The first night without their parents, Lillian, Christopher and Holly tried their best to drive their Grandpa crazy. But with the help of Jo and Uncle Phil, they failed to do such a thing and went to bed at their normal bedtime hour. But when morning came, Christopher and Lillian rose early and quietly trekked down the hall to the guestroom.
"Ready?" Lillian whispered, as Chris snored in bed. "You tickle his feet and I'll tickle his tummy."
The little boy nodded, clutching a dinosaur toy in his arms, as Lillian got ready to bolt towards the bed.
"1…2…3! GO!" she shrieked, running forward. "GRANDPA!"
Two little bodies scrambled up onto the bed, while Chris woke with a startled snort, sitting up quickly in bed. "Wha?" he managed to get out, before feeling the little fingers squeezing his stomach and poking at his feet.
"Grandpa! Grandpa!" Lillian giggled.
"Lillian Rose," Chris sighed, as she climbed all over him. "Christopher, you too buddy?"
He nodded, "We wants food," he said, climbing up towards him. "Lilly made me do it.
His sister gasped, "I figured," Chris snorted, kissing them both on the cheek. "Did you guys wash your hands and brush your teeth?"
They shook their heads, "Well, go on and do that," Chris said, pushing the blankets off. "I need to see if Holly's up and I'm sure Jo's awake now. You two and your screaming."
As the kids ran out of the room, Chris slowly climbed out of bed and checked the clock. It was a quarter to eight, a little early for a Saturday, but there was no use in bribing the kids back to bed. Getting up, Chris made his way into the bathroom to freshen up.
"Why are you guys up so early?" was the first thing he heard, upon stepping out into the hallway. "It's Saturday."
Joanna stood in the doorway of her bedroom, Christopher tugging on her hand while hopping around. "Grandpa's making breakfast!" he squealed, as Joanna rested her head against the door. "Come on!"
"Christopher, leave your sister alone," said Chris, ruffling his hair. "Go get Lil and I'll meet you downstairs with Holly."
"LILLLLLYYYYY!"
Once Christopher and Lillian disappeared downstairs, Chris turned to his eldest grandchild and chuckled. "You don't have to get up for their sake," he said, as she yawed. "It's still early and I'm sure they'll crash after eating."
"No they wont," Joanna shook her head. "They do this every weekend with Mom and Dad. At least it's just them two and not Holly."
Joanna then went back into her room and closed the door, leaving Chris alone in the hallway for a moment. Moving on, he went into Holly's room and found her sitting up in her crib.
"Hey little one," he smiled, as Holly squealed. "Let's get you a new diaper and Grandpa will make some breakfast for you."
Once Holly was cleaned and ready to go, Chris took her downstairs to the kitchen, only to find Christopher and Lillian at the table with a box of cereal between them.
"You couldn't wait?" he asked, as they picked the rice puffs off the tabletop.
"Grandpaaaa! We're hungry!" Lillian huffed, as her brother giggled. "You took forever with Holly!"
Setting the baby in the highchair, Chris went to the cabinet and took out two bowls for them. "You know Holly can't change her own diaper," he said, pouring out some cereal for them both.
"Grandpa, the picture screen keeps beeping," Christopher said, pointing to the wall panel near the counter. "Maybe Mommy and Daddy called us from pear-is!"
"Maybe," he nodded, moving to the panel. "Or maybe it's your Uncle Jim."
Lillian giggled, "Uncle Jim is a bad boy!" she said, picking up her spoon.
Chris chuckled and he opened the video message, time stamped somewhere around three that morning.
"Hi guys!" Andrea's voice rang out, making the kids squeal. Chris stepped aside so they could see both Andrea and Leo in the pre-recorded message. "We just got in at the hotel and we're going to get some breakfast. I know you're all asleep, but we wanted to let you know that we got here in one piece."
"You four better be good for your Grandpa," Leo warned, despite the smile on his face. "Mommy and I are going to a conference later this afternoon, so we'll try to call back before we have dinner."
Andrea smiled, "We love you!" she said, waving at the screen. "Bye!"
Once the message ended, Chris set the ringer on the terminal up a few notches, and went to start breakfast.
"I wanna go to pear-is!" Lillian pouted, as Chris started the coffee machine. "Can I go to pear-is?"
"One day," Chris nodded. "Mommy and Daddy went to Paris for work, so it won't be that much fun for them."
Christopher turned around in his seat and rested his chin on the back of the chair, "Did you go to pear-is?" he asked, watching as his Grandfather moved about.
"A long time ago," Chris nodded, putting together a bowl of mushy oatmeal for Holly. "When Mommy was a little girl, I went there for work."
"Did she go with you?" Lillian asked, shoving a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.
Chris brought the oatmeal over to the table and sat down in front of the highchair, "Nope," he shook his head. "Mommy was too little to go traveling, so Aunt Kitty had to watch her for me."
Holly gurgled around the spoonful of oatmeal, her little hands smacking upon the tray. "After breakfast, I want you two to wash up and we'll figure out what to do today."
"What about Jo?" Lillian asked.
"Jo will wake up soon to eat breakfast and then we'll see what she wants to do as well," Chris nodded, wiping Holly's mouth with a napkin. "But you two need to keep the noise level down."
They both nodded, "Kay!" Lillian squeaked, picking the rice puff off her spoon. "Christopher, we need to finish eating!"
Sitting down on his behind, Christopher picked up his spoon and resumed eating, the sounds of slurping cereals and oatmeal filling the kitchen.
….
Andrea pulled the collar of her jacket up, and hunched her shoulders forward, as a bitter chill slipped down the back of her dress.
"Cold?" Leo asked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "Maybe we should stop to eat."
"I'm fine," she said, giving him a smile. "I wanna walk a little more before we stop for dinner."
After arriving and checking in at the hotel in Paris a little after eleven, the couple quickly called home to leave a message for Chris and the kids. Then, they showered and ordered up a pot of coffee and some breakfast, before heading out to the first medical conference of the day. By six, they'd been through four conferences, before being dismissed until the next morning.
With the sun setting and the restaurants opening for dinner service, the couple returned to the hotel to change again before heading back out.
"It's absolutely beautiful here," Andrea sighed, as they walked down the cobblestoned path. "I can't believe we're here in Paris. Together and alone!"
He chuckled, "Been a while since we got away for a weekend," he nodded. "Just us two."
"Since Christopher was born," she reminisced. "Too long if you ask me."
They waited at the corner for the light to change, watching as hover cars and a bus went by. "Maybe it's a good thing we took the extra day," Leo said, as the pedestrian light went on, giving them the right to walk across the street. "We can actually be real tourists."
Andrea giggled, "Maybe you'll learn some French," she said. "Along with that southern accent…. My, my."
Leo blushed, "Easy with the bedroom talk," he said, pulling her close. "Let's go eat. I know how much you want to stuff your face with bread."
"And then we can go shop!" she squealed. "Who knows when we'll ever get the chance to come back here!"
"Let's go easy on the shopping," Leo said, holding a door open for her. "The credit system is a bit different here than at home."
