A/N: Oh, my gosh! Now, I know a lot of you grumbled about me taking this chapter hostage and forcing you to review, and don't worry, it will never happen again- especially not when I haven't written the chapter yet. But you got to admit, it seriously worked. Fifty-two reviews! You guys are amazing! I have a lot of people to thank, and I'll do that in a minute, but first things first.
I know Aqua Bubbles and a few others asked that this story never end, and that's really sweet, but a bunch of other people pointed out that it has to end sometime, and they'd rather it end with a little class and not drag along with a weaker plot. (Which is exactly what I think the show is doing. No Jorja, no Gary, and now no Billy? Just give it up, man. I mean, everybody loves Marg but there's no way she can carry the show. That's all I'm saying) So, here's what I'm going to do. After this chapter, I am going to start in on the epilogue chapters, however, they will be longer and more detailed than I was originally planning. There, you see? Compromise.
Next order of business; I am issuing a public, formal apology to Maggsie for calling her a greedy monkey. She is nothing of the sort. (Maggs, I can't remember what I wrote in the draft, so I'm starting from scratch.) Not only is she neither greedy, nor a monkey, she is also a wonderfully talented writer and ever supportive reader, reviewer and friend. My apologies, babe. XO
Okay, the thank you section. Really, I'm thanking everyone who reviewed, because you are all fabulous, but I feel a few honorable mentions are due. So many of you wrote what I consider to be long reviews that I can't possibly thank you all, so only the truly insanely lengthy ones are getting written up.
Firstly; Chelsee6, cathandsaraforever55, srtxf, Aqua Bubbles, and CSISVUTWFBgurl. Your reviews were helpful, cheering, and unbelievably long. I loved them.
Next: LeonniThams, thank you for your honesty and helpfulness. I really like that you weren't afraid to share some criticism as well as praise. So, thanks.
Followed by chimp1984- I know you've been busy, but I missed you! Thank you for all the encouraging reviews- they were awesome.
And finally, the winner by far in the 'get mentioned in Myx's fic contest,' Miss I.love.you.miss! Everyone needs to try and be more like I.love.you.miss. Her ingenuity is uncanny. Not only did she leave a fantastic review, she also went back and reviewed all the other chapters she missed, and she annoyed me to no end, AND she promised to dedicate an update to me. So, that is why this update is mostly dedicated to her. Thank you, my dear.
Alright, now that that's all over and done with, on with the show!
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"Linds, Linds, are you getting this? Are you actually seeing this?"
"Mom, I see it, okay? I was the one who came to get you and got the video camera, remember?"
I was kneeling on my living room floor with my arms spread wide, and a ridiculous expression on my face. "Who's my big walking boy!? Come here, come here! Come see Mommy! Who's the best, best boy!?" Mattie gurgled at me from the place where he had pulled himself up on the coffee table.
"Mom, move your head. It's like, really big and in the way of the camera."
"Thanks, Linds." I drawled.
"No seriously. Move your head."
I sat cross-legged. "Is that better?"
"Loads."
"Okay, Mattiemeister! Come see Mommy! Walk to Mommy." I made the sign for 'good job,' bringing the back of my hand from my mouth to my opposite palm. Sara had somehow finally got me into the baby sign language stuff, but in her defense, it really worked.
Mattie turned and let go of the table edge so that he was standing on his own. "That's it, that's it. Come on." He smiled at me and reached out to try and touch me. I scooted back. He frowned and reached again. Again, I scooted back.
He got a very determined look on his face. "Ick!" he cried, frustrated. "Ick!"
"It's okay, little man. Don't get upset. Mommy's right here, she just wants to see you take one little step. Just like you took for Sissy. Can you do that for me?"
He looked so serious. He leaned precariously. Staring at me the whole time, he lifted one foot, kicked it forward, and then set it down. When he saw my amazed expression, he smiled, revealing his six teeth. Then he took three more steps before he tripped and tumbled into my lap. He looked up at me, quite startled at where he'd ended up. "Yay!" I clapped my hands. "What a good boy you are." I picked him up touched noses with him. He laughed that happy baby laugh. "My big walking boy, I'm so proud of you! Mama is going to be so mad she missed this! Linds, did you get that?"
Lindsey snapped the camera shut and put in on the end table. "Yeah, I got it." She huffed and then collapsed beside me, playing with Mattie's feet. "At least this is a good day for somebody."
I rubbed her arm consolingly, "Hey, it won't be that bad, sweetheart, you'll see."
"How am I supposed to put up with this for like my entire life?"
I smiled sympathetically at her.
That morning, I had just fallen asleep when I heard screaming coming from Linds' room. Sara and I both jumped out of bed and ran down the hall. Sara flung open the door to reveal Lindsey standing on her bed, sobbing. "Lindsey, what the hell? You scared the crap out of me! What's the matter, hon?"
Silently crying, she pointed down to the sheets. They were heavily smeared with what appeared to be blood. Quickly I did a check for visible injuries.
Sara caught on more quickly than I did. She went around the bed and pulled Lindsey off it and into her arms. "Oh, sweetie, you're okay. Everything's fine."
Suddenly it all clicked in my head, just as Lindsey sobbed, "What's wrong with me?"
"Nothing's wrong with you, baby" I assured, thinking that 'baby' was definitely no longer the word. I officially had a young woman for a daughter.
"Linds," Sara started, "you had health class last year, don't you know what this is?"
Lindsey snuffled as she thought. Sara and I watched as she froze with realization. She went from distraught to livid in about two seconds. Oh, yeah, we've got a full-fledged teenager on our hands now. "My period?! That's what this is?"
Sara and I both nodded.
"What? But…! I…" and we were back to tears. "No! I can't! I'm only twelve! That's not fair!"
Sara rocked her back and forth, and I came over and wrapped my arms around both of them.
A minute later, Sara's cell could be heard ringing from our bedroom. "Damn," she, muttered, before running from the room.
I bent down to be on the same eye level as my not-so-little girl. Five-foot two, officially grown out of her training bra, and now this. "Hey, angel. We're going to work this out, okay?"
She wiped at her eyes. "Okay."
"I'm going to change your sheets really quick, why don't you get a clean pair of underwear and meet me in my bathroom, alright?"
"Uh-huh."
Sara got called back in to work, as sometimes happened, so I was responsible for getting everybody dressed, fed, and ready for school. Lindsey and I had a long chat about everything I could think of that she needed to know, a lot of it, I could tell, she really did not want to talk about with me, but she didn't have a choice. I let her stay home from school, I felt that was justified- it's not like she would be focusing much on school if she were there anyways. I even let her stay at home and watch the twins while I drove Maggie and Ayla.
I felt so bad for her- she had cramps, she was hormonal, and she was embarrassed. I had started my period at twelve, and I suppose I should have been waiting for the day that hers would come, but it honestly slipped my mind. I think I was just as shocked as she was. My baby could, technically, have babies. I was not ready for that. But what was I supposed to do? I was supposed to be supportive and helpful and guide her through the next few years of her life as best I could. Thank god I had Sara. She seemed to keep a level head about things like this.
"Mom?" Lindsey's voice brought me out of my musings.
"Yeah?"
"Can I…" she hesitated, "Can I have spaghettios and grilled cheese for lunch?"
I smiled. So, still my little girl after all. "Of course you can." I looked at Mattie in my lap and Lizzie playing with her shape-sorter. "Why don't we all have spaghettios and grilled cheese for lunch?"
Lindsey took Mattie from me and hoisted him onto her hip. "And then after," she pretended to bite his hand and he grinned. "I can watch the babies so that you can sleep."
I smiled at her, "That would be great, Linds, but I want to stay awake in case you need me."
She rolled her eyes. "If I need you, I'll wake you up. How exactly can I screw up- I mean, mess up putting on a pad? It's no big deal, Mom. You need your sleep. The twins and I will watch One Hundred and One Dalmatians." She put Mattie back on the ground where he took five or six steps before falling over.
Lizzie, having seen that her brother was getting all the attention, crawled over to see why. It was always fun to see them interact. Most of the time, Lizzie was the dominant one, but every now and then, Mattie put her in her place as the youngest in the house.
They gurgled and chatted away at each other. Lizzie picked up two of the shapes from her sorter, and waved them wildly in the air. Mattie reached for the blue star and quickly received an indignant howl from his sister. He pulled his hand back, but his lower lip began to quiver. I sighed. "Lizzie, give your brother the star." Not really expecting her to say anything back, I reached for the toy.
She pulled it away from me. "No!" she shouted.
Lindsey and I looked at each other and then back a Lizzie. "What did you say?"
Seeing that she was getting attention, Lizzie smiled. "No!" she said again, triumphantly.
"Linds, get the camera, quick!" When she had the camera rolling, I once again tried to apprehend the toy. With the same result.
Lizzie scowled. "No!"
I reached for it again.
"No! No, Mama, mine! Mine!"
My jaw dropped. "Oh, my God. Did you hear that?"
"Mom, I'm standing right next to you. Of course I heard it."
"She called me Mama."
"Well, she's confused. You're Mommy, and Mama is…Mama."
"Babies can't tell the difference between words that sound that much alike." I pulled Lizzie into my arms and hugged her tight, peppering her with kisses. "Who's a talking girl? Who's Mommy's big talking girl?" She giggled. "Linds, can you believe it? Mattie walks for the first time and Lizzie talks for the first time all in one day."
"Well, this day is just full of surprises," she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
I rolled my eyes, "Okay, you. Time for lunch."
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That night, on the way to work, Sara and I were happy as clams. We had the homemade DVD all set up to show the guys. "Can you believe she said that? I still can't believe she said that."
"Amazing. This has been some day." There was a pause before Sara spoke again, her tone was careful this time. "So…I was wondering if you've thought about John's proposal at all."
"I've been thinking about it quite a bit, actually."
"Yeah? What about it?"
"Well, I've been thinking that the public school system is a lot better in the Bay area than here. And I've been thinking that we do need a bigger house, and we know that we don't like the neighborhoods in Las Vegas."
"What about the job?"
"Well, I'd have to meet the people I'd be working with, but it sounds great. I've been due a promotion for a while now, but it's looking more and more like Vegas is a dead end for me- career wise."
"So…" she hesitated. "Maybe I should set up some formal interviews with John and the hiring committee?"
I nodded, my eyes on the road. "Maybe you should."
"Are you worried about moving the girls?"
I tilted my head from side to side. "I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand, I hate to uproot their lives. Again. Ayla's just started to make friends here; Lindsey has her friends that she's had since preschool. Maggie…Maggie can make friends anywhere we live, I'm less worried about her. If we move to California, we're moving towards Ayla and Maggie's family, but we'd be moving away from mine. I know that the Wingers treat Lindsey like there own granddaughter, but Mom would be really upset about it."
"It?"
"Us
moving. She hates traveling, she's getting older; she won't want
her grandchildren moving six hundred miles away.
"Well, we can't
base the happiness of our lives on what your mother wants. This has
to be about us. Us and the kids."
"I agree. One hundred percent."
"So you said 'on the one hand,' what's on the other hand?"
"Well, a part of me thinks of it as an opportunity for us all to start over. I know we're a family now, but you and I have both seen a lot of love and loss in Vegas. And we know the girls love California. We know that our family will be more accepted there. The kids will have a better shot at leading a relatively normal life, instead of being forever branded as the kids with two moms."
"Sounds like an infallible argument to me." Sara turned to me as she put the car in park in front of the lab. "And I know you love California."
"And I know you do to." I smiled. "We'll just have to see. If we get the jobs, then we can really start talking."
So at some point during shift, Sara called John and set up interviews for back to back conference calls sometime in the next week. Then, if those went well, we would each have to go to San Francisco for an official interview.
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The day before the interviews, I was making dinner when Ayla approached me with something I was so not prepared for.
"Mom?" Ayla came up behind me as I was tossing the salad for dinner.
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"I'm nine and three-quarters now, right?"
"Right…"
"I was thinking that I'm almost ten- that's double digits. That's a pretty big deal."
"Mhm…could you get me the dressing from the fridge?"
"Sure. So what I was thinking was that being ten means that I'm more than halfway through my childhood. Five ninths to be precise."
"Okay…" I could tell she was building up to something, I just didn't know what it was. I handed her the bottle of dressing. "Can you put this back, please?"
"Uh-huh. I was also thinking that since I'm practically ten already that maybe I should get an early birthday present."
Aha. I turned around. "A birthday present, huh? Like what?"
She looked away and her voice got very small. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe something kinda like a…" The last part was mumbled so I couldn't hear it.
"What was that?"
"I said maybe like a…a bra."
I stared at her. "A bra? You want…a bra?"
She squeaked. "Yes."
"What for?"
She picked up on the fact that the first word out of my mouth was not 'no,' and her eyes lit up. "Well, Dixie Lane got one and then Sophie and Paula got them, and now every girl in the class has one except me."
Dixie Lane? "Sweetie, how old is Dixie Lane?"
Little shoulders sagged. "Almost eleven."
"Just like most of the girls in your class, right?"
The lip came out and she looked so much like a sulky Sara. "Right."
"Do you know why women wear bras, Ayla?"
"Yes."
"Do you think you need to wear one?"
"No, but a lot of the girls don't need them, but their moms bought them. Mama said it was okay if you said it was okay."
"She did, did she?"
Ayla nodded.
Walking out to the dinner table, I set the salad bowl down. "Linds?" I called to the living room. "How are you doing with the twins?"
"Lizzie learned how to say 'fishy'. Well, actually she just says 'fissy' and she won't stop saying it, but we're good. Mattie is asleep in his cheerios."
"We're going to be sitting down to dinner as soon as Mama and Maggie walk in the door, so can you set them up in the play pen?"
"Yeah, sure."
I turned back to Ayla and squatted down to her eye-level. "Angel, you know all I want is for you to be happy, right?"
She nodded again with her big, sad, brown eyes.
"But I'm going to have to say 'no' to this one. You're only nine years old. Lindsey had to wait until she was eleven, so unless you really need one before then, that's how long you're going to wait too. Okay?"
Her lip quivered but she nodded. "Okay." Her voice was tight with tears. Oh, I hate being the one to say 'no.' Sara and I were going to have to have a talk after dinner.
"Sweetie, why are you concerned with what the other girls are doing? You've always been so independent. You've never cared what they thought before."
"I know. But I want them to like me."
"Who doesn't like you?"
"All of the girls. They don't like me because I do the best in the spelling and math tests and because I won the science fair last year."
"What about the boys?"
She shrugged, "I'm friends with Josh. And Ross. And Sam and Teddy and Pablo. They all want to be my partner for this year's fair."
"Hmm. Well, that's good at least." I pulled her into a hug, "Look, when I was your age, I wasn't friends with any of the girls in my class either."
"Why not?"
"They were jealous because all of the boys liked me the best. And I think that might be part of your problem too."
"Jealous? Of me? But I'm too skinny. And I've got glasses. And big front teeth. And I'm the youngest. I'm a total dork. Why would they be jealous of me?"
I shook my head. "That's just the way it is sometimes. And who called you a dork?"
She hesitated. "…Lindsey."
I jumped up, "What?"
Ayla tried to cover for her sister. "She wasn't trying to be mean, she just-"
"Lindsey Willows, get your behind in this kitchen right this minute!"
She appeared around the corner with Mattie in her arms. "What'd I do?"
"Did you tell your sister that she was a dork?"
Lindsey looked at Ayla who shrugged. "Uh…yeah."
"Why?"
Lindsey looked confused, "Because," she said slowly, "she is a dork?"
"She is not!"
"Uh, Mom- yeah, she is. She's a complete brain. There's nothing wrong with it, but it's still true."
"Well, I don't like you telling her things like that. It ruins her self-esteem. If you want to tell she's smart, then do it in a positive way."
"Fine. Can I go now? He's getting heavy."
"Well then put him down."
"Do you know how long it took for me to catch him?"
We all heard the click of the lock down the hall and then, "Hello!? We're home!"
"We're in the kitchen!"
Mattie squirmed in Lindsey's arms and she reluctantly put him down. "Ma!" He cried as he turned the corner out of sight.
"Hello, big guy!" We could hear Sara cooing, "How are you?"
"Mommy! Mommy, guess what?" Maggie crashed into my legs and I quickly lifted her up and hoisted her onto my hip. Damn, she was getting heavy, or I was getting old. Either way, we weren't going to be doing this for very much longer.
"What, munchkin? How was your very first sleepover?"
"Awesome! Hannah and Molly and me played dress-up and I was the robot princess. Guess what? I got a loose tooth!"
"You do? Let me see."
She grinned and wiggled one of her front teeth with her tongue.
"Hmm." I looked up as Sara walked in, a baby on one hip and a Finding Nemo sleeping bag on the other. I raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't remember you having a loose tooth when you left last night."
Sara smiled apologetically. "Apparently, Hannah didn't want to play the part of the royal puppy and she threw her dog bone at Maggie's head. Molly's mom says Maggie bled for twenty minutes."
"Yeah, but now I got a loose tooth. I can't wait to show everybody at school tomorrow."
I put Maggie down and twisted to crack my back. "Ah. Alright everybody's here. It's time for dinner. Wash hands, take your seats! You know the drill." In the commotion I was herded toward my wife. I wrapped an arm around her slim hips and leaned in for a gentle kiss. "Hey, hot stuff. How was overtime?"
She hummed against my lips, "Mmm. Boring as hell. And Greg's coffee doesn't taste nearly as good as you."
I smiled. "Why, Mrs. Sidle-Willows, are you trying to seduce me?"
"Uh-huh. Is it working?"
"I've got to leave for work in two hours and we've dinner to eat and dishes to clean."
"Well, the babysitter gets here at eleven, why don't we have a little rendezvous in your office, say eleven twenty-two? I promise to be well rested?"
I laughed and kissed her again. "We'll see. For now, why don't you focus on filling your stomach?"
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The interviews did go well. Afterwards, John told us that the committee had loved us and that the in-person interviews were really just a formality and if we were okay with it, they could wait until we moved out there. He also told us we should start looking for a place to live now, so that we could make the transition easier. That made everything seem more real. And it made us realize that we really needed to talk to the girls.
"Move away? What?" Lindsey stood up adamantly. "I can't move! Why would I want to?"
I tried to calm her down with a hand on her arm, but she shrugged me off. "Sweetie, Mama and I have talked about this a lot and we really think it's what's best for the whole family."
"How can it be the best for me? What about all my friends? What about my boyfriend?"
"Linds, you're twelve, there will plenty more boyfriends."
"I want this one!"
"Okay," I held my hand up. "We know your opinion. If you can't talk without shouting, then go to your room and we'll discuss this later."
"This is so not fair!" Lindsey huffed and stomped out, up the stairs, and all the way to her room, where she slammed the door.
I looked over at Sara who gave me an encouraging nod. We turned back to Ayla and Maggie. "Well, that was one point of view. How do you two feel about it?"
Ayla looked pensive. "Where will we live?"
"Well," Sara moved to sit on the couch closer to Ayla. "We would buy a house."
"Where?"
"In the suburbs somewhere. It's too expensive to buy a house for seven people in the city."
"Could I have my own room?" She looked hopeful.
Sara tilted her head to the side. "Probably not."
Pouty face. Aww. "Why?"
"Sweetie," I put my hand on her knee, "if we let you have your own room, we'd have to let everyone have their own, and then we'd be looking for a house with seven or eight bedrooms- that's just too big."
"But we'd be closer to Gram and G-pa and Aunt Molly, right?"
"And the beach!" Maggie put in.
I cracked a smile. "That's right, we'd be just a quick drive from all of them, including the beach."
"What about Nana and Aunt Nancy? What about Uncle Greg?"
"We'd have to come visit them."
"What about school?"
"Well, you'd have to start at a new school."
"But I just got used to this one."
"I know sweetheart, but Mama and I really think you'll be happier at new school. Depending on where we move, we might put you into a private school, where you can be with kids your own age."
"And still learn at an accelerated level?"
"That's right."
"That would be…cool."
"Yes, it would."
"When would we move?"
"Around Christmas time. Our jobs would start on January sixth."
Ayla shrugged. "It's alright if we move, I guess."
Oh, thank God. I turned to Maggie. "What about you, Miss Maggie May?"
"Do I get my own room?"
"Hmm…maybe for a little while, but eventually, Lizzie is going to move in with you. That was always the plan here and, provided we find the right house, it will remain the plan in California."
"Oh." She looked adorably pensive.
"So what do you think about moving?"
"Hang on, I'm thinking!"
"Okay, sorry." Sara and I looked at each other. We'd never had that kind of attitude from Maggie before. Maybe her oldest sister was rubbing off on her.
"Maggie, you don't take that tone with Mama and you know it!"
Unaccustomed to being yelled at, Maggie's lower lip trembled, "Sorry."
Sara pulled Maggie in her lap, "It's okay, Mags, I know you didn't mean to."
"I'm six now, you know."
"We know."
"So, I'm too big to cuddle." She tried to shrug out of Sara's grasp, but Sara tightened her arms around our grown-up six year old.
"I don't think so, Maggie May." She kissed her cheek.
I tickled the little girl's knees as she attempted to escape, "I've got news for you, darlin'. You never get too big to cuddle in this house."
"Never?"
"Never ever."
"Oh."
"So, what do you think about moving?"
"Can we get a dog?"
I looked at Sara. "We'll see. There are a lot of decisions to make about getting a dog."
Maggie grinned. "But you didn't say 'no'!"
"No, we didn't."
"I want to move!! Can I name the dog? Can she have a purple collar like Maria's dog? Oh, can she sleep on my bed?"
I looked at Sara again, "We'll see," we both said, smiling.
"Mama!" Both Sara and I looked over to the playpen where Lizzie had woken up from her nap and was standing against the rail.
"Yes, my little devil?"
"What's up, Red?" Red was Sara's new nickname for Lizzie, and I despised it. True, her bright red curls did warrant the name, but I got called Red for the better part of my life, and I hated it. Only it was too late. She already responded to it.
"Out."
"You want to get out?"
"Out! Out!" she shouted louder.
"Okay, okay," I stood up, "Don't wake up your brother." I went over and lifted her out of the pen. Balancing her on my hip, I gave her dozens of kisses all over her face and neck. "Who's Mommy's best baby girl?" She flashed her four teeth at me and giggled.
"Cath, you making dinner tonight?"
I sighed, "I really don't have the energy, what about pizza?"
"Pizza! Yes! Please? We haven't had pizza in ages." Ayla drew out words for effect.
Sara smiled, "Oh, alright. Pizza is fine by me."
"Yay!"
"But I'm making a salad and everyone has to have some."
Shoulders sagged from both girls. "Fine." They both said, equally dramatic.
Lizzie put both her hands on my face. "Mama, mama, mama, mama," she repeated.
I pretended to eat her hands which made her laugh. "Hey, little girl, want to help Mommy order yummy pizza?"
"Cath, you think you can hold down the fort here, for a bit? I think I might go see what I can do about Miss PMS up there." She pointed to the ceiling. God, I loved this woman. How many people would volunteer for that?
I breathed my sigh of relief. "Would you?"
"Absolutely."
"You're a goddess."
"No, that's you, I'm just a your mortal wife and mother to your children." She grinned widely at me and I winked back. "But I think I can talk her around. I've got an idea."
"And that would be?"
"I'll let you know if it works." She stood and ambled towards the stairs.
I turned to Ayla, "Have you finished your homework?"
"Yes."
"Including the other exercises from your tutor?"
"Umm…no." She looked guilty.
I raised my eyebrows. "Guess what you're doing until the pizza gets here?"
So an hour later, I'm setting the table with paper plates when Lindsey comes galloping down the stairs, running full force into the dining room. She sat down and reached for a slice. "Yes! There's no mushrooms on this, right?"
"Hey, put that back and wait 'til everybody's seated. You know better than that."
"Well, I'm hungry, when's everybody coming?"
"That would be as soon as I call them."
"MAMA! Dinner's ready! Ay, Mags, DINNER'S READY!"
I flinched. How was it possible for someone to even reach that decibel? "Thank you, Lindsey."
"Welcome." All of a sudden she's so chipper?
"Alright, what's going on? What have you done with my daughter?"
"Nothing. Hey, Mom, can I have surfing lessons?"
"In Nevada?"
"No," she said slowly while giving me the eye-roll. "When we move to California. Mama says she'll teach me, but I bet some real lessons would make me even better. Besides, Mama hasn't done it in like a really, really, really long time."
"It hasn't been that long," Sara leaned in the doorway, smirking.
I smiled at her, "So we want to move to California now?" I looked back to Lindsey.
More eye rolling, "Duh!"
I looked back at Sara. I shook my head. "Duh!" we both said at once and laughed.
Lindsey just threw up her arms. "Parents," she said disgustedly.
Getting ready to head off to work that night, all munchkins safely tucked in bed and mother on the couch watching her program, I asked Sara how she ever got Lindsey to agree to the move.
She smiled. "I may have showed her some pictures of the surfer guys that hang out at Ocean Beach. And told her I'd buy her a board and teach her how to surf so that she could impress them."
I laughed. "God, she really is growing up, isn't she?"
"Thirteen in five months."
"I can't get over it, it feels like just yesterday she was my little girl."
"Well, do you think you can make do with three little girls?"
"We may be down to two. Our nine year old wants a bra, remember?"
"Yeah, but she still wears Little Mermaid pajamas to bed and sleeps with her thumb in her mouth."
"You still sleep with your thumb in your mouth."
Sara swung the door open and held it for me as her eyes rolled. "One time. One time! That happened one time."
"It was so cute though."
She closed the door behind us and clicked the button to unlock the car. "As long as you don't spread it around at the lab."
I looked over my shoulder and winked at her. "Too late."
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With all the girls in agreement over the move, finding a house to fit our crazy brood seemed like the next logical step. So, we called Maureen who gave us the number of an agent, we then called the agent who took us on without even asking what we were looking for; which was a lot. Absolutely could not be more than an hour from the city in heavy traffic, an area with good schools was a must. We wanted five bedrooms, at least three bathrooms, a spacious kitchen, a playroom and a living room, two offices, a fenced in backyard, a fully functioning basement and a pool. And about an acre of closet space.
Since we couldn't really just hop on a plane and go cruising around the suburbs of San Francisco, Lee- our agent, kept emailing us pictures and descriptions of houses. Poor man, we had him taking pictures of everything from roof tiles to electrical outlets. One by one all of the houses were dismissed. Size was the usual reason, most of them were just too small. But some of them were really weird. One had a pool in the shape of a…a phallus. Complete with a fountain on the business end. Sara and I laughed our asses off. Two lesbians living in a house with a penis for a pool? Ha. No. I don't think so.
For two weeks we went through them. We must have looked at fifteen houses, and none of them were even close to what we wanted. Then, two weeks before the twins' first birthday, Lee came through for us. Sara was sitting down at the computer in our crappy excuse for an office, and I was crowded over her shoulder, looking on.
Hey ladies, guess what just went on the market? It's your dream house, believe me. I've finally found it, and it's going to go fast, so I'd hurry it up if I were you. Take a look- tell me you love me.
X Lee
Sara scrolled down, and as she did, both of us began to smile. There it was. And it was perfect. A big white house with big pink rhododendron bushes blooming under the front windows. There were five bedrooms, one was even slightly smaller than the rest and painted sky blue. We immediately both agreed it would be Mattie's room as he was the only one of us who would be sleeping alone. Four bathrooms- one on the first floor and three on the second. The master bath came complete with walk-in shower and Jacuzzi tub. Sara and smiled widely at each other when we noticed that little feature.
The kitchen was gorgeous. Cherry wood cabinets, green granite countertops, black slate floor, top of the line stainless appliances, and best of all, two dishwashers. And things just got better from there. Except for the kitchen and bathroom, the whole downstairs had beautiful imported Australian Cypress wood flooring. Closet space was phenomenal. The backyard was huge- it had a pond and a nice rectangular swimming pool with a diving board. Plenty enough room for the girls' trampoline with some to spare.
The house was in Sunnyvale, California, technically in Santa Clara county, but only a forty-five minute drive from San Francisco. Three blocks from an elementary school, four blocks from a park and playground, six blocks from the high school, and just one point two miles to the grocery store.
We called Lee immediately and got him to put in a bid for us. That night I played hooky from work so that I could catch some sleep, then first thing in the morning, I was on my way to California. We couldn't both feasibly go, so Sara left the decision up to me. If it was everything the pictures said, than we should go for it. If it wasn't, well, then we'd just have to keep looking.
But it was. It was fabulous, I could not believe how perfect it was. I met with the owners, a nice older couple whose children were all grown up. They were moving to a smaller place that was closer to their grandchildren. I showed them the pictures of the kids and Sara that I always kept with me and we talked about what a wonderful house it was for their kids to grow up in. I told them how much in love with the house we were, and we were looking forward to raising our family there too. And I realized that in twenty years, Sara and I could very well be just like this couple. This could be our home.
The couple and I got along so well that they took Lee and I to lunch. We discussed Sunnyvale and all of the things that went on in the town throughout the year. The woman turned out to be a former nursery school teacher, and she gave me a list of daycares that were good for the twins and even recommended some tutors and a private school for Ayla. When we were finished, they told me that they liked the look of me and my family so much that they decided they would take our bid, despite the fact that two couples had bid above us. I was so ecstatic that I started crying hysterically and got on the phone to Sara right away.
The dream house was ours!
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Now that we had a house, all that was left was to tell the boys and, of course, Grissom about the move. I'm not sure why, but we had been putting this off for as long as possible. I think it was mostly that we felt guilty. We had all been together for nearly six years, we had shared our lives together, and now…now Sara and I were breaking up our family. That's what it felt like, anyway.
But now, being in escrow with the house, with the girls' schools and the twins' day care all set up, having accepted the jobs and signed employment contracts, there was no avoiding it. We had to tell him, them. Grissom first because he needed to know so that he could start searching for replacements for us. Sara was much more nervous than I was, which is why I volunteered to do all the talking. Frankly, I didn't care what the man thought- I was just glad I would no longer be working for him. I was going to be supervisor this time. The thought made me smile slightly as we walked down the hall. Gil's door was open and his light was on. I knocked on the doorway just in case.
"Come in." He never looked up from his papers.
I stepped inside and I felt Sara's hand slip into mine. We very rarely had public shows affection in the lab, but I squeezed her hand tightly, knowing she needed the comfort. When we were beside his desk and Gil had still not looked up, I coughed conspicuously. He set his work aside and gave us his attention. I handed him two manila envelopes, one with my name on it, and one with Sara's.
"What's this?" He asked, opening my envelope.
"Those would be our two weeks notice."
He stopped short.
I plowed on. "Well, actually, it's more like six weeks notice since we've given you until December to find replacements for us, but you get what I'm saying."
"You're leaving?" He looked stunned.
"Yes."
"Both of you." It was like he wasn't even talking to us, but to himself.
"Yes. The lab in San Francisco is expanding, and they offered both Sara and I supervisory positions."
"You're both leaving?" He didn't seem to be able to process it.
"Yes." I said again.
"Why?"
I sighed. "Because we have to do what's right for us, Gil. What's best for our kids. This job has been great," I looked over my shoulder at Sara, "for both of us. But we've grown out of it. And neither of us would be getting promoted around here anytime soon. We've got to go."
He nodded silently.
"Grissom?" Sara finally spoke. "Are you okay with this?"
He nodded again. "If this is what you need to do, then it's what's best. I guess the team will just have to learn to live without you. Congratulations, to both of you. San Francisco has a great lab, you're very lucky." He said it, but it wasn't sincere. He couldn't look into either of our faces.
"Thank you." Sara said quietly.
"Was there anything else?"
I frowned at him. "What, our news wasn't enough for you?"
I guess I surprised him with my sharp tone. "What do you want from me, Catherine?"
"Nothing!" I felt my anger start to rise. "Apart from professional respect, I have never asked you for a goddamned thing."
I felt Sara pulling my hand, "C'mon, Cath, let's-"
I interrupted her. "But my wife deserves a hell of a lot more than that. At the very least you owe her compassion and support. Tell me, why is it that every time we walk into this office together, you turn into the biggest ass this side of the Rio Grande?"
Sara tugged more insistently on my arm, "Cath, we really need to go."
Gil shook his head, seemingly confused. "You walk-in and hand over your resignation papers, and without giving me any time to process, expect me to be emotionally supportive? Well, I'm sorry, Catherine, but I'm human and I need time to think."
"Fine. Think. Have fun with that."
"Sara? Could you give me a moment alone with your wife?" he hissed out the last word.
"Cath?" Sara looked at me.
I squeezed her hand reassuringly. "It's okay, babe, I'll meet you in the break room in ten?"
She nodded and walked out, quietly shutting the door behind her.
I turned to Gil, eyebrows raised, hand on hip, in no mood to put up with any bullshit.
"Catherine." He sighed and started again, "Catherine, what happened to us?"
"What?" Not what I was expecting.
"We've known each other for fifteen years. For more than twelve of those years, I would have considered you my best friend. So, I'm asking, what happened to us?"
I looked at him disbelieving. "You happened to us, Gil."
"Excuse me?"
"From the minute Sara began to run to me with her problems instead of you, before we were even involved, you turned icy towards me."
"That's hardly a rational or fair assessment of the situation."
"Is it? Really?"
"Yes, I didn't see you making an effort to maintain our friendship once Sara 'started running to you'."
"I was a bit preoccupied!" I said incredulously and loudly, "I was in love!"
Gil's eyes flashed as he stood up sharply. "So was I!" he shouted vehemently. Taking a step back, I watched all the energy slip from his expression as he sunk back in his chair. "Don't you get it, Catherine? You won!" He laughed bitterly, "You won! And I don't know how to handle that. Here I am, watching as my best friend gets happier and happier, and I should be happy for her, right? Accept that I don't, I'm not. Every time you smile, I feel as if someone is crushing my lungs. Because I know if you're smiling, then she's smiling- she's smiling for you. Not me." He buried his face in his hands and rested his elbows on the desk.
All my anger was gone. Washed away by pity and compassion for this poor, heartbroken man. I crossed the room and placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Gil. I knew you loved her and I fell for her anyway. Friends, true friends don't do that. But I didn't win anything. I was never in competition with you. Yes, she did love you, but you lost your chance long before she came to me. And there was no chance I was about to turn her away. She was never a prize to be won, Gil; she's always been a person, who deserves to be loved and cherished and treated with respect."
He smiled slightly as he ran a hand over his forehead. "You know, at one point I thought that you and I could maybe…"
I nodded. "Yeah, me too."
"Really?"
"Sure, but you know it never would have worked- we would have driven each other crazy."
He nodded, staring off into space. "I…I never could have made her happy could I?"
I shook my head, apologetically. "You really couldn't have."
He nodded again. "She would have made me happy, though."
I frowned. "For a while maybe, but in the end I think would have been just the same as you and me. It only seems like you want the same things in life."
"I'm always going to love her, Catherine."
I squeezed his shoulder, "And I am always going to resent you for it."
"As I will always resent that you're the one she comes home to." He was quiet for a long moment before he looked up at me. "There's no way to fix this, is there?"
"No." I said quietly. "But we sure had a lot of good times, didn't we?"
"We did. You've been the greatest relationship of my life."
I suddenly felt hot, my throat was tight, and my eyes were stinging. Perhaps I had lost him two and half years ago when I first allowed Sara's lips to touch mine, but now it was really over. I had lost my best friend. And it hurt. I leaned down and kissed him softly on the cheek. "I've missed you, Gil. I will miss you." I whispered as my lip trembled.
He smiled sadly. "I'll miss you, too, Catherine. Promise me you'll look after her?"
I sniffed and brushed a tear away quickly. "Always. Forever and always. Everyday for the rest of my life." I crossed the room, but paused at the door. "Just…try to be happy for her. She so badly wants you to be proud of her, and happy for her. She looks up to you so much."
He nodded. "I am proud of her. She's become a wonderful woman, a wife, a mother, and now, a CSI supervisor. She deserves it. You both do." He held up a hand. "Goodbye, Catherine."
I ducked my head, "I'll see you around, Gil."
I stepped out of the room and when I turned, Sara was there, tears in her eyes. "How much did you hear?"
"Everything," she said, her voice strained.
I nodded, clenching my jaw against the wellspring I felt about to erupt.
"Come here, sweetheart," she whispered, and took me in her arms.
I cried. I wasn't even sure why I was crying, but I was. Maybe I was finally admitting to myself what a big part of my life Gil had been. Or grieving the loss of him. Something I hadn't been able to do for two and a half years. Mostly, I think it was because I knew it was the right thing- that I would never choose him over Sara, but that I loved him anyway. He had been my mentor, my-coworker, and my friend for so long. It was the longest, best friendship I ever had. And it was gone. I felt empty. I burrowed my face under Sara's hair and into her neck. "I love you." I whispered.
"I love you, too, baby." She lifted my chin up and looked into my eyes. "You're the only one I want to spend the rest of my life with."
I nodded. I hadn't really been afraid, but it was always nice to here the reassurance. No one is completely secure all the time. "You ready to go home?"
She kissed my forehead. "Let me just grab our stuff from the locker room." She pulled the keys out of her back pocket and handed them to me. "Meet you at the car?" I nodded and went to wait in the driver's seat. When Sara got in I cast a glance at her. "What?" she wanted to know.
"I just realized something."
"What's that?"
"I am completely and utterly emotionally drained."
"And?"
"And we still need to tell the boys."
Sara leaned back in her seat. "Dammit."
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"Happy Birthday Mattie and Lizzie! Happy Birthday to you!" There was a round of applause from the familiar crowd at the table. Sara, with Mattie in her lap, and I, with Lizzie in mine, leaned forward to blow out the single candle in the cake. Nick snapped a shot with the camera. Lizzie clapped her hands, smiling at the crowd, while Mattie ignored his guests and reached to dig his hands into the frosting.
"No, Mattie, you have to wait for your piece!" admonished a six year old Maggie. "You're getting all sticky."
"Can I cut the cake, Mom?" asked my twelve and a half year old daughter.
I looked over to Sara who was licking the frosting from her son's fingers. She shrugged, so I nodded to Lindsey. "Sure, just make sure to cut even sized pieces. And mind your fingers."
"Cath, watch out!" Warrick warned me in time to keep Lizzie from going head first into the cake.
"Ma!" Both Sara and I turned to Mattie.
"Yes, my one year old boy?"
He touched his folded hand against his mouth, the sign for 'eat.'
"You want to eat some cake?" Sara asked, mimicking the sign.
He made the sign again.
"Say eat."
"Eeee!"
I smiled at him. "Good job," I signed as I spoke. "Yay!" I clapped my hands. Lizzie clapped her hands too.
"Hey, Cath?" Diana wanted to know, "Can Warrick hold her for second? It'll be good practice." In the months since our wedding, Warrick's girlfriend Diana had become a permanent fixture at our social gatherings, as had Nick's girlfriend, Missy. Diana was so great- and so great for Warrick. Missy we liked as well, but Diana just fit in so perfectly with the group, it was like she had always been there.
"Practice?" Sara frowned. "Practice for what?"
My jaw dropped, "Is that your round about way of telling us that you two are going to…?"
Warrick beamed and protectively placed a hand on Diana's flat belly. "Yep. Due in May!"
"Oh, my goodness, congratulations!"
Sara was still astounded. "You're having a baby?"
"Is that so hard to believe?" Warrick smiled goofily.
"Uh…yeah…kinda."
"Hey, you never struck me as the mothering type and you have five. I never said anything."
"You just did."
"Dude!" Nick slapped him on the back, "You're gonna be a Dad? That's awesome."
"Thanks, man."
"Who wants the first slice of cake!"
"Me!" shouted Lindsey's little boyfriend, Tyler Travis.
Apparently, he had broken up with his older girlfriend and had asked Lindsey to go to the Winter Dance with him- her first real boy-girl dance. Sara and I were both keeping a very close eye on him, and so far, he and Lindsey had not had a moment alone. I could see why she liked him, he was tall, blonde, with big blue eyes. He was starting to get the shape of a man where most twelve year-olds still looked liked little boys. And he was a good dresser to boot. Still, the longer I could keep my eldest daughter from learning 'the facts of life,' the better.
"Poo!" Lizzie shouted, yanking my hair.
"Ow. You want to go play in the pool? What about your cake?"
"Poo!"
Warrick stripped off his shirt to a round of wolf whistles and cat calls. "I can take her, Cath. I'm not really a cake guy anyway."
"I could go out on that joke, but we're in mixed company." Greg laughed.
Warrick shook his head.
I put Lizzie on the grass, "Uncle Warrick will take you to the pool, baby. Mommy and Mama will be right here."
Never afraid of anyone, our youngest child took Warrick's hand when he offered it, and toddled along on her unsteady feet.
I turned to Diana and motioned for her to come sit beside me. "This is so exciting. How are you feeling?"
"I'm pretty good. I've had a little morning sickness but otherwise I've been fine."
I placed a hand on Sara's thigh. "We know all about that. How's Warrick doing, is he being supportive? Because I can always give him a big kick in the keister."
Diana laughed, "No, don't do that. No need. He's been great. He was in shock at first, but he got over it pretty quick. Now, he's nothing but the best. He's even reading all the 'how to be a dad' books I bought him."
"Oh, that's so cute."
"Isn't
it?"
"You know I can hear you right?" Warrick called from
the pool causing a laugh all around.
"So, Nick," Sara was trying to feed Mattie cake but he was more interested in feeding himself. "What about you?"
"How do you mean?"
"Well, Warrick's having a baby, Cath and I have been settled down for a while, now. You have any exciting news for us? You've been seeing Missy for what now? Six months? We like her."
Diana, Greg, and I nodded our approval.
"We've been seeing each other seriously for exactly seven months, three days, and," he looked at his watch, "eighteen hours. And as a matter of fact, I've decided to ask her to marry me."
Greg bounced up and down. "Seriously? Isn't that a little too soon?"
"Not for me. I am in love, man. That girl, she's just…wow, you know?"
Sara and I looked at each other, her eyes twinkled and we leaned in for a brief kiss. "Yeah," I smiled.
She returned my smile. "We know all about that, too."
"Oh, man. It's been three months since the wedding! And you two are still…"
"Greg, if you value your life, I would not finish that question."
He raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just saying, it's been statistically proven that-"
"Well, then, we're an exception to the statistic, okay?" I raised an eyebrow for him to drop it.
"Okay, okay."
"Linds, you're doing such a great job. Okay, who wants cake?"
When the cake had been consumed and plenty of pictures taken, Sara and I gathered up trash and headed towards the kitchen. I held the trash open as she disposed of the plastic plates and paper napkins. "You ready for this?"
She shrugged noncommittally. "I'm not exactly looking forward to it."
I rested my hands on her hips and kissed her cheek. "I know. But it's not like we can just sneak out in the middle of the night and leave it for Grissom to tell them."
"Really? See, because that sounds like a really good idea to me."
I smiled, "They're our family, Sar. I'm sure it won't be that bad." I tapped her lightly on the ass, "C'mon, woman. I'm not sure how long we can trust Greg with distracting the twins."
"Are you kidding? It's his dream come true. Finally, playmates his own age."
I laughed as we stepped outside hand in hand. "That's what I'm worried about."
We strolled over to the where everyone was congregated as Ayla and Maggie tried to knock Nick out of the hammock. "Alright, everyone, listen up. We've got an announcement to make." All eyes turned toward us and the kids fell silent. "Girls, Tyler," I looked at them, "Can you go play on the trampoline for a minute. We need to have some grown-up talk."
"You're not having another baby, are you?" Greg asked.
Sara snorted. "Yeah, right, that's it."
I waved a hand to dismiss the idea, "God, no. No." I took a deep breath. "No, the thing is…we're moving."
Silence. "You mean," Nick said hesitantly, "you mean you're finally getting a bigger place, right? Moving up to one of those places you looked at in Seven Hills."
I shook my head. "We are getting a bigger place, but it's in Sunnyvale."
"Where's that?" Warrick wanted to know.
"California." It was Diana who spoke.
Sara and I both nodded.
"What?" Nick and Greg said at the same time.
"When?" Warrick seemed much more calm than either of the other men.
"We've
got to be out of this house before Christmas."
"You've sold
the house already?"
"Christmas? That's only six weeks away!"
"We know it's only six weeks away, but-"
"Why didn't you tell us before?"
Sara broke in for the first time. "We wanted to make sure that it was actually going to happen before we bothered you guys with it."
Mattie started fussing on the ground so I picked him up and started bouncing him on my hip. "We only closed on the house this week. We only signed the contracts last week. Nothing was for sure until then."
"Contracts? What contracts?"
Sara and I both ducked our heads guiltily. "Well," Sara started in. "I have this friend in SF, my old boss actually, and, well, he…"
"He offered us both jobs. As co-supervisors of the nightshift."
There was a silence.
"And we've taken them."
"So that's it? You're just going to take off? What about the team?"
"Please, Nick," I breathed, "We're not trying to break up the team. But this is what's right for us."
"Yeah? How?"
I shook my head, "Everything. It's better for our family. It's better for us. The schools are better, the people are more accepting. Just…everything."
"You know we've loved the life we've lived here, working with you-"
"Playing with you,"
"But it's time for us to do something else. And this is the opportunity we'd been waiting for."
Silence descended over us once more.
Warrick was the first to step forward. "Well, I hope you'll come out when the baby's born."
I stepped into his waiting arms. "Thank you. We wouldn't miss it for the world."
Begrudgingly, Nick and Greg also came and hugged us with reluctant comments of 'whatever makes you happy' and 'if it's really for the best…'. We knew our move would disrupt everything, change everything. We tried to convince ourselves that change was a good thing and that this was better in the long run for everyone. The team was growing stagnant, it would be good to have some new blood. But it still felt like we were betraying them. I know it kept Sara up.
Six weeks later as we loaded up the mini-van for the four hour drive to California, four despondent men watched us from our walkway. When the last of the bags were in the back, the twins were in their car-seats, and the girls were all buckled up, we turned to them.
I tried to smile. "C'mon, boys, don't look so pathetic. Anyone would think this was a funeral."
"It is," Greg said, "It's the end of the an era. The death of CSI as we know it."
"Don't be so dramatic. We'll still see each other- it's a forty-five minute flight and a fifty dollar ticket; we'll see each other."
"And just think of all the fun you're going to have breaking in two new team members."
Greg rubbed his hands together. "They're toast."
Our laughter died out into awkward silence.
"Let's not say goodbye, okay?" I looked at them all. "Let's just say Happy Holidays, and see you soon."
They nodded their heads but didn't say anything.
I turned to Sara, "You want to drive first, babe?" I dangled the keys in the air.
"Sure." She held her hands out to catch them. She managed a smile. "We won't say goodbye. But how would you feel about a round of hugs?"
The boys seemed to perk up at this and eagerly formed a line.
"I'll miss you, Catherine. Thanks for helping me along."
I hugged Greg tightly. "At least you're not the newbie anymore, right? See you soon, okay, buddy?"
He nodded and kissed my cheek, "See you soon." He moved on to Sara.
Warrick's bright eyes met with mine. He opened his arms to me. "Come and get it, sweetheart."
I laughed and walked into the embrace. "You be good, okay, Daddy? You treat that girl right, she's special."
"Don't I know it? Take care of yourself, Cath. And don't forget to call or email, any reason at all, I'm just a mouse click away."
"I'll call, I'll write. We both will. See you around?"
"See you around." He nodded and smiled.
Nick wouldn't even meet my eyes.
"Come on, Nicky boy." I ruffled his hair. "Don't let life get you down. Remember you've got a wedding coming up, and we wouldn't miss it for anything. So I really will see you soon."
He nodded and looked up. His eyes were glistening with moisture. "I guess I just can't really imagine the lab without you. Either of you."
"Well, I'll be around. So if it's late one night and you need somebody to yell at you to get your ass in gear, you know who to call."
That drew a smile from him.
"I left my new office number with Gil, okay?"
"Okay, Cath." He pulled me in for a hug and then stepped aside to make way for Gil.
"Well," he raised his eyebrows. "You are going to make a great supervisor."
"Thanks, Gil."
"Just…don't be such a hard ass, alright?"
"I need them to do what I say- I don't need them to like me. Sara can be the good cop."
"What's that expression? 'Better chance in Hell'?" He smiled. "Be good, Catherine."
"As 'good' as I can possibly be, Gil." He stepped forward but then took a step back.
"Mom! Are we ever leaving? If you're going to be yapping all day, can you please put the heat on? It's freezing."
"Watch your tone, Lindsey Willows!" Sara hollered, "Don't talk to your mother that way- sass won't get you anywhere."
"Yes, ma'am." I could practically hear the eye roll.
I looked at all of 'our' boys. "I guess that's our signal to hit the road." I took a few steps back, attempting to smile. "Wish us luck?"
"Good luck." They chorused miserably.
I turned and got in the passenger seat, waiting for Sara to say goodbye to Gil.
"Can we stop for ice cream, Mommy?"
"Mags, it's six in the morning."
"Waffles, then?"
"You've just had breakfast. We'll stop for an early lunch, I promise."
Sara got in. She looked at me and her eyes were wet. I knew mine were, too. I put my hand over hers where it rested on the clutch. "Let's blow this popsicle stand, what do you say?."
She nodded and started up the engine.
As we drove away, I looked at the boys in the rearview mirror until we turned the corner. They stood there watching us until we disappeared. I wiped my eyes dry and said goodbye to a chapter in my life. "Alright, whose ready to get to California?"
"Me!" Shouted three voices in a way that was much to chipper for this early in the morning.
"Oh, that's good, Cath; get them a riled up."
"Yeah, Mom, way to go. Now we'll never be quiet."
I smiled. I had everything I needed right here in this car.
IOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOIOI
"So, what's so important that we had to drop everything and run to Ducky's?"
"I don't know, Maureen and Joey said they had something to tell us."
"Ow." I spoke to the baby on my back, my head twisted at an awkward angle. "Lizzie, let go of Mommy's hair. That's really not fun."
"Here, let me." Sara rectified the situation.
"We've been here for thirty-six hours. Couldn't you just tell them that we're exhausted?"
"It sounded urgent." She opened up the door and held it for the three girls and then me, she came in behind us, Mattie on her back.
"How urgent?"
"Urgent, urg-"
"Surprise!"
Sara and I took a stunned step back before we realized what was happening, as was evidenced by the banner hung over the bar. It read, 'Welcome Home Sara & Catherine!' Below that it said in smaller letters 'and Lindsey and Ayla and Maggie and Matthew and Elizabeth!"
I looked at Sara, laughing. "Did you know about this?"
She held up a hand in defense. "I had no idea, I swear." That was all she had a chance to say before we were swarmed by the crowd of thirty people or so.
"Suga, come here and let me see that adorable creature."
I smiled, "Hey, Lola. You look fabulous."
"Thank you, dear, I do try."
"Where did you get that dress? It's gorgeous."
"I think I'm going to have to take you shopping- show you all the best places in town."
As the night progressed, I was reintroduced to dozens of people. I chatted with the people I already knew. Watching the girls play with Maureen and Gina's kids, I felt a sense of calm wash over me. We had friends here. We had jobs, we had our children, we had a new house. We had a life. I may have been missing the boys and the lab, but I knew it was time to move on. We were going to be okay here. We were going to be happy. This was where we belonged now.
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Wow. That was a really long chapter. It probably deserves a review. Seriously, how cool would it be if this fic received over a thousand reviews? But I need you to make it happen, as unfortunately they will not let me review my own fic. You could say anything, but if you're really stuck, here are some suggestions:
There's the traditional 'loved it, update soon please' which isn't comprehensive in the least, but I appreciate it none the less.
Then you could always say something like, "oh my god, that was fabulous- I cannot wait for more'
Or, my personal favorite; 'if your fic was a person, I'd marry it…and possibly have it's babies.' :D
Or you could come up with something completely original. Remember, if you've never reviewed, now is the time to start, as Journey of Lifetime is coming to an end.