Went with a shorter, more amusing chapter this time around, hope you at least crack a smile or two when reading it.
"This seat feels like I'm leaning against a brick wall!" He complained, tossing a wadded up gum wrapper into the tiny trash can by his foot.
"Would you stop complaining?" Ricky snapped, turning his neck to glare at him
"How did I get stuck coming to this thing and being put on babysitting duty?"
"You're here because mom doesn't trust you to be alone, and you knew Mimzy, and you're helping me because it's been a rough enough time for everyone, and the last thing anyone needs to worry about is a bunch of unruly toddlers interrupting the service."
Ethan chomped hard on his red gum, dramatically, "Shouldn't you be up there too? Wasn't Mimzy like your grandma-in-law, or something?"
"I guess." Ricky shrugged, making a funny face at his daughter sitting in the carrier next to his seat, "But I'm giving Amy space to be with her family. So I volunteered to take care of all the kids - ease the burden on everyone else."
As if on cue, a petite brunette emerged, the two unruly toddlers clasping each of her hands.
"Daddy," John complained, fidgeting with his white dress shirt and loosening the buttons on the top around his neck, "I itchy!" Robbie followed, tugging at the black tie hanging down his short torso.
Kathy pursed her lips, clasping her palms together, "My grandmother is outside - I should probably get going. I'm just gonna go say goodbye to Amy first."
Nodding, Ricky stood up, embracing her in a short hug, "Thanks for coming, and helping me out - means a lot to both of us"
"Bye… Kathy" Ethan mumbled, hoping that she'd at least give him a smile.
Ignoring him, Kathy smiled down at the baby in the car seat instead, giving Emma a small little wave "Bye bye, pretty girl!" Emma smiled in response, kicking her legs up and thrusting a fist into her mouth.
Ricky's lip tipped up, unbuckling the straps and pulling her out, handing her to his grumpy foster-brother.
Stooping down on one knee, he pulled his pint sized brother-in-law towards him, tying the black laces of his dress shoes tighter so they wouldn't come undone again, before doing the same to his son.
"I wana go hom!" Robbie whined, as Ricky used his fingers to straighten out the boy's white collar properly, swiping some of his light blonde hair away from his eyes
"Me too!" John mimicked, as his father did the same actions to his clothing, scrunching his nose as he glanced around the space, "Where mommy?"
Ricky stood back up, adjusting his own black tie, "Mommy is with grandma and grandpa, so you guys are going to stay back here with me and Ethan and be good boys until after the service ends, right?"
Robbie tugged on his shirt again rubbing a chubby fist into his eye, "I want daddy!" Sighing, Ricky went to pick him up, but thankfully he spotted George walking towards them. Robbie sprinted towards his dad, grinning when George picked him up, "I weady go hom, daddy"
Wiping at his wet cheeks with the hand that wasn't holding his son, George gave Ricky a knowing look, as she followed behind him, "The um, the service is about to start."
Skipping over quickly, John wrapped his arms around the back of her legs. Sniffling, she dabbed the tissue in her left palm against her eyes, running a hand through her son's thick locks with her right hand, eyes red and puffy.
His eyes were soft, kissing her forehead as he ran his palms up and down her arms repeatedly. Amy sighed against him as a small whimper cut through the moment, the baby in Ethan's arms starting in. "I better feed her now, before the service starts."
Nodding, he gently pried his son's arms away from his wife's legs, freeing her to take their daughter from his foster-brother. Putting her arms out - palms opening and closing quickly - Amy's lip tipped up a bit as Emma squirmed and lunged forward, her small little fingers flexing quickly. Making the handoff, she smoothed out her light pink dress and kissed the baby's forehead.
"There's a place downstairs" Ricky stated, resting his palm against the small of her back, shooting his daughter a small smile as he led the way towards the back staircase.
Ethan scoffed and rolled his eyes, taking out his phone. John inched closer to him, cocking his head at the way the teen's jaw kept going up and down. "What?" Ethan asked, uncomfortable with the 3-year-old staring at him.
John grinned, pointing to Ethan's pocket for the treat he wasn't allowed to have, "G-um!"
"Mimzy looks really nice." He mumbled shifting his gaze to the floor, tapping his dress shoe gently against the concrete, "The dress you guys picked out matches her eyes, and the casket is a nice color."
She winced as their daughter took in a fairly large gulp, "Can we not talk about it right now, please?" Sniffling, she reached her free hand out to him, "just… be here with me,"
Straightening out his tie again, Ricky leaned higher into the chair, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she nursed, stroking their daughters fingers. He pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, his hand lingering as his thumb brushed her cheek. Laying her head on his shoulder, Amy let out a sad and tired breath.
"I love you." He whispered softly, pecking her temple twice and lightly gliding his fingertips up and down the top portion of her arm soothingly.
Supporting his weight with his hands, his palms pressed firmly into the chair behind him, John swayed his head from side to side, singing one of the many nursery songs he knew quietly, and kicking his feet as his small legs dangled freely. Ethan sat beside him, rolling his eyes with each new verse of John's song. Pausing, he looked over to the teen, scrunching up his nose, "I'm bo-ord!"
Ethan flicked his phone screen, uninterested, "go meet some people or something then"
"No! I want my toys!" John stated firmly, swiping some of his hair away from his eyes
"Go find your backpack then." Ethan instructed, still avoiding looking away from his phone screen.
Nodding, John hopped off the chair, and started walking down the narrow aisle of the fairly large building, tensing in fear at the large majority of people he didn't know, staring at him. His breathing quickened, on the verge of tears before he spotted someone he actually knew. "Ash-ee! Ash-ee!" He yelled, taking off in a sprint towards his aunt.
Rounding the corner, he gave her hand a light squeeze, "You should go be with your mom, I'll hang back here with all the kids". His brow furrowed, noticing that the chairs were empty, "Where's my kid?" He asked his foster-brother
Looking up from his phone, Ethan shrugged, "He went to find his backpack or something. I don't know." He was about to yell at him before Ashley walked up, hand in hand with her nephew.
"Nice of you to show." Amy spat, adjusting the infant in her arms to transfer her to her husband.
Ethan's eyes widened at the sight in front of him.
"Amy -'' Ricky raised his eyebrow, mouth slightly agape in surprise at her bitter tone. Stuffing a hand into his pocket, he gave his sister-in-law an apologetic gaze, "good to see you, Ashley" before Amy handed him their daughter.
Ashley cocked her head, smugly, "Yeah well, meeting a bunch of random strangers I've never heard of before today didn't sound all that appealing." She let go of her nephew's hand, shifting her feet, unfazed by her sister's annoyance, "Mom said you should take your seat, the service starts in 5 minutes."
Ricky leaned in, embracing her with one arm, kissing her hair, "I'm right here if you need me." Giving him a sad smile, Amy nodded and started walking down the aisle.
"Mind if I hold my niece for a minute?" Ashley lingered, motioning to the infant in her brother-in-law's arms. Without hesitation, he held Emma out to her, his lip tipping up.
"Wow, she really does look like Amy" Ashley stated, brushing her cheek with her thumb, "Well except for those big green eyes. Dad said there's a little bit of my personality in her too. That must drive Amy crazy." She chuckled, making a silly face at her niece, causing her to smile
Ricky chuckled too, biting the corner of his lip, "Yeah - don't tell Amy that."
"Oh my gosh this is never going to end!" Ethan complained again, throwing his back against the chair and rolling his eyes as the man at the front of the crowd kept speaking in slow mon-toned fashion.
Ricky shook his head, annoyed, "Have you never been to one of these before? They're not supposed to be fun!"
He slunk deeper into the chair, "Can that black haired chick come back here at least? She was hot!" The statement earned him a hefty slap to the back of the head.
"That's Ashley - Amy's little sister!" Ricky glared, speaking through clenched teeth
Hearing his aunt's name, John leaned back against his dad's chest and reached up, patting his cheek with his chubby hand, "Daddy, I wanna go Ash-ee"
Ricky shook his head, tightening the grasp he already had on his son perched atop his legs, "No buddy, you have to stay back here with me - Ashley is with mommy and grandma."
"Wicky!" Robbie pulled on his sleeve, getting his attention, "I nee-a go to da potty!"
"Me too!" John nodded along
Sighing, he removed John from his lap to stand, kicking his foster-brother's foot roughly upon seeing him start to nod off again,
"Hey!" Ethan shouted a little too loudly, causing the people a few rows ahead of them to turn around and stare.
"Eyes open!" He snapped at him through a rough whisper, "and watch Emma while I take these two to the bathroom!" taking each one of the toddler's hand into his own.
Clouds started to roll in, shielding the sunlight from warming up the brisk April Sunday afternoon as the mists of dew clung to the wet grass of the otherwise dry ground.
Cars were starting to pull up one by one with their orange flags atop the hoods, flapping against wind. Two black vehicles led the line; 5 men dressed in all black with one hand each secured against one of the brass handles; their footing slow and in sync.
She stepped out of the red SUV, straightening out the black fabric that cut off right above her knee, before pulling the side door open to release the car of the 3 children strapped into the backseat. One by one, she got them unbuckled and situated the two boys to stand squarely on the grass, while she looped the heavy car seat carrying her sleeping niece, around her arm.
"Where mommy?" John asked, twisting the toe of his dress shoe into the wet grass
She didn't answer, just pointed at the 5 men carrying the casket up the walkway and the small crowd starting to gather under the green tent - her sister and mother the easiest to spot as they clung onto each other so tightly they looked like one solid person.
Since her dad and Ricky were two of the men carrying Mimzy to her burial, and because she just wanted the whole thing to be over and done with, Ashley stepped back and allowed Amy to ride in the other black car with their mother and Eugene while she took all three of the tired, hungry, and cranky children in Amy's car to the cemetery.
Taking her brother by the hand, she instructed her nephew to hold onto his sister's car seat before pushing the dark rimmed sunglasses down and making the 20 steps to the tent, avoiding as many eyes as she possibly could.
Silently, she stepped in front of her sister, handing off her niece and nephew to their mother as she walked away towards her father, still clinging tight to her little brother.
Clutching her son tightly by the hand, Amy sniffled hard, causing John to look up and see the tears rolling down her cheeks. He walked up behind her, wrapping his arm tight around the front of her neck and shoulders, whispering softly into her ear, and lightly kissing her temple repeatedly. She shivered under him as the breeze picked up and swirled around them. Ricky took off his suit jacket, wrapping it around both of her thin shoulders as he picked up their son, cradling John against his chest. She removed it from her shoulders, placing her arms inside the sleeves, breathing in a sigh at the warmth and the smell of the cologne he put on.
"Ashes to Ashes, dust to dust..." The man started speaking, eyes focused on the bible in his hand as he continued the passage.
A few restless whimpers cut through the man's words, as the once sleeping baby awoke inside the carrier placed by her feet on the grass. Shifting John's weight in his arms, he removed his other arm from his wife's shoulders, and kissed her temple again, "I'll go sit with them in the car." he whispered into her ear, taking hold of the car seat handle. She nodded silently, grasping for her mother's hand as she sniffled.
"Wook at the butt-er-fwy, Em-ma!" John squealed from his dad's lap, taking the stuffed butterfly rattle into his hands, trying to excite his baby sister enough to get her to stop crying. "She no wike it, daddy."
"That's ok, buddy," Ricky spoke softly, shifting his knee slightly to reach over and unbuckle the infant. Pulling her to his chest, he kissed her forehead and patted her back gently, "she wants to go home"
John nodded, "me too," pulling off one of his dress shoes, and staring out the driver's side window, "Mommy!" Before he could even maneuver their children to the back seat, she opened the passenger door, a frown on her red face. Emma whined upon seeing her, flexing her fingers quickly.
"Why did you take your shoes off?" He asked the boy who had almost gotten the other one off completely, as he set their daughter back in the car seat, causing her to cry.
Opening his own door, he slid out, one arm crookedly supporting his son's weight so he wouldn't have to walk on the pavement and get his socks dirty. The other side door opened, as she snapped the car seat back onto the base quickly before getting in the passenger seat and staring off into space. Rejoining her, he turned a dial on the dash, "are you cold?" She didn't respond, just swiped at her cheeks. He put a hand on her knee, "It's going to be okay, Amy" he squeezed it gently, "I'm proud of you"
Amy sniffled again, giving him a weak smile, "can we go to my dad's? My mom has food there."
"We've been gone all weekend - you need to rest - we should just go home -" Ricky turned the dial again, tossing the baby toy in the floorboard, into the backseat, "get these two back on track before one of them has a catastrophic meltdown"
"Then drop me off, and go home." She argued, adjusting the seat belt rubbing roughly against her chest,
"And what about our children?"
"What about them?"
He sighed, looking at his watch, "Emma is going to need to be fed pretty soon, and I don't have the tools for that."
She crossed her arms over her chest. rolling her eyes, "Well then I guess you're going to have come to my dad's."
"Can I go home, please?" A voice asked from the back of the car, rising quickly into full view
"Where did you - when did you -?" Ricky questioned, crinkling his brow at his foster-brother sitting in the trunk
"As soon as that guy started talking to everyone from the gravesite. I didn't really feel like carpooling home with Amy's dad, so I hopped in." Ethan explained, swiping the hair from his eyes,
Ricky clicked his tongue against his teeth, shaking his head in annoyance, "get up here, and buckle up."
Merging onto the freeway, he took a sip from the beverage in the cup holder, turning a different dial on the dash to try and drown out the relentless crying coming from the backseat
Ethan plugged his right ear with his finger, "can you calm this kid down, or something?" grimacing at her newest round of high-pitched screeches.
He looked over to his wife, who had somehow passed out against the window, her hand pressed against her cheek to support her head, purple earbuds in her ears.
Taking another sip, he peered into his rearview mirror, watching as his son sat straight up against the seat, his mouth open slightly as he blinked quickly - the sign he was fighting sleep.
"She hates that car seat, you're back there, try and figure it out" Ricky took another sip, checking the side mirror before switching lanes to get on the exit to go home.
Ethan scowled, plugging his ear again, "Is there supposed to be some kind of brown goo in this thing?" His brow furrowed, leaning in closer before starting to gag, "oh, gross! I think your kid just shit herself!"
His outburst got the toddler's attention, Ricky sighed heavily, "That's a bad word, John - don't repeat it" now knowing exactly why his daughter was so distraught. He nudged his wife's shoulder gently, not wanting to startle her from her slumber. So their son did instead.
John wrinkled his nose, proclaiming loudly to the passengers of the car what his little sister had done, "Mommy, Em-ma po-opped!" Straining against the buckles of his seat, he leaned forward, letting his feet flail as he repeated his proclamation, "Em-ma jus po-opped, mommy!"
She blinked rapidly a few times, squinting against the bright sunlight glaring through the windshield. "Thank you, John" Ricky deadpanned, sighing heavily again as he gave her a look, "There's a gas station up the road here," He shifted course, double checking his mirrors again, flipping the signal and turning quickly into the next lane, before coming to a slow stop by pump 4, closest to the building.
Removing her earbuds, Amy groaned and threw open the door, quickly and without pause, opening the side door, undoing the car seat, and walking quickly over to the trunk, screeching baby in tow.
He turned in his seat, "how bad is it?"
She shook her head, grimacing and contorting her face in disgust, "Bad"
Ethan did the same, covering his face inside his right elbow, "might as well just throw the kid out!" His response earned him a hefty slap to the side of his head
John wrinkled his nose again, trying to see what his mother was doing behind him "Daddy, Em-ma po-opped!"
"Is there a towel or shirt or something anywhere?" She yelled, trying to be heard over her daughter's merciless cries. He shook his head as a response, causing her to groan loudly, "Then I'm just going to leave her in her diaper because the car seat is covered too."
His forehead creased, "It's April - "
"Do you have a better idea?" She challenged, making small shushing noises with her mouth as she stroked her daughter's cheek
Pinching the bridge of his nose between his forefinger and thumb, he expelled a loud breath, "try to clean her up the best you can - we're about 10 minutes away from your dad's. I'll give her a bath there."
Turning the knob, she peeked her head inside, slowly making her way inside the kitchen for a beverage, but desperately trying to avoid the barrage of grieving houseguests lingering throughout the house. She turned her head when she heard a sigh, eyes softening on her grief stricken daughter-in-law as she rested against the sofa cushion, a hand raking through her grandson's shaggy hair as he babbled to her. Her eyes caught hers, giving her a small little wave and a weak smile as she took the 10 steps to the sofa. "Where's Ricky?" Nora asked, noticing that her son and her granddaughter were missing from the room, "Did he drop you guys off?"
Amy shook her head, "No, he's here - he's giving Emma a bath"
"Cuz her jus po-opped big!" John giggled, raising his arms in amusement and emphasis. His mother just shook her head from side to side, trying to hide the little giggles escaping her throat.
"I see," Chuckling, Nora went back into the kitchen, where she saw Anne helping Eugene sit down on the kitchen chair closest to the back door. She tried to hide the sadness playing on her features, avoiding looking at their eyes. She opened the refrigerator door, scanning it's contents as she heard her son's voice, and little coos trailing down the hallway. She closed the door, "there you are!"
"Here I am," his lip tipped up, brow slightly raised, "Wait, was I supposed to be somewhere?"
She shook her head, shutting the door, "Want some food?"
"No, I'm not hungry" Ricky declined, shifting his daughter's weight in his right arm, "I didn't even want to come here but -"
She chuckled, patting the baby's back gently, "I heard - the joys of parenthood, right?" His brow rose higher, a small smirk on his face at her statement. Nora clicked her tongue against her teeth, "Oh yeah, right...but just because I was a crappy mother, doesn't mean I didn't also have my fair share of parenting moments."
Shrugging, his smirk got bigger, "fair enough." Emma whined, grabbing his earlobe as he shifted her higher against his shoulder, "Where's Amy?" She pointed into the next room, before opening her palms to take her squirmy granddaughter from him.
"Where's Emma?" She asked, a little panicked upon him coming into the room without their youngest child
"My mom has her-" He replied, taking a seat next to her, allowing her to prop her legs on top of his, her head on his shoulder. He stroked her thigh lightly with his thumb, taking notice of the almost full plate on the coffee table in front of them, "You've barely eaten anything - you okay?"
Amy sighed sadly, pushing her bangs away from her eyes, "It's John's, I was just nibbling from it."
"Ah, I should have known -" Ricky pointed to the plate, the giant glob of red making her contort her face in disgust, "there's ketchup."
"Mind if we join? It's a little too quiet in there for my comfort," Nora took a seat on the arm of the sofa, adjusting Emma to sit on her legs, unknowing that it always made Amy nervous when someone did it.
Amy tensed, watching her daughter carefully. Ricky kissed her hair, whispering inaudible into her ear, before she let the tension go, relaxing into his embrace.
John stared at his little sister, bopping her nose gently as she grunted, and tried to grab his hand with her small fingers. He giggled, yanking his hand back, before gently tugging on her hand.
"What are you doing, bud?" Nora asked, watching as his hands slowly started to go towards Emma's body, "Wait -do you wanna hold her, John?"
John straightened his back, apprehensive to move closer, nodding slowly, "Yeh..."
Amy quickly switched her position, putting her feet on the floor as she touched her son's arm, staring into his big brown eyes, knowing that her eldest child didn't exactly get along with his sister very well, "are you sure, John?" He nodded slowly again, scrunching his nose.
"Ok, push yourself against the couch as far as you can, buddy" Ricky instructed, aiding the boy in the task from behind his wife, "You gotta sit really still, okay? Emma likes to move a lot so you gotta hold on to her so she doesn't fall."
He nodded vigorously, "O.k." Stretching his arms out, he grinned wide as his little sister was carefully put into his grasp; curling his right arm towards his chest as her head rested against his left bicep crookedly. She grunted as his left arm slowly and carefully gripped onto her ducky pajamas, gripping the fabric tightly in his small fingers.
She pulled her phone out quickly, telling him to smile wide. When Emma lunged forward and began to whimper, John got scared and quickly shoved her away, causing her to cry.
"Well, that was short lived." Ricky stated, catching the infant as his son shoved her away, and bringing her to his chest.
Amy sighed, admiring the image on the screen, "At least I got a cute picture out of it."
Adjusting the tired baby to lay on his chest, he stroked the curls on the back of her head, and placed a kiss on the top, moving his right arm and draping it around his wife's shoulders. She yawned into her hand. "You wanna go home, get some rest?"
Yawning again, she shook her head, laying it on his shoulder as she ran her thumb over the baby's closed fist, "No, let's just enjoy the peace and quiet for a little bit longer."