Swanson Farms

Chapter 46

Three weeks later was the day that I was dreading most as a Mom working from home. It was the kids' first day at school and I was deeply dreading this day. As much as Gabriel and Daniel could drive me nuts, they kept me busy and at the same time focused with work.

Bailey had only been in school for half a day when she was in junior kindergarten but this year all kindergarteners we're going to be in school for a full day. Bailey said she was excited to get back to school with all of her friends and the twins said they were happy because they got to hang out with Logan.

I laid in bed wide awake at four in the morning. We didn't have to have the kids at school until eight thirty. Seth and I both assumed that the good byes would take a while. All I could think about was how my little boys are going to be in class with some kids they don't know, and how Bailey only knew some of the kids from last year but not a whole lot (since she had been in the morning half day).

Seth grumbled and woke up, rubbing his eyes, "What the hell are you doing up?"

"I just can't sleep Seth... I'm too nervous." I said, biting my nails nervously. He sighed and leaned over, kissing me,

"Babe please don't be nervous. The twins are going to love being at school with Logan and Bailey's a friendly kid, she'll make friends if she doesn't recognize anyone, I promise." I sighed and kissed him gently, stroking his cheek.

"You're coming with me, right?" He nodded and grinned,

"What should we do today with all of our free time?"

I giggled and shrugged, "I'm sure we'll think of something."

He laughed and laid back down, closing his eyes. I was always envious of how quickly he could fall asleep. It usually took me at least an hour. For the rest of the morning I laid awake thinking of everything going on in our lives right now. We were extremely busy with the bakeries and restaurant and it felt like we had a million other things on the go as well. Seth was teaching Western lessons almost every night and most nights I was home with the kids but that left dinner, dessert, baths, and bedtime all up to me. Soon I'm sure that lunches and homework would be added to that list.

I got up before my alarm and turned it off, going to look in on my angels as they slept. Bailey was sound asleep and Maverick was on the bed beside her, her head resting on Bailey's hip as she slept on her side. The twins were sleeping together, I assumed at some point during the night Daniel had crawled into Gabriel's bed and Goose was sleeping at the foot of the bed. His tail started thumping excitedly and I went over to pat him before shushing him so he wouldn't wake the boys up early. I went downstairs and started a pot of coffee, there was still almost an hour until the kids would have to be up. So I made a cup and took it outside to the front porch, sitting down on the swing.

It felt so relaxing to be outside just as the sun was starting to rise, looking over the land that my mother and sister owned. I know that I had given up on living a farmer's life when I left for Toronto, but although I loved horses, I never loved them as much as Jackie did. She had a drive like I'd never seen before to create her passion for horses into a thriving business, and she did. Sometimes a part of me wonders how different life would be had I stayed in Willowhurst and not gone to Toronto to look for bigger and better things. If I would be a rancher, like my Mom had been, or if I'd have become a cop like I had always felt I would.

I saw the porch light flick off down at the main house and Bobby came out holding his cowboy hat. I knew he was getting ready to start the day's work, this side of the property being mainly a cattle farm now, with the most of the horses on Jackie's property. After sitting in the peace and quiet I went in to start cooking breakfast and making lunches. It had slipped my mind the night before, and I hadn't even gotten the chance to go grocery shopping yet. I went over to the fridge to get out some of the vegetables that the kids and I grew in the garden out back and I sighed when I saw the calendar: