"Thomas, c'mon baby, time to go!" Avery hollered, peeking into her bedroom. "We're goin' for our trip!"
"I think it's funny that you're bringing a boy-name dog on your girl trip," Ben commented, spinning his hat around his finger as he approached.
"Her name don't matter!" Avery defended, crossing her arms over her chest. "Hers a lady! Hers a princess! Hers a delicate flower! Thomas, put your leg down!"
Ben laughed and Thomas sat there quietly, her leg up in the air like a cat. Avery sighed and walked over, forcing the dog into a more acceptable position.
"Why do ya dress up your dog sissy?"
"Cuz she looks precious."
"Well when you putted the shirt on her last time that was okay but why is she wearin' a dress?"
Avery growled and stood up, running towards him and standing chest to chest.
"Because her wanted to wear it!"
"Did she tell you that?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Ben regretted questioning his little sister. Her fist came up quickly and caught him in the jaw and he stumbled back, shocked. Avery didn't appreciate when anyone second guessed her, and she got even more defensive when they were ridiculing her "parenting" skills.
"Ow, geez, you got a heck of a fist sissy."
"I'm her mama and I am the boss of her. She's wearin' a dress because I said so!"
"Okay, okay! Man, that hurt."
"You need to 'pologize to Thomas!"
Ben sighed, knowing it was easier to play along with Avery and smooth things over than it was to stand up for himself sometimes.
"Thomas, sorry I mocked you and your dress. I won't do it again. I really like you and you're a fun dog. Was that good, sissy?"
"Yes. Sorry I hitted ya. I got 'motional."
"That's okay sissy, I won't tell this time, long as you give me a big hug when you leave."
"Okay, I will."
"Didja know the place you're goin' has a nickname? Boston's called Bean Town!"
Avery giggled and adjusted Thomas' dress.
"They gots lotsa beans there?"
"I dunno. Let's go on the computer and find out! Cole could help us."
She nodded and they ran downstairs, Thomas hot on their heels.
"Hey Cole, could you help us do some searchin' on the computer? We need to find out why Boston's called Bean Town."
Colton looked up from his homework and nodded, hopping off the couch and going for the computer. He sat down and opened up the kid-friendly search engine, typing in the query and clicking on the first page that came up.
"Do they have lots of beans?" Ben asked, reading a lot slower than Colton was.
"No, but they got the name because they created baked beans. The kind we have when daddy does food on the barbeque."
"With bamburgers!" Avery shouted in recognition.
"Maybe you will get to eat lots of beans while you're there sissy. Just make sure it don't affect you too much."
"Okay Ben. Where's mama?"
"Her and daddy are outside getting the van ready to go," Colton answered, standing up from the desk and slinging his arms around Ben and Avery. "I'm gonna miss you, Aves."
"Yeah?"
"Mm-hmm. You're going to be gone for four whole days, so I think that we should maybe have one last game of Monster Fight before you go."
"Hmm. Maybe no. Maybe we need a story?"
"You don't want to get your wiggles out before you have to be in the car for forever?" Ben clarified, looking at her quizzically.
"Oh my wiggles! Okay, let's dance!"
Colton turned on the stereo and the kids began to dance crazily around the room while Thomas jumped up on the recliner and barked happily.
"I can spin most fast!" Avery announced, spinning on one foot as Sarah had taught her. "See? I gots balance."
"Wow, you almost looked like a grown up girl for a minute sissy!"
"I been tryin'. Sarah helps me."
"Sarah's got a lot of patience," Colton confirmed. "She works hard."
"Oh hi mama! Time to go?" Avery asked, stopping her dancing so she could run across the room.
"Yes it is. We have to go pick up the girls. Say bye to the boys."
"Oh goodbye my boys!" she started dramatically, running for them. "I will miss you so very most!"
"I hope you have fun Aves. Remember all the good stuff to tell us when you get back. We will make a fort in our room and have a sleepover in it, just us three."
"Really Coley? Oh I can't wait!"
Ben leaned down and hugged her tightly, kissing her cheek and smoothing her hair back.
"Sissy, take care of mama. She'll be missin' daddy somethin' fierce."
"Okay Ben, I will."
"And don't forget to have fun with Isa and Sarah. They're a kick in the pants, if you just open your mind."
"Okay Ben. I love you."
"I love you too."
He hugged her once more and she moved on to Colton, laughing when he picked her up and pressed a loud kiss to her cheek.
"Be good Aves. I love you for all the days."
"Yep me too," she sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder. "Love you so most."
He put her down and blinked a few times, trying not to tear up. He couldn't believe his baby sister was growing up so fast. Sometimes he still saw her as a tiny toddling little girl but now she was a kid. She wasn't just a loud annoyance anymore, she was a friend and a playmate whom he love fiercely.
After more goodbyes and a ten minute struggle to load Thomas into the carrier, the girls were on the road. Avery sang to herself, watching out the window as the familiar sights rolled by. She was really excited to be doing such a grown up thing, but she was already missing her brothers a lot.
"Mama, we could get Thomas out?"
"Once everyone gets situated and we get on the road then you can let her out."
"Okay. Where is the other seat?"
"Daddy and I took the middle seat out so we could put the luggage there and you girls could all sit in the back seat together."
"Oh! That's smart. Mama I am so happy."
"I am too, baby."
"I like bein' a big girl an' bein' with you. You is my most favorite."
"Thanks sweetie."
Avery's happy attitude snapped away quickly after two hours on the road. She was frustrated at being stuck in her booster seat, angry that Thomas was confined to the dog carrier after half an hour of barking nervously, and sad because the goodbye Adam had given her apparently wasn't good enough.
"I don't wanna go to that sumeum!" she wailed, kicking her legs against the seat. "It be boring!"
"Averylin, I believe you mean the museum."
"That's borin' too!"
She broke down into sad tears while Sarah and Isa exchanged knowing glances over the top of her head. Their little friend was exhausted, and they knew just how to calm her down.
"Avery, want to hear a story?"
"No!"
"Well could you be quiet so I could tell it anyway?"
"Yeah Averylin, I would like to hear the story because Isa has the best ones. So maybe you could cry quietly, for me."
"Okay Sarah."
Avery toned down her theatrics as Isa started telling a story, one which had Avery's attention within a few moments.
"Someone seems tired," Austin commented, glancing back at the girls.
"She woke up at three, unpacked and repacked her bag, then tried to give Thomas a bath."
"She flooded the bathroom?"
"It was really wet. So then I started to clean up and realized how dirty the bathroom actually was. That turned into me scrubbing the entire thing down before four in the morning. I put some cleaner in the toilet then forgot about it until Ben started screaming that his pee was green."
"Does anything in your house ever go off without a hitch?"
"Before Ben and Avery it used to."
Austin chuckled and shook her head. Her kids were often crazy and loud, but they weren't so insanely dramatic that life had to come to a halt to deal with their problems. At least she was on the outside looking in, so it was funny rather than irritating.
"Do you want to stop for lunch before or after the museum?" she asked after a moment, seeing how close they were to Hartford.
"Probably before. I think they'll have more staying power if they have food."
"Well then that begs the question, what in the world will we have?"
"Hey girls, what do you want for lunch?"
"Waffles!" Avery shouted, wiping the rest of her tears away.
"Spaghetti!"
"A big fat burger!"
"Looks like we're going to need some variety. I'll fight with the GPS," Austin offered.
"Taking one for the team."
"It wasn't so bad until Adam decided to update it. It still speaks half in Elvish."
"Yes, I know what a geek my husband is, you don't have to rub it in."
Austin giggled and messed with the GPS for a few minutes, swearing only once before she found a promising lunch destination.
"So guess who has her very first crush?"
"Aw, you finally like Danny?"
"Very funny brat."
Lindsay chuckled and glanced over at Austin, awaiting an answer.
"Sarah Claire."
"She does? That's so cute! Who is it?"
"A kid in her class. She won't tell me his name because she said "You'll call his mom to put us on a date and then I will be embarrassed for my whole life, okay?" I figured I wouldn't pressure her."
"Probably a good move."
"She just says he's cute and has big blue eyes and her heart gets all fluttery when he talks to her. She only told me all this because I overheard her talking to Isa about it and demanded to know. For science."
"I'm trying really hard not to roll my eyes right now."
"Anyway, she is so cute when she talks about him, her eyes light up and her voice gets all breathy and she doesn't even care that Isa and I are dissolved into a pile of giggles, she just pirouettes around the room like such a… a…"
"Girl?"
"Yes! It's still so foreign to me, but I guess it's good for her to have a crush, you know?"
"How did Danny take the news?"
"He wasn't happy but he wasn't angry. She doesn't know he knows so he can't grill her about it or anything. I'm not really sure what to do at this point though. It's harmless right?"
"Unless he breaks her heart."
"It's making me go gray, I swear. It seems like they were all babies yesterday and now they're all grown up."
"Isa's had crushes before and they didn't freak you out."
"I know. I think it's because she's more like me. She has a crush, she tells the kid and if he doesn't reciprocate she shrugs it off. Sarah's totally different. More grown up I think. She has reasons for liking this kid, reasons other than "you're male and you don't repulse me," which is the basis for all of Isabeth's crushes anyway. It's just different somehow."
"Do you remember your first crush?"
"Yeah, I married him."
"I mean the first one that wasn't Danny."
"Ronnie something in kindergarten. I believe he gave me a Hot Wheels car once."
"How romantic."
"You just wait until little miss Averylin starts getting crushes. A little part of your heart just falls into your stomach."
"I'll be waiting for that."
Austin smiled and put her feet up on the dashboard before glancing into the backseat where the girls were talking animatedly about something. It was nice to see Isa included with Sarah and Avery; it wasn't as if they didn't get along, but Isa was never really interested in what the other girls were doing. She and Sarah had grown closer lately, but to see all three girls together was the icing on the cake. Isa had always been a little abrasive and prone to shutting people out, but over the last year or so she'd become gentler, more apt to embrace a person for who they were than to write them off for not being what she wanted. She was growing up in all the best ways and instead of feeling nostalgic, Austin couldn't help but watch in excitement to see who this girl was going to turn out to be.
After almost two hours at the Mark Twain museum (where Avery had slept soundly, being passed every once in a while between Lindsay and Austin) and a lazy lunch, the girls had knuckled down the last half of the drive and arrived in Boston in the late afternoon. There was some bickering between Lindsay and Austin about how to get to the hotel but once the fight became ridiculous and they were able to laugh through it and figure out where they were going.
The girls were thrilled with the hotel and were jumping up and down on the bed while Thomas sniffed around, making sure it was okay.
"Mama lookit me! I can jump most high!"
She jumped as high as she could and landed hard on the mattress, losing her footing and falling flat on her back. She laughed and struggled up again, falling a few times before she made it into a standing position.
"Whoopsie, I should do that again!"
"Averylin, be careful. I don't want you to crack your head open."
"Oh Sarah, I be fine. Me an' Ben jump on mama and daddy's bed lots when we's supposed to be sleepin'."
"Oh is that right?" Lindsay asked, wondering if Avery had noticed her slip-up.
"Uh-huh! When you's watching TV an' talkin' downstairs! Ben an' me like to jump. Coley not, he say we're gonna get in trouble."
"What do you think daddy and I would do if we caught you two out of bed?"
Avery stopped bouncing, realizing her mistake.
"Oh no, we're in trouble?"
"Not this time."
"I not jump no more. I tell Ben too."
"Thanks."
She nodded and climbed down from the bed, running across the room to Thomas, who was happily sitting on the couch.
"What do you think baby? Is this all you dreamed?" she asked, patting the dog on the head. "I'm so happy you could come. Hey Austin, thanks for findin' a stay-place for Thomas too!"
"You're welcome sweetheart. Should we go find some dinner?"
"Okay! I love food. I want more waffles."
"Is that all you're going to eat on this trip?"
"An' some cheese!"
"Oh Avery."
"Do I make your heart smile?" she asked hopefully, her voice dropping into such a southern drawl it was almost impossible to understand her.
"All the time.
"Hear that Thomas? You make my heart smile too, just like I do for Austin!"
Thomas let out a short bark and Avery giggled.
"I know! I think that too, Thomas. You and me are bosom friends. Let's go check out the bathroom."
They scampered off and Isa and Sarah burst into laughter, rolling on the bed clutching their stomachs.
"She is so weird!" Isa hooted, wiping her eyes. "Indy, where does she come up with the stuff she says? She thinks the dog was talking to her."
"Part of it is her age, and part of it is that Adam is her father."
"I hope someday, when I have a little girl, she is silly and makes me laugh like Averylin does," Sarah sighed, sitting up and pulling a pillow into her lap. "I will still love her if she is serious like me though."
"What are we going to do tomorrow?" Isa asked, scooting over so she could put her head in Austin's lap.
"I can't remember at the moment. Linds?"
"It's written down somewhere."
"Okay, that toilet is hilarious," Avery announced, coming out of the bathroom and jumping onto the bed. "There's no flushie. Does it by itself."
"Yeah, those kind have a camera on them and some guy sits in an office far away and he watches when you get up and he presses a button to flush the toilet."
"Oh no he will see my butt! I'm not goin' potty in there!"
"Honey, Isa's just teasing you."
"Oh. Well we cover that camera anyway?"
"There is no… sure sweetie, we'll cover the camera."
Avery nodded and climbed up onto the bed, snuggling up next to Sarah.
"This is most nice," she sighed. "Without the boys."
"Yeah, I like the boys but it's nice to be away from them," Isa conceded, picking at a hangnail. "Plus it's nice to get away. Don't let me forget to get some Boston dirt."
"Bean town dirt!" Avery chuckled. "Could we eat some beans?"
"No way Averylin, I have to sleep by you!"
"Oh yeah. It's good Thomas will sleep on the floor. She smells most bad sometimes. I wash her an' wash her and she stinks!"
"Now you know how I feel about you," Lindsay teased, reaching over to tickle Avery's stomach.
"Hey mama that's mean! I am tellin' daddy on you."
"What do you think daddy's going to do about it?"
"Prob'ly just kiss ya. Can we go outside?"
"Yeah, you girls want to take a walk and find a place to eat dinner?"
The suggestion was met with three happy answers, and after securing Thomas in her crate they were off. The girls all held hands and made their way down the sidewalk laughing. Sarah and Isa were trying to teach Avery how to skip, but she had no coordination and could only manage a gallop for a bit before she tripped and they had to catch her. She laughed despite being scared, still trying her hardest to skip for the next few blocks until they came upon a small café. Avery pressed her nose against the glass where the homemade desserts were displayed, gasping softly and pointing.
"I want that one!"
"Which one?"
"All of them mama."
"How about if you eat all of your dinner, you can share something with me."
"Okay! You take a picture to send to daddy to say "neener neener neener" right?"
"I could do that," Lindsay laughed, reaching down to pick Avery up. "I love you, you silly girl."
"Love you too, you most silly mama."
Back in New York the boys were having the time of their life, wrestling in the living room and getting to run around in just their underwear. They'd spent some of the morning with Mac, which always put them in a good mood, and when Adam had suggested that they go to the arcade, that was even better. There was no squabbling over who got the better scores or who was better at what game, and when it was time to come home, they obliged with no fuss. It had taken an hour to create the best blanket fort either of the boys had ever seen and they were careful not to rip it down with their antics, hoping they could leave it up for a few days.
"Hey Cole?"
"Yeah Ben?"
"You know I got that girlfriend Charlotte right?"
"Yeah."
"Well right now, I don't even want to be with her. I just like bein' a dirty and stinky boy for once! Is that okay? Does that mean I don't like her?"
Colton chuckled and rolled over onto his stomach, still breathing heavily from their wrestling match.
"Nah. It just means you're still your own person. Like how mama still goes and does stuff with just Austin and not daddy, and how daddy goes to the bar and eats bad food that makes him sick with Danny and Flack. You have to have time apart or you would kill each other."
"Oh, okay. I just want to make sure I'm doing this thing right. I don't want to make her mad."
"I think you're doing okay Ben. She still likes you and it's been a while. Are you guys going to play together at our house sometime?"
"I dunno. I don't 'spect she'd want to play with me much once she sees all the dress up and tea party stuff sissy gots. Maybe we will go to her house sometime. 'Cept I'm nervous to meet her daddy. He might gimme that shot-gun stare what mama said daddy gived to that one boy what hugged sissy at her school."
"Some boy was huggin' Aves?"
"Yeah. I thought I telled ya! It was on that day I stayed home with daddy. We went to go get sissy and some boy hugged her when she left. Daddy maked a face what I showed to mama later and she said it was daddy's shot-gun stare. Then daddy and sissy had a long talk 'bout boys."
"I wish I didn't miss that one. I don't like the idea of sissy with boys either, except for us and Junior. We love her the most and we know she's great. Other boys might break her heart once they find out she's weird."
"I think bein' weird is her best quality. What about Isa, what's the best thing about her?"
"My favorite thing about Isa is that I never have to explain what I am thinkin' to her. She just knows what I mean. Like you and Junior. Also she makes me laugh a lot when I'm not happy. And she's not real girly either, she likes boy stuff too. She's just my best friend. I don't know what it would be like if me and her weren't friends."
"Yeah, I think our whole family would be different. Know what I like 'bout Isa? I like how she gives me real good tips on what to do in situations what I get myself into. She always listens to me when I ask her stuff. She looks at my eyes the same way Austin does because she really cares 'bout me. I like that a lot. And Sarah, I like how she is just herself. She's so nice and pretty and I like how she always hugs us before she leaves."
"Yeah I like that too. She's a real good person. Someday when I have kids, I want them to know Sarah and want to be good like her."
"You want to be a daddy someday Cole?" Ben asked, sitting up and adjusting his glasses.
"Yeah. A real good one too. I think it would be fun, but lots of hard work."
"That would make me a uncle! Uncle Ben! I bet your kids would like me huh Cole? They would know I am the funnest uncle they got."
"We will have to live by each other so when you have kids they will know me too."
"Okay! My house will have a waterslide."
"That would be cool! I wonder why we don't have a pool and a waterslide. Hey daddy! Could we get a pool and a waterslide?"
"Our backyard's too small," Adam answered, coming into the room with three glasses of chocolate milk. "I wish we could have one, then we could charge people to use it."
"We would make so much moola!" Ben laughed, taking a glass. "Whoa daddy this sure is chocolatey."
"I thought it would be good to have while we wait for dinner. What are you guys up to?"
"Talkin' about girls," Ben answered with a shrug. "Daddy, when you was a boy, what did you like to play?"
"I played a lot of stuff. I used to pretend that I was a spy a lot, and I was running from the bad guys."
"That sounds fun! Me and Dunner play spies sometimes but we're not that good at it. What else did you play?"
"Sometimes I pretended to be a caveman. I would run around the house grunting and trying to scare people."
"What was your favorite toy?"
"I had an erector set that I used to play with a lot. Have I ever got that out for you guys?"
"I don't think so."
"It must be in the basement. Stay here, I'll go get it."
"I like that daddy likes to play with us," Ben said, once Adam had gone. "He always tells me that bein' with us kids and mama is the best part of his life. I don't think a whole lot of other daddies say that to their kids, 'cept Danny and Flack."
"I wish more daddies did," Colton agreed. "There are a lot of bad daddies out there."
"Really? Like who?"
"Well I don't know one for sure, but I know that there are some. Mean ones."
"Mean? What do they do?"
"I don't want to tell you just yet Ben. It'll make you sad. Ask daddy some other time. He will tell you the truth if you want to really know."
"Oh, okay. Boy, we sure are lucky that we got the daddy what we did. And the mama what we got too! They're the best."
"Yep, I agree. Even though sometimes I don't like the rules they give us, mostly they are real fun."
"We got a great life, Cole. A great, great life."