Mission
"Morning, baby," Sam said, stepping up behind her husband, who was busy doing the dishes, and wrapping her arms around him.
"Morning," Freddie smiled, turning to look over his shoulder at her. "Wow…somebody seems to be a good mood this morning."
"Yeah, I dunno, I just woke up this morning feeling all refreshed and energized," Sam said. "I think it's because this is the first night in probably three years I've gotten a full ten-hours of sleep."
"Same here," Freddie chuckled, turning so he could fully face his wife. He slipped her arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him. "Taking the kids to the carnival was a great idea; it wore them all out! It's nine in the morning and they're all still asleep! That's never happened before."
"I know," Sam nodded happily, beginning to rub her arm up and down against Freddie's biceps.
"You're very affectionate this morning too, aren't you?" Freddie grinned.
"Perhaps," Sam replied, beginning to move her hands onto his chest and across his abs. "It's amazing what a good night's sleep will do."
She then moved her hands right above the waistband of Freddie's pants, looking up at him with a seductive smirk as her hand traveled further south.
"Sam!" Freddie hissed, though letting out a soft moan. "Baby…let's not start something we can't finish. The kids may have been exhausted last night, but there's no way they're exhausted enough to keep sleeping while we do that. They'll be up any minute…"
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Sam sighed sadly, putting her hands back around Freddie's neck. "But…how about a rain check? Tonight?"
"Well gee, what kind of moron would pass up on that offer?" Freddie laughed. "We're long overdue for this, after all."
"Good, then it's a date," Sam said, craning her neck slightly to kiss him. Freddie wasted no time deepening the kiss, and for a happy moment, the couple simply stood there, in each other's arm.
But then they heard the sound of tiny footsteps pattering down the step, and they both quickly broke apart just as their seven-year old twins ran into the kitchen, closely followed by three-year old Tyler.
"What's for breakfast?" Emma asked as the kids all climbed into their seats.
"Um…cereal," Sam said, grabbing a box of Honey Squares and a few bowls.
"I want ice cream," Tyler said sadly.
"You had more than enough ice cream at the carnival yesterday," Freddie said, setting down a gallon of milk on the table.
"How come we slept in until nine o'clock?" Ashton asked as Sam began pouring Tyler's cereal. "That's super late."
"Ha," Sam scoffed. "Mommy used to sleep in until three in the afternoon."
"How come you don't do that anymore?" Emma asked.
"I have four kids now, sweetie, and you guys put an end to that real quick," Sam smiled. "But you slept so late because you were exhausted; we were out at the carnival until almost eleven o'clock."
"It's good that you slept in, though," Freddie said. "Otherwise you'd have no energy right now. If you woke up early like you normally do, you'd be ready to call it a night before dinner and-oh-no! Sam, um, can I see you in the living room, please?"
"What?" Sam said as Freddie pulled her out of the kitchen.
"Sam, we-we've made a huge mistake," Freddie said. "We shouldn't have let the kids sleep in so late!"
"Why not?" Sam asked.
"Because, don't you see?" Freddie whispered frantically. "It's hard enough getting them to sleep at a decent hour when they wake up before seven! Now they just got over two hours of extra sleep in them; they're going to be all energized until midnight!"
"Oh man!" Sam moaned, finally catching on. "Which means we won't get to-"
"I know!"
"Ugh, come on!" Sam said, frustrated. "It's been like, three whole weeks! We need this!"
"Yeah, especially after your affection in the kitchen," Freddie agreed. "Aw jeez…"
"Well…I've got it!" Sam said. "We'll just have to tire them out again!"
"How?" Freddie frowned.
"We'll just spend the day doing things that will make sure they're exhausted by bedtime," Sam said. "We can all swim in the pool, we'll go to the park, we'll play tackle football in the yard…"
"Well two of those three ideas sound good," Freddie said slowly. "Okay, I guess this could work. Of course we're really going to have to try hard with Jason; you know he keeps pulling that 'I'm too old for a bedtime' card. He's not going to want to go to bed early unless he's about to pass out."
"Well where is he?" Sam asked.
"Still asleep, I assume," Freddie said.
"Well go wake him up!" Sam snapped.
"On it," Freddie nodded. Sam headed back into the kitchen, frowning as she took another look at the box of cereal on the table. The box of cereal filled with sugar that was sure to only give the kids more energy.
"No more cereal!" Sam said quickly, grabbing the three half-finished bowls away from the kids.
"Hey!" Ashton protested as Sam dumped the contents into the trash. "We were eating that!"
"Um, well, change of plans," Sam said. "We're going to have…soup for breakfast!"
"Soup?" Emma cringed. "Soup's not for breakfast, mommy."
"Sure it is," Sam said. "I'll even make you the kind with the fun-shaped noodles."
"But we want our cereal," Ashton frowned as Freddie walked into the kitchen, followed by a less-than-pleased looking Jason.
"Why do I have to be awake right now?" Jason yawned. "It's Saturday. I can sleep all day."
"Pfft, how lame would that be?" Sam said. "Guys, daddy and I have a surprise for you; we're going to spend the whole day together doing lots of fun activities as a family!"
"Yay!" Emma, Ashton and Tyler cheered, while Jason moaned.
"Hush, Mr. Eleven-Year-Old," Sam said, rolling her eyes. "You're not too old to spend time with your family. You had fun with us last night at the carnival."
"But two days in a row?" Jason said. "I'm not a baby!"
"Relax, we'll do our best to make sure nobody sees you with us," Freddie said. "Everybody finish your breakfast and then change into your bathing suits so we can hit the pool. Where's the cereal, Sam?"
"We're not having cereal anymore," Sam said. "It's filled with sugar that can lead to a sugar rush."
"Ah," Freddie nodded. "So what are we having then?"
"Soup."
"Sounds…lovely," Freddie frowned.
…
"See? This is working perfect," Sam smiled a few hours later as her and Freddie sat on their patio, watching their four children splashing happily in the pool.
"Even Jason is having a good time," Freddie agreed. "And the best part is…"
"…They're tiring themselves out," Sam finished for him. "Which means they'll hopefully be ready for bed at eight o'clock tonight."
"Good," Freddie said, leaning over to whisper in her ear. "Because you in that swimsuit is driving me crazy."
"Right back at you," Sam chuckled. She glanced at her phone. "Alright, it's almost lunch time. I say we bring the kids inside, feed them, and then load up the car and take them to the park."
"Sounds like a plan," Freddie said. "You go start making their lunches, I'll get them out of the pool."
Sam headed into the kitchen and started making sandwiches, finished as the kids came into the kitchen, towels wrapped around them.
"Eat quickly, everybody," Sam said. "After this we're going to the park."
"Cool!" Emma said. "This is the best day ever!"
"What? No!" Jason moaned. "Can I stay home? The park is for little kids."
"Pfft, no it's not," Freddie scoffed. "I went to the park with my mom every weekend until I was sixteen."
"He's not lying," Sam said.
"You'll find something fun to do there, I promise," Freddie told Jason.
"Why are we doing all of this stuff today anyway?" Jason asked suspiciously.
"Because we need to spend more time together as a family," Sam said swiftly.
"No we don't!"
"Look, everybody just go change out of your swimsuits," Sam said. "We're leaving in ten minutes."
Emma and Ashton and, reluctantly, Jason finished their sandwiches and headed upstairs. Tyler, on the other hand, let out a soft yawn. "It's naptime, mommy."
"Oh no…" Sam moaned. "I forgot about that. Figures this is the one day he doesn't fight me on this."
"If he takes a nap he'll never go to bed early," Freddie whispered to Sam.
"I'll handle this," Sam whispered back. She stepped over to Tyler. "Tyler…how old are you, sweetie?"
"Three!" Tyler answered proudly.
"Whoa! No way!" Sam gasped. "Well Tyler, guess what? Three-year olds don't have to take naps!"
"Really?" Tyler exclaimed. "Ever?"
"Er…that's right," Sam said, knowing she'd regret this in a few days. "So let's go get you dressed for the park."
"No naps! No naps!" Tyler cheered as he hopped out of his chair.
"You better bring you're 'A' game tonight," Sam muttered to her husband under her breath. "His naptime is the only break I get during the day…"
…
"There's no way Emma, Ashton and Tyler will be able to keep their eyes open past eight o'clock tonight," Freddie said to Sam several hours later as they watched their three younger children chase each other around the jungle gym at the park. "But Jason…"
"I know," Sam said, glancing at the eleven-year old, who was playing a portable video game on a nearby bench. "He's going to be the challenge."
"We've got to think of something," Freddie said. "What could tire out an eleven-year old so much that he'd willingly go to bed early?"
"I dunno," Sam sighed. "But it's almost six o'clock."
"Let's see…he doesn't like sports, so we can't tire him out that way," Freddie said thoughtfully. "Hey! What if we took everybody to that indoor trampoline place?"
"Nah, that place is for kids," Sam said. "He gave us a hard enough time coming to the park. We'd never get him to go there."
"That place isn't for kids; Gibby and Spencer go there all the time!"
"You're point?" Sam said, rolling her eyes.
"Well what if we-"
"Wait a minute!" Sam suddenly said. "Baby, we've been going about this all wrong!"
"What do you mean?" Freddie said.
"We're probably not going to get him to fall asleep early by running around," Sam said. "But we can make him fall asleep through boredom!"
"What now?"
"Yeah, I mean you know how often I used to fall asleep from boredom?" Sam said.
"Used to?" Freddie smirked. "Baby, you fall asleep when you lose interest in things all the time! Just last week you-"
"Keep blabbering on and I'll fall asleep in the middle of your dumb speech!" Sam snapped. "But I'm serious! He's too old to get exhausted from running around at the park. But boredom…boredom has no age limits."
"Fine," Freddie conceded. "We'll bore him to sleep. But how do we do that?"
"I dunno, make him read one of his textbooks?" Sam shrugged.
"Jason would enjoy that," Freddie reminded her.
"Oh right, he's all brainy," Sam said. "Thanks for that, Fredwash. Um…hey, do you still have that disgusting train documentary saved on the DVR?"
"You mean the four-hour masterpiece on the difference between eastern built trains and-"
"Dude…"
"Yes, it's still saved on there," Freddie said, rolling his eyes.
"Well perfect!" Sam said. "Just make Jason watch it with you when we get home. That will knock him out in no time."
"And what if Jason appreciates just how thrilling that documentary really is?" Freddie asked.
"Please," Sam scoffed. "He may have gotten his academic genes from you, but he's still got my DNA too."
"Okay," Freddie said. "I'll give it a try. But I'm telling you Sam, that documentary is really interesting."
…
"-And see, if you look closely, you can tell that that train has only six rivets," Freddie said. "Which is why it's moving approximately ten miles-an-hour slower than the eight-rivet model we saw earlier. Of course when the ten-rivet model is introduced…well, I won't give anything away, but let's just say, you're in for a real treat, Jason. Jason?"
Freddie looked over at his son, who was curled up in his seat, fast asleep.
"Well," Freddie said slowly. "On one hand, I'm slightly offended. On the other hand…"
He quickly grabbed a blanket and draped it over Jason before turning off the T.V. and running upstairs, just as Sam was stepping out of the twins' room.
"Hey, is everybody asleep up here?" Freddie whispered.
"Yeah, I just tucked the twins in," Sam nodded. "And Tyler fell asleep before I could even get his pajamas on. What about Jason?"
"He's totally passed out," Freddie grinned.
"See! I told you that train documentary would work!" Sam said triumphantly.
"Cute," Freddie smirked.
"Now then, shall we pick this up where left off this morning?" Sam said, raising an eyebrow. "Because I've been thinking about it all day, and even though the kids are all exhausted, I'm still very awake."
"So am I," Freddie said, sweeping Sam off her feet into his arms in one swift motion, causing her to emit a girlish giggle. "But I can't wait for you to tire me out."
