The kids had been cranky all day long, whining about the littlest things and not going longer than ten minutes without getting into an argument. They'd fought over who got which bowl at breakfast, who finished eating first, whose turn it was to hug mama, who had to feed the dog, who was being good, who was being bad and who had to help Avery with her princess puzzle. Avery had loudly refused the help, screaming at the top of her lungs for so long that the dog and cat were still in hiding somewhere.
Now the kids were all upstairs in their rooms, Avery taking a much needed nap and the boys sentenced to half an hour with the challenge to figure out how they were going to get along for the rest of the day. Lindsay and Adam were stretched out on the couch, doing their best to ignore the bad morning and focus on their plans for the rest of the day. At least it started that way, but it quickly evolved into a laughing, high-school-esque make out session.
"Hey babe?"
"Hmm?"
"You keep doing that and we're going to have to go upstairs."
Lindsay smiled and ran her fingers across his chest only one more time before sitting up and fixing her hair.
"Well we don't have time for that before the kids will be fighting again, making us totally turned off to the idea of anything even coming close to procreating."
"Yeah, I guess you're right. What time do you want to leave?"
"Earlier I was thinking about having lunch somewhere, but I don't think I want to subject the rest of the world to the kids behavior, so I'll make something here and then we can go."
"I really hope we don't have any melt-downs in the toy store. That would be embarrassing."
"Maybe the boys will need to have a talk with their daddy before we leave."
"Consider it done."
"Can we come out of our room now?" Colton shouted from the top of the stairs. "Seriously!"
"Have you guys discussed how you're going to get along?" Adam hollered back.
"Yes! Can we come out now?"
"Alright."
There was the sound of a scuffle at that top of the stairs, then both boys thundered down, their brows knit in annoyance.
"I thought you were going to get along."
"We're doing that by way of not speaking to each other," Ben said with a scowl. "Figured that was the safest way."
"Okay then. Who wants to go wake Avery up from her nap?"
"Not me! She will yell my head off," Colton grumped. "She is mean today."
"I don't wanna either! She smacked me already once!"
"Okay, I'll go get her," Lindsay sighed, standing from the couch. She was a little tired of the boys attitudes today and as she went upstairs, she hoped that Avery didn't wake up the same way.
She was just waking up, smiling brightly and stretching, enjoying sleeping in her big girl bed instead of a crib.
"Hi mama."
"Hi sweetness. Are you ready to get up?"
"Uh-huh! Brush hair?"
"Yes, I can brush your hair. Did you have a good nap?"
"Yes, mama. My bed."
"I can't believe you're old enough to sleep in a real bed honey."
"Mama, I two."
"I know. Are we going to have a party in a few days?"
"Yes! Cake for Avery, Coley, Ben, Danyo."
"That's right. What are we going to do today?"
"Um… ah, shoppin'!"
"That's right," Lindsay said, chuckling at Avery's accent. She sounded so southern sometimes, and it was so deep that they couldn't even blame it on Jo, so they had no idea where she got it.
"Mama, we go now?"
"Let's have lunch first. Want some macaroni?"
"Oh yay! Mac'roni!"
They made their way downstairs and into the kitchen where Avery immediately found the phone book and put it on her head.
"Mama, my hat! Like?"
"Yes, I love your hat. So good of you to recycle."
Avery giggled and stood up, holding onto the phone book with one hand as she walked across the kitchen to stand by the stove.
"Doin' now?"
"I'm boiling water for noodles."
"Avery like noodles."
"I know you do. And then we'll put some cheese in there too."
"Oh cheese! Avery love cheese!"
"I know."
Avery let the phone book drop to the floor, then pulled out the drawers to make stairs so she could sit on the counter. It was an art she had perfected in the last few weeks and as long as she stuck to the drawers with potholders and towels in them, Lindsay didn't mind too much.
"Avery sit," she announced plopping down on the counter by the sink while Lindsay started to shred the cheese. "Cheese, noodles?"
"And we'll put some milk in there too."
"Yum, mama!"
Lindsay gathered the rest of the ingredients and continued to make lunch, while Avery watched, humming to herself and playing with a whisk.
"Sweetie, do you want to pour the milk in?"
"Oh yay!" Avery laughed, holding her hands out for the cup of milk.
"Be careful."
"Careful," Avery whispered as she tipped the cup and poured the milk into the pot. "Careful. All done!"
"Thank you sweetie."
"Now?"
"Now we stir it up until the cheese is melted and then we throw it in the oven."
"What that?"
"That's mama's secret."
"Bacon?"
"No, it's prosciutto."
"Oh. Yummy?"
"Yes. Why else would I use it, silly?"
Avery chuckled and rubbed her stomach while Lindsay put the whole thing into the oven.
"Now?"
"Now we clean up our mess."
"Oh. Adios."
She climbed down from the counter and waddled off into the other room while Lindsay laughed. She'd apparently taken turning two as her cue to start talking constantly and clearly and she'd suddenly figured out when she was being funny because she would look over her shoulder sometimes and wink if she could manage it. So far the two's hadn't been terrible, but they were only one day in, so things could definitely change.
"Not wear coat," Avery protested as Colton tried to help her put her winter coat on.
"But Aves, you gotta wear it! It's cold outside. We don't want you to get sick and the sniffles!"
"No coat," she repeated, shaking her head.
"Mama, Aves won't put her coat on!"
"Okay. She'll change her mind when we get outside. Let's go get in the car."
They headed out the back door and Avery shrieked at being cold, then gladly accepted her coat as they piled into the car.
"No Ben! Mine!" she squealed when he used her carseat as leverage to climb into the car.
"I was just touchin' sissy! Don't be so mean!"
"Away, Ben! Now."
"You are rude," he grumped, buckling his seatbelt. "You are a big rude meanie face, Averylin Grease!"
"No! Ben, no! Bad! Mama!"
"Avery, hush. Ben, don't call your sister names."
"But I thought it was clever!" he said, gently kicking his feet against the seat. "Averylin Grease."
"Ben, I say no. Avery GRACE!"
"You're not bein' very graceful right now Aves. S'ppose that's cuz you were named after Austin and she ain't graceful either."
"I Avery Grace," she whispered to herself, close to tears. "Avery Grace."
"It's Averylin Grace," Colton corrected. "Don't you know your name?"
Her face screwed up into one of absolute frustration and tears started to pour out of her eyes.
"Love Avery? No!"
"Boys you need to stop being so mean to your sister, right now."
"We're not being mean! I was just telling her what her name is!"
"I don't want to hear another word from any of you until we get to the store, alright?" Lindsay said finally, at the end of her rope. Adam reached over and squeezed her hand as he drove, understanding the frustration. Normally the kids were so good and pleasant and easily guided that when there were days like this, it was more difficult to deal with than it should have been.
"Hey kids you need to be on your best behavior today," Adam started, his voice one of no nonsense. "I know there are going to be a lot of things that you want to look at and things you'll want to buy, but today we are not getting anything for us, alright?"
"Who are we buyin' stuff for? I forgetted."
"We have some names of kids that won't get presents for Christmas, so we're buying presents for them. You each are in charge of finding things for one kid, okay?"
"Okay. But do we get presents for our birthdays?"
"Remember we're going to do something all together soon for your birthdays."
"Oh that's right! Well what about for our Christmas presents? What about those?"
"You'll still have some Christmas presents. We just don't need to be buying you everything in the world."
"Oh! Because there's starvin' kids in China?"
"Yeah, exactly."
Ben nodded and looked out the window while Avery continued to pout in the seat next to him, and Colton played with the calculator on his watch. They seemed to have mellowed out a little but that could all change as quickly as a gust of wind.
The parking lot was packed as it was only a few weeks before Christmas, and it took them forever to find a spot. They made their way through the snowy parking lot to the store where Adam and Lindsay immediately opted for a cart, without discussion because as hard as it would be to navigate, it would be easier to corral the kids if they had something to put them in.
"It's like herding fish," Adam said, lifting Ben in to the back of the cart while he kept one eye on Colton.
"Look at that family over there. I am counting seven kids and look how well behaved they are. How does that happen?"
"Patience. Lots and lots of patience."
"I suppose," she agreed, taking three paper angels out of her purse and looking them over. They'd picked one for each of the kids, making sure that the ages were close so they would be better able to pick out appropriate presents. The boys would be allowed to pick things out with little guidance, but Avery would need some help.
"Alright Colton, here's yours."
"This kid is named Ethan and he is seven and he likes cars. I could find him the perfect thing I bet! Come on, to the Hot Wheels section!"
They followed him across the store to the aisle that had all the cars in it, and he took it all in slowly, his jaw dropping.
"I never knew that there were so many car toys in the world," he breathed. "Look at this, a model car! And here is a garage for a bunch of cars! And look, a remote controlled one! How many can I get for Ethan?"
They had a price limit, but they didn't want to tell the kids that, so Adam helped to narrow Colton's focus a bit and in a few minutes they'd picked out a few things that Colton was really proud of.
"This kid Ethan is going to be so happy when he sees this present. I am glad I got it for him. Ben, what are you gonna get for your kid?"
"I don't know. I can't read what this says."
"Here, I will help you. It is for a boy named Logan and he likes to read and he likes cowboys and he is five."
"I could get him a book and also some toy cowboys! Hurry and push the cart over there, mama!"
Ben was just as excited to pick things out as Colton had been, if a little more indecisive. Things went into the cart and back out again several times before he finally decided on a Play-Mobile set and a stack of books about animals. He was very pleased with his decisions and sat back in the cart, looking at the books carefully, secretly wishing he could have them too.
"Alright, let's find something for Avery's kid."
"I will read this one too," Colton offered. "This is a girl that is two and her name is Kayla and she like princesses and playing house. Aves, what do you want to get for this girl Kayla?"
"A sandwich," Avery answered plainly with a shrug.
"Great, this is gonna take a long time, huh?"
"Nah, mama will help her. Let's see if we can navigate our way over to the girl toys."
Avery sang happily in gibberish at the top of her lungs as they walked, clapping her hands when they went down an aisle that was totally pink. She stopped her singing and looked around solemnly, as if she was suddenly in the holiest of places.
"Oh mama," she breathed, looking around. "See?"
"I know."
"Hey Aves, here is a princess thing! It's a tea set like Sarah has! Do you want to get that for Kayla?"
"No. That," she said, pointing up high on a shelf at a package of plastic food and toy cookware. Adam pulled it down and let her look at it and she nodded in approval.
"Mine?"
"No honey, this is for someone else. It's a present."
She scrunched her face up in confusion but nodded anyway as Ben pointed out a Rapunzel doll.
"Sissy, this could be your second thing, huh? You like that movie with the girl with the long hair?"
"Oh yes Ben!"
"You want to get this for Kayla?"
"Yep."
"Okay, looks like we're all done. Ready to check out?"
"Wait mama! We never got nothin' for Dunner for his birthday is today!"
"We already got him a present last week, remember?"
"Oh yeah. Okay, let's go."
They got in the very long line to check out and realized they were going to be there for quite a while. Kids were screaming all around them, Colton was getting overwhelmed at the noise, Ben was begging to go join the kids playing at the train table, and Avery was no longer happy to sit in the cart and wait.
"Sweetie, it's going to be just a little while longer. Be patient."
"No mama. Avery out."
"I can't let you out honey, we'd never see you again. Here, want to play with my phone?"
"Ah!" she said happily, grabbing for the phone. She was soon distracted by the games on it and she would probably stay quiet until they took it away from her.
Finally it was their turn at the register and Colton put things on the conveyor belt while Ben predictably chattered to the cashier.
"We got these toys for some kids for Christmas. They might not get much so we're makin' their Christmas brighter. That is a very nice thing and mama and daddy is doin' this to teach us how to be giving to people. Because we are lucky to have the things what we got."
"Oh I see. Well I know these presents are going to make some kids very happy."
"Yep, that's the whole reason! When we go home we are going to wrap the presents and then we will take them back to the police station where we got the angels from, so our police friends can take the presents to the kids! Isn't that a good idea miss?"
"I think it's a very good idea."
"Well, see you next year when we do the same! Bye miss!"
They headed out of the store and Colton started to breathe a little easier now that there weren't so many people around. Avery was getting tired and Lindsay carried her to the car while Adam carried the bags and held the boys hands.
"That was fun," Colton said as they got back into the car. "I want to do that again."
"We'll do it again next year."
"Mama, could we pick out more kids next year? Maybe we could pick out one more kid and he could have my presents."
"Colton, you don't have to give up your presents."
"Well could we save up some extra money for this whole year and then buy presents for lots of kids? I want a lot of kids to be happy at Christmas. Because I know how sad the rest of their lives might be."
Neither Adam nor Lindsay knew what to say to that, and even if they did, there was no way they could say it without their voices cracking with pride.
"I would like to pick more kids too," Ben said with a smile. "Because it makes them happy and you know what? I am happy too! All my angry feelin's from this morning are gone! They just went all away because we done something nice. Even sissy is not screamin' no more."
Avery giggled and patted Ben's head when he leaned it on her carseat. It definitely was a change from that morning.
"Hey babe, not to sound braggy or anything, but I think we're doing a really good job."
"I agree."
"Hey Cole, you want the rest of the candies in my bowl?" Ben asked, showing him the few M&M's that were left from their popcorn and candy snack.
"No thanks Ben. I'm full."
"Okay. Anyone else want these candies?"
Everyone else refused, so Ben set the bowl on the coffee table, then returned to his spot on the floor.
"Can I call Dunner now to say happy birthday to him?" he asked hopefully. "Please mama?"
"Why don't you go in the other room and try and Skype with him for a bit."
"Okay!"
He jumped up off the floor and ran into the other room and Avery ran after him, not sure what he was doing, but she wanted to be included anyway.
"So now that we're done with these presents, can we decorate our Christmas tree?" Colton asked. "Then we can put the presents under there until we take them back."
"Bud, I think mama and I are too tired to decorate the tree tonight."
"But yesterday when we got it you said we could decorate it today."
"I know. Maybe after dinner we'll do it."
"Can we have dinner then?"
"We're too tired to make dinner."
"Oh fine, I will do it, but you will have to be happy with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches."
He hopped off the couch and went into the kitchen while Lindsay's jaw dropped slowly.
"I can't believe he's old enough to make dinner. I am so using this to my advantage."
"Don't go too gusto about it or he's going to catch on."
"Yeah I know. I found that out with you."
"Hey, I do my part!"
"I know. And I appreciate it."
They fell into silence, listening to Ben and Avery's excited chatter on the computer and Colton's clunking around in the kitchen and knew that no matter how the day had started, the things they always wanted to teach the kids were actually sticking in their heads and coming out in their actions. There could be slip ups, but at the end of the day they knew what was important.
"Hey mama and daddy! Dunner wants me to spend the night for his birthday! Can I?"
"No honey, you have preschool in the morning."
"But Cole didn't go to school today!"
"That's because it was a day off today for teacher's meetings," Colton answered.
"But… mama!"
"We'll let you do something with him this weekend, okay Ben?"
"Okay," he sighed. "But you had better break the news."
Lindsay stood up from the couch and went into the other room, finding Junior staring back at her from the computer screen.
"Well aunt Lin? Could Binyin come over?"
"I'm sorry guy, not tonight."
"But it is my birthday you know."
"I know, but he has school in the morning and you would want to spend the whole day with him tomorrow, right?"
"Well yes."
"We can try and do something this weekend, alright? I'll owe you one."
"Could Binyin spend the night tomorrow? We could pick him up from his school!"
"That's a good idea. I'll talk to your ma later and we'll figure it out, alright?"
"Okay! Thanks aunt Lin! I am gonna go say neener neener to my sisters. Bye!"
He waved and signed out, leaving Lindsay to chuckle at his antics. There was really no mystery involved as to why the boys got along so well.
"Would you all come to the table, I made dinner!" Colton announced, setting five plates at their different spots. He'd even cut Ben's sandwich in half and Avery's into fours and given everyone the kind of jelly they liked the best.
"Oh my little chef," Lindsay chuckled, hugging him tightly and kissing his cheek. "How would you like to make dinner more often?"
"I wouldn't," he said plainly, squirming in her arms. "But I would like to eat this dinner right now, however."
She laughed and let him go, not sad in the least about how fast he was growing up because she was enjoying it so much.
"Hey Cole, you made mine with strawberry jelly! Thanks! Mama and daddy always give me grape and I don't like that kind much."
"I remembered. Because I like grape and not strawberry."
"What kind did sissy get?"
"I mixed hers. She will love it."
Avery had torn her sandwich apart and was licking the jelly off of it with a big grin on her face and by the way she was navigating it into her mouth, she would need a bath tonight, without a doubt.
"Sanks Coley," she said after a moment. "Avery like."
"I'm glad you do. Well, eat up mama and daddy! We have that tree to decorate!"
There was a lot of laughing around the table as they ate together, the boys telling them stories about school and Avery chiming in when she could add a word to the conversation. They sat there for a long time after they were all done, just enjoying each others company, not feeling the rush of having to do anything next.
"Is it going to snow soon?" Ben asked suddenly, looking out the window. "I would like to play in it and teach sissy to make a snowball. Because she can throw things far. I comed to find that out when she throwed my shoe at my face yesterday."
"Yep!" Avery giggled, slapping her soggy, spitty pieces of bread back together.
"Well, why don't we get you kids in a bath and pajamas and then we can decorate the tree."
"Yes!" the boys chorused together, leaving the table and running upstairs, most likely shedding their clothes on the way so they could get into the bathtub faster. Avery turned and rolled off the side of her chair, then toddled off to join her brothers.
"If you want to clean the kids up, I'll go down to the basement and get our Christmas stuff out."
"Good plan. I'll send the boys down when they're done so they can help you put the lights up."
Adam went downstairs and Lindsay went upstairs, finding the kids all standing in the bathroom, watching as the tub filled up. She checked the water and adjusted the temperature, then sent Colton into the small shower, and plopped Avery and Ben into the tub. They splashed around happily and Ben pointed out places that Avery needed to be washed better because she had "lots of dirt in her skin lines."
Once all three kids were clean and dressed, they headed down stairs where Adam was just finished unraveling the lights for the tree. He showed the boys just how to string the lights and they followed his directions carefully while Avery watched silently, hear head tipped to the side in confusion. She didn't know what was going on or why they had a tree inside but her brothers were happy about it so it couldn't be all bad.
Once the lights were up they took their time putting all the ornaments on, Adam and Lindsay telling stories about the special ones. Colton could almost reach the highest branches of the tree and Ben was really good at finding sturdy branches for the heavier ornaments. Avery just liked looking at everything, especially the ceramic ornament with her baby picture on it.
"Alright, time for the angel. Come here Tink, it's your job to put it on top."
Avery's eyes grew wide at the sight of the tree topper and she clapped as Adam lifted her onto his shoulders. He handed the angel up to her and she looked it over before letting Lindsay help her place it on top.
"Avery do it!" she giggled, her hands clenched in excitement. "See me?"
"Good job sissy! That angel looks great!"
Avery nodded as Adam set her back on the floor and she took her brothers hands.
"Avery love us," she said with a wistful smile. "Lights?"
"Alright, here we go," Adam said, turning off the overhead lights and flipping the switch for the tree. The kids all gasped and marveled at the glittering lights, something of wonder that could only be ascribed to this season. The looked it over for quite a while until it was time for bed, then trudged up the stairs chattering about the upcoming holiday and how excited they were for it. Despite their enthusiasm, it didn't take long for the boys to settle down and climb into bed. They were both yawning when Adam shut the lights off and he thought Lindsay would meet him in the hallway, but he could still hear her talking to Avery in the other room.
"Yes, it will be just mama and Avery tomorrow morning."
"Play?"
"Of course we'll play. Maybe we'll go outside for a bit."
"Okay mama."
"Now, it's time for sleep."
"Daddy, kiss?"
Adam obliged and she giggled when he rubbed his beard over her cheek.
"Mama kiss?"
"Okay, but then it's time for sleep."
"Night-night mama daddy."
"Goodnight Averylin. We love you."
"Love also."
The turned the light off and crept out of the room, going back downstairs to finish decorating. It didn't take long; they decided to keep the snow globes boxed up because there was really no mystery as to what would happen to them. Once they were done they sat down on the couch together, enjoying the quiet and stillness.
"I think this is perfect."
"I do too. Everything is always perfect, even when it's not."
"Linds have I ever mentioned that sometimes you don't make sense?"
"Yes, but you usually agree with me anyway."
"Yeah, because even if it doesn't make sense, I know you're right."
"I've waited years to hear you say that."
He smiled and gave her a squeeze, not caring about any of the not so perfect times, because they didn't matter nearly as much as this one right now.