Déjà vu
Winding around all of the bedroom furniture pieces which had been shoved into the master bedroom per his telephone request earlier in the week, Tony inventoried a menagerie of beds, bookcases, dressers, chests of drawers, and nightstands.
Spying the furnishings firsthand, he quickly decided what pieces would suit each child, as well as which he would utilize for his own bedroom.
Checking the physical floor space of each bedroom, he rolled the white bunny rabbit decaled crib softly, so as to not wake Vivienne, and piece by piece, a white and gold French provincially styled bed for Ava into the smaller of the two bedrooms. Working quickly, he put together the frame, mentally thanking his dad for insisting upon sending a toolbox equipped with the necessities as a going away present. The box springs and mattress followed, and he located linens and expertly made the bed before sliding in a dresser for the girls, a light pine nightstand, and a chest of drawers which matched.
Grabbing the door frame at the top he leaned against the side frame and assessed the layout once he finished. He liked it, though later he wanted to pick up a few extras to make the space more cozy.
It took a bit of contemplation to decide how to position three beds to allow maximum movement for the three boys in their room. With the larger bedroom, though, he managed to give each plenty of space and still fit in a desk, a dresser, and a bookcase for Ethan, Levi, and Elijah, all with wood the tint of caramel candy. The space certainly would benefit from attention to curtains and linens, but still looked all right.
Tiptoeing into the den, he noted that the older three already stirred restlessly.
Working against time before the kids fully woke, he grabbed armfuls of belongings and jogged down the hall to deliver them to their rightful bedrooms.
He placed each boy's possessions on his bed.
A picture of his abuela popped into his brain and he stopped short of putting up the clothes, deciding correctly that his grandmother would tell him to involve the children in taking responsibility for storing their own belongings.
He sighed, not entirely positive he should initiate that responsibility yet. Ethan probably could rise to the task, but he had no qualms about the fact that he would have to assist the others.
Anxiety suddenly crept into his thoughts.
Tony had a scant two weeks to create a working, cohesive household before he needed to report to his job on the Navy School Campus, and one portion of him already felt daunted and overwhelmed. Within that same time frame, Ava, Levi, and Ethan would begin attendance at the elementary school, meaning he had to register and enroll them, plus shop for school supplies. Vivienne and Elijah would require day care services, another matter which necessitated his immediate attention.
As intimidating as all of that sounded while swirling around in his consciousness, he believed he could make it happen if he tackled one issue at a time, rather than confront the entire picture.
He could, couldn't he?
Elijah padding into the room snapped him back to reality. The three year old held up his arms and Tony kissed his cheek as he swung him to sit astride his hip.
Within an hour and a half all five children had waked and been fed snacks and juice, and once again Tony mentally professed his gratitude to the heroes who had shopped for groceries for his new family.
Afterwards, Vivienne streaked through the house with just a diaper, which Tony managed to secure before she wriggled from his grasp to run squealing in delight up and down the carpeted hall. Ready to play, as well, Elijah found a stuffed green and brown frog from his bag and crawled in and out of rooms with it dangling from his mouth, creating his own entertainment.
Maneuvering through the chaos, Tony supervised the older three in sorting through their belongings, unpacking everything, and finding a place for all of their possessions. With a shock, he realized it was pitifully little for each of them individually, and his heart ached.
He would remedy that, though.
He managed to do the same for the youngest two, mentally making notes of the number of outfits while examining the dearth of toys and playthings.
He could change that, as well.
By late afternoon he felt he could breathe, but dared not rest for fear he would give in to the exhaustion nipping at him.
Another fifteen minutes of dedication got his own room in ship shape, despite stopping to examine Ava's stubbed toe and relieving Elijah of nails from the toolbox.
Elijah chased Vivienne, who was squealing with delight, into the room. Tony couldn't resist pausing to watch them play with such abandon. As little ones often do, both suddenly halted that activity midstream and wriggled under Tony's bed, popping in and out from their hiding place, delighted every time Tony feigned surprise at their reappearance.
He took a quick break to check the progress Ava, Levi, and Ethan had made. The younger two had worked diligently, and Tony bragged on their initiative and helped them to hang clothing in the closets before telling them to take a break.
Ethan, however, had relegated himself to a hiatus already. Narrowing his green eyes, Tony tracked him down in the den, carefree and focused upon a television movie. Without a word he powered off the television against Ethan's immediate vocalized wishes, reminding him that the television viewing depended upon Tony's approval over the progress in his room.
With ill grace, Ethan flung himself down the hall, stomping most of the route to the room he shared with Levi and Elijah.
Following, Tony turned into his own room, but not before calling Ethan into his room before the boy resumed his chores.
Vivienne and Elijah had moved to a corner of the room and knelt in the fascinated contemplation of a baseboard-mounted door stopper.
Moving methodically from his own closet to the dresser as he stocked and arranged his personal belongings, Tony cocked an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you imagine I asked you to come speak with me before you went to your own room?"
Ethan shrugged his shoulders and turned to leave. "Who cares? It doesn't matter."
Inhaling a steadying breath, Tony took control of his immediate reaction and responded firmly but calmly, "That is not an acceptable answer to me, nor is your decision to phrase it in the disrespectful manner which you chose. Stop right where you are, turn and face me, and if you do not take care of your attitude at once, it will fall to me to do it for you, Ethan."
Tony stood still and waited, his dad's words in a long ago confrontation just like this one ringing in his memory. Like Ethan, he had pushed boundaries with Jethro upon a multitude of occasions, no matter how ill advised, and like his dad then, the reaction was swift and uncompromising.
Biting the edge of his lip, Tony conceded guiltily that his conduct had reverberated exactly the same way to Jethro all of those years ago that Ethan's did to him now.
With pursed lips and thinly disguised annoyance, Ethan narrowed his eyes and focused at a spot a bit to the side of Tony.
Still, he had followed the directive. That in itself provided a victory.
"Much better," Tony pronounced, "and I expect that ten minutes from now, when I check, you will not only have taken care of the original task I gave you, but will have lent your expertise to also help Levi. I think I have pretty much taken care of Elijah, but please double check his drawers and clothing. Now, do you understand my expectations of you this afternoon?"
Sighing as he closed his eyes, Ethan nodded.
"Verbal response," Tony clarified, "and look at me as you say it. When you give someone your word, or your assurance, you seal the deal by looking the other party in the eye."
"I understand, then," the boy confirmed, squaring his shoulders before meeting Tony's gaze.
Several seconds passed.
Softening, Tony grinned. "Good, then go take care of your obligations." He smiled widely then, gesturing the boy towards the hall.
Before he could analyze his first real adult- child showdown, Elijah grabbed his focus. Using the bed rail as a launching step, the toddler utilized it to propel himself onto Tony's mattress. Scrambling to a standing position and gaining his footing, he commenced jumping with unrestrained glee upon the bedsprings, ignoring Tony's immediate commands to stop.
Left below, Vivienne attempted to follow the same path and fell short, leading to frustrated wails.
Like that, he found himself with a madhouse on his hands.
"Elijah," he snapped, "get off that bed right this second. We don't ever jump on furniture!" Somewhere inside his sub conscious a stab of guilt impaled him. The same words had been fired at him as a child, for exactly the same reason.
Tony grabbed the little boy mid jump and sat him down on the now crumpled covers. "I told you to stop jumping and I meant it. You could get hurt doing that."
Unimpressed, Elijah scrambled into a standing position and launched himself towards the ceiling again.
Tony yanked him off the bed mid-flight, ignored Elijah's shrill screams of protest, crossed the room, and placed him in the armchair in one corner. "You have earned yourself a timeout, Little Man. When I tell you no, then no is what I mean. Do not move from your seat until I tell you that you may do so."
Checking his watch, he added, "three minutes, Elijah, and you may not get up or talk during that time or I will restart the punishment. Then it will be far longer than three minutes."
Dramatically, the toddler crossed his own arms on the chair's arm before putting his head down, hiding his face from view.
Tony smirked, recalling his own history of pouting as a child.
That provided familiar territory and personal experience.
Vivienne regarded him wide eyed, fingers thrust into her mouth as she sucked at them steadily.
"Three minutes, Vivi," he leaned down and took her left hand, pulling three fingers up and counting as he did. "One, two, and three, and then Elijah will be able to rejoin you."
She smiled over the fingers jammed in her mouth.
Levi and Ava appeared at the door, apparently on a mission.
"What did Elijah do?" Levi questioned thoughtfully when he discovered him in the chair. Hearing his name, the miscreant peeped from under his arms, hoping for a reprieve.
Ava turned her head sideways to regard him, as well, and Tony looked from them to Elijah. What was so fascinating about a timeout?
"Well, Elijah chose to disobey me, and because of than, I punished him. He has served some hard time in that chair. But you came at an opportune moment because his timeout will expire mere moments from now."
Levi stepped back, concern on his face. "Elijah didn't do what the daddy said?"
Creeping closer to the chair, Ava regarded Tony and tried to sort the information. "The daddy put Elijah in timeout?"
"Actually the daddy, I mean I, I , never mind, yes, you are both correct." Tony rubbed his chin and called out, "Ok, Elijah, your timeout finished and you may climb off of the chair and back to toddler business once you tell me why I punished you."
"I did bad," Elijah responded promptly, sitting up fully and regarding his audience. "Now I'm good," he grinned to strengthen the assurance.
Tony laughed. "Ok, then, why don't all three of you head out to the backyard to play for a while? Stay inside the fence."
Without further urging, they took off, and he made a mental note to buy some outdoor toys for them. The yard begged for kid friendly items.