The Rule of Three

Chapter 8

"Mom, we're home," Copeland yells through the house. Today, October 28, is Murphy's 20th birthday; everyone was going to be over at 5:30, except for Murphy. She would be home at any point now. The college she attends is not far from Triwood so she is able to visit often and the trip isn't a long one. The girls came home right after school like they were told to. Suddenly they see their mom pop her head over the banister.

"Hello, could you set the dining room table please," Anna makes a pouty face. "It would really help me out. Also if one of you could check on the food in the kitchen, make sure it's not burning. Stir it around a bit?" She disappears back over the banister, "Thank you, I love you so much." The girls look to each other and roll their eyes.

"Yeah, we love you too," Gaillard yells up to her. She turns back to her sisters, "Divide and conquer?" All three girls grow smirks across their faces. "Patterson and I will take the table, and you take the kitchen, Copeland?" The girls nod and begin to move to their respective jobs when Anna pops her head back over the banister.

"Hey girls?" she asks. After receiving a very sarcastic 'yes mom?' from the girls, she continues, "One of you please take the dog out? You know Grandma Mary doesn't really get along with Samson. Thank you," and she disappears again.

The girls turn to each other and laugh again. This time it'sPatterson that speaks, "Change of plans, I will take care of Samson?" Her sisters agree. "Alright, team triplets go," Patterson says sarcastically. The other girls roll their eyes and go take care of their "assigned" task.

All the girls were busy with their jobs, when suddenly they hear the front door open. "Hello? Anybody home?" Murphy called through the house. The dining room is closest to the front door, so Gaillard was the first one to get to her. "Hey ginge, how's it goin?" Murphy jokingly laughs as she holds out her arms for her little sister to hug her.

"Ha ha, very funny," Gaillard says before she wraps her arms around her older sister. Copeland comes to greet Murphy as well. The three of them embrace for several seconds until Murphy finally pulls away.

"Where is Mom and Patterson?" she asks.

"Patterson is outside with the dog, and mom is upstairs getting ready," Copeland says. They hear the back door open and close, and Murphy took off down the hallway.

"Where's my mini me? Pat-Pat, come give me a hug," Murphy calls out. She hears Patterson's footsteps; she rounds the corner and sees her little sister who looks almost exactly like her. They both smile ear to ear; Murphy wraps her arms around Patterson. After a few moments, they let go, and Murphy looks at all three of her little sisters, "I missed you three so much," she smiles squeezing their hands.

"We missed you too," Patterson says. She then instigates a group hug with all four of them.

"I better find mom, before she finds me," Murphy laughs as she walks up the stairs. She walks down the hall into her mother's bedroom. "Mom?" she calls into the empty bedroom. Anna immediately pops her head around the corner of the bathroom.

"Murphy? Murphy!" Anna exclaims; she runs out of the bathroom and wraps her arms around her daughter. "Oh I missed you so much!" she squeezes her even tighter. Murphy then begins to squirm her way out of her mother's grip.

"Ok that's enough," she playfully says, but Anna does not let go. "Mom, you're suffocating me," she says, and her mother finally lets her go.

"I'm so glad to have you home," Anna smiles and kisses her cheek. "You are spending the night, right?" she asks. Murphy smiles and nods, causing Anna to grin from ear to ear. "Let's go down stairs and help your sisters with dinner before everyone gets here," Anna wraps her arm around Murphy's waste, and they walk down the stairs to join the triplets.

They were halfway through dinner, when all of a sudden the door bell rings. Everyone looks to Anna, "I wasn't expecting any more company."

"I'll get it mom," Murphy says. Anna thanks her quickly, and Murphy gets up and goes to answer the door. She answers the door and sees her father standing on the porch. She quickly glances over her shoulder to see if anyone from inside saw him. She joins him on the porch and closes the door behind her, "You need to leave," she says.

"I wanted to see you," he smiles.

"Well you've seen me now leave," Murphy crosses her arms and glances down the street to see if the neighbors can see them.

"Murph please," he begs. He reaches out and places his hands on her shoulders. "Please listen to me," he asks again.

She tries to get out of his grip, but he only holds her arms tighter, "Let me go, and leave us alone." The door then opens behind her, and Anna steps onto the porch.

"Let go of her," Anna grabs Murphy and pushes her behind her. "Leave this property now, or I'm going to call the cops," she says glaring at him with the iciest of stares.

"Anna plea-"

"Now or so help me..." she says. Daniel clenches his jaw and walks to his car and drives away. When his car can no longer be seen, Anna turns to Murphy, "Are you ok?" she asks worriedly.

"Are you kidding? You just became hulk mom or something; it was awesome," she smiles, then her smile drops, and she looks back to Anna. "Please don't let this ruin our night," she says, "I want to have a good time."

"Me too," Anna smiles. "I promise this won't ruin your night more than it already has," Anna wraps her arms around Murphy. "What do you say? We go back inside and finish dinner?" she asks. Murphy smiles, nods, and the two head back inside to join the others.

After a lovely dinner between all four girls, Anna, Kerry, Grandma M, and Grandma Mary, Murphy and her little sisters are in their pajamas curled up on the couch. "Ok we're heading out, come give out some hugs," Kerry said to her beautiful nieces. One by one the hug Aunt Kerry, their grandmother, and great grandmother. The girls return to the couch and the women head to the door.

Grandma Mary turns around and turns to the girls again. "We love you," she smiles and blows kisses to all of them on the couch. They then return the gesture blowing her kisses back.

The girls are alone in the living room for a moment, then Anna walks into the living room. "Slumber party time?" she asks as she curls up on the couch next to her girls.

"Yep, we're watching The Princess Bride," Patterson says as she grabs some popcorn out of the bowl.

"Oh wait, I forgot something," Anna jumps up and runs into the kitchen. She quickly reappears with a big bag of M'n'Ms, "It's not a slumber party until there are M'n'Ms in the popcorn." She opens the bag a pours some into the bowl. "I had to hide them because your Aunt Kerry would have devoured them," all the girls laugh. "Ok start the movie!" she says. She looks over to her four perfect daughters, and she feels like the luckiest woman to ever walk the earth.