Adult
"So then we spent the entire day on the beach," Carly said, smiling as she sat on Sam and Freddie's couch. "And he rubbed sunblock on me, and we just sat and watched the ocean…it was so romantic."
"Sounds fun," Sam said absentmindedly, trying to untangle a pair of her four-year old daughter's shoelaces. "Man, what did this kid do to these things?"
"Alright," Freddie said, walking into the room with his and Sam's newborn, Tyler. "I've made enough formula for the rest of the day, helped Jason with his homework, and successfully kept the twins from building a sandcastle inside." He sat down next to Sam and handed her the infant. "Man am I tired."
"Why, I'm the one who got up four times last night to take care of Tyler," Sam yawned.
"Hey, you guys, isn't your anniversary coming up?" Carly asked.
"Yeah, next week," Freddie nodded.
"Wow, ten years," Carly said. "That's really something. So, what are you guys going to do?"
"Let's see, we have four kids under ten," Sam said. "I'm thinking we'll just be staying in and wiping somebody's vomit off of something."
"Gross," Carly cringed. "That's not romantic in the slightest."
"Well, we don't really have time to do anything just the two of us anymore," Freddie said. "You know, once you have kids, you can't just get away."
"That's ridiculous, I've still managed to keep the romance in my marriage even after Clarissa," Carly pointed out. "Like I was just telling Sam, we went to this really nice beach house this weekend, just the two of us."
"You have one kid, Carls," Sam reminded her best friend. "The closest thing to that we've gotten to do with our four is that trip we took Eight Banners last month."
"Yeah, and seeing as we were in one tiny hotel room," Freddie nodded. "There really wasn't much time for…adult stuff."
"Um, gross," Carly cringed. "How many times do I have to tell you? You two are my best friends. No matter how long you guys have been married, I do not want to hear about that."
"Well you're the one badgering us because we're not doing anything special for our anniversary," Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"I know, I know," Carly said. "But you guys need to do something for your anniversary…Ten years is a huge deal."
"We can always do something big for our twentieth," Freddie said. "By that time, the kids should be old enough to leave home for one weekend while we go away."
"So you're going to wait ten years?" Carly frowned. "No, that's crazy. You know what? How about I stay with the kids and you guys go and have the weekend to yourselves?"
"Come on, Carls," Sam chuckled. "That's nice and all, but you couldn't handle watching Clarissa plus these four."
"Sure I could," Carly said. "It would be fun!"
"You really think you could handle a three-month old baby, two four year-olds and an eight year old?" Freddie asked.
"You make it sound like I'm going to be watching an entire preschool or something," Carly said, rolling her eyes.
Freddie looked at Sam. "You know? It is our ten-year anniversary. I'd actually sort of like to get away…just the two of us."
"A whole weekend without any crying, diapers, or kids jumping on us?" Sam grinned. "I think I could go for that."
"So what do you think?" Carly asked. "Will you do it?"
"Okay," Sam nodded. "But you have to promise to call us the second you get overwhelmed."
"Don't worry about me, you guys," Carly said. "Just go start planning your trip! The kids and I will have a blast."
…..
"Mmm, what time is it?" Sam yawned, sitting up in the bed in her and Freddie's hotel room.
"A little after one," Freddie replied, closing his Pearbook that he had been working on. He sat down on the edge of the bed and gave his wife a deep kiss.
"I'd say good morning," he grinned when they pulled away. "But it's a little late for that, isn't it?"
"I can't believe I actually got to sleep in," Sam said. "I haven't slept in past eight in ages."
"I know," Freddie laughed. "And this morning, when I was brushing my teeth, I didn't have to hear any of the kids in there fighting over who got the last of the Chocolate Nut Crunch. I could actually hear myself brushing my teeth!"
"Okay, that's a little weird," Sam said, rolling her eyes. She pushed the covers off and got herself up out of the bed. "You know, since I actually got a good twelve hours of sleep, today might actually be a pretty good day."
"Hey, last night was a pretty good night, too," Freddie smirked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, it was," Sam laughed. She put her arms around his neck and gave him another kiss. "Happy anniversary, nub."
"Happy anniversary, baby," Freddie smiled. "So, now that you're up, what do you want to do? There's a nice park nearby, we could go have a romantic picnic. Or we could go lounge by the pool, or go to a fancy restaurant. Whatever you want."
"Well…" Sam said thoughtfully. "When was the last time we actually had peace and quiet and time in a room just to ourselves?"
"Probably not since Jason was three," Freddie said. "Why?"
"Well, this may sound crazy, but why don't we just stay in?" Sam said. "You know, hang out in bed all day watching pay-per-view movies and ordering room service?"
"You know what, Sam?" Freddie said. "That sounds like the best idea I've heard in awhile."
"Good, that means I don't have to change," Sam said, falling back down onto the bed.
"Hey," Freddie chuckled, looking at his old t-shirt that Sam was wearing as he settled himself down next to his wife. "I think you look very good in that."
…
"We're back!" Sam said loudly, dropping her bag as her and Freddie walked into their house.
"Mommy! Daddy!" Ashton cried, running over to her parents and giving them both hugs. She was followed shortly by Emma and Jason.
"Hey, so did you guys have fun with Aunt Carly?" Freddie asked as he picked up Emma and Ashton.
"Yeah, she let me play with my remote control car and have two scoops of ice cream," Jason nodded.
"We made you guys an anversrey card," Ashton said, handing Sam a large piece of construction paper.
"Anniversary, sweetie," Sam said, looking at the card. "Wow…I see you guys used every bit of glitter you could find."
"That was my idea," Emma said proudly.
"So, where is your Aunt Carly?" Freddie asked, setting the girls down.
"I'm here, I'm here," Carly said, hurrying over with Tyler. "Welcome back. Did you have fun?"
"Yeah, it was great," Sam nodded, taking Tyler from her.
"So what'd you do?" Carly asked. "Did you go on a tour of the salt mines there? Did you go see one of the plays in that cute little theater across from the hotel? Oh! I bet you went to that nice white sand beach over there."
"Actually, we never left the hotel room," Freddie said.
"What?" Carly frowned.
"It was just so…quiet," Sam said. "So we pretty much just hung around watching movies, sleeping, ordering room service…it was really relaxing. Our best anniversary yet."
"Well, I guess as long as you two had fun," Carly sighed.
"So you were okay with the kids?" Freddie asked. "You look a little…tired."
"Oh, everything was fine," Carly nodded. "Sure, Tyler woke me up every three hours at night, the twins felt the need to use my pear phone and call China and Jason flooded the bathtub, but I handled everything."
"Thanks again, Carls," Sam said. "You have no idea how much we needed this weekend. If you ever want to get away, you know we'll watch Clarissa for you."
"Aw, thanks you guys," Carly smiled.
"Well, I should go feed this little guy," Sam said, shifting Tyler in her arms.
"Yeah, and I need to get some club soda to try and get this stain off of here," Freddie said, pointing to a spot of ketchup of his shirt. "Sam slammed on the brakes just as I was biting into my burger."
"Um, you guys, before you head into the kitchen-" Carly started as she followed Sam and Freddie.
"What happened in here?" Sam frowned, stopping right outside her kitchen, which was covered in so many different splatters it looked as though something had blown up.
"Um, well, you see, Emma and Ashton thought they'd make you guys a little anniversary cake at around four this morning," Carly explained. "And, well, I guess they spilled the batter a few times. And then Jason came in and thought it would be better to make you guys brownies, which caused them to get into a big fight, more batter was spewed…And well, this was the result. I started to clean it up, but then Tyler needed feeding, and then the kids wanted to go out for waffles-"
"Hey, don't sweat it," Freddie told her.
"Yeah, believe it or not, with these kids, this is actually a mild mess," Sam said.
"Really?" Carly frowned.
"Told you, having four kids is a lot different from having just one," Sam grinned.
"Yeah," Carly nodded. "Big time. I mean, you know I love your kids like they were my own, but they are a handful."
"We know," Freddie said. "Trust us."
