The Not So Small Family

26

"Are you morons ready!?" Emily screamed at the jogging men

"Yes SgtMaj!" They yelled and got into rows of two

"Then move!" She said

They started running with Emily off to the side. They ran around the park for 3 and a half miles before one of the Marines threw up.

She sighed and stopped running. Sgt Daniels came over and took over.

"Alright boys you have a 30 second water break! Use it wisely! Prentiss I got this go be with your family"

"Thanks Daniels"

He nodded his head as she walked back over to the blanket. She fell to her knees and grabbed a water bottle before tilting her head back and chugging it. Henry took Emily's hat off of her head and put it on his own. When she raised an eyebrow at him he smiled innocently and she laughed.

JJ laid her head down on Emily's lap before shooting up.

"You're all sweaty!" She yelled

"No I'm not" Emily said dramatically

"Yes you are! I felt it!"

"Honey it's you that's sweating. I only ran 3 and a half miles."

"That's a lot!"

"Not really and you know I don't start sweating till at least the 7th mile in when it's a chilly day like today"

"Whatever" she grumbled before she rested her head back Emily's in lap. Emily held her head there as she moved to sit criss crossed.

"Mama!" Henry yelled

"Yeah bubs?" She asked turning her head towards Henry while subconsciously playing with JJ's hair.

"I have potato salad!" He said shoving his plate into her face

She leaned back as the plate almost hit her face. "Yeah you do"

"You want some!"

"Sure"

He grabbed his fork before he scooped up a big forkful and almost stabbed Emily's eye out trying to feed it to her. Emily held his hand steady as she took a bite.

"Mmm that is really good"

"I know! You want s'more?"

"No baby you can go ahead and eat the rest"

He smiled and took another forkful and scarfed it down.

"That is so your child" JJ said shaking her head

"My child?" Emily asked as if she was offended by that

"Yes your child. Look at him! He's not even taking time to breath between bites! I've had to tell you I don't know how many times to slow down when your eating so you don't choke! You both inhale food like it's a drug!"

"You can blame that on the Marine Corps! They did it to me! I wasn't allowed to eat until my CO did and we all finished when they finished. We got our food after them and in alphabetical order! My name starts with a P! That's at the end of the alphabet which meant that I got my food after almost everyone! I had to learn to eat everything I wanted in under 5 minutes if I wanted to have it! As soon as the CO was finished so were you! There were no if ands or buts! If you wanted to eat you had to east it fast. Sometimes you couldn't even get your lunch before they finished which meant you didn't get food until the next time you ate! The first week I was there I had a total of 3 bites a meal! I counted!"

"Ok! Ok! Calm down!" JJ said laying her hands on Emily's bicep.

"I haven't even gotten to the digestion part! The first time I had eaten all my food I threw up after! I had to learn how to pace my self as I ate fast! That took forever and it hurt! But now I can't not eat fast. So in conclusion, DON'T BLAME ME! Blame the Marine Corps!"