The Academy

Fifty Six

Tink: 

"Look, Nathan visited and now she's a mess. Apparently,his visiting rights have been revoked. She needs you here," Jace says. "Jace I can't be there, I have three kids who all have doctor's appointments.. I need you to try and be enough for a little bit. I understand she is my sister and that family is important but I can not just drop everything and be there right now," I say, trying to hold the phone against my ear and wrestle my one year old into his overalls. "Okay, what ever. I'll clean up the mess you made. Again," Jace says, waiting on my reaction. "What's that supposed to mean?" I demand. " Hey, if you hadn't gotten Rose involved in this in the first place, Nathan would still be alive," Jace replies, trying to push buttons. "Nice try Wayland, please just be there for your girlfriend," I say, going to the couch to collect a throw pillow. 

I hang up on Jace and throw the throw pillow at Peter, who was still sleeping off his long day at work. "I'm up," he whines, rolling back over. "Peter I am not messing around, get up," I say, shifting my weight. "Alright, alright, I'm up. What's your problem?" he asks, throwing the blankets off. " Well for one, I have done everything with the kids this morning. Way to be a Dad! Two, we've got doctors' appointments for the kids. Three, Jace told me it was my fault that Nathan died," I say, getting all upset over practically nothing. "One of these days I am going to shoot him," Peter groans, pulling on a t-shirt. "It wasn't your fault. How long til we need to be at the pediatricians?" "Twenty minutes," I respond.

We leave the house and decided to walk because it's nice out. "Mommy, can we go to the park later?" Delilah asks me out of the blue. "Sure. We can. But only if you are good at the doctors," I tell her, not wanting a melt down from her if she needs shots. "Alright momma," she says, holding Peter's hand.

Both the twins needed shots and Delilah didn't. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful. "I'm going to go see Rose," I tell Peter the next morning. "Alright, be back soon though. I am so untrained in what is called changing diapers, and that other thing called parenting." Peter laughs. "You'll be fine," I say, throwing on sweats and a tank top.

"Rose, are you okay?" I ask, knocking on her door. "That's my sisters hold on a sec," Rose says, opening the door. "Your sister is your boyfriend's commanding officer? Cool. I think," Bella says. Oh cool, Dean's kid is hanging out with my sister. Good, she needs good friends. "How are you holding up?" I ask, putting my hand on her shoulder. "Not as well as I wish, but I might live," she shrugs. "Well come by and see the kids later if you need a pick me up. We'll go out for coffee and all. Uh yeah, I guess I'll be going," I say, nodding at her and her new friend. "Okay," Rose says, barely looking up from the television.

"How is she?" Dad asks from behind me. "She's great. It's great actually. I haven't really seen her happy like this. I'm sure it's just and act but a damn good one at that," I say, smiling. "She'll be by later, better believe it," Dad says, shutting their door. "You can swing by too if you want," I tell him as he walks me to the door. "Me and Jean are going on a date later but I will be by tomorrow," he says, hugging me and sending me on my way. I come in and Samantha actually crawls to the door, Nathan right on her tail. "Ahh, my babies are crawling!" I exclaim, picking them both up. "What?" Peter asks, coming out of our room, his hair sticking up at odd angles.

"You didn't let them out of their cribs?" I ask. "No, they must've climbed over the side. Like little ninja babies," Peter says, tickling them. I set them on the ground and they continue to crawl around. "What you want for breakfast?" I ask, putting my arms around his waist. "A freaking feast. If that's okay," he laughs, lightly kissing me. "Yeah, I need busy work. I need to feel needed right now," I say, stepping back and going into the kitchen. "Rose made a friend didn't she? Hey, you're a mom and a wife. Thank god you're a wife. I mean I can't get along with out you and neither could any of our kids," Peter says, reaching around me for a coffee mug.

"Run away baby," Delilah says, coming out of her bedroom in her night gown. Nathan chases her into the kitchen, laughing. "Hey pretty lady," Peter says, scooping up Delilah and holding her on his hip. "Good morning daddy," she says and then kisses his cheek. "Well look at this," Wendy says, coming into our house. "You really thought you could kill me just like that?" She asks. Oh damn.