"We're all having a sleepover tomorrow, do you guys wanna come?" Aria asked Clarke, Hannah and Claire.
The girls looked at Clarke as they knew their friend never slept anywhere but her house which was fine by Hannah and Claire because the Prentiss house was a palace. Clarke unintentionally said no before quickly backtracking when she saw their faces, "I mean, uhh, it would be really fun to have a sleepover…" Clarke said, then continued. "I can ask my mom if you can come over to my house, would that be okay?"
Hannah and Claire knew about Clarke's past and while the cheer girls had slept at the Prentiss home many times since the start of the year, Clarke hadn't opened up to them yet. She wasn't embarrassed of her life because it was her story and Emily always said it brought Clarke to them, but it never felt like the right time. If her mom said yes to them staying over, Clarke would consider sharing her life with the girls because it was a controlled setting, her safe place as she'd be at home with her moms, and they'd have plenty of time to talk.
"Totally!" Aria smiled. "Your house is way more fun than any of ours anyways. We just wanna hangout together," she assured. "Plus, your moms are super chill. Maybe my mom would be cooler if she was your moms age instead of an old lady."
The girls laughed at Aria's statement, but it was true. The junior girls and even Hannah and Claire's moms were much older than the Prentiss mothers—they also thought their own moms were much stricter than Clarke's. Emily and JJ were pretty relaxed with all their children, it was just the way they were. JJ did find herself getting a bit more worked up than Emily in certain circumstances, but the mothers were more focused on providing safety, security and love for their children as many came from uncertainty, neglectful and terror-filled homes. Their schedules however were incredibly strict, the kids didn't think much of it though because it was normal for them.
"Yeah, they are so cool! I'm literally obsessed with your whole family, they are just so fun," Maggie agreed. "My mom is like, so old. I was pretty much a mistake, my parents thought they were done after my two older sisters then whoops, there I was!"
While Maggie got lost in her own thoughts of being that much younger than her siblings, Hannah changed the subject a bit. "Maybe you can help us with some of Clarke's tricks, we can use the pool that way if we drop her, she won't get hurt."
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot your pool can be used year-round," Kathryn said. The four girls made up one third of the pyramid but Aria had moved to the left spot after Coach B saw Clarke fly, and then she moved the Prentiss child to center instead. Hannah, Claire and Naomi were Clarke's bases however, Maggie often traded places with Naomi because she had the height advantage.
The girls spoke for a bit longer while in their cooking class and then started cleaning up when Mrs. Reynolds announced there was only ten minutes left. "See you guys at cheer," Clarke said, watching the four girls head in the opposite direction after class.
Emily was sitting at her desk getting some work done when her phone rang. Looking at the caller ID, Emily became worried when she saw the school was calling, she knew something must be wrong and quickly picked up.
"Hi Mrs. Prentiss, this is Nurse Jackie calling from Brookwood. I have Hudson here, but I don't want you to worry he's okay now. I wanted to let you know bec—"
"Oh my gosh, what happened?" Emily interrupted.
"Hudson got a nosebleed at recess. It's controlled now however, we're down a shirt and…" the nurse stated, referring to the fact the shirt Hudson wore to school had blood all down the front of it. The kids, especially the littles, all had multiple sets of clothes in their cubbies in case of accidents just like the extra jacket, pair of gloves and a hat for weather changes.
Before the nurse could continue, Emily said, "Please tell Hudson I'm on my way and I love him so much."
Fifteen minutes later after telling JJ where she was off to, Emily ran into the school and down to the nurse's office. She knew the last time Hudson had a bloody nose he was very brave, but very scared and knew her little boy would want her there—there was no doubt in her mind that Emerson also needed some mommy snuggles and the mother was prepared to cuddle them both for as long as they wanted.
"Hi my baby boy," Emily said, dropping to her knees and opening her arms for Hudson to run into. He had yet to put on a new shirt but that didn't matter, Emily just wanted to hold him close. "Are you okay, buddy? Let me look at this beautiful face of yours," she said, putting her hands on either side of his face and giving it a once over. He had tear-stricken cheeks which broke Emily's heart and after kissing both of them and his forehead she scooped him up and sat the little boy on her lap.
"I haf ah-nover scawy nose," Hudson said, not liking the blood one bit.
"You sure did, baby. I bet you were super brave just like last time though, weren't you?"
"Mhm. And I only cwy a wittle bit, not that much. I weally bwave again, mommy."
Emily ran her fingers through his shaggy hair then melted when he laid his head on her chest. "You're the bravest little boy. I'm sorry mommy wasn't here, I'm sure Nurse Jackie took really great care of you, right?"
"Yeah, her even say I can haf a suck-ah too. You see?" Hudson said, grabbing the lollipop off the cot and holding it up to show his mom.
"Woah, a sucker on a school day! And it's bubblegum too, your favorite flavor!"
"Yeah, I haf it be'tause I getted a scawy nose, but I not haf one on the other days be'tause no suck-ahs on a skool day. But I ah-wowed to haf this one, her say it," he said, pointing to the nurse who smiled at how darn cute he was. "But I didn't even haf it yet," he said with an adorable shrug.
"How about we get you into a new shirt, grab Emerson and then you can have your sucker on the drive home," Emily suggested.
"Umm, but Emasin not here mommy. Her in my cwass and skool not ov-ah yet be'tause it not the end of the day."
"I know baby, but mommy is taking you out of school for the rest of the day. We're going to play hooky," Emily said, then explained to him what hooky was.
"But it not whapy Wemsday."
"No, it's twin Thursday," Emily said, winking at the nurse when Hudson gasped.
The nurse called down to Ms. Katie's class and had Emerson, the twins backpacks and an extra shirt brought down to her office then the trio left for the day. Emerson was happy to see her mommy because she was very fearful after her brother had another nosebleed. Ms. Katie had comforted her though and soon enough she was distracted by her coloring pages and bestie Lexie. In the back of her mind, she was still thinking about Hudson and was happy to be going home with them and see her brother in a new shirt instead of one with blood on it. Jackie gave Emerson a sucker too for the ride home as she was also brave, and by the time Emily pulled into the garage, she found the twins to be sound asleep with lollipops nearly falling out of their mouths.
"They're never going to sleep tonight," JJ said an hour later checking the time once again as neither of them had come downstairs yet.
"It's okay, Jen. They went through a wide range of emotions in a short amount of time, their bodies need the extra rest. I'm sure they'll be up in no time," Emily said, continuing to cut up some fruit for Brooks and Brynley's snack.
"Do you think we should call Savannah and have her check him out? This is his second nosebleed without injury," JJ asked. She didn't remember a single nosebleed from her childhood besides one caused by a direct hit to the face from a poorly directed soccer ball.
"I'm sure he's fine, honey. Savannah told us his body is getting accustomed to the weather; plus, it happened near the end of recess and the weather had dropped a bit, so it makes sense," Emily mused.
"Yeah I guess. I just don't want this to keep happening to him."
"We're going to see Savannah on Saturday, we can talk to her then if that would make you feel better," Emily suggested.
"I'll make sure to talk to her just in case," JJ responded. Just then River's voice could be heard talking to two little voices and because the littlest twins spent more time babbling and squealing rather than having full on conversations, the mothers assumed it was the twins.
JJ peaked around the corner and spotted two little monkeys, one with his hair going every which direction and one with her hair coming out of her French braids—it was a tell tail sign they slept well. When they spotted JJ, the twins took off running into the kitchen and jumped into their moms' arms and laughed when she fell backwards holding them both from the force. Without warning, Brooks and Brynley jumped on their older siblings and mother causing a loud oomph from JJ who took all the force.
Emily and River smiled at the sight, especially when JJ attempted to wrap her arms around all four children and stand up. "Keep trying babe, you've almost got it," Emily teased.
"I'd like to see you stand up while holding four children," JJ exclaimed.
"Here, let's lessen the load by two," Emily said, lifting Brooks and Brynley off her wife.
JJ tried again and the kids burst out laughing as she rocked the three of them to get some momentum going before standing up. Once River took Emerson, JJ successfully stood up and rolled her eyes at her wife who just shook her head at her while strapping Brooks and Brynley into their booster seats. JJ sat Hudson on the kitchen island and then did the same thing Emily had, gave his face a once over before kissing his cheeks and forehead. "Not one boo-boo in sight. Just what I like to see."
"I not even haf a boo-boo anymore, momma. It all cwean up now," Hudson said, noting the blood was gone and not understanding that his mother meant something else.
"Mommy told me you were super brave."
"Yeah, I weally bwave and Emmie bwave too be'tause she howd my hamd ba-fore I goed to the nurse. She so nice wike me too."
JJ smiled and kissed each of their heads then told them how much she loved them. "And duess what momma? We luv you so much too!" Hudson said with a little giggle after answering his own question.
"No way? I think I love you more though," JJ teased.
"No me!" they said in unison.
As the trio went back and forth, Emily put a snack in front of each of them then went to finish her work while River and JJ stayed in the kitchen with the four littles. They were going to ask Emerson about dance in a bit but assumed she'd still want to go even though Hudson was going to be skipping soccer today. Emily didn't want him running down the field and potentially falling after his nosebleed earlier and knew he'd be content to have super special time with his mother instead.
Emily was planning on taking him to pick Clarke up from cheer a bit early so he could watch his big sister and her friends as the mother knew Hudson loved seeing the big girls practice. He was always so mesmerized by the pyramid and loved how they'd always wave, smile, and include him too. Towards the end of practice the few times Emily had arrived with a little in tow, Coach B allowed the girls to lift the tiny human and/or teach them some dance moves and cheer poses. It was fair to say the Prentiss siblings were loved by the entire school.
"Hey little dude, why aren't you at soccer practice?" Clarke asked when her brother came running over to her as the girls were having a water break.
"Umm, be'tause I goed home eawly ta-day be'tause I haf a scawy nose again!" Hudson said, tripping over his words as he spoke.
"A scary nose?" Maggie questioned and Clarke whispered bloody nose to them so they understood.
"Are you okay now?" Clarke asked, squatting down so she was now eye level with her little brother. When he nodded, Clarke continued. "So mom took you home early?"
"Yeah, I didn't even goed to skool all the day be'tause umm," Hudson said, trailing off. "I getted a suck-ah to haf in the car and Emmie getted one too be'tause we both weally bwave."
"I'm sure you were rue."
"And I taked two naps ta-day too. One at skool and one in my bed be'tause I just weally extra tiwed from my scawy nose," Hudson said, holding up two fingers to show his sister.
"Woah, two naps in the same day?" Aria asked, and Hudson nodded fervently. "I'm so jealous, I wish I could have two naps."
"Well, umm, it just, you umm," Hudson stammered as he attempted to process all the thoughts in his mind. "You not haf a scawy nose wike me."
"Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe if I had a scary nose, I could have two naps, too. Do you think so?" Aria asked Hudson. He was too freakin' cute for his own good, the big girls were literally obsessed.
"Prowbabee if your mommy say it otay wike my mommy," Hudson responded.
"You're probably right," Aria mused.
Just then Coach B blew her whistle, and Hudson ran over to Emily who was now sitting on the bleachers watching the girls interact with him. They ran their routine a few times through and each time the pyramid was formed, Hudson gasped while leaning back against Emily with wide eyes. "Do you think that's so cool, baby?" Emily whispered, and Hudson nodded.
"Cwalke in the sky, she fwyin' wike pe'nut butter do, mommy," Hudson said, waving his stuffed animal around. Stuffies didn't come to school, they got kisses from the kids before the start of day then were left in their car seats so they could see them again at pickup, but cheer practice was different because Emily knew Hudson wouldn't ever put his stuffy down in the gym and he had a traumatic day.
"You're right, buddy. Oop, there she goes again," Emily said when they formed the pyramid for the third time.
"Wook, they makin' a twi-imble mommy," Hudson pointed out. "A twi-imble haf one, two, free pointy sides, see!"
"How did you get so smart, huh?" Emily said, peeking down at Hudson who was still wide-eyed looking at the girls.
"Umm, I weally smart be'tause I pay temp-in to Ms. Katie," Hudson answered, looking up into his mothers' eyes.
"You do pay attention, don't you. What other shapes have you learned about besides triangles?"
"Umm, cirtles, spares, di-minds wike this," Hudson said, pointing to Emily's ring. "…they not sparkwee wike this one. Umm, staws wike in the sky…but the staws not gwow up wike the ones in the sky do."
"You're so right, rue. Your brain is full of information already, how much do you think you'll know at the end of the year?" Emily asked, running her fingers through his shaggy hair.
"Prowbabee so much, maybe my head espwode!"
Emily laughed when Hudson giggled at himself and then spun his legs around so she was cradling him and peppered kisses to his face. "You're too cute. I love you so much, Hudson."
While Emily was cooking dinner, Clarke came into the kitchen and asked her mom about having a sleepover tomorrow then talked about something that was weighing on her mind. "We are going to your aunt and uncles house on Saturday for their gender reveal but I'm sure they won't mind if your friends join us. I'll call your aunt and ask her," Emily said and reached for the home phone.
"Mom, wait…" Clarke said, trailing off.
"What is it, honey?" Emily saw the face her daughter was making and rubbed her hand up and down Clarke's arm then said, "What's going on?"
"Do you think Aria, Maggie, Kathryn and Taylor will look at differently if I tell them?" Clarke asked, and Emily knew instantly what she was talking about.
"Do Hannah and Clarie look at you differently?" Emily questioned back.
"No. But they're my best friends and…I don't know, we weren't in high school yet when we became friends."
"You know what I think?" Emily asked hypothetically as Clarke was looking for her advice. "True friends are with you no matter what's in your past. They want to support you, lift you up, and be there for whatever you need because that's a part of friendship. I also think the girls will understand that this is your story and you're choosing to open up with them, they'll respect that you don't want everyone to know about your business. Aria, Maggie, Kathryn and Taylor have good heads on their shoulders, otherwise you wouldn't have invited them over multiple times, right?" Emily said, and Clarke nodded.
"You get to choose who you let in and if they have anything but support towards you after you tell them, mom and I will be here to set them straight," Emily said, winking at Clarke. The mother cupped Clarke's cheek and then said, "I know high school can feel overwhelming, babe, but you'd be surprised how simple it is at the same time. Everybody just wants to find their tribe, and if you ask me, yours has grown by four."
"You really think so?" Clarke hoped.
"I do, Clarke. It's evident how much they care about you, and I think you feel the same about them."
"You're right. I really love hanging out with my friends, and obviously I love being with my siblings, but I don't know…it's just kinda different being with the older girls you know?"
"You're always surrounded by littles, babe. I completely understand wanting to have friends to look up to, they're like big sisters in a way."
"Yeah, that's a good way to put it. And they can teach me stuff that you and mom can't like makeup," Clarke said, then backtracked. "I just mean because you and mom don't really wear any…"
"They certainly can, but I'm not ready for you to wear makeup yet. You're a beautiful girl, you don't need makeup."
"Mom!" Clarke said with an eyeroll at the compliment. "I just mean for cheer competitions not like every day."
"I know, I'm just teasing you," Emily assured. "Do you have any homework?"
"Just a little; actually, can you help me with some of my math please? I don't really understand all the questions."
"Of course, go grab it."
Just then Emerson and Lily came running around the kitchen island followed by Hudson who was chasing them with the twins on his heels, they all had nerf guns in hand but it was evident the girls were working together not to mention the fact Brooks and Brynley were just along for the ride. Brooks was carrying a nerf gun but he spent more time trying to catch up with his brother than aiming at him—Brynley on the other hand rooted herself in one spot and ended up shooting Clarke in the leg before sending one sailing across the kitchen.
"Hey, hey now! What are the nerf rules babies?" Emily asked.
"Not in the kiphen!" Emerson answered.
"That's right. Take it in the other room please," Emily announced, then caught one of the peanuts when she ran into her legs. "Where's River, bug?" she asked, lifting Lily up so the little girl was now face to face with her mother.
"Umm, Wivah helpin' Oakwee wif umm, me don't know," Lily answered with a shrug.
"Homework?"
"Yeah dat. Her goed upstaiws be'tause her umm, it just be a touple mimutes," Lily continued.
"That's okay, baby. Just keep the game in the living room and playroom please. Alright, go play bug," Emily said, sending the little one on her way.
Just then JJ and Oliver came into the house as Clarke came back into the kitchen with her math homework. "Hi mom," and "Hi buddy," were heard at the same time from Clarke to JJ and Emily to Oliver. The boy ran up to his mom to give her a hug while JJ wrapped her arms around Clarke and kissed the top of her head. "How was your day, sweets?" "How were your soccer pictures?" the mothers asked the kids on either side of the island.
"Really good. And I scored three goals too, me and Jack both getta start at our game on Sunday," Oliver beamed.
"No way, that's awesome! I'm so proud of you, Oliver," Emily said, running her fingers through his hair. "You had a pretty long day today, huh? Normally practice ends much earlier but those pictures took a good chunk of time, do you have a lot of homework buddy?"
"Yeah, but it was okay. Umm, I finished a lot of it already, I still have some science questions though. We're learning about the Earth and space, it's so cool! I think I might wanna be an astronaut because space is like, it's even cooler than planes."
"Wow, cooler than planes? I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if you were in space though, that's way too far away," Emily teased.
"Mommy," Oliver said, tipping his head back. "I think you could probably still sleep because it's not like I'd be in space all the time, just a little bit."
"Oh okay," Emily agreed. "Alright, go change buddy, dinner will be ready soon and I want you to be able to finish your homework before we eat."
Emily and JJ loved the fact that Brookwood didn't give a ton of homework, they preferred the children to be able to focus on after school activities and getting time to enjoy their childhoods rather than bombarding them with homework. Every teacher allowed time in class to complete homework, and they all had a free period to hopefully finish it before the end of day meaning, only papers and projects needed to be worked on when the kids got home. The mothers knew their kids were receiving top level education while also being able to be children too—so much of life is spent as an adult, there was no reason to rush what little childhood they have to begin with. Emily and JJ preferred their kids to be running around, dancing, and cheering rather than sitting at their desks alone doing homework anyways, it created all around happier and more successful children.
After Clarke finished her math homework with Emily's help, she made a call to Aria and let her know about the sleepover. "My mom said you can all stay over but we have my aunt and uncles gender reveal party on Saturday. She spoke with my aunt and she said you can come to that too…there will be lots of food and even more family but if you guys don't mind, my mom said you're more than welcome."
"That would be great! I'd love to meet your family too because I bet they're all super cool people," Aria exclaimed; she could only imagine how much fun Prentiss family gatherings were.
"Yeah, they're pretty fun people to be around," Clarke agreed. "Umm, my mom also said if you wanna bring your bags tomorrow morning she can take them home with her so you don't need to try and fit them in your locker. Or your moms can bring them over at some point tomorrow, but it would probably just be easier to put them in my mom's car at drop off."
Emily didn't care either way, she knew sometimes kids wanted particular items that may be in the wash and because of that, the mothers found themselves making a trip to the Prentiss estate to drop off said items—other times kids forgot certain things or were embarrassed and asked their parents to bring them so the kids at school wouldn't know and/or irreplaceable wouldn't get lost. Olivia was so worried her stuffy would get left at school, so her mother often brought her bag and sometimes Amelia's friends felt a bit embarrassed by the fact they still slept with their stuffy or blankie and didn't want anybody else to find out. At the Prentiss house though there were kids of all ages which meant the friends never became self-conscious.
"Yeah that's great, I'll let everybody know to bring their overnight bags at drop-off tomorrow. We can give them to your mom before school, tell her thank you from mine, I know she'll be grateful to not need to drive across town."
"I will," Clarke assured. Just then Brynley came running into the kitchen squealing causing Clarke and Emily to wince, "Mama, mama, mama!"
"Brynley, Brynley, Brynley," Emily teased.
"Humbe," Brynley said, now in Emily's arms as she signed hungry.
"I know baby, dinner is nearly ready. Are you excited to have some chicken?"
"Ti-pinnnnnn!" Brynley screamed.
"Oh, my mom also wanted me to ask if there's anything special you guys want for dinner too," Clarke said as an afterthought once she showed Aria her baby sister on FaceTime. They switched over to a video call when the little one came running in because Aria couldn't get enough.
"Oh, umm…whatever is fine. We aren't picky," Aria said.
"Okay, I'll let her know. I've got to go because we're about to eat. I'll see you tomorrow, Aria."
"Bye Clarke, see you tomorrow Brynley!" Aria said with a wave towards the baby.
"Bye-bye!" Brynley waved.