The Family Man

“Belle!” Anna yelled as she ran at me.
I put my arms out and pulled her into a hug. “Hello Anna.” I said.
“I missed you.” She said.
I chuckled. “I missed you too. You’ve grown since I last saw you. How old are you now?”
“Two and three quarters.” She said.
“Wow.” I said. “Is your Mommy around?”
She nodded. “Yup.”
“Well then let’s go find her.” I put her down and took her hand as we walked through the house.
“Ella!” I said, finding her in their sitting room.
“Belle, it’s nice of you to visit.” She said.
“I’d like to talk to you about something.” I said. “I’d like your advice.”
“Of course. Anna, could you go check on Tara for me?” She asked. “As long as she’s asleep, you can go play in your room after.”
“Okay Mommy.” Anna said, running towards the stairs.
I sat next to Ella on the couch. “I can’t believe how fast she’s growing.” I commented.
“I know. It continually surprises me.” She said.
“How is it, having the two of them?” I asked.
“Good, I think it’s a great thing. It was tricky at first, what with all the time a newborn takes up.” She said. “But Jake was really helpful, not making me do too much. He spent a lot of time with Anna when I had to be with Tara.”
“And how is it now?” I asked.
“Much better. Tara has a routine now, so it’s not all hours anymore. Anna has grown quite fond of her. Always asking me to show her what to do, asking to help look after her.” She smiled. “I’m looking forward to when they’re both a little older and they can play together.”
“That’s nice.” I said, placing my hand over my stomach.
“You’re worried about when the new baby comes, aren’t you?” She asked.
“Yeah.’ I replied. “The twins seem excited, but the baby is still just an idea to them. What if that changes when there is a real crying baby in the house?” I worried.
“I’m sure they’ll be fine. It’s not like they haven’t had to share attention before, they are twins after all.” She said. “If it really is bothering you, we can set up some play dates. They can come over and spend time with Anna and Tara. It’ll help them get used to being around children who are smaller than they are.”
I smiled. “Ella, you are a genius!” I gave her a hug.
“I know.” She said with a laugh.

“What are we doing at Aunt Ella and Uncle Jake’s?” Samantha asked.
“You two are going to spend the afternoon with their daughters, Anna and Tara.” I replied.
“Why?” Jack asked.
“So that you can see what it’s like to be around younger children. It’ll help prepare you for your new baby brother or sister.” I said.
“Okay.” They replied in unison. They still did that. They even did it at school. It was funny because their teacher would have to tell them that only one of them could speak at a time.
“Hello Samantha, Jack.” Ella said as she opened the door.
“Hi Aunt Ella.” They said.
“Come on in, Anna is in her room.” She said.
“I’ll be back around 5pm to pick them up.” I said.
“See you then.” Ella replied.

I entered the house to find it extremely quiet. “Ella!” I called.
“In here.” She said.
I followed her voice and found her in the kitchen. “So where are they?”
“Upstairs.” She said. “They were playing with Anna’s dolls for a while, then when Tara started to cry, Samantha asked if she could help me with her.”
I smiled, that was nice. “What about Jack?”
“He simply stood there and watched. I think he was curios more than anything.” She said.
“That’s good then.” I said.
“Yes it is. I think they’re all playing house now.”
“House?”
“Yes, Anna told me a little while ago when I was shooed from her room.” She said. “I think Samantha was the mother, Jack was the cooky uncle and Anna and Tara were Samantha’s adopted daughters.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’s an interesting family.”
“Yes it definitely is. We should go up and see how they’re doing.”
We headed upstairs to find Tara asleep, Anna was playing with dolls and Samantha and Jack were pretending to cook something in Anna’s toy kitchen.
“Mommy!” Jack and Samantha said.
“Hi, did you have fun?” I asked.
“Yes!” They said together.
“Can we come back again?” Samantha asked.
Jack nodded his head vigorously.
I looked to Ella, she was laughing.
“Of course!” She said.
“Come on then you two.” I said, taking their hands. “Daddy’s making his famous spaghetti for dinner tonight.”
“Yay!” They both shouted.

Notes

Sorry it's been a while. My life has been super busy for the last week. Please comment.