It was now Doug's turn to sit between the twins as Mark took over the driving and Elizabeth moved back a row to sit next to Carol. The two talked as Mark drove through the streets to pick up Rachel. Throughout the conversation the two had, they seemed to be constantly over powered by Tess speaking loudly and excitedly about who she'd talked to at the ER. Carol knew it would be a whole different volume level as soon as Rachel joined the group, and tried to prepare herself.
"Tess, this is Mark's daughter Rachel. You met her when they visited us a few years ago." Carol informed her.
"I don't remember!" Tess called out to her mother.
"You were 2, sweetie, but we have some pictures of you and Kate with Rachel on the boat. Do you remember those pictures?" Carol asked, knowing what the answer would be.
"No! Mommy can Rachel sit with me and Daddy can sit up front?" Tess asked, again in a loud voice.
"Not right now sweetie, but as soon as we get to the place we're staying, maybe Rachel will take you to her house and show you her room." Carol said, hoping it would be okay with Rachel.
"Can Kate come too?" She asked excitedly.
"No baby, it's just going to be you and Rachel this time, but maybe later…" she began.
"That's good, only big girls that don't have to be carried by their Mommy's get to go!" she insisted, hoping for a reaction from Kate. All she got was the sound of her sister sleeping, the steady breathing that she'd heard virtually every night of her life, consciously or unconsciously.
"Mommy, how come it's dinner time here already?" Tess asked. She knew that it couldn't possibly be time for dinner, yet somehow everyone else seemed to be interested in talking about it.
"It's a long story, Tess. I'll tell you later, okay?" Carol said, trying to get back to Elizabeth and all the gossip she had.
"Can we sing a song until we get there?" Tess called out again, then began singing at the top of her lungs, "This is the song that never ends! Yes it goes on and…"
"We're here!" Mark announced happily, hoping that Tess would respond in a way other than speech or song. "Okay, everybody out!"
Rachel reluctantly got out of the van, knowing it would mean she'd need to entertain a couple of six year olds. She didn't normally mind babysitting little kids, but these kids seemed very loud, at least from what she remembered of them as 2 year olds. She headed towards the entryway to the building when she was stopped by Mark asking her to assist with the luggage. "Do I have to dad? Couldn't they get it?"
"Rachel, come on, give us a hand. At least would you take Kate's suitcase up for her?" Mark asked as nicely as he could, trying not to grate his teeth.
"Fine, whatever." Rachel said, seeing that Kate was in Carol's arms and basically asleep.
"I want to take my suitcase up like Rachel!" Tess called out as she grabbed her suitcase and ran over to where Rachel was standing. "Are you going to show me your room and we can play with all your dolls?"
"I don't have dolls anymore; I'm too old for them." Rachel said, not quite thrilled about already entertaining the child.
"That's so cool." Tess said as she slipped her hand into Rachel's. "Can we have a sleepover party and jump on the beds and play Operation and Candyland?"
"I don't know, I think your parents would rather…" she was interrupted by Mark who was coming up behind them quickly.
"I think that's a great idea, don't you Rachel?" hinting that should she not agree there might be some sort of lecture given.
"Um, yah. Great idea." She said glumly. "So you're Tess, right?"
"Yes and I'm older and taller by a whole inch and I weigh 4 whole pounds more so I am lots more grown up because I'll be the first one to be safe without a booster seat." Tess said proudly.
"So, Tess, how do people normally tell you two apart?" She asked, knowing there could be some problems there.
"I'm the pretty one." Tess said matter-of-factly.
Rachel thought to herself, 'Great, identical twins and the way I'm supposed to tell them apart is she's the pretty one? They're identical!' But instead she said, "Oh, okay."
"Okay guys, here we are." Elizabeth said as she opened the door to the apartment. It seemed quite spacious for a Chicago apartment and seemed to be tastefully decorated without any breakables around.
"I want to see my room!" Tess squealed as she ran towards the back. She flung open the first door and was slightly disappointed to only find a bathroom. It was nicely decorated as well, however, having a bright polka dotted shower curtain and some frilly window treatments. The next door she came to was also flung open and there she found a smaller room with twin beds, with matching pink Strawberry Shortcake bed covers and linens.
"I get this bed!" Tess screamed to anyone who could hear her and jumped onto the bed located closest to the door. It was right up against the right hand wall, just the position her bed was at home. Rachel dragged Kate's suitcase in and set it down, just in time for Tess to grow bored with her activity. "Rachel, can I see your room now?"
"Yah, I guess, let me just put these suitcases over near the closet." She replied; looking at the suitcase Tess had dropped in the middle of the room.
"Okay! I'm going to go to the bathroom!" Tess announced as she rushed across the hall, nearly taking Mark and Doug out. She poked her head outside the door for a moment to squeal, "I love my room Daddy!"
Doug and Mark merely shook their heads as they dragged the rest of the luggage into the room at the end of the hall that would be the master bedroom. It was a nice sized room, but nothing compared to the room they had back in Seattle. The bed had very dark accessories, but it was generally to their liking and the second bath was definitely a plus. As Doug and Mark set suitcases up to be unpacked, Elizabeth stealthily went next door and set up a few gifts they'd gotten for the arrival on the kitchen counter. Meanwhile, Carol carried a slightly more awake and very cranky Kate into the room where Rachel had started unpacking the twins' clothes. "Oh, thank you Rachel, you didn't have to do that."
"It's not a big deal." She replied, holding up a tiny dress, "How do they fit into this stuff?"
"I have no idea, but they probably just got that roll of the genetics dice," Carol joked, setting Kate down on the bed that Tess had previously claimed to be hers.
"Um, Tess said that…"
"This is her bed?" Carol asked, quickly scooping Kate back up and putting her back down on the opposite bed. "They're very particular about that sort of thing, thanks for letting me know."
"So, is she like sick or something?" Rachel asked, gesturing over at Kate who sat with her arms crossed and head down in a pout.
"Yah, she's got a stomach bug." Carol said, "Actually it would really help me out if Tess could stay over with you all tonight. I know that's a huge imposition and I'd be willing to pay you…"
"You don't have to pay Carol, we'd love to have Tess stay over," he looked at Rachel with his 'Dad look', "wouldn't we Rachel?"
"Hey! Speak for yourself, Dad, I need the money! There's no way I'll be able to get a car if I can't earn some cold hard cash." She said with a sly smile on her face.
Tess wandered back into the room, wide eyed and grinning ear to ear, "Mommy they have SpongeBob soap."
"Tess, do you want to spend the night at Rachel's house tonight? You could have a pajama party if you promised to get to sleep by 11pm." Carol said, knowing that their usual bedtime was only a half hour earlier than that because they had yet to adjust to the local time. While it certainly felt like 8pm to Mark, Elizabeth, Rachel and the rest of Chicago, it only registered as 6pm on the internal clocks of the visiting 4.
"Can I wear my new pajamas with the hearts on them?" Tess asked hopefully.
"You can wear whatever pajamas you want, Tess. Why don't we get those out right now and some clothes for tomorrow, and you and Rachel can go over to her house with Mark and Elizabeth?" She encouraged.
"Okay!" Tess agreed excitedly. "Rachel do you know what? In Seattle me and Kate share a room and we have a whole part of our closet just for our pajamas. Do you have a just pajamas part of your closet? Me and Kate also have stuffed animals and we have dolls and games and a tea set and…"
The voice of Tess trailed off as they left the apartment. After Carol finished changing Kate into her pajamas, she tucked her in and made sure to plug in a nightlight before walking over to where Doug was standing, arms wide open. Carol fell into them graciously; the hug was something she'd needed since she woken up that morning. It was a big job to travel with little kids, and while she'd always been aware of that fact, every time they traveled she realized she'd forgotten how much trouble it could be. "I love you so much."
"I love you too, babe." Doug replied, rocking his wife back and forth awhile, giving her some much deserved attention and love.
"Hey guys…" Mark interrupted. Seeing that he'd come at a bad time he turned to leave but Doug called him back.
"What's up, buddy?" he asked.
"I'm interrupting, I'll come back." Mark said, embarrassed and heading for the door.
"Mark, it's okay. We see each other everyday, we see you once every couple of years." Carol said smiling, still holding on to Doug.
"Well we were going to have a little dinner, pop open a bottle of champagne and you know, have a little toast." Mark said, inviting them to join him.
"Oh, that sounds so nice but…" Carol trailed off.
"We have a baby monitor, Carol." Doug said.
"Yes, but it's back in Seattle, Doug. That's really not going to help us here in Chicago." She reminded him, giving him a kiss.
"Ah, but that's where you should be happy you married such a brilliant doctor." Doug said as he ran back to the bedroom they'd share and pulled the old baby monitor from one of the suitcases.
"Oh my G-d Doug, you brought it with you?" she laughed.
"Carol, in all the vacations we've ever taken with the two of them, when have we not had the need for this?" he asked.
"You have a point there." She smiled and kissed him again, longer before taking the monitor over to the girls' room. Kate was awake and sniffling unhappily. "Hi baby, what's wrong?"
"Bongo." She said, lowering lip sticking out. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and repeated, "Bongo."
"Oh, okay let's find Bongo." Carol said as she set the monitor down on the nightstand and walked over to the suitcases and carry-on bags. She reached into Kate's bag and pulled out a worn golden-brown teddy bear, handing it to her daughter who immediately tucked him into the bed and held him tightly in her arms. "Daddy and I are going to go have a little dinner at Uncle Mark and Auntie Elizabeth's house, are you going to be okay here?"
"What if I need you?" she asked concerned.
"If you need me, you just say so and I'll come right over, okay? We have the 'big girl' monitor so we can hear you if you need anything." Carol said, giving her a kiss on the forehead. "Now try to get some sleep, okay?"