Mandy

Chapter 16

There's a place...where mercy reigns...and never dies. There's a place...where streams of grace...flow deep and wide.
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   "I. Want. Mommy!" Amilee screamed, stomping her foot loudly on the floor.

   Samantha picked the screaming preschooler. "Amilee, if you keep screaming you will wake up your little brother."

   "I don't care!" Amilee insisted just as loudly. "And he isn't my brother!"

   Samantha looked at her, shocked. "Amilee." She whispered.

   Amilee kicked at Samantha, who promptly set her back on the ground. "Amilee Rose Evens, you are getting a timeout." She told her sternly.

   "I don't want a timeout!" Amilee wailed.

   Samantha picked her up and set her down on the step. "You are going to sit here for five minutes." She informed the squirming girl, then went back over to the kitchen.

   Amilee followed her. "I'm not sitting." She informed her with a smirk.

   Samantha just picked her up and set her back down on the step, then retreated back to the kitchen.

   "I don't wanna sit here!" Amilee screamed from her seat.

   Samantha ignored her as she picked up a dishtowel and started drying the dishes she had been washing before Amilee had started throwing her fit.

   "I want my MOMMY!" Amilee yelled even louder.

   Samantha ignored her again, but sighed when she heard crying from upstairs. She set the towel down and went up the other staircase.

   "Mama?" Ethan asked tearfully as Samantha opened the door to his and Amilee's room.

   "You want her too?" Samantha asked him as she picked him up.

   Ethan looked at her. "Daddy?" He tried.

   Samantha giggled. "I know, you miss them. They will be home, I promise. Their flight just got delayed a couple hours." She explained.

   Ethan gave Samantha a confused smile, making her giggle again. "I think you're going to be just fine." She told him, then set him gently back into his crib.

   She smiled at him, then left the room, softly closing the door behind her.

   Samantha sighed as she went back down the stairs to the kitchen.

   She was interrupted by the sound of her phone ringing. "Hello?" She answered softly.

   "Hey Samantha! We just left the airport, so we should be home in about two hours. Are the kids asleep?" Mandy asked.

   Samantha sighed. "Not yet. It's a long story, I'll tell you when you get home."

   "Alright." Mandy agreed. "I'll see you in about two hours then."

   "See ya!" Samantha replied, then hung up the phone.

   She went over to the staircase where Amilee was suppose to be sitting, and had to hold back a laugh when she found her fast asleep on the step.

   Samantha picked the little girl up carefully, then carried her up to her room.