Chapter FourI yawned as I shuffled into the kitchen. I flipped on the light and let out a scream as I jumped back.
"It's me! It's me! Sorry!" Anthony gasped.
"Anthony! Jesus!" I said placing a hand on my chest.
"I am so sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" He told me.
I squinted as I looked at the clock.
"It is 3:24 in the morning, what are you doing up?" I asked.
"Um, making mac and cheese?" He said shyly.
"As one does at three in the morning." I giggled.
"I couldn't sleep." He admitted.
"Same, anything on your mind?" I asked.
I shuffled over to the coffee maker and started to process of making a pot of coffee.
"No, just a bit nervous about today." He said.
"Delivery day." I sang.
"Do we know how many we are getting?" He asked.
I pulled out my phone and pulled up the text message from Sarah that I received last night.
"According to this we will be getting three. Two boys, one a child and the other a newborn and a girl who is a toddler." I told him.
He nodded his head.
"Hey, you do realize that all you have to focus on is healing and being a teenager, right?" I asked.
My question must have taken him by surprise because he stopped what he was doing and looked at me.
"Did I do something wrong?" He asked.
"No! No, absolutely not! I appreciate all of the help you do with the girls so far! I just want you to know that it's not your responsibility. It's a lot to handle being a young adult, let alone a teenage boy. So, if there's ever a day you want to go out and do something you can. But, I enjoy the help as well. I just don't want you to feel pressured to help." I explained.
He gave me a smile, "I know, but I don't have any friends to go out. Plus, I love those little girls. I would do anything for them."
My heart swelled. It has been a decent amount of time with the three of them, yet it feels like I just got them yesterday. To hear that he has bonded and loves them as much as I do makes my heart very happy.
"They are pretty great, along with their brother." I said.
"Stop." He whined, but he was smiling.
I smiled back as I set the coffee maker.
"I'm going to go check on Catherine, she was fussy so I brought her down here so she wouldn't wake up Meredith." I said.
"Good thinking, Mer is a nightmare if she gets woken up." He agreed.
I walked into the living room and leaned over the play pen. I was already dressed to go outside because I had to harvest the garden and it was a bit chilly outside.
"Sleep well baby girl." I whispered.
I let Anthony know that I was leaving the house so that he could keep an ear out for them to cry. I enjoyed harvesting in the morning because the town was still quiet. The house was apart of the island in Windenburg which originally I thought I was going to hate. But there was something peaceful about less traffic and the fact that if you needed to go to town you had to take a boat to get there. I took a deep breath of fresh air as I grabbed my basket that I kept by the gate of the garden. Emma would be here to water and weed shortly so I tried to ignore the weeds that were growing around the carrots.
I walked back inside thirty minutes later to Anthony sitting on the floor with Catherine in his lap. Meredith was fussing upstairs so I quickly changed back into my normal clothes and headed upstairs to the nursery. I flipped the light on and walked over to her crib where she was bouncing up and down while holding onto the railing. I smiled at her as I lifted he up into my arms and carried her downstairs. I made calming shushing noises as I walked into the dining room and placed her into a high chair.
"How about we try some smashed peas?" I asked her.
She happily slapped the tray in front of her as I scooped some of the nasty green mush on the spoon.
"Are you ready?" I asked.
She said some gibberish that I couldn't understand.
I carefully fed her the peas and watched her face squish up before she pushed the peas out of her mouth with her tongue. They fell all down her dress as she continued to make a face of disgust.
"Yeah, I don't blame you kid." I laughed.
"Julia!" Anthony yelled.
"Yeah?! What's wrong?!" I called back.
"I think they're here!" He said.
"Alright Meredith, you ready to meet your new siblings?!" I asked.
She just looked at up at me, mushy peas all over her face. I quickly wiped her face off and did the best I could with her dress before picking her up from the high chair. I put her on my hip and walked to the foyer. Anthony held out his arms and I handed her over to him to put her in the play pen with Catherine so they could play with each other. I opened up the door to see the same guy who dropped off the three kids the first time standing there.
"We meet again." He said.
I let out a nervous laugh.
"Yeah, sorry about the first time." I said, scratching my neck nervously.
"No biggie, it was a stressful moment I'm sure." He said.
"I never got your name." I said.
"Adam." He said.
He reached out his hand for me to shake.
"Julia, it's nice to meet you." I said, shaking his hand.
He smiled.
"Come in!" I said.
I stepped aside letting him walk in the door. He had a car seat with a little baby in it, and there was a little girl clinging to his leg looking terrified. As soon as he was in the foyer I noticed that the other child was just standing on the porch. I slowly walked over to him and couched down so that I was eye level with him. He looked at me for a moment before quickly turning to look somewhere else.
"Hello, my name is Julia." I said.
"Jackson." He whispered.
"Hi Jackson, did you want to come inside?" I asked.
"I want to go home." He said sadly.
I clasped my hands together to fight the urge to hug him, I didn't want to stress him out any more than he already was.
"I know, but you know what? There is a lot of cool things inside and I bet you're going to have a lot of fun here. We have a roller rink!" I told him.
He perked up a little, "I used to go to a roller rink with my mom."
"Yeah?! Are you good at skating? Do you think you could teach me?" I asked.
"I could try." He said, a little excitement in his voice.
"I can't wait! Did you want to try to come inside?" I asked, holding my hand out to him.
He slowly took it and I led him inside.
"So, as you know that is Jackson. This little girl on my leg is Jennah, and this little ones name is Emerson." Adam said.
Jackson Fleming:
Parents:
Mother: Mia Berry
Father: Stephan Fleming
Background:
Jackson Fleming is a child that was turned over to us by Mia. She didn’t want to go into specifics, but it wasn’t a safe environment with Stephan. She wanted to ensure the safety of Jackson and feared that wouldn't be the case if he stayed with them. Her parents are too old to take care of him, and her only sibling had five of her own children. She begged us to take him and find him a family that would make him safe.
Emerson Rivera:
Parents:
Mother: Unknown
Father: Hunter Rivera
Background:
Emerson Rivera is an infant that was left at the hospital late one night. Hunter admitted that his girlfriend had just delivered him at home, but neither of them were ready to parents. He didn't want to give us the name of the mother for fear that her parents would find out and they'd get in trouble. He left shortly after without giving us anymore information.
Jennah Sparks:
Parents:
Mother: Hannah Marshall
Father: John Sparks
Background:
Jennah Sparks is a toddler that was brought to us by her father John. He stated that it was getting too hard to make ends meet and it wasn’t fair for Jennah. The mother didn’t want anything to do with either of them and left shortly after giving birth to her. His parents were no longer alive and had no other support system in place.
"Thank you Adam." I said.
"No problem, I'll see you next time." He laughed.
"We're going to be seeing each other a lot. You sure you don't want to stay and help?" I joked.
"I think I'm good." He said.
The Next DayShortly after Adam left we all just spent time adjusting to the newness of the situation. Jackson warmed up to Anthony very quickly, especially when they started talking about video games. I was still working on getting Jennah to talk to me because she was still scared and didn't understand where she was. Emerson seemed like he was going to be a very fussy baby because so far we were constantly up there calming him down. I made a mental note to keep an eye on it because he could potentially be colicky and I would need to make a doctors appointment.
I wouldn't be able to do it today though because today was Catherine and Meredith's birthdays! I couldn't believe how fast it went and it made me a little sad that they were already going to be toddlers. I felt very guilty that I wasn't able to work with Catherine as much as I did Meredith with tummy time. But there were going to be times where I succeeded and areas that I needed to improve on. I just hoped that it wouldn't be more difficult to give each children the attention they needed.
"Blow the candles out!" I said to Catherine.
She tried her best but ended up spitting all over the cake more than blowing out the candles.
"It'll be extra moist." Anthony shrugged.
"Gross!" I laughed.
"Meredith's turn!" I sang.
I picked her up and re-lit the candles to the cake.
"Now, blow through your lips!" I said.
With the help of me we blew out the candles.
"Yaaaay!" Anthony sang, clapping his hands.
"Happy Birthday girls!" I cheered.
"Three toddlers in the house, what could go wrong?" Anthony asked.
"I'm tired already." I laughed.
My phone buzzed.
Hey! It's been a while! Is everything okay? -M
HEY! Sorry, we just got three more kids and celebrated Catherine and Meredith's birthdays! -J
Three more already?! That seems fast. Are you sure you can handle this? -M I would be lying if I didn't say that comment kind of made me angry.
"You okay?" Anthony asked.
"Yeah, just my friend checking up." I said.
Of course I can handle it. I knew what I was signing up for. It was never going to be just one child at a time. -J
I just don't want you to get stressed out. -M
I appreciate it Mads. -JI exited the text app and put the phone down. Something seemed off about that interaction but I chucked it down to misunderstanding tones through text messages. But I couldn't stop the nagging feeling that kept hammering away at me. She has been doubting me from the very beginning with this and hiding behind not wanting me to be stressed or overwhelmed. I get that and I do appreciate it, but I need support now then ever.
"Where is Jackson?" I asked.
"I think I saw him outside." Anthony said.
"I'm going to sneak upstairs for a quick bite of food, can you watch everyone?" I asked.
"I got it." He said, saluting me and laughing.
I walked upstairs and into the mini kitchen. I closed the door behind me and poured a bowl of soup. As I sat there I thought about how I haven't talked to my own parents in a while. We didn't hate each other, but we also weren't a close knit family either. Maybe one day I would reach out to mom at least and see how everything is with her. I didn't really have a desire to reach out to dad because of what he had done to mom.
...
"Hungry, tired, and needs a diaper change. That's a dangerous combination." I said.
I walked into the nursery because Emerson has been crying for ten minutes.
"I can't get him to stop." Anthony said.
"Change his diaper and I will start making his bottle." I told him.
Anthony laid him down in the bassinet and quickly changed his diaper. I warmed up a bottle and walked it over to him. Together we managed to get him fed and calmed down enough to get him to sleep. I looked at the clock and noticed it was already almost nine at night.
"You feel like helping me try to get Jennah down?" I asked.
"Yeah, why don't we try a story tonight? See if that won't help her calm down." He suggested.
The first night with Jennah was almost worse then Emerson crying constantly. She herself was crying a lot, but it was more like wailing in pain. She would throw herself on the ground and would kick and scream if Anthony or I would try to pick her up. She finally wore herself down so much from crying that she fell asleep on the rug in the toddler room. She was in the corner playing with the toys when Anthony and I walked in. I walked to the dresser and picked out her pajamas. Anthony distracted her by playing with a toy while I quickly swapped her outfits and sat her on the bed.
"How about we read a book before bed?" Anthony asked.
If looks could kill then Anthony would be toast.
"What is that look?!" I giggled.
The laughing didn't stay last however when she finally spoke the first thing since she's been here.
"Where dada?" She asked.
Anthony looked at me.
"Oh boy." I breathed.
Anthony got up from the bed to let me sit down in front of her. He excused himself to give us privacy and I ran my fingers through my hair. How was I going to explain to a toddler why she wasn't going to see her father anymore?
"Your dad brought you here to me because he needed to take care of some things." I said.
"Come back." She said.
"No honey, he isn't coming back." I said.
I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to keep my emotions in check. I could not fall apart in front of her because she would get more upset. I needed to remain strong for these kids because that is what they needed. Tears were reserved for behind closed doors in my bedroom.
"No love me anymore." She said.
"Jennah, your dad loves you so much. I will explain this so much better when you're old enough to understand better, but he did what was best for you." I told her.
She looked at me for a few moments before laying down. I brushed the hair from her face as I saw a single tear fall from her eyes.
"I've got you baby girl, I promise you that." I whispered.
First of all, almost 100 views! Thank you! I hope you all are enjoying it so far!
Secondly, I made a small oopsie in the story! For some reason I had short life span turned on. I must have had it on for another save file and never turned it back to normal. I think this messed up the age span of Catherine and Meredith, but by the time I realized it they were about to age up. It has been turned back to normal and everything should be good to go from here on out!
