Disclaimer: Yup, you guessed it. I still don't own anyone from Cheaper by the Dozen...

A/N: I feel so horrible that I haven't updated in almost a month! It has been on my planner, believe me. But last week of school before break is total chaos, with last minute tests and we had two essay contests to enter. I also started a new story, and I wanted to add another chapter (which I did) so it could be a little on the same track. I hope to get chapter 5 in by January 2nd. I just really needed some free time, and a less crowded head to think of story ideas. With all those deadlines and facts to cram, you start going crazy. Oh yeah, for all of those who do read this story, try to review. I like knowing that people like the story. And thanks so much to the people who have been reviewing.

taynzpink: Always will :)

Insane and Logical: Thanks! I love writing about Sarah and Jake. But I sort of feel that it's easier to get into Jake's POV than Sarah's, and he's sort of the underdog in the movies, while some are always shown and talking.

Don't expect anything. Then you are never disappointed.: Yeah. That's pretty much why. I hope I didn't keep anyone waiting, I actually thought this was a short wait, not almost a month.

Chapter 4: Clothes Shopping

Jake:

It's almost August, and in the Baker household, that means back-to-school-shopping. I know it sounds odd that we do this before the sales and a month before September, but I guess it's just easier that way. We go to about 12 million (hey, 12 is a great number) stores and shop all day. We all love it. I know this sounds odd, seeing as how Sarah and I would much rather go to skate park than to a mall, but this is the exception.

Nora stopped going after she finished college, she'd rather be working. What fun is that when you can spend Mom's money?

Charlie still comes, he's more of the family guy, it's a tradition he hates missing out on. And I guess he still comes for the fact that Mom still buys him clothes, regardless of the cost.

Mom loads every one of us into the car (that's right, no shifts, you have 11 kids at once to keep track of) and drives us to the mall. We walk in and go to this huge department store. This was a new mall, the old one got knocked down and some big building took its place.

"Kate? Kate Gilbreth?" We see this middle aged lady walk right up to Mom and hug her.

"Oh! Amber! Hi!" Mom looked pretty glad to see her.

"Um, is this someone we should know?" Charlie asked, staring like we were.

"Yes, kids, this is Amber. We have been friends since Pre-K, but somehow we lost touch after college..sorry about that. I've been moving quite a lot." Mom smiled at us.

"That's alright. So who are all of these kids? Some of your's and their friends?" We all started laughing.

"Guys, cut it. No, Amber, these are all of my kids. There are 11 of them, but one is too old for shopping with me, and is staying at work." We really tried not to laugh at Amber's look, but she seemed okay about us.

"Wow, that's a lot." Mom and Amber laughed. "So introduce me, Katie!"

"Alright then. Nora, my oldest, is 23, but isn't here. This is Charlie; he's 18 and just got out of high school." Charlie stepped up and shook hands. "And this is my little fashion girl, Lorraine, she's 16 now." Lorraine smiled and waved. It's not everyday that she gets complimented about being a fashion perfectionist. "This...is Henry; he's 14 and plays the clarinet." Henry nodded. "And these two...are my precious walking accidents waiting to happen, Sarah and Jake. They just turned 12 a little while ago." We smirked at the introduction, but quickly smiled and used our good hands to shake hands with Amber.

"Wow, what happened to your arms?" Amber smiled at the identical casts.

"We, kind of tried to...er...skate down the stairs, and it sort of, you know, backfired." I said sweetly. Amber laughed and nodded.

"Okay, this Mark, he's 10, soon to be 11. He's quite the animal lover." Mark nodded too. "These are my twin girls, Jessica and Kim. They are 9 and very book smart."

Jessica and Kim stepped up and smiled, "Pleasure, Miss Amber."

"Now this...is Mike. My little walking candy factory. He is 7, and loves to just carry candy around." Mom hugged him and he smiled. "These two are my 5 year old identical twins, Nigel and Kyle." They smiled and waved marker colored hands.

"Wow, they're all so sweet." Amber grinned. She's actually one of the few people who aren't snobby here and don't think we're animals.

"These two," Mom put one hand on each of our heads, "remind me of you. Very sporty, as you see." We looked up and smiled more. "So, what about you Am? Any kids? Married?"

"Nope, 'fraid not. Still flyin' solo. I like it that way." Amber said sweetly.

"You're...our hero..." Sarah and I sighed at the same time. We never obsessed over dating; we could care less if we ever went on a date.

"Glad to hear it!" Amber smiled. "Join me! I was planning to just walk around."

"Really? Normally people can't wait to get away from these kids." Mom said. We didn't know whether to take it as a compliment, or an insult.

"Never! You know how I have always wanted siblings." Mom nodded.

"Go and look around, and come back to me with what you find." We nodded, and Sarah and I ran to the sport jerseys.

"Sarah Elizabeth and Jacob Elliot! Where do you think you're going?" Mom asked, she wasn't yelling, but she didn't sound pleased.

"Uh...to the...sport jerseys..." Sarah said slowly, not sure if that was the answer that she should give.

"No. Please, Sarah, go with your sisters and shop with them. And Jake, go with your brothers. These are for school, not for home. You can have two jerseys for home and that's it." We groaned.

"You know what, Katie? You go help the rest of the lot, and I'll help these two. I'm beginning to enjoy them." We grinned. "Don't worry, I'll make sure they look good."

"Alright, Amb. Seeing as how you're the expert on this." Mom shrugged and walked off to find Nigel and Kyle throwing socks at each other. She left us with Amber.

"Okay," she led us to the girl section; we would go to the guys later. "I used to be a tomboy, just like you Sarah, and I still am." Sarah nodded and waited for her to continue. "But after NEVER, I mean never, being able to wear anything close to guy's clothes, I learned to pick out clothes from the girly section, without having to look like one of those freaky lookin' dolls." We started laughing. "But knowing your mom, you're going to have to get at least one really girly thing." I sort of laughed at the thought of my twin in pink. Amber walked around to one certain section and held out two shirts to almost look like something from the guys' section. "What about these?" Sarah nodded and they threw more clothes into each other's arms, and then it was time for me to shop.

"Okay, Jake. Knowing you, I don't think you'd want to wear anything that looks like church clothes." I shook my head and she nodded. "Right." She led us to an almost hidden corner. "These shirts are almost casual, but almost dressy." I loved them. So I nodded and then she threw more almost identical clothes at me.

We had to run to Mom to get her approval. She happened to nod too. "You did well. I'm very proud. Thanks Amber." Amber smiled and took us with Mom's credit card to the cashier.

"Hey, Amber? How did you know about all of these tomboy clothes?" Sarah had to look up, Amber was pretty tall.

"Well, I design them. I design them for the tomboys, and the guys who put up a fight when they are forced to dress up a little." She grinned at me.

"You're are our hero, no questions..." I sighed.

"Good. I haven't been anyone's hero before."

So, Mom actually took Amber back to her house after all our shopping was done, and then invited her to come spend a day at our house. We are so not pranking her.

A/N: Hoped everyone liked it, I'm not sure where the idea came from...R&R!