy bought us some new ones." Kiley yawned and gave up, walking back to where the adults were. She wrapped her arms around Marissa's legs and Marissa looked down though she saw less and less everyday with her stomach beginning to block her lower portions.
"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked dubiously.
Summer walked down the stairs finally after debating whether or not to change her clothes. She decided to keep on what she was wearing but she did apply more makeup.
"Hey sexy." Marissa said laughing, one hand on Kiley's back and the other around Summer.
"You look gorgeous …for a pregnant women." Summer put her hand on Kiley's back noticing her displeased gaze.
"Don't look too bad yourself."
Kiley looked up at her mother yawning and tightened her grip around her mom's legs. Before bedtime Kiley gets very cranky becoming very whinny and clingy towards her parents. "Mommy, I want to go home."
"Kiley, honey, we're all going out to eat, Brit and Caitlin are baby-sitting and you're going to have a lot of fun with your cousins." Ryan bent down to her level, though Kiley wouldn't budge from her mom.
"Mommy…. please." Kiley began to whine and Ryan sighed growing more stressed. He wanted – no needed, to get out of the house and go out to dinner yet he didn't want to leave his daughter so upset.
"Kiley, stop this." Ryan said once more, his voice growing angrier and Kiley's cries increasing.
"Should we go now? Cait, Brit." Seth said scratching the back of his neck. The girls didn't come and Seth's tone rose. "Caitlin, here now."
"What?" She said aggravated.
"We're leaving now. The boys go to bed at seven thirty, and they're probably going to be hungry so feed them. You can make macaroni and cheese or pb&j."
"Yep." She crossed her arms not really listening to what her father was saying, just glancing back and forth at the television. The boys walked out into the foyer, each of them leaning against one of their parents' legs.
"Boys, we're leaving now – be good for the girls alright? We'll be home in about two hours." Summer bent down and kissed the twins on the forehead and gave them a hug, Seth hugged them too and both stopped as the reached Caitlin. She pulled back from Summer's lingering arms and shot her a look like she knows not to do that.
"I love you." Summer said as Seth put his arm on her shoulder trying to get her out of the house, her resistance didn't help. Ryan and Marissa said their good-byes and their babies were now alone with their fifteen year olds.
Caitlin rolled her eyes and walked back into the living room falling back into the couch to continue her movie. Babysitting wasn't a hard task; especially since the boys were deathly afraid of her so she thought this would be a piece of cake.
"I'm hungry." Zachary announced, standing directly in front of Caitlin blocking her view of the tv.
"Move." Caitlin yelled pushing him out of the way. He fell on his butt and immediately began to cry. She didn't even push him that hard it was just that the twins liked to dramatize anything. "Oh stop it you baby."
Brittany laughed and threw some popcorn in the air, catching it in her mouth. "I'll go get some drinks, you thirsty?" She asked, Caitlin nodded and Brittany walked into the kitchen opening the fridge door. Looking for some mountain dew or something, she spotted out of the corner of her eye two containers of beer on one of the shelves and grabbed them, placing them against the side of the fridge to hide.
"Brittany we're hungry." Brady said, rubbing his growling stomach. Brittany jolted at the sounds of their voices and pushed the beers further back, hiding it behind some food packages.
"Here." Brittany rummaged through the cabinets and stopped when she found snacks. She grabbed some cookies and fruit snack packages and handed them to each of the kids. "Enjoy." The three ran away and Brit grabbed two opaque drinking glasses from the dishwasher and emptied the beers into them.
"I was getting worried you got lost." Caitlin laughed taking her drink from her cousin's hand and began to sip it. Kiley was sitting on the ground; her back resting against the couch Brittany was on, while the boys sat athwart from her.
"I'm back. Drink up." Brittany said raising her glass in the air and taking a sip, a smile forming as she sipped on her drink.
Caitlin placed the cup to her lips and took a little sip; immediately recognizing what it was and began laughing. "Nice choice." The girls shot glances back and forth, laughing sporadically while the kids looked at them mystified.
Ryan, Seth, Summer and Marissa arrived at an Italian restaurant not too far away from the Cohen household. Seth held the door for everyone as they entered the restaurant and the couples sat down in a booth after the hostess seated them.
"This place is gorgeous, I love lightly dimmed restaurants…. they're so romantic." Summer said looking around feeling cozy and comfortable. Seth wrapped his arm around her and Summer scooted closer to him.
"Is something wrong?" Ryan asked looking at Marissa's apprehensive face.
"No, no, nothing's wrong. It's just, I keep thinking about the kids. I just, I don't know…I'm worried."
"The girls have both babysat their siblings before, they're fine. Caitlin is dying to get off punishment so she knows to be on her best behavior." Seth looked at Marissa, trying to comfort her caginess.
"Yeah you're right, you're right. I'm sorry, I do this all the time when Ryan and I go out – sorry." Ryan kissed Marissa's forehead and laughed.
"All mother's do it, believe me. Except now I don't worry about leaving them alone, I worry about going back." Summer said gripping her water glass and taking a sip. The rest of the group laughed too, and soon a waitress came to take their orders. The boys ordered beers while Marissa and Summer just drank water. Ryan ordered spaghetti; Seth ordered lasagna, while Marissa and Summer settled on house salads. They conversed while they were waiting for their dinner and within ten minutes their food was ready. The waitress put the plates down on the table, asked if anyone needed anything else and then left when everyone said they were fine.
"To us. To happy families, new babies, love and friendship." Marissa said raising her glass into the air, all obliged and the all clinked their glasses together taking sips.
"I want one of those so bad…another drawback of pregnancy. No drinking." Summer gawked at Seth's beer bottle but grabbed her glass of water and took a sip upset.
"I know, I know. Just, um…. seven more months." Seth laughed but stopped from the evil death glare coming from Summer.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up buddy." She shook her head again and decided now to start eating her salad.
Back at the house the kids devoured their dinners and now were experiencing awful stomach aches. Caitlin and Brittany both drank their first round of beers and while Caitlin took care of the kids, Brittany went to refill their drinks.
"My tummy hurts, really bad." Brady cried rubbing his stomach.
"Uh, Bray, Zack and Kiley…. I know what will make you feel better, sleep. How about you all go up to bed, I know for a fact that sleeping will make you feel better." Caitlin said wrapping her arm around Brady while Kiley and Zachary looked at each other in dismay.
"No, I don't wanna go to bed. I want mommy." Zack said, tears forming in his eyes.
"Well they're not here and you three are going to bed." Caitlin stood from the couch and placed her hands on Kiley and Zack's shoulders pushing them slightly towards the stairs while Brady followed in front of all of them.
"I-I don't feel so good." Kiley hunched over, her breathing became more labored and then, she emptied her dinner right there on the hardwood floors.
Caitlin rubbed the side of her head and when Brittany came in holding the refilled glasses, she stopped dead in her tracks looking down at the floor grossed out. "Ew, Kiley…disgusting." Brittany said placing the glasses on the table, her words made Kiley feel worse and she began to cry.
"No, don't you two even think about it or you'll clean it up yourself." Caitlin demanded, looking at her brothers who looked like they were ready to throw-up too. "She needs more clothes, did your parents bring anything else?"
"No. God Cait, they're going to kill us. They leave us alone and they get sick… and you know they're going to snitch." Brittany shook her head and took a sip from her cup, closing her eyes and sighing.
"I'll get her changed into some other pajamas, you go clean up the mess."
"Um, no. How about I go change my sister and you go clean up the mess." Brittany and Caitlin began arguing, both not wanting to clean up the throw-up so they were ready to battle it out.
"Oh so now all of a sudden she's your sister? You just want to get out of cleaning up her puke."
"Yeah…well…she needs me." Brittany looked at Caitlin not sure as to how to answer it so she made a random remark.
"This is my house." Caitlin yelled, the alcohol was kicking in on both of their systems.
"She's my sister!" Their arguing didn't help matters. Kiley's puke was beginning to smell and the kids still felt sick.
"Just do it Brit, I need to put them to bed anyways." She walked up the stairs with the kids in front of her and walked into the twins' room. Caitlin stood in front of their bureau pulling out some spare pajamas for Kiley. Her two-piece, pink princess pajamas had to be taken off because they were beginning to smell foul. Caitlin pulled out a pair of light blue 'Finding Nemo' pajamas, it was the least boyish ones she could find, and dressed her cousin.
Brittany was downstairs standing a few feet away from the throw-up, debating what to do. 'Should I clean it up, or should I wait until Caitlin comes back downstairs and have her do it?' Decisions, decisions and in the best interest of everyone, Brittany decided on waiting until her cousin came back down and have her do it. Brittany grimaced as she tiptoed around the mess and ran up the stairs where everyone was.
"I want my mommy." Zack said again. Caitlin had laid all of them in bed, the twin's in their 'big-boy' beds while Kiley slept on the floor, between them. She was propped up on some pillows and was covered with three different blankets to make her as comfortable as she could be.
"Again, they're out at dinner but they'll be home when you wake up." Caitlin pulled the blankets up to Zachary's chin and gave him a kiss on the forehead.
"But I – " Brady sat up in his bed; the boys would do anything to get out of going to bed whether it be nap time at kindergarten or going to bed at home. Caitlin thought it was funny because at her age, she'd do anything to be able to sleep as much as they're able too.
"Night guys." Caitlin turned off the lights and shut the door. She sighed then shuddered exhausted. "So, now that they're asleep…what should we do?"
"Let's see, our drinks are downstairs not to mention HBO is showing a marathon of Sex in the City." Caitlin stopped looking at her cousin like she had eight heads.
"Sex in the City?"
"What? It's not like I watch the show…. a lot." Her voice lowering as she ended the sentence. Caitlin laughed at her and with a shove, she hit the wall. It didn't hurt her, in fact she thought it was funny and tried to do the same back to Brittany. The two raced down the stairs, oblivious to the heap of puke that was located at the entrance of the living room. As the two continued to race, they stopped suddenly from a damp feeling coming from the bottom of their socks. The two peaked down and saw they stepped in her throw-up. Caitlin immediately took off her socks throwing them anywhere but near her. She tensed up, revolted from what she stepped in. Brittany took her socks off as well, throwing it somewhere else in the living room.
"I thought you cleaned it up!" Caitlin yelled at her freaked out from what she stepped in.
"Well I was thinking about it, and then I decided that it's your house…you know where things are better then I do. I didn't want to go looking through things I wasn't suppose to." Brittany's lame excuse angered her cousin greatly.
"You've been in this house since like forever. You know where things are probably better then me. Yeah just wait, next time something happens like this I'll use that stupid excuse on you." Caitlin slipped off the couch and took another the second exit out of the living room and into the kitchen. Caitlin grabbed the paper towels, conveniently located on the kitchen counter, and then opened a cabinet underneath the sink grabbing some cleaner spray. "Yes, I can see how hard these two things were to find. I'd never have been able to find these." She shook her head and Brittany shrugged glad she didn't have to clean up the mess.
"Well no use in me cleaning it since you obviously have things under control." Brittany walked back into the living room and glanced over every now and then at Caitlin who looked as though she was going to kill someone, clean up the mess. She wasn't too timid to give pointers in cleaning either. Saying, 'you missed a spot' or 'don't forget over there" and when Caitlin asked if Brittany would rather do it she said 'no, no, I can see how much fun you're having and I wouldn't want to deprive you of that. And plus, you're doing a wonderful job.' Everything was cleaned up and the two could no officially start having fun.
Brittany turned a random tv show on and Caitlin returned from the kitchen carrying two beers in each hand. "Refills?" She asked shaking the bottles from side-to-side. Brittany held up her cup and she refilled it taking a gulp from what was left in the bottle. The girls were loud and becoming obnoxious, sitting on the couch laughing loudly. The empty bottles of beer were beginning to form a pile on the coffee table.
At the restaurant, everyone finished their plates and while the boys turned down desserts the girls couldn't resist. It was now a little over nine and after everyone was officially finished eating, the check was paid and they decided to call it a night and return back to the house. Ryan drove the van home and Seth had to wake Summer up when they arrived because she fell asleep in the car.
"What the -?" Seth walked into the house first and was appalled by the images of his daughter and niece dancing on the couch; the music blaring through out the house, and the most disturbing of all was the beer cans, empty on the coffee table.
"Hey dad." Caitlin said woozy, stumbling a little as she carefully returned her feet to the ground.
"Daddy!" Brady and Zack came running down the stairs, their hair messy from sleeping. They wrapped their arms around his legs and clutched on for dear life.
"Boys, what are you doing up." He asked looking down at his sons. They couldn't hear him though because of the music. He tried to get Caitlin to turn it off but she couldn't hear him either. After a minute of trying to signal her, he couldn't take it any longer and he ran to the stereo turning it off.
"What the -?" Summer said, Ryan following and Marissa last.
"Boys…Kiley, you're up?" Summer asked bending down to their level and hugging her sons.
"I couldn't sleep." Brady rubbed his eyes and nuzzled Summer's shoulder.
"Mommy, my tummy hurts." Brady rubbed his stomach, ill as he hunched over throwing up on the ground.
Summer shut her eyes and couldn't believe what was going on and all that ran through her head was 'Caitlin's in so much trouble.'
Seth stood in the doorframe of the living room and foyer. His hands were on his hips and he looked down at the floor, shaking his head so not needing what the girls did tonight. He was trying so hard to keep his composure and not blow up at them, or at least wait until Summer, Marissa and the kids were out of ear and eye sight.
"Marissa, if you want to go out to the car and wait…I'll be out in a few minutes." Ryan lifted up Kiley and placed her into Marissa's arms. Marissa knew that Ryan and Seth were going to talk with the girls and she knew for her sake that she didn't want to be present for it. She held her daughter in her arms and walked out the front door to the car, getting her strapped into her car seat and she sat there waiting.
Summer looked as though she was about to cry, wishing she were still at the restaurant. Though she truly loves her children there are times, and now more frequently, when she wishes that they weren't there and she didn't have all these responsibilities. She cleaned up the mess and took the tired, sick boys up to their room, tucked them in and stayed up there for a while mainly to get them back to sleep but also because she didn't want to witness her daughter getting yelled at – she was already angry enough with her.
Ryan followed Seth into the living room as they stood in front of their intoxicated daughters. Ryan's arms were crossed and his eyes focused on Brittany while Seth stood next to him covering his face with his hand.
"What's wrong?" Caitlin asked noticing her father and uncle's despondent face.
"What's wrong? Hmm, let me see. Let's start with the fact you're both drunk." Seth yelled loudly, his anger peaking.
"We're what? Drunk? No we're not…" Brittany looked over at her cousin who was hiding her face from laughter. "Okay, maybe a little." She joined Caitlin and began to laugh.
"Great, you two think this is funny." Ryan said pacing back in forth in the living room and then stopped to face Brittany.
"Will you stop moving!" Caitlin shrieked holding the side of her head; she was seeing double and all this moving around hurt her head.
"Why are you so angry, it's not like we did anything wrong - really wrong."
"So you both believe that?" Seth asked and when both girls nodded in agreement he flipped. "What would have happened one of the kids were hurt or something happened in the house? You two would be too drunk to even know what's going on! Something could have happened to one of them, the house could have been broken into, a fire – I mean a lot of things could of happened. I am extremely disappointed in both of you. Caitlin I don't know when I'll be able to trust you again because after tonight, you give very little reason to."
"Dad, I'm –" Seth shook his head to stop her talking.
"Just go upstairs." Caitlin stood from the couch and walked up the stairs feeling like she was going to cry. Tonight was a turning point to her, something that clicked in her mind and turned something on. Yes she's made her parents disappointed in her but she has never lost their trust. She's done stupid things before, acted out and haven't made the smartest decisions – but she has never lost their trust. And who would have thought those words would hurt her so much. She laid her bed, covered herself with her blankets and fell asleep…crying.
"Britt why don't you go out to the car with your mother – I'll be out in a few minutes." Brittany got up, a little rickety and made her way to the door and with a slam she exited the house to her car. "I'm so sorry Seth, I didn't know she'd do that." Ryan bent down grabbing a beer bottle in his hand, collecting as many as he could.
"I thought I knew my kid, I thought I understood her better and when she does stuff like this just makes me wish that we never had kids." Seth was obviously upset and too began cleaning up the girls' mess.
"You may say that but you don't mean it. There are plenty of times that Brittany makes me wish the same thing but I wouldn't change having her for anything, Marissa too. It's just getting scary that they're beginning to act like us as teenagers."
"That's why we're so strict with her, especially now. I know teenage years were hard but I don't want her making the same mistakes we did. Who would have known getting drunk one night at a party would end up putting me here. At seventeen I didn't have a concern about anything, I had Summer, I had friends, school was almost over and I was looking forward to an incredible summer. What a summer it'd be too, huh?" Seth looked over to Ryan who was nodding in agreement.
"The one time Marissa and I didn't use protection was the time she got pregnant. Would I give anything to be seventeen over." He sat on the couch; beer bottles still in his hand and looked out in a daydream. "And now Marissa's pregnant again – I just don't know anymore." Seth placed the collected bottles in the recycling bin after he snapped out of his dream.
"I just wish that she'd start acting more mature and serious about her life. She's a great kid, and great when she was little, then she became a teenager and it's been a roller coaster ride ever since. It's just that these things she's doing…I'm scared she's going to end up like – "
"Us? Like us Seth?" Summer asked walking down the stairs, overhearing the boys conversation.
"No, no, no, no…that's not what I meant. Summer I just, I don't want her making the same mistakes we made at her age." Ryan raised his eyebrows, staying quiet and out of it.
"I better go, it's been fun but reality's calling. I'll call sometime this week. Bye guys." Ryan walked out of the house and left the two arguing.
"No wonder she's always questioning her role in the family because she's constantly hearing how she was a mistake and how because of her our lives are messed up. You want to know something Seth, why don't you stop being such an ass and realize that we made the mistake – not her and quit blaming her for it."
"Summer I didn't mean it like that, it's just that – " Summer walked up the stairs, it was getting late and she was exhausted. Seth followed behind her, apologizing all the way upstairs.
"No, I don't think so. The couch has your name on it tonight." She continued up the stairs and headed down the hall to her room, Seth yelling behind her.
"Summer, c'mon." He sighed and walked into the living room, kicking off his shoes and taking off his top shirt. He grabbed a pillow from a nearby closet and laid down on the couch, covering himself up with a blanket. He began collecting his thoughts, thinking about his life and how messed up it's gotten.
He recapped everything in his mind, sighing and smiling at certain points. At seventeen he became a father, married the girl of his dreams and had to struggle to earn a living. Through hardships and struggles the family of three made it through, and then ten years later they added twin boys to the family. Life couldn't have been better. Things began to fall into place - he got a job as a teacher, moved into a beautiful house and his marriage was perfect. His fears began coming true when his daughter turned into a teenager, the spitting image of how the four of them were at that age. Seth and Summer vowed to make sure Caitlin didn't follow in their footsteps and were extremely careful to keep her safe. In doing so Caitlin rebelled more, failing school, getting in trouble both at home and in school, fighting with her brothers and not to mention causing her parents hell. Who would have known having a teenager would be so hard. He wasn't this bad for his parents, or at least he didn't think he was. Caitlin was definitely giving them a taste of their own worst medicine.