The Rusty Old Minivan

Chapter 5

His alarm went off at precisely five am. He stopped snoozing it at precisely five thirty am. The twins were awake already like usual, his own little human alarm clocks if the one on his phone didn't do the trick. They were purring sleepily, clawing at his face and rolling around in bed, chattering to each other.

"Morning, bub," Louis said as he got a sticky little fist slapped onto his face. Ernest was inches away from his face, pulling at his cheeks and poking him in the forehead.

"Lou, Schoo. Schoo," he insisted. "Schoo."

Louis picked him up on one arm, then his sister on the other, and dragged his body out of bed. "Yeah yeah," he sighed, "school."

He didn't know when the two toddlers had picked up on the fact that school was the most important thing to get ready for in the morning, but he supposed they just looked up to their older siblings. Ernest sure seemed to be counting the days until he was old enough to go to primary.

Louis woke all the big girls by sticking a hand up into their shared loft-bed and pulling on their ankles till they tried to kick him in the face. Ever since they were evicted from their old house, the concept of personal space had become nothing but an ancient myth. The trailer they lived in now wasn't big, definitely wasn't designed to fit a family of eight, plus a Niall, but they'd made do with it anyway. Louis slept on the double bed/daytime couch and eating area, together with Doris and Ernest, Freddie slept in his leg-less crib beside them, Niall on a fold-out mattress on the floor and Phoebe, Daisy, Fizzy and Lottie all on the loft bed above the kitchen area.

No, the trailer didn't offer enough space to call it personal, but it offered them a roof above their heads and the ability to eat, sleep and shower and that was enough to call them content. Besides, the only other alternative would be sleeping on the street and Louis didn't really fancy the prospects of ever going back to that.

"What fuckin' fuckhead nicked all my motherfucking tampons?!" Lottie screamed from the toilet.

"No one nicked your fuckin' kitchen roll size tampons, it's not my fault you bleed like a goddamn tsunami!" Fizzy screamed back from the loft bed.

Someone stepped on Niall, who was still asleep on his floor-mattress, and he gave a load groan, then threw an arm out and accidentally tripped Daisy so she fell over Freddie's crib and woke him, resulting in loud screaming.

"Oh for god's sake." Louis inched past Phoebe, still with a two-year-old on either arm, and somehow managed to pick their cereal and plastic bowls out of a kitchen cabinet. He walked them back to the bed again, sat them down on it and arranged their breakfast on their shared tray. "Try not to spill, guys."

He picked Freddie out of his crib, cradling him at his chest. He bopped him gently up and down until his cries turned to little purring sounds at his collarbone.

"Oi," Louis kicked Niall in the flank, "mate. Take Fred's for a sec."

Niall groaned again, but sat up reluctantly and took the baby into his arms. Louis turned to continue his morning routine.

He warmed formula for Freddie and handed it over to Niall. He cleaned up the cereal that the toddlers had spilled all-over their breakfast trey, then took off their bibs, changed their diapers on the ironing board/changing table, got them dressed and put them back in bed. He took Freddie off of Niall's hands, changed his diaper, got him dressed and handed him back to Niall. He dragged Fizzy out of bed and forced her to eat something, then helped Phoebe find a pair of clean trousers and Daisy find her math book. He made four sandwiches, packed them in four brown paper bags, handed them to the school-going girls and saw them off. He filled the dishwasher, swiped the kitchen counter, picked a few toys and tampon wrappers off the floor, pushed the ironing board/changing table back in the closet, and then- then he sat down on the kitchen counter to have a cup of tea.