The Way We Were

The Way We Karaoke

Marcy was on the phone with the person in charge of building the stage. There wasn't anything wrong but there were clouds in the sky and certain old wounds ached, meaning it would rain soon. She wanted to ask if they could build a canopy so they could keep performing in the rain.

The man on the other end accepted the task, knowing who she was.

She hung up in a great mood then went to check on the babies on the bed while she mentally went over the check list.

"Mommy!" Riley ran in.

Linda ran in behind her. "I'm sorry, Mistress!"

"It's okay." Marcy set her at ease. "What do you want, birthday girl?"

Riley was officially two and beamed. "Cake!"

"You want cake or you have cake?"

Riley twisted slowly.

Marcy cupped her chin. "Open mouth."

Riley opened her mouth. Bits of cake were still on her tongue.

Marcy let her go. "Has she had any milk?"

Linda shook her head.

"Give her some milk and then set her on the toilet. You're gonna get potty trained!" Marcy looked down at the toddler.

Riley ran screaming from the room.

Linda ran after her.

Marcy smirked as she shook her head. Riley was bad. As bad as Mally. Who was probably coaxing his twin into being naughty while their father was overseeing construction of the stage and Marionette was busy helping Marcy with the triplets.

She took a deep breath before sniffing. Someone had a rotten diaper!

W.W.W.

Marcy held the birthday girl as she was blindfolded and couldn't see. They moved across the Taylor estate's sprawling yard to get to a large throne. She set the little girl in it and ripped away the blinding. "Happy birthday, Rye!"

Riley screeched. Plenty of Italian family was there along with a bunch of little kids (she didn't know) and a large stage. Balloons were everywhere and so was confetti (edible and paper).

"You wanna hear Mommy sing?"

Riley nodded.

Marcy kissed her cheek. "Karaoke is open!"

A cheer went up.

W.W.W.

Riley tore into her present, loving destroying paper. She didn't even care about the gift. She just wanted to rip the paper.

Marcy stopped her before she could destroy the box underneath.

"What is it?" Mal had a camera trained on his single birth child.

"It's a toy that lights up your bedroom in a bunch of colors through these cutouts. They're in different animal shapes." Their Uncle Jason's middle daughter, Davida pointed out the black machine's shapes. "They show on the wall and play lullabies to make you go to sleep."

"Yes!" Marcy desperately wanted Riley to sleep.

Davida smiled before hugging Riley. "Happy birthday, Rye."

Riley hugged the fourteen year old back. "Thank you!"

The crowd awed.

"Our present!" Mally shouted.

"You have a present?" Marcy said that last year but she was still emotional over her children's generosity and thoughtfulness.

"Uh huh!" Mickey tugged it over. It was pretty big though.

"How'd you get that?" Marcy was suspicious.

"Granddad took us."

Marcy helped Riley open it and it was a horse on wheels with a rope to pull it. "That's so cute!"

"I wanna pull her!" Mally announced.

Marcy set Riley on the horse and Mally pulled her around slowly.

The crowd had baby fever.

Mal caught it all on camera.

W.W.W.

The press got good footage of the Christina Barnes singing to her second great granddaughter for her second birthday. Everyone was spellbound, including the little girl that had been hopped up on pizza and cake.

As the party wound down, the press left. Marcy was too glad. She hadn't wanted to invite them but Christina had insisted. It wasn't so bad but she didn't want to get in the habit of being too chummy with the media.

She had the nannies round up the kids and she and her sisters went inside to give them baths and tuck them in while the boys handled demolition.

Marcy set Mally, Mickey and Riley in their bed and had them get under the covers. "Did you have fun today?"

"Yes!" Riley didn't want to go to bed.

Marcy plugged in Davida's gift and sat on the bed. "Daddy is on his way."

Two seconds later, Mal poked his head in. "Am I late?"

"Daddy!" The kids yelled.

He came inside fully and sat on Mally's side. "Does somebody want a story?"

"Me! Me!"

He opened a book and began reading to them.

When he finished, Marcy turned off the light and turned on the machine.

"What about our song?" Mickey rubbed her eyes, fighting sleep.

Marcy was never going to not sing their song. She came back to the bed and sung Forever Love (Dígame) by ‪Anna Nalick‬. The trio were asleep in no time.

Mal took her hand and led her to their room, where the nannies were feeding the babies.

"Are they nearly done?" Marcy wanted to know.

Linda nodded. "Yes, Mistress."

Marcy changed their diapers after then the nannies left to sleep with the older kids. Mal was busy getting ready for bed.

Marcy got ready after him then they curled up in bed. She began kissing his neck. "Sing to me."

He chuckled and began singing a specific song.

She giggled naughtily.