Adopted by Elizabeth Olsen

Chapter 12

Chris gets back about half an hour later with four boxes of pizza. "Pizza's here!" He calls and I try to get up but Payton and Autumn won't let me. They're climbing all over me playing with my hair and rings. Chris walks in and laughs at our attempt to clean up. "Hey, you guys. Rox you wanna help me sort out the food?" She nods and passes Marley to Scarlett who bounces her on her knee.

ROXIE'S POV:
I get up to help Chris with the kids' food and I pass Marley to Scarlett. I love Marley so much! I can't believe nobody wants her! I grab eight plates and put one slice of pizza for each kid as a starter and they can have more if they want it. "How are we gonna do this?" Lizzie asks walking in with Autumn in her arms and Payton on her leg. "I was thinking about what we did at the home. Feed the younger four now and then the older four later because they can wait a little more and they don't need as much supervision so we can eat too" I say to Lizzie who just nods along. We sit Josh, Payton, Autumn, and Marley down at the table each with a slice of pizza. Scarlett stayed in the living room with the older four whilst me, Lizzie and Chris sit at the table. Chris is chatting to Josh and Lizzie is trying to get Autumn to try some pizza but Autumn is really stubborn. "Come on just one little bite" I hear her say. "No!" Autumn shouts back. You can tell Autumn is comfortable here because she's acting up and the last time I saw her acting up was when she was with Miss Rose and me. "Come on just a tiny little bite," Lizzie said holding the pizza up to Autumn but she threw it on the floor. Oh no!

LIZZIE'S POV:

I'm trying hard to get little Autumn to eat some pizza but she really doesn't want to open her mouth. She ends up throwing it on the floor and then starts crying. I lift her up and carry her to the kitchen and open the cupboard. "What do you want to eat from here?" I ask her and she points to ham and the bread. Ham sandwich it is. I set Autumn down on the counter and start to butter some bread when Payton walks in. "I want that too!" She says pointing to the ham and bread. "You want a sandwich too? I thought you like the pizza?" she nodded "I want that too!" I laugh and lift her onto the counter too. "Where's Roxie?" I ask. "Feeding baby" Payton answers trying to poke Autumn. One thing I've learned is that these two girls do anything to annoy each other but hate being without the other! "Stop!" Autumn says before trying to hit Payton. "Hey, we don't hurt each other" I say as sternly not wanting to scare them but at the same time wanting them to listen to me "Well she's a poo-poo head!" Payton said before lifting her arms wanting me to lift her. I take them both off the counter and carry their plates over with them waddling behind me. I set the sandwiches on the table hoping that Josh doesn't want one too but he looks pretty happy eating pizza with Chris. I look over and see Roxie tickling Marley who has pizza sauce all over her hands and face. I laugh a little and take a photo and send it to Roxie. The four little kids all finish eating finally and sit chatting with one another. "Miss Lizabeth I want juice," Payton says tapping my arm with her greasy fingers. "You all want some juice?" I ask and everyone says yes. I grab four plastic cups that Scar bought over and fill them with orange juice and take them back. "I want an apple!!!" Autumn says knocking the cup over. I sigh not wanting to get mad but before I can do anything Chris jumps up and lifts Autumn up. "Oh no the table is flooding!! We have to evacuate!! Come on you two!" He says pointing to Payton and Josh who stand up too and follow him to the bathroom where I'm guessing he's gonna attempt to clean them up! Roxie looks up and smiles at me before handing Marley to me. "You can have the fun job of cleaning her!" She giggles. I take Marley who is very sticky and place her on my hip hoping she doesn't get pizza sauce all over my top as her hands are dirty. I walk into the living room telling Scar the little ones are done so she can go and help the bigger kids have lunch. She stands up and leads them into the dining room and they all follow without any fuss.

I carry Marley into my bathroom and lie her down on the floor on her changing mat before removing her vest that's covered in sauce and grabbing a baby wipe. I start to wipe her and she giggles and wiggles around kicking her legs. I can't help but laugh as I pick her up again trying to find the bag that the man gave me with all the things Marley would need. I walk into the living room that is flooded with things and put Marley on the sofa thinking it'll be safe. I turn my back and hear a crash and then loud crying. I turn around and see Marley on the floor crying loudly. "Shit!" I say before lifting her up and trying to soothe her. Autumn gasps "Lizzie said a no-no word!!" she runs off probably going to tell on me and I just try and get Marley to calm down. Why did I think I would be able to look after eight kids!? Marley falls asleep on me and I start to feel bad realizing that this is what Roxie did every day as well as being beaten up too. I suddenly had even more respect for this young thirteen-year-old girl. Scarlett walks back in followed by the four older kids. "Everyone has eaten and Chris is cleaning up with Roxie and Charlie" Scar says before flopping next to me on the sofa. "When shall we do nap-time?" I ask motioning to Marley who's asleep. "Now? I could do with a rest too!" I laugh and nod. "Okay you grab Josh and Payton and I'll sort out Autumn and Marley," I tell her standing up and taking Autumn's hand. Chris gets back about half an hour later with four boxes of pizza. "Pizza's here!" He calls and I try to get up but Payton and Autumn won't let me. They're climbing all over me playing with my hair and rings. Chris walks in and laughs at our attempt to clean up. "Hey, you guys. Rox you wanna help me sort out the food?" She nods and passes Marley to Scarlett who bounces her on her knee.

ROXIE'S POV:
I get up to help Chris with the kid's food and I pass Marley to Scarlett. I love Marley so much! I can't believe nobody wants her! I grab eight plates and put one slice of pizza for each kid as a starter and they can have more if they want it. "How are we gonna do this?" Lizzie asks walking in with Autumn in her arms and Payton on her leg. "I was thinking about what we did at the home. Feed the younger four now and then the older four later because they can wait a little more and they don't need as much supervision so we can eat too" I say to Lizzie who just nods along. We sit Josh, Payton, Autumn, and Marley down at the table each with a slice of pizza. Scarlett stayed in the living room with the older four whilst me, Lizzie and Chris sit at the table. Chris is chatting to Josh and Lizzie is trying to get Autumn to try some pizza but Autumn is really stubborn. "Come on just one little bite" I hear her say. "No!" Autumn shouts back. You can tell Autumn is comfortable here because she's acting up and the last time I saw her acting up was when she was with Miss Rose and me. "Come on just a tiny little bite," Lizzie said holding the pizza up to Autumn but she threw it on the floor. Oh no!

LIZZIE'S POV:

I'm trying really hard to get little Autumn to eat some pizza but she really doesn't want to open her mouth. She ends up throwing it on the floor and then starts crying. I lift her up and carry her to the kitchen and open the cupboard. "What do you want to eat from here?" I ask her and she points to ham and the bread. Ham sandwich it is. I set Autumn down on the counter and start to butter some bread when Payton walks in. "I want that too!" She says pointing to the ham and bread. "You want a sandwich too? I thought you like the pizza?" she nodded "I want that too!" I laugh and lift her onto the counter too. "Where's Roxie?" I ask. "Feeding baby" Payton answers trying to poke Autumn. One thing I've learned is that these two girls do anything to annoy each other but hate being without the other! "Stop!" Autumn says before trying to hit Payton. "Hey, we don't hurt each other" I say as sternly not wanting to scare them but at the same time wanting them to listen to me "Well she's a poo-poo head!" Payton said before lifting her arms up wanting me to lift her up. I take them both off the counter and carry their plates over with them waddling behind me. I set the sandwiches on the table hoping that Josh doesn't want one too but he looks pretty happy eating pizza with Chris. I look over and see Roxie tickling Marley who has pizza sauce all over her hands and face. I laugh a little and take a photo and sending it to Roxie. The four little kids all finish eating finally and sit chatting with one another. "Miss Lizabeth I want juice," Payton says tapping my arm with her greasy fingers. "You all want some juice?" I ask and everyone says yes. I grab four plastic cups that Scar bought over and fill them with orange juice and take them back. "I want an apple!!!" Autumn says knocking the cup over. I sigh not wanting to get mad but before I can do anything Chris jumps up and lifts Autumn up. "Oh no the table is flooding!! We have to evacuate!! Come on you two!" He says pointing to Payton and Josh who stand up too and follow him to the bathroom where I'm guessing he's gonna attempt to clean them up! Roxie looks up and smiles at me before handing Marley to me. "You can have the fun job of cleaning her!" She giggles. I take Marley who is very sticky and place her on my hip hoping she doesn't get pizza sauce all over my top as her hands are dirty. I walk into the living room telling Scar the little ones are done so she can go and help the bigger kids have lunch. She stands up and leads them into the dining room and they all follow without any fuss.