PREATH- Full Circle

Ch. 27

"Aunt Lauren! Aunt Lauren!" I awoke to Caden jumping on my bed.
"Hi Lil' Bit." I groaned and rolled over to look at the clock only to find that it was 6:00 am. "What are you doing up?"
"When are we leaving?"
"Um in like 2 hours from now. Do you wanna lay with me for a little while? Don't go wake up mommy and mama they were up a lot with the babies last night."
"Okay!" He said and crawled underneath the covers with me, and ended up falling asleep until the alarm went off at 7.
"Hey Caden. You ready to get dressed?" I whispered to his face that was 3 inches from my own.
"Yeah!"

I got him up and brought him into his room where I put on his light cutoff jean shorts, a white t shirt with navy 3/4 sleeves, and his Sperry's.
"Aunt Laur?"
"Yes?"
"Where are we going?"
"Hmm. I was thinking we could do what you want." I hinted. "What do you wanna do?"
"I dunno."
"Okay, well think about it or I'll pick."
"Hmm can we go to the zoo?"
"You wanna go to the zoo?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay then! Let's get downstairs and eat breakfast then we'll go to the zoo."
"Yay!" He cheered. I scooped him up and brought him downstairs to the kitchen where Tobin was feeding Emersyn and Chris was cradling Grayson.
"Hi mommy. Hi mama." Caden greeted and went to the cabinet to pick out his favorite cereal.
"Hey Cadey boy. How are you?" Tobin yawned.
"Good. We're going to the zoo!" He announced.
"The zoo!? No way!" Christen whisper yelled in pretend shock.
"Yeah! I'm gonna see the tigers and the bears and the zebras!"
"No way, Cadey. That's awesome! Are you excited?"
"Yeah!" He said and he handed me the cereal box for me to pour him a bowl. I set the bowl of cereal in front of him and he gobbled it down in record time.
"Ready Lil' Bit?"
"Ye-up"
"Alrighty let's go!" I told him as he said goodbye to Chris and Tobs along with Lobo and the twins.

We hopped into the car and arrived at the zoo twenty minutes later.
"Alright mister. We're here!"
"Yay!" He cheered and unbuckled from his car seat, before walking up to the ticket counter with me to buy the tickets for the day.
"One adult and one child under 4 please."
"Okay that will be $28.00 in total." The lady told me. I handed her the money and we headed into the zoo.
"Okay Caden, what'cha wanna see first?"
"Um the tigers."
"Alright they're over this way." I said and took his hand.

{WITH TOBIN AND CHRIS}

"Hey Graykey." Chris cooed. "Time for a nap I think." She whispered and picked him up to bring him to bed. I stayed there with Emersyn for a little while, and I stared into her piercing blue eyes that looked exactly like Christen's. It was the first time she's really opened her eyes for long periods of time and I am enthralled in the color, just like I was when I first met Chris.
"Hey Em. I'm your mama. I love you very much, beautiful." I whispered as she stared up at me. "You look just like your mommy. You know that?" She looked up at me and smiled a little. I felt strong arms wrap around me and a face nuzzle into my neck.
"Hi." She whispered softly.
"Hey. Look at her eyes." I told her. "They look familiar." I said with a smirk.
"Oh yeah?"
"Just like yours."
"Grayson's are the deepest blue you have ever seen. Almost mysterious."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah they're crazy. Almost purple." She said. Grayson must've opened his eyes for her in the bedroom. I looked down, and Em was asleep in my arms, her hands curled up under her neck.
"I'm gonna put her in the crib, okay?"
"Yeah I'll wait here babe."

{WITH CADEN AND LAUREN}

"Hey Lil' Bit, are you hungry?"
"Yeah!"
"Well come on! Let's go get something to eat." I told him and headed toward the food pavilion. We got our food, and we headed to a nearby picnic table to eat it.
"Hey Aunt Lauren! Can we go see the Bears after?"
"Of course we can! Maybe after we see all the animals we can go to the gift shop?"
"Really?" He asked as his eyes lit up.
"I mean only if you want to." I said with a smirk. "Because you don't seem too sure."
"I do want to!" He protested with that cute little frown.
"Okay then, eat your lunch." I instructed.
"Okay!" He sang happily and ate another French fry.
After we both finished, we headed over to see the Bears.
"Aunt Lauren look! It's a baby bear!"
"Do you know what a baby bear is called?"
"Nope." He shook his head.
"It's called a cub."
"A cub?"
"Yeah that's right."
We left the bear exhibit, and headed over towards the gift shop.
"Okay Caden you can pick out one thing."
"Okay" he agreed and skipped off to look. I followed him around, and he came to me with a stuffed bear.
"Can I get this, Aunt Lauren?"
"Yeah I don't see why not." I smiled.

We headed to the register, and checked out.
"Okay Caden, time to head home buddy." I said realizing that it was close to 5:00. I got Caden buckled into his car seat, and called Tobin.

"Hello?"
"Hey Tobin. We're just heading home now, do you want me to grab dinner?"
"If you want. I can call in a pizza and you can pick it up?"
"Yeah tell me where."
"Okay I'll call it in to Ralphie's. You'll pass in on your way to the house."
"Alright see you soon. Bye Tobin."
"See ya Chen."

I hung up with Tobin and turned to look in the back seat to find Caden fast asleep. I smiled and turned my attention back to the road. When I went to grab the pizza, I had to wake Caden up.
"Hey Lil' Bit. You gotta wake up for a second so we can go get the pizza." I said when I walked around to his door. 
"I don't wanna." He groaned. 
"Come on, I'll carry you." I wagered. 
"Okay." He yawned and I unbuckled his seat belt and carried him inside. 
"Hi order for Tobin." I said as I walked up to the counter. The woman handed me the box, and I held Caden on one hip and the box in my other hand. Shifting Caden into the car seat, I placed the box onto the seat next to him, and then proceeded to buckle him in, before taking off towards the house down the street.

WITH TOBIN AND CHRIS

"Chris do you want me to wake them up? They won't sleep tonight if we don't." I noted. 
"Yeah go ahead. I'll come to help in a minute."
"Okay." I called over my shoulder as I entered our bedroom where the twins were. Emersyn was still asleep, but Grayson was awake. We have noticed that Gray was such a calm baby compared to Emersyn who was relatively fussy. I took Grayson out, and changed his diaper. He was looking up at me, and I looked into his eyes. Chris was right, there was something almost mysterious behind the deep blue eyes. They were almost purple. As I began to change the diaper, he cried at the loss of warmth. 
"Hey Graykey. It's alright baby." I cooed. "You're alright." I said and he seemed to calm down at my voice. "All right. All done now." I concluded and he giggled a little bit, causing me to chuckle. I heard the door open, and I looked up to find Christen walking over to Emersyn's crib. 
"Hey Emmie." I heard her say. Soon, I heard our daughter let out a cry. "Hey shh baby. You're okay beautiful." I watched as she picked up Emersyn, and bounced her lightly to calm her down. Once calm, Christen put her on the table and proceeded to change her diaper. I placed Grayson in the little swing we had in the room, and went and stood behind Christen. 
"Crazy isn't it?" I whispered.
"What?"
"Well, for the past nine months, these little guys were inside of you. Then one day, they became a part of our lives. Of our family."
"It is isn't it? I wouldn't change it for the world though."
"Neither would I." I said and wrapped my arms around her shoulders. "Neither would I." 

Chris finished changing Emersyn, so I grabbed Grayson out of the swing, and carried him out to the living room and sat on the couch with a bottle for him. A few minutes later, Lauren and Caden got home. Lauren came into the living room with Caden on one hip and the pizza box on the other. 
"Hi guys." She greeted in a whisper.
"Hey Chen. It's okay they're awake."
"Okay good." She said at a normal volume. "I'll put the pizza in the kitchen." 
She put Caden down on the couch next to me, and he laid his head in my lap. 
"Hey buddy. did you have fun today?"
"Yeah! We saw the tigers, the lizards, the bears, the zebras, the wolves..." He listed every single animal that they saw, and showed his new stuffed bear to Chris and I. 
"Wow Caden, that sounds like it was a lot of fun! Did you tell Aunt Lauren 'thank you'?"
"Thank you Aunt Lauren." He said.
"You're welcome buddy. Come on guys, the pizza will get cold." She said, and we moved into the kitchen. I was still holding Grayson, and I ate the piece of pizza with my free hand. After dinner, we moved back into the living room, and turned on Caden's shows where he cuddled up at Christen's side with his blanket and milk, after Christen passed Emersyn off to Lauren. Eventually, I put Grayson in his crib, and Christen followed with Emersyn. We said goodnight to the twins, and by the time we headed back into the living room, Lauren was carrying Caden to bed seeing as he was passed out in her arms. Once she returned from putting Caden to bed, we finally got control of the TV for about an hour or so until we decided to call it a night. I had to get back to training tomorrow, so I needed sleep. Plus, if all goes as planned, the twins should be waking up in a couple of hours, so we'll be up with them. 
"Night Chen. Thanks again for everything."
"Hey not a problem. I love you guys, see you tomorrow." 
Lauren said she didn't mind staying another week to help Chris as she gets back on her feet, and gets used to me being away. 

Once we were in bed, Christen turns to me and brings up the topic of discussion I was dreading. 
"Tobin I think I'm ready to retire..."

AN: thoughts? Thansks for reading!