Home Is Where The Heart Is

Part 4

Natalie Ross

"Hey Nat!" I heard from downstairs while I was doodling at my desk. "Are you upstairs?"

I spun around in my chair. "Yep!" I said as I bounded down the stairs. I got to the bottom and quickly hugged my mom.

"How was your day?" She asked

"Just another day. I went down to the store and picked up school supplies though. Took Nash for a walk," I explained

"Oh good. That means we don't have to go tonight," she said relieved.

"Yeah," I laughed. "What's for dinner?" I asked as I leaned on the counter.

"In honor of it being your first day of high school tommorow, dinosaur chicken nuggets and apple slices," she told me, putting an emphasis on the high school.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. I didn't care though. Dino nuggets were the best. And she wasn't talking about the super quick microwave ones. She was talking about the oven bake kind that are super good.

"Alrighty Mrs. Chef," I told her. She could follow package instructions but anything beyond that was rough. She liked to think she could cook though, so we humored her. My dad was the real cook.

"Haha very funny," she said.

"Anytime," I laughed as I saluted and went back upstairs.

⚫

I went back to my doodles for about 20 minutes before my dad got home. Once again I bounded down the stairs.

"Hey kiddo," he greeted with a smile.
"You ready for dinner?"

"Absolutely!" I responded with a chuckle.

"Then Chow down," my mom said behind us as she handed us each a plate.

We sat and ate and talked about the day. Eventually about the day that was coming.

"You ready to be a freshman?" my dad asked me sarcastically.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I said with a wink.

"When are tryouts again?" My mom asked before taking a bite of an apple slice.

"February 16th," I replied immediately. I had been waiting for the day I could try out for the high school team since 5th grade. It was so close and I was getting excited

"Make sure to keep working hard," my dad reminded me for what felt like the hundredth time this week. But he was right. And I was working hard. I was determined to make the team.

"Yup," I told them with a nod.

We continued to eat and chat for a while.

"When is Stacy coming home?" I asked my mom.

My mom looked at the time, "Any minute now."

As if on cue, my little sister walked through the door and came and sat down.

"How was the lake with Ambri?" my mom asked her.

"It was great," my sister said with a smile. She had spent the night at their house and then went to the lake today.

After that we continued to chat, finish our dinner and talk about our first days of school.