By Tuesday night Lena had just about made herself crazy in meal and house preparation. Stef wound up taking all of the kids out to eat, both to relieve Lena and the kids of the current chaos. "So, where do you guys want to go?"
"I want to go somewhere that has cereal." Jude said getting a glare from all four older kids. "What? Cereal is clean and safe food. I don't even know what is in the other stuff. I might not like it."
"I think we should go somewhere that serves hamburgers and french fries!" Jesus shouted from the back.
"He just wants to go somewhere that serves ketchup, Mom! Don't listen to either of them." Mariana added from the front seat.
"Mama said hamburgers come from cows. I don't like to eat cows. French fries are from potatoes. Potatoes are from the ground…"
"And food from the ground is dirty." Brandon finished with a small laugh. "How about pizza? The crust is sort of like cereal. Cheese comes from milk which comes from cows, but they don't mind giving us milk. The kind you and Mama eat doesn't have meat, just vegetables that grow above the ground."
"Great suggestion, B!" Stef praised. "How about that, Jude? We could take home the rest of your pizza for Mama."
"Okay…" Jude answered hesitantly. "Are you sure the cows really don't mind?"
"Nope. Brandon and I went to a diary last year. The guy in charge said that cows like to be milked. It makes them uncomfortable if it isn't done. That makes milk, cheese, and butter all safe foods." Callie looked over at Brandon to silently thank him for the idea. "Besides, we have made it with Mama tons of times. You already know what is in it."
Mariana quickly chimed in to agree. "Pizza would be good. We all like it, right, Jude?"
Jude sighed, but this time was a little more confident. "Yeah, I like it. So onions, peppers, tomatoes, and olives are all grown, but not inside the ground foods?"
"Yep. That's basically right." Stef confirmed hoping that Jude would not know that onions were in fact a root vegetable. She pulled into their favorite pizza place. "We can look it up at home tonight if you don't believe us."
They stopped and the kids started piling out of the van. "I want to sit next to you, Mommy. Is that okay?" Jude said taking Stef's hand.
"Absolutely." She answered slightly squeezing his hand. "Let's put Brandon on the other side of you since he gave us this great idea."
"I wanted to be next to Jude!" Jesus protested.
"Not this time. In fact I think we will put you on the other side of me. Callie will be on the other side with Mariana in between her and Brandon." Stef said reasoning out the bad dinnertime combinations.
"But I want to sit by Brandon and Mariana. Can't we switch?" Callie asked.
"Nope. You are the buffer between the twins tonight, Callie. At home you sit by Brandon, but not tonight." Callie started to cross her arms and cop and attitude. "If it is going to be like that I can drop you back off at the house."
"No, I want to stay here." Callie answered uncrossing her arms and standing up a little straighter. "I thought Mama said you had to take us out of the house."
"That she did. Just think about what it would be like to be dropped back off there. I am pretty sure that she still has potatoes to peel." Stef said winking at her daughter.
"I think being a twin buffer sounds great." Callie said with some realization.
Stef ordered the pizza and the family sat down at a large round table. "Hey, Mom, I want to go wash my hands in the bathroom."
"Really, Jesus? That doesn't seem like you at all. I guess though you should be encouraged to wash your hands. Go on."
Jesus scampered off. Stef followed him with her eyes toward the bathroom. He was back a few minutes later with a little smile on his face. A waiter soon approached the table. "Is this the Adams Foster family?"
"Yes, is there a problem?" Stef answered before turning back to eye Jesus.
"No, I was just told that a young man at this table would like a tour of the kitchen. We aren't that busy tonight and my boss agreed that even though it was an odd request we could do it. Would the whole family like to go or just the one with food allergies?"
"Allergies?" Stef said looking at Jesus who shrugged a little. "My youngest is actually not allergic to any foods as far as we know. He is really just going through a picky stage. If it is still okay, we would love to all take the tour of the kitchen because it might make this meal a little smoother."
"I think it would still be okay." The waiter led them toward the kitchen but had them stop and wash their hands in the bathroom.
"But Mom, I just washed my hands, they are clean."
"Nope. Not so much. It was sweet of you to get a tour of the kitchen for your brother, but next time don't lie to the waiter."
"I didn't! I said that my brother needed to see how the food was made. They asked if he had allergies and I just agreed. I didn't know."
"Hmmm, well, be careful with that from now on. You don't want to be known as a liar later in life. I do think that asking for tour was a great idea. You are a great big brother."
"Well, I sort of helped cause some of this problem. I didn't know that all of this would happen."
"Part of being the big brother is knowing when to stop the teasing. Jude is very young. He looks up to you and believes nearly everything you say. Let this be a lesson to you in being kind to him."
Jesus nodded before going into the restroom to wash his hands. Once everyone was ready, the waiter took the family into the kitchen. "And this is the room where our pizza is made. Right over here is the mixer where the dough for the crust is mixed. As you can see from the ingredients here, it is made of flour, oil, yeast, sugar, salt, and water. We mix it and then toss it like that guy is doing over there." The waiter noticed the kids' eyes lighting up at the tossing part. "Would you guys like to try tossing a small pizza?"
The kids looked toward their mother. "Sure. How about we just change our order to individual pizzas?"
The waiter set the kids up with dough where they would be leaning over a counter in case it got dropped. The other guy came over and did a demonstration. Stef pulled out her phone and took some pictures for Lena. Then she made a video as most of the kids picked up the skill at least a little. Jesus had a hard time coordinating his hands and his dough for a while. It was good that he was over a counter as he had to pick it up several times. Jude and Mariana's hands were neither big enough to really get a good spin on the dough. In the end someone helped them roll it out to make it a little flatter.
"Next we put on the sauce. It is mostly made of tomato, but it also has some spices it in like onion, garlic, oregano, and basil. We stir it together on the stove and use a ladle to put it on the pizza. It is important to spread it all the way to the edge of the crust. Would you like to put your sauce on?"
"I am not sure." Jude said observing the vegetables and spices setting near the stove. "Do those things grow from plants?"
"Well, they did before they were picked, yes."
"Do any of them live under the ground? I don't eat things that live under the ground…"
"Garlic and onions both grow underground." The waiter observed the look on Jude's face and picked up an onion to demonstrate. "However, not only do we make sure they are both very clean, we also take off the outside layer before we cook them."
"So you take off all the dirty parts and they are clean?" Jude asked with interest. "If Mama peels the potatoes they will also be clean and I can eat some?"
"They would be clean anyway, but, yes. No part of the potato we eat in mashed potatoes touched the dirt. Just like no part of the onion or garlic we eat touches the dirt. Does this change anything for you, Jude?"
Jude nodded. "I think so. Why didn't you tell me this before?"
The other four kids looked at each other and started giggling. "We have all told you that!" Callie finally managed to get out.
XXX
Lena appreciated the food her family brought her almost as much as she appreciated the amount of time Stef had distracted the kids outside of the house. She was also relieved to hear that Jude was opening back up to a few more foods again. The turkey issue had long since slipped her mind in light of all of his other food oddities. Before Lena sat down to eat she handed another list to Stef. "All of this needs to be done tonight. If you could get the kids to help you with most of this house work it would go much faster."
Stef smiled and laughed a little as she read through the list. "Honey, I don't think the kids are going to be capable of hanging the new mini blinds in Brandon's room…. I am also not sure how well they will be able to dust the mantle in the family room since they cannot really reach it well."
"Hmm… It is a good thing that I have asked you to just have them help you then. You can do all of those things. They can help with other jobs. I also have another list of grocery items that I forgot that I needed until just now. I thought maybe you could take the twins and Callie with you while I kept Jude and Brandon here to help me finish the house in the morning."
This time Stef leaned down to give her wife a little kiss. "If you keep Mariana that is a deal I am willing to make. We will start on this list right away."
Indeed, Stef did get all of the kids working. Within half an hour, they had finished most of the things on their list. Lena was amazed by the fast work. "Great job, Babies! I am very pleased with how well you all are working!"
"Thanks, Mama!" Callie said giving Lena a quick hug.
"Have we done enough to watch the movie yet?" Jesus asked impatiently.
"Movie?" Lena asked.
The other kids all glared over at Jesus. "I mean-"
"You mean that Mom told you that you could watch a movie if you finished this list of chores." Lena said filling in the gaps. The kids all looked guilty and Lena felt a little bad. "That sounds like a great plan to me! Finish up your dusting and we will put in that movie! Who is picking tonight?"
"I am!" Jude said excitedly. "We are going to watch Stuart Little! Just like the book you read to me and just like Gramps's name, Stuart!"
"Do we even own that movie?"
"It is on Netflix. I saw it on there. Mommy said I could chose it on my next turn and now it is my turn."
"Sounds like the perfect choice! I don't think any of us have seen it before."
XXX
"They are here!" Callie yelled from her spot near the front door after lunch the next day. "They just pulled up and they are here!"
Lena looked out the window to see Phil, Karen, and their children getting out of their car. Even though they had kept up by Facebook, phone, and occasional visits, Lena was surprised how big the other kids had gotten. "Remember that you all are on your best behavior the whole time they are here. Karen and I will be cooking quite a lot tonight. Mom won't be home from work for a few hours. You all need to stay out from underfoot."
Almost as soon as the family got inside, the kids began to divide themselves up. Lilly, Callie, and Mariana went up to the girls room while Jace, Jesus, and Jude went to the boys. Brandon went outside with Matthew and the two older boys to play a little basketball. Phil joined the two ladies in the kitchen to visit as they began cooking.
After an hour or so, Jesus came down the stairs. "Have you seen Dylan? He told me that he would teach me to make a layup."
"I think the older boys are still outside playing right now. I bet if you take some water out to them they would let you join them." Phil said walking over to the refrigerator and getting out some bottles of water.
"Thanks!" Jesus gathered the water and headed outside.
A few minutes later, Brandon came back in looking a little dejected. Lena noticed immediately. "What's wrong, Sweetheart?"
"Nothing." Brandon answered heading for the stairs.
"Come back here, Brandon." Brandon turned around and walked halfway back to his mama. "What is going on?"
"I just want to do something else now, that's all. Please, can I go upstairs now?" Brandon said as respectfully as he could.
Lena looked at the other two adults before answering. Then she sighed a little. "Okay, son, go on. If you want to talk, though, you know where I am."
"Thanks, Mama!" Brandon said giving her a small smile before making his way up the stairs.
Phil stood up. "Well, I think that is my cue to go check on the boys." Phil walked outside and watched a few minutes of the game. All of the boys were happy and playing together nicely. "Do any of you know why Brandon came inside a few minutes ago?"
"No. He said he just didn't want to play basketball anymore. Why? What did he say?" Grant answered for the group.
"He didn't say anything. I can count on my boys, especially my oldest two, to make sure everyone is included, right?" Phil asked his two teenage sons.
"Of course." Dylan answered. "He just said he wanted to do something else and left."
The other three kids agreed. "Okay, I am just making sure. Someone will be checking with Brandon as well, if there is anything else you would like to say."
The four boys shook their heads and shrugged their shoulder. Phil went back into the house. "Something must have happened, but the boys say Brandon just didn't want to play anymore."
"Well, sometimes he just needs space to recharge. He was excited everyone was coming, so maybe he didn't sleep so well last night. Basketball really isn't his thing anyway. Let's just give him a little time."
An hour or so later, the adults mostly forgot about Brandon when Callie came casually down the stairs. "Mama, could I have some ice?" She asked as casually as she could.
"For what?"
"Um, well, actually we would like some water. I thought cups of ice would be nice so we could keep the water cold."
"If you girls want water, I think it would be best if you all came down the stairs and drank it down here. You know the rules about food upstairs."
"It is just water…" Callie started before catching herself. "Sorry, Mama. I just thought it would be better for you if we weren't down here in the way and you let us have water upstairs at bedtime sometimes."
"You're right. Water doesn't stain and I would like you to be drinking enough of it. So, sure, get three cups with some ice." Lena conceded after thinking a moment. "How about you fill one cup all the way with ice and stack the rest. It will be easier to carry. Would you also like some bottles of water?"
"No, thank you." Callie answered filling one cup quickly and rushing back upstairs.
"I guess they will be drinking tap water?" Karen said with an eyebrow raised.
"My guess is that they have something else to drink upstairs." Lena said as she heard the door opening. "Is that you, Stef?"
"Of course!" Stef came in and greeted the guests as well as giving her wife a kiss. "I got off a little early today. How about I put my gun away and then go check up on all of the kids?"
"That would be perfect!"
Stef walked up the stairs relishing in her current happiness. She put her gun away and noticed her jewelry box was slightly opened. She shut it without much thought then peeked into Jude's open door. "Hey boys! How are things going in here?"
"Great! Brandon helped us set up the train! Look it, Mommy! It is like a ramp and the train can go so fast! Jace and I are having races!" Jude said running over to Stef for a quick hug and kiss.
"I can see that! Brandon is a great big brother. Did the other big boys help you also?"
"No, Jesus tried, but he didn't do a very good job. He joined the other boys. I think they are playing basketball. Brandon didn't want to play so he came and helped us for a while. Then he went somewhere else."
"I see. Well, it looks like everything is going well in here. I am going to go check on the girls." Stef smiled a little still quite happy. The girls' door was closed which seemed unusual except they were getting to an age where they wanted to have privacy from their brothers more. Stef knocked.
"Um, just a minute." Callie answered as Stef heard quite a lot of shuffling in the room. On a hunch she opened the door to see three shocked expressions.
