Mandy

Chapter 20

In Christ alone, my hope is found. He is my light-my strength-my song.
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   The next morning, Amilee was the first one awake in the large house, and that meant something she had a lot of fun doing. Waking her Mommy up.

   Amilee got out of bed very quietly, careful not to wake her brother up. If she woke Ethan up, he would just start crying and she wouldn't be able to go wake up her mommy.

   Once Amilee was out of her bedroom, she sprinted down the hallway till she got to her Mommy's bedroom door.

   Amilee opened the door very slowly, then tiptoed into the room, careful not to bump into couch bed her daddy was sleeping on.

   Amilee grinned as she climbed onto her Mommy's bed and began to jump up and down.

   "Ami, is that you?" Mandy asked sleepily.

   Amilee giggled in response as she kept jumping. "Wake up Mommy!"

   Mandy opened her eyes and looked at the little girl. "How can you wake up so early and have so much energy?"

   Amilee jumped one more time, landing in a sitting position beside her mom. "Cause I'm a kid. And you're a mommy." She replied knowledgeably.

   Mandy laughed. "Ok then. Why don't you hop back over to your bedroom and pick out some clothes to wear, then you can take a bath."

   "Ok." Amilee agreed, hopping out of the room just like her mom had suggested.

   Mandy got out of bed and threw a pillow at her brother. "If Ethan wakes up, please take care of him." She instructed.

   "Fine. Please try to be quiet so he doesn't." Caleb responded.

   Mandy smiled and walked out of the bedroom, the door latching softly behind her.

   Amilee hopped into the bathroom, her chosen clothes in hand. "Mommy, I'm a hopping bunny rabbit!" She announced.

   Mandy looked amused. "Do bunny rabbits take baths?" She asked.

   Amilee eyed the tub. "They probably do." She decided. "And they like bubble bath."

   Her mom giggled as she opened the cupboard under the sink. "Well, you get lucky today. I just got some last week."

   "Yay!" Amilee cheered loudly.

   "Ami, after your bath, if Ethan is awake, I'm going to help you pack up your toys, ok?"

   "So we can take them to the new house?" Amilee asked.

   Mandy nodded. "So we can take them with us." She confirmed, ignoring the house part.

   Ethan looked around the dark bedroom. "Mama?" He called loudly. "Mama!"

   Caleb groaned, but got out of bed. "It's ok Ethan, I'm coming." He called.

   "Daddy!" Ethan cried happily as he saw Caleb walk into the room.

   "You were suppose to let me sleep." Caleb informed the toddler.

   "Daddy?"

   He grinned. "Ok, ok. You're forgiven." Caleb relented, picking Ethan up.

   "I'm hungry." Ethan told him.

   "Well, I suppose that means we should get you some food, doesn't it?" Caleb asked, opening the top drawer of the dresser Ethan shared with Amilee.

   "Yes." Ethan said. "Eat."

   Caleb grinned again and grabbed an outfit from the drawer, along with a pair of socks from on top of the dresser. "Let's get you out of those pajamas, then we can get you some breakfast."