How We Got Here

by Grifflekin

Disclaimer: I do not own TSLOZAC.

Chapter Six

Third person P.O.V.

"Boys, it's time to get up. You'll be late for school. Breakfast in a minute," Carey yelled.

She went to the pantry and got out the box of pancake mix and had to go to her hiding place to get out the bag of chocolate chips that she had to hide from Zack. Then to the fridge to get the milk and eggs. Put the griddle on the stove, and turned on the gas. Took out a bowl and mixed the batter. Not hearing a sound from the boys' room, she went over and opened the door. Two boys. Twins. Twelve years old. Still asleep. Time for drastic action. At the kitchen sink, she turned on the cold water and filled two glasses. Returning to the boys' room, she pulled off their covers and proceeded to pour the cold water. Zack was lying on his back, so he got it on his chest. Cody was on his side; a neck shot was appropriate.

Now she knew what a chorus of scorched cats sounds like. It almost made her feel guilty but not quite.

"Get up, you two," she said. "Breakfast is almost ready."

The boys dressed and came out of the bedroom looking like two foot stomping, chest beating, angry, wild, wet gorillas, that is, until they smelled the pancakes. Chocolate chip pancakes.

"Zack, get the milk and syrup."

Zack went to the counter to get the milk and brought it to the table. He then went to the refrigerator to get the syrup. A broad grin spread across his evil face turning it into the look of a demon as he opened the freezer and took out a handful of ice cubes. Cody saw his brother's face and tried to hold back a giggle.

"What's so funny?" Carey asked. She was seated at the table with her back to Zack and chose this time to take a sip from her coffee mug as she felt a sudden chill resulting from ice cubes sliding down under the back of her collar and nestling at the small of her back. The end result was coffee spraying from her mouth across the table.

"Burn!" yelled Cody. "You know, it's not often that I can say that I'm proud to be your brother, but this is one of those times."

Carey bounced up and down until she was able to dislodge the melting ice cubes of revenge from her back. Her face went from "wet hen" to a smile.

"Okay, boys," she said. "You got me back, but be assured that this will cost you three 'my little men' in public. Now finish your pancakes and go to school."

She put away the milk and syrup and cleaned up the table. The boys put on their jackets and picked up their backpacks. She gave them lunch money and kissed each on the forehead as she ushered them to the door.

"I don't know how late I'll be, so do your homework right away and then and only then, Zack, can you watch TV. I'll leave money for pizza in case I'm not home by six. Behave; no fighting."

There was a chorus of "Yeah, yeah, yeah" .

Carey poured herself another mug of coffee and sat down on the sofa with her legs tucked under her. Her mother used to say: "I hope that when you grow up, you will have children just like you. Then you will understand why I'm suffering."

Her mother was wrong. From Carey's experience, this curse did not apply. In spite of all their shenanigans, they have been a joy. There had definitely been hard times, but now, Thank God, and Marion Moseby, their hard times were over, and Carey intended to enjoy her two monsters every second of every day.

The phone rang.

"Hello? Yes hello, Mr. Moseby...the photographer will be in at 2:00? Okay, I'll try to get in by 1:00. Thank you."

Okay, she thought, first things first. Put on jeans and sweat shirt. Get coat and go out to car. Call Triple A.

The truck came and jump-started the car. The mechanic checks and discovers that Carey left the lights on and that that drained the battery. He told her to run the car for half and hour before turning it off again. So she did, and then she ran back inside to shower and dress so that she could get back into the car and drive to the Tipton. She found parking three blocks away.

She walked into the lobby at 11:50. Wow, that was good time, she thought. She got to the front desk and asked the clerk for the keys to her suite.

"You must be Mrs. Martin," he said. "Okay, here are two keys, and if you need more, just let me know." He pushed a button on the back of the counter. "If you'll have a seat, Mr. Moseby will be right with you."

Before she could get to a seat, Mr. Moseby came out of his office. "Carey, you're early," he said. "Please come into my office. I have everything ready for you."

She sat alongside his desk as he walked around it and sat.

"Before you sign your contract—" he said, "a few additional things I want to cover with you."

Uh-oh, here it comes, she thought.

"Because of the boys, we are increasing your medical plan to cover them. Also we are increasing your room service allowance by $400 a month. That should help. Feel free to avail yourself of the many attractions such as the pool, the sauna, et cetera. As long as they aren't crowded. The guests always come first, you understand."

"Do you have a car?" he asked.

"Yes, a 1999 Honda Accord."

Moseby reached into his desk and pulled out a decal and wrote her name on it with a special pen. "Place this on the inside of the rear window on the left side. We have a multi level garage on the south corner of the next block. Your assigned parking space is #212 on the second floor. Here are the medical cards for your sons. Please fill them out and return them to me. A bit of advice—I would suggest that you fill out a new W4 withholding form and claim no dependents. This will result in less take home pay, but keep in mind that the cost of your suite and room service allowance is taxable and you would have to make up the difference at tax time."

"Also," he continued, "You will be working from Wednesday to Sunday and have Mondays and Tuesdays off. The first show will start at 7:00 and the last will start at 10:00. This schedule may be changed as needs require. Do you have any questions?"

"Yes," she said, "Could you pinch me so that I'll know if I were only dreaming?"

"Oh, pish posh," Moseby said. "I feel like I'm taking advantage of you. Now, please sign both copies. I've already signed them. Keep one for your records. Here is a debit card. It has a current balance of $2300. That includes your first monthly payment. Call the number on the back and they will activate it and assign a pin number for your account."

"Now," he continued. "I have an appointment with the band leader at 1:00 and I'll see what we can do to set up rehearsals. Carey, welcome to the Tipton family."

Carey left the office and checked her watch. It was 12:30. she had an hour and a half until her appointment with the photographer. As she had phone calls she had to make, she went up to her suite. When she arrived, she found the door open and a tall skinny guy in blue coveralls carrying out the mattress and box spring of the queen bed which he had put out in the hallway.

"You must be Mrs. Martin," he said. "I'm Arwin. Mr. Moseby ordered the bed to be changed to twin beds. I also took the liberty of bringing in two extra chests for the bedroom. They were lying around in the basement doing nothing so I thought that with two boys, you'll need the extra storage for yourself. If you look in there, you'll see that they fit in nicely."

"Please Arwin, call me Carey," I could kiss you. That was exactly what I needed. I noticed that storage space is at a premium." Arwin blushed at the mention of the kiss.

"I'll be in and out of here this afternoon to remove the old bed frame and put in two twins and the bedding and to hook up the cable. After that, I'll show you how to block programming to protect young minds."

"I have some personal calls to make, but I won't get in your way."

"Yes, okay, the phone has already been hooked up so just dial 9 for an outside line. I believe that there's a Boston phone book in the night stand in the bedroom. If you need anything, the operator can locate me."

Carey went into the bedroom and got the phone book. She turned to the Municipal Blue Pages and looked up the Board of Education and dialed the number. She was connected to the registration office to get information about transferring the boys. After answering basic questions she was directed to the Bruckner Middle School. All she had to do was go there and fill out the registration forms. They would call the old school and have their records forwarded. She would receive the schedule by mail before the start date. She took down the address of the new school. She had just enough time left to go get the forms from the school and return in time for her appointment.

Carey made it back just in time and had to endure three hours of makeup, hairstyling, and posing. She was glad to get it over with.

Zack and Cody got back to the apartment at about 3:20 and went to the kitchen table. They found the $20 bill as promised along with a note from Mom:

Do your homework and then watch TV. Be good. Don't Fight. No noise. Order Pizza.

Love you,

Mom.

"You know what we should do, Zack?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Zack said. "Homework."

"No, I have a better idea."

A/N: Sorry it took so long to update. I know you want to hear more about the Terrible Two, and the next chapter will be full of them.