"How are they?" Andrew inquired as his wife slipped back into their room, softly shutting the door behind them. He was standing in front of the floor mirror, buttoning up the cuff of his white dress shirt.
"Still sleeping."
"All of them?" He lifted his eyebrow in surprise, then went on to straightening his tie. Before he was finished, he took it off then disappeared into the closet and came out with a red tie.
"Even Mason. They're all out cold."
"I can see why my sister would be out cold. However, our kids have never slept this long."
"Well, Ava hasn't ever slept this long since she was born two months ago." She corrected, pulling a dark purple dress from her closet and laid it on the bed.
"That the dress Jill ordered last month?"
"Its beautiful, isn't it?"
He took a long look at the v-neck dress. "Reminds me of the dress she wore to her prom. I'm sure she'll love it." Grabbing his watch off the dresser, he kissed his wife on her cheek.
"I'll go put the dress on her bed."
"And I'll try and see if I can wake some people up so we're not too late."
"Good luck with that."
Padding down the hall, he decided to poke into his son's bedroom first. He knelt down the level of his bed, gently rubbing his back."Mason." The little boy didn't stir once, so he tried again. "Mason, it's time for you to get up from your nap."
"Daddy?" Mason finally stirred as he stretched his hands over his head.
"Yeah, buddy."
"You home?"
"You had a long nap while I went to pick up Aunt Jill." He rubbed his back encouragingly. "She's going to come with us to Uncle Ernie's wedding."
"Oh." Mason rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "Where did she go?"
"She went to Africa to help people."
He sat up in bed. "What kind of people?"
"People that don't have the same things that we have here." Andrew paused, running his hands through his son's hair. "Tell you what. If you have any more questions, you can ask Aunt Jill what she's been up to the last four months, alright?"
"Okay."
"Alright. Why don't you go see what mommy is going to have you wear tonight, while I go work on waking up your aunt and sister."
"Okay, Daddy."
As he entered the nursery, Andrew couldn't help but laugh at seeing his sister sitting in the rocking chair with his little girl. Her hand was protectively on Ava's back, which kept his little girl from tipping over in her sleep.
He crossed the room, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Jill?"
"Hmm?"
"It's time to get up or we're going to be late for Ernie's wedding rehearsal." It took her a few seconds to wake up as she looked down at Ava, who was snoozing against her chest. "Wow, you really knocked her out."
"What can I say? We were both pretty tired." She looked around the room in slight confusion. "How long were we out?"
"Almost three hours."
"That's strange. I never sleep that long." Jill sat up straighter in the chair, almost rocking now. Ava stirred slightly at the movement, making almost a squeaking noise in protest of being woken up.
"Here, I'll take Ava while you get changed." She gently handed him Ava, then he offered his hand to pull Jill up." Carina put your dress on the bed."
"Tell her I said thanks."
"I will tell her."
She waited until he had disappeared out the door before moving across the room. "It's just jet lag." Jill muttered to herself before heading to the guest bedroom.
"Second times a charm." Andrew called out to Ernie, upon their arrival at the church.
"You're late." Ernie said in slight annoyance as he walked towards them. "Jill?"
Her mom and dad turned to look at him, then over to her as she stepped into view. "Hi, Ernie. Mom. Dad."
"Aunt Jill?" Luke walked in through the door of the church, cell phone in hand. "I thought you were in Africa."
"I was. But then I figured that I couldn't miss your father's wedding for that."
Her fifteen year old nephew smirked, now standing by her side. "You officially rock."
"Oh, now I officially rock?" She teased, wrapping her arm around his neck . "Come here."
"Aah!" He protested, slipping his phone into his pocket. "Okay, you came let go now. Seriously, you're hurting me."
"I bet I can guess where she learned that." Ernie pulled her into a hug. "I'm so glad you came."
"You know I wouldn't have missed it for the world." Jill told him, holding him closely for a moment. She looked at her clean shaven brother, who was about to get married for the second time. "I'm so proud of you."
"Mom." She looked over at her mother who had tears pricking at her eyes. She looked like an older but taller version of Jill, but with peppered hair.
"I'm so glad you decided to come." Her mother's wrinkled hands grasped hers tightly.
"Me too."
"I'm sorry to interrupt this reunion." The priest announced from the front of the church. "But we should probably get started." As they gathered together, her dad leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"I don't know about you, but I am stuffed." Jill announced as they walked through the door almost three hours later.
"I almost forgot how well our parents feed us." Andrew mentioned, putting the diaper bag beside the couch.
"How they spoil us with food, is more like it." Jill stifled a yawn as she took Ava so Carina could snuggle with a tired Mason.
"I see jet lag is still getting to you."
"Always." Jill half-rolled her eyes because of his worried brotherly tone. "But I'm good. It will probably take as long as I'm here to adjust, but it was worth it to spend time with you all of you." Sitting down on the couch, she propped Ava up on her knees.
"Well, I'm sure we'll all miss you when it's time for you to go back, right Mason?" Carina tickled her son's stomach. Mason giggled, then laid his head back down on his mom's shoulder. "Especially that little one. I don't think I've heard her cry once when she's in your arms."
"It probably helps that I love to hold her." Jill snuggled into the couch, with the baby now resting on her chest.
Mason crawled into his mother's lap. "Looks like several people are ready to take a nap, myself included." Carina added with a small laugh as she brushed her finger's through his hair.
"Seems more like couch party central to me." Jill teased, leaning her head back against the couch. Andrew took a seat on the leg rest.
"So Jill-"
"Hmm?"
"You missing the Hamptons yet?"
Jill smiled sleepily, her eyes drooping. "Now that you're here?"
"You always were good at being sarcastic." Andrew noted, leaning his hands against his knees. "So it wasn't fun being here by yourself?"
"Oh, I had plenty of fun." Jill admitted, no longer being able to keep her eyes open. "Falling on golf courses, getting stuck in a torrential rain storm, people filming reality shows in my backyard, angry patients-"
"Wait, back up—you fell on a golf course?"
"Several times. But I'm afraid that is a story for another day." She muttered, her head now drifting off to the side.
"I'd love to hear it some time." Andrew pressed, but she was already fast asleep.
