That night after dinner Ray and Debra are crunching the numbers to see if they can afford the house they had looked at. It had all the room they needed but they would also have to break it to the kids that they would have to change schools.
"Well, it would be a little tight but I think we can pull it off." Ray says.
"Yeah, but I am still uneasy about moving to another neighborhood because of the kids. I know they won't want to change schools." Debra responds.
"Okay, so what do we do? Either we look outside this neighborhood for something we can afford or Emily sleeps in the garage. We just can't swing a bigger house in this neighborhood." Ray says, getting up to get a drink out of the fridge.
"You're right; we either put an offer on this house or keep looking in that area. We might as well discuss it with the kids now and get it over with." She agrees and gets up to get the kids, "Kids, can you come down here a minute?" she calls upstairs.
As she heads back to kitchen, Frank and Marie walk in, "Hello Dear, Hello Raymond."
Ray and Debra look at each other knowing with them around it is not the right time to talk to the kids.
"Hey, Ma, Dad, can you come back later. We're kind of busy." Ray explains.
Michael, Ally and Jeffrey walk into the kitchen, "What's up?" Ally asks.
"Oh, uh, nothing Honey, grandma, and grandpa are here." Debra says.
"Oh, Hi," They all say in unison.
"No, no you wanted to talk to them about something but you don't want us to hear. Isn't that right Debra?" Marie says with an accusatory tone.
"Ma, when are you going to stop this? Whether we have to talk to them or not is none of your business and we would like some privacy." Ray insists.
"Ray, listen, they are going to find out so let's just get it over with." Debra says.
Ray sighs audibly, and then addresses the kids, "Alright, alright. Listen, kids, we really liked the house we saw today and would like to buy it but if we move there you would have to go to a different school. How do you feel about that?"
"No! I don't want to go somewhere else to school. All my friends are here. Why can't we stay here?' Ally responds angrily.
"Well, sweetie, we don't have enough room here for the baby and we can't afford a bigger house here." Debra explains.
"It's always about her! Why did you have to have another baby anyway!?" Ally yells and runs back upstairs.
"Oh my, I can't believe you let her talk to you like that." Marie says shaking her head.
"Marie, she is just upset. She'll be fine." Debra insists.
Ray turns to the boys who have stood by quietly, "Guys, what do you think?"
"Why does Emily have to screw everything up? She was supposed to be a boy and now we have to move. This sucks!" Michael pouts.
"Yeah it sucks!" Jeffrey agrees and they both run back upstairs.
Debra sits down at the table, head in hands, and Ray stands behind her massaging her shoulders, "Deb, it'll be okay. Don't worry." He assures her and then looks at his parents, "Could you leave now? Please."
"Yeah sure, Son. Let's go, Marie, I haven't eaten in an hour." Frank says as he walks out the door with Marie behind him
Debra gets up and walks over to the sink to wash out the casserole dish she was letting soak.
"Are you okay, Deb?" He asks.
She wipes her eyes, "Yeah, Sweetie, I'm fine."
Unconvinced Ray walks over to her and massages her shoulders again, "You know the kids didn't mean what they said. They're just upset."
She turns around leaning against the counter and looks at Ray with tears still in her eyes, "I know, I was just happy they were getting excited about Emily and now they're mad we're even having her." She says looking down and placing her hands protectively over her belly.
Ray puts his arms around her and she rests her head on his chest, "Honey, don't get upset about this, it's not good for you. You know, we will work this out. We always get through whatever comes at us." He assures her rubbing her back in small circles.
She sighs and breaks from his embrace, "You're right. I'll be fine. Listen, would you mind finishing up in here? I would like to take a hot bath." She says stretching her back.
"Sure, Baby. You go relax, I've got it covered." He says kissing her forehead.
He watches as she goes upstairs waiting until he hears the water running. He quickly finishes the dishes and quietly goes upstairs. He knocks on Ally's door.
"Come in," she says.
"Ally, honey, can you come to your brothers' room, I need to talk to you guys." He says.
"Sure, Dad." She says and gets up to follow him down the hall. Ray checks and he can still hear Debra humming to the radio as she soaks in the tub.
Ray sees the twins' door is cracked, "Guys?" he asks peeking in, the boys are playing with their Transformers, "Guys, can we talk?" He says coming in with Ally behind him.
They sit down in the floor with boys and Ray takes the toys out of their hands, "Dad, we were playing!"
"Listen, we need to talk. You guys really upset your mother just now. You know what the doctor said about her blood pressure and stuff. Well, she doesn't need to get upset. You telling her you wish we weren't having Emily really hurt her feelings."
They all look down, feeling guilty, "We didn't want to upset Mommy. We just want to stay here and at our school with our friends." Michael says.
Debra comes out of the bathroom and hears voices coming from the boys' room. She approaches the door, peeks in and can see Ray talking to their children.
"We know that but we may have to move to get a house big enough for all of us now and we can't afford the ones here." He explains.
"I'm sorry Daddy. I didn't mean it." Ally says.
Debra is still listening at the door, tears coming to her eyes.
Ally moves closer to Ray and he put his arm around her, "I know you didn't, Baby. But you guys all need to apologize to your mom, okay?"
"Okay, we promise." Jeffrey says.
"Good, go so see if she is done with her bath."
Debra makes a beeline for their bedroom, pretending to have been reading when the kids walk in.
"Hi Mom," Ally says, "Can we talk to you?"
"Sure, honey, climb on in." she gestures for the three of them to get in bed with her.
Debra gathers them up close with her arms around them, Ally on one side and the twins on the other, "We're sorry, Mommy. We didn't mean to make you upset." Jeffrey says.
"I know you didn't. Listen, I know you don't want things to change so much, but sometimes that happens. We have to make adjustments." She says.
"Adjustments?" Michael asks.
"It means we have to do things we don't like to do, dummy." Ally says making fun of her little brother.
"Now Ally, that wasn't necessary. You need to apologize." Debra insists.
"I'm sorry Michael." She says grudgingly.
"But what is an adjustment, Mommy?" Michael asks again.
"Well, it means that we might have to move somewhere else so we can have enough room. We will have to get used to Emily crying a lot. You guys are old enough now to help too."
"Like how?" Jeffrey asks.
"Like keeping your rooms clean and doing your laundry yourself. I won't be able to do as much as Emily keeps growing." She says patting her belly.
"How much bigger will she get?" Michael wonders.
"I'm not sure. She won't be born for almost four months so probably a lot bigger and she will need a lot of attention, from all of us." Debra explains.
"Can we feed her and stuff like that?" Jeffrey asks.
"Yeah and I promise I will baby-sit sometimes." Ally assures her.
Debra smiles, "Thank you so much for wanting to help. I love you all so much." She hugs them close.
"We love you too, Mom." Ally says
"Yeah, we love you Mommy," the boys chime in, "and Emily."
They all kiss her belly as they have seen their father do many times, "We love you, Emily."