So. I missed the update last weekend, and that was complete laziness on my part. I apologize deeply. But to make up for my laziness last weekend, I'm going to give you the longest update yet! Review? The triplets are lonely, and they missed their reviews.
Disclaimer: Adrienne, Jeremy, and Sabrina? They're with me. Rose, Dimitri, and the lovely Aunt Lissa? Nope, they're not mine.
It was silent for a short moment before the kids erupted into squeals of glee. I sincerely believed that they were going to tackle Liss unless she gave them those presents in the next ten seconds. Lissa's eyes widened at their reaction, like she couldn't believe they were so happy to hear that their Aunt Lissa had bought them presents. Truthfully, it didn't matter where the gifts came from. They just liked getting new toys.
I felt Dimitri's cool hand squeeze mine gently, and I squeezed back, returning his sentiment. For the moment, we were content to sit back and watch my best friend play with our children. We both knew that whenever Lissa had gotten around to planning this party, it would be her night with the triplets. She had put so much effort into this party, and Dimitri and I both respected that it was her chance to interact more with the triplets.
"I want presents!" Jeremy insisted, smiling up at Liss, a broad grin on his face. His brown eyes sparkled happily, and his sisters nodded their agreement at his declaration.
"Yeah, we want presents, too, Aunt Lissa!" Adrienne added, wrapping her tiny arms around Lissa's legs, squeezing. Sabrina wasn't as vocal about her wants, but she nodded vigorously and smiled. Lissa pretended to think about it, and the triplets' eyes grew huge and morose. Jeremy frowned, and Adrienne's lower lip trembled.
"Well, I guess you could have your presents now." Lissa finally gave in, their sad faces and dampened spirits getting the best of her.
The triplets exchanged grins and bounced in place excitedly. Lissa disappeared and returned, three small objects in her hand.
Dimitri snickered beside me, realizing what they were. I laughed quietly with him, knowing that the kids were going to get very frustrated very quickly with the game Lissa wanted them to play.
The triplets' mouths dropped open as they caught on that there weren't huge presents behind Lissa. "But – but the presents . . ." Jeremy trailed off sadly.
Lissa crouched down to their level and handed them each a piece of paper. They each took a look at their card and scattered in different directions.
"Um, Lissa, you do know they still can't read that well, right?" I asked, chuckling softly.
Lissa rolled her eyes. "I gave them easy words, Rose. It's a game so they review reading, and they get their birthday presents."
"Liss, don't you think –"
I was cut off by an excited scream from Adrienne somewhere in Lissa's house. We followed the sound of her voice into the living room where she was chatting with Lissa. She'd torn the couch apart, but in front of her were five new movies and two baby dolls that looked exactly like her. I only just noticed the wrapping paper strewn haphazardly around the floor.
"Lissa, you've created a monster," Dimitri sighed. I laughed as I glanced through the movies. They were all princess movies. I found it ironic that Dimitri and Jeremy had complained not an hour ago about all the girl movies in the house. Now we had more.
"What did you put on her card?" I asked suspiciously.
Lissa grinned and retrieved the forgotten card from the table. "Check under the couch cushions," it read, in simple print. There wasn't a picture or any other hint. There were only the words.
I tapped Adrienne on the shoulder gently. She looked up at me, her eyes bright and excited. "Yeah, Momma?" she asked.
"Can you show me what a couch cushion is?" I murmured, unable to believe it. There was no way she knew that word. It was such a large word for a three-year-old.
She grinned and nodded. I watched as she jumped over the side of the couch and held up a couch cushion, smiling happily. "It's this, right?" she asked, shaking it for emphasis.
"Yes, that's it. Did you know that?"
"Uh-huh," she answered, going back to her presents. I was in shock. Maybe Dimitri was teaching them words, and I just wasn't aware of it.
"Yes!" Jeremy shouted from the kitchen. Dimitri stayed in the living room with Adrienne, but Lissa and I went to see Jeremy and his findings.
The door to the dishwasher was thrown open, and Jeremy had several movies and a couple of toy cars lined up in front of him. "No way," I breathed. "Did his card say 'dishwasher' somewhere?"
"That it did," Lissa affirmed, nodding.
"Wow." This was insane. My kids were way smarter than I had ever anticipated. But I was also pissed off. Lissa obviously knew how smart they were. Dimitri had probably played reading games with them when I was doing something else. I was the only one who hadn't known the extent of my children's knowledge.
I felt left out and betrayed.
I sensed Dimitri's arm sliding around my waist, and he buried his face into my hair. "This is fun, hm?" he murmured.
"Yeah. I guess," I sighed.
Dimitri noticed my mood and stiffened. "What's wrong, Roza?" he breathed, rubbing his knuckles along my arm, trying to soothe me.
"Have you been teaching the kids new words to read?" I demanded.
Dimitri went taut behind me. Busted. "Roza, I just want them to have the best education they can. There's nothing wrong with that, is there?" he pleaded.
"When they go to preschool, they're going to know everything, and there's no point in sending them to preschool. They'll be ahead of their entire class, and then we'll have to put them a grade or two ahead. They'll be socially put back, Dimitri."
He sighed. "But won't it be better for them to know the material, and we'll just put them in preschool?"
"Then they'll be labeled as nerds," I argued.
Dimitri chuckled behind me. "I'm sorry, Rose, but I don't think four-year-olds label each other just yet." Damn it. I hated it when he was right. "Rose, we both know this isn't about whether or not they'll be labeled. What's really wrong?"
"Why did you tell me what you were doing? Why was I not there when you were teaching them these things? You're not the only one who wants to be with them for every moment, you know."
He sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Roza. I thought you would be angry with me about. I wanted to surprise you. Lissa and I have been planning this for weeks. We thought you'd be happy with how intelligent they were." He exhaled slowly, but his body was stiff against mine.
I had just ruined his surprise by getting pissed off at him. Nice going, Rose. "I'm sorry, Dimitri. I didn't mean to upset you. It's a nice surprise. I just never thought about going to preschool with them knowing what they were learning."
The only options that had occurred to me were putting them forward a grade, or having them learn the material when they first went to school. The compromise hadn't occurred to me. Thankfully, Dimitri had thought ahead.
I took Dimitri's hand and squeezed gently. "It's an amazing surprise. Thank you, Dimitri. Thanks, Liss!" I called. She poked her head out from another room.
"Is it all clear?" she asked teasingly. "Has the Rose bomb been diffused for now?"
"For now," Dimitri answered, a smile in his voice.
"That's good." Lissa grinned at me and hugged me tightly. "You don't hate me, do you, Rose?" she asked quietly.
"Of course not, Liss. Thank you for watching out for my kids."
"Any time, Rose. I know you would do the same for Andre. Aunt Rose," she mocked, grinning.
"Aunt Lissa," I replied, winking. Suddenly I remembered that Adrienne and Jeremy had found their birthday presents, but Sabrina had yet to give us a sign that she was fine. "What did Sabrina's card say?"
Dimitri smiled, his red eyes sparkling with humor. "Sabrina has been our brightest student so far. Lissa decided to give her a harder word."
I looked at her suspiciously. "Lissa, where did you send my youngest daughter?" My voice was quiet and calm, but there was a sliver of threat detectable. I was trying to imagine where she could be. My mind showed me pictures of her lost in a closet, stuck under a bed. She could be anywhere with how Lissa played games.
Lissa smiled, hugging me again. "To an 'automobile'," she quoted, watching my reaction surreptitiously.
"In a car? You sent her to a car?" I hissed, abruptly terrified. My youngest daughter was outside, looking for her birthday presents, blissfully unaware that there were dangers all around her.
"Rose, breathe. Christian is with her. I told him to follow her to make sure she was safe."
I exhaled slowly. "Well, can we please go find her?" I asked anxiously.
"Of course." Lissa took my arm and pulled me along with her. Dimitri stayed to watch over the other two to make sure that they didn't disappear on us.
Lissa led me outside where Sabrina had her presents neatly unwrapped in front of her. She was smiling widely at the books in front of her. It looked like we had a reader in the family. I could only hope she wasn't going to get into Western novels like Dimitri.
Sabrina's eyes sparkled when I look at her. "Hi, Momma! Look at what Aunt Lissa got me." She held the books up excitedly.
"Are you going to read them?" I asked, sincerely interested. If she wanted to learn, we would teach her.
"Uh-huh."
Well, that settled that. She would be learning even more now that I knew she was exceptionally responsive to the idea.
I shivered slightly when a slight breeze blew across my skin. "Let's go inside, Sabrina. It's cold."
She nodded and picked up her books, clutching them tightly to her chest. "I love you, Momma," she told me seriously before wrapping her free hand around my fingers.
"I love you, too, Sabrina."
Christian and Lissa followed us contentedly, and I assumed that Andre was inside with Jeremy and Adrienne. Dimitri was sitting on the couch, watching Jeremy, Adrienne, and Andre play together in the living room.
He stood when he saw me, smiling. "I assume she found her presents?"
I nodded. "Yep."
Sabrina smiled hugely, and the triplets piled their presents together, clapping excitedly. Adrienne's head shot up, and her eyes zeroed in on Dimitri.
"Candy?" she whispered. Dimitri must have nodded because she turned to Lissa, a huge smile on her face. "Aunt Lissa, can we have candy now?"
"I don't know about candy, but how about ice cream?" Lissa bartered. The triplets hated cake for some reason. They preferred ice cream and brownies.
Sabrina's face lit up. "Yes!" she shouted, grinning. "I want chocolate. Can I have chocolate, Aunt Lissa?"
"Yes, Sabrina, you can have chocolate. And I know Adrienne wants chocolate, and Jeremy wants vanilla." Jeremy and Adrienne nodded enthusiastically, following Lissa to the kitchen.
"They're going to be crazy," I murmured to Dimitri.
He smiled. "It's their birthday. Let them have a little fun."
I sighed, and we went to the kitchen, hand in hand. The triplets were sitting at the table, bowls of ice cream in front of them. They were chattering amongst themselves, shoveling the ice cream down as fast as they could.
Jeremy was done first, and his grin was huge. "Thanks, Aunt Lissa," he said, holding his hands up for her to take him. She picked him up, and he hugged her tightly.
Adrienne was next, and she hopped down from her place at the table and ran to Dimitri, whispering words of thanks as she threw her arms around his legs. He picked her up and kissed her forehead. "Are you having a good birthday?" he murmured.
"Uh-huh." She nodded as she whispered the words.
Sabrina was the slowest eater. She savored her food because it wasn't often that we gave them sweets, and she knew it. She finished five minutes after her siblings and politely hopped down from the table. She walked toward me, her hands already in the air, waiting for me to hold her. I lifted her and situated her on my hip.
"I love you, Momma," she breathed, burying her face into my neck.
"I love you, too, Sabrina."
We stayed over at Lissa and Christian's for another hour or so before we went home. The kids were insistent about holding their presents, and they passed out almost immediately when they walked in the door. Sabrina was falling asleep in my arms as I set her in her bed.
Jeremy insisted that he wasn't tired, but the moment Dimitri set him into bed, he fell asleep. Adrienne was the hellion, as usual.
"I'm not tired, Momma!" she persisted. "I don't wanna go to bed!"
"Adrienne, come on. It's ten o'clock at night. You're tired."
She crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head, scowling. "Nu-uh."
I set her into her bed, but she only stood up defiantly. "I'm not going to bed!"
"Adrienne, sh. Don't wake up Jeremy and Sabrina."
"But I don't wanna go to bed!" she insisted, pouting.
"Don't make me get Daddy in here," I threatened coolly.
Her lower lip began to tremble, and I knew what she was up to. "But – but – I want to watch one of the movies Aunt Lissa got me," she whimpered.
I picked her up and hugged her tightly. "Adrienne, sweetheart, you can watch one tomorrow. You need to sleep right now."
She put her hands on my shoulders and pushed away from me, growling in frustration that I was stronger than her. "I want Daddy!" she wailed.
I sighed quietly. "Dimitri?" I murmured. He appeared in the doorway, smiling sadly at me.
"Come here, Adrienne," he said quietly, motioning for me to give her to him. I handed her off, and he smiled, squeezing my hand quickly. "I'll have her asleep in ten minutes, Roza." He winked, then disappeared downstairs. I heard Cars playing and began to snicker.
He was going to bore her into sleep. Sure enough, within ten minutes, he came back, her unconscious form in his arms. He set her into bed and stroked her forehead with his thumb for a short moment. He glanced up at me and chuckled.
"She fell asleep immediately," he admitted, smiling. I closed the door to their room and took his hand.
"I love you, Rose. Today was a fun day, wasn't it?" Dimitri murmured.
"Yes, it was. And I love you, too."
So. Longest update to date. It's almost 3,000 words. Updates will probably be every so often from here on out, but I'll try to stay with the weekend update schedule. It's geting near the end of the school year, and when summer comes, updates will be often. This story isn't over - not by a long shot. There are still many more chapters to go. The triplets would like reviews because they're tired and bored and lonely. They miss feeling loved. :c
- J.C.
