A Package Deal

It's a New Dawn, A New Day (Chapter 6)

"Mommy?" Addilyn said, tapping her mother's arm, "You awake?"

"Ummm... No!"

"Then why, are you talking?"

Rubbing her face, Gabby opened her eyes. Standing beside the bed was a wide awake and energized little girl.

"Morning, Sweetheart." Holding the covers open, Gabby invited, "you coming in?"

Climbing up onto the bed, Addilyn settled in for a morning snuggle. These were the minutes Gabby treasured the most; snuggle time with the Disney channel. Pure happiness.

"Hmmm, I wonder what time it is?" she questioned.

"It's MORNING time!" came back the response.

"Uh, but is it 4:00 in the morning or 8:00 in the morning? There is a big difference, sweetie. Go open the curtain and check if it's still dark or if the sun is up."

"O... K!" Addie said, clambering over the top of her mother.

"Ooophhh!"

Giving Addie's backside a push, her mother sent her nose-first into the blankets.

"Careful," Gabby warned, as Addilyn rolled to the side of the bed. Looking at the alarm clock beside the bed, Gabby read 8:45. "That can't be right." Turning on her cell, sure enough, it also read 8:45. Wow, they had both slept a long time. As she stared at the time, a familiar, "achoo," followed by several more notified her that she had received some text messages.

"IT'S MORNING, Momma!" Addie exclaimed, pulling the curtain open and letting the sunshine pour into the room.

Setting her phone on the nightstand, Gabby acknowledged, "so it is." Rubbing her face and scratching her head, she added, "we have a busy day today, so I guess we should get going."

Bounding back up onto the bed, Addilyn asked, "Is today the carousel and the zoo?"

"That's the plan. Though we might need to come back for a nap, especially if we want to go swimming or watch a movie later."

"I won't need a nap," Addilyn said with confidence.

"You might later," Gabby insisted.

"I WON'T!"

"We'll see."

It did not take long to get washed up and dressed. Opening her phone, Gabby checked to see what all the sneezing was. Wow, there were a lot of text messages. One from her parents, one from work and three from an unnamed caller.

"Can you lay here with Honey Bun and watch cartoons while I answer these texts?"

Flashed a dimpled grin, her daughter clamoured back onto the bed.

Sitting at the desk, Gabby tapped on the first message.

"Addilyn, Gramma and Grampa K want to know how the concert was."

"Tell them it was AWESOME!"

Frowning slightly, Addilyn looked at her mother. "Mommy, how come we didn't stay so I could say goodbye to Ignazio?"

"Sorry, what was that?" Gabby questioned, scanning the message from Lisa.

"I said," Addilyn repeated, annoyed her mother hadn't listened to her, "how come we didn't stay so I could say goodbye to Ignazio?"

"We did, Sweetheart, but you fell asleep." Hearing another, "achoo," Gabby eyed her phone. Who was this unknown number? Tapping on the first message, she was not prepared for what showed up.