The Perfect Family

Chapter 10: Emilie

Jack still hasn't found any inspiration for his novel. I'm trying to remain optimistic, and I truly do believe he'll get back into the swing of things once inspiration hits. But I would just hate to see him give up on something he has worked really hard for. Perhaps I should take him out; that ought to ignite some kind of spark.

As I get out of bed on a Tuesday morning and open up the blinds to allow some natural sunlight to pass through, I notice that Jack must have got up without me. I head downstairs and find him making breakfast with the twins.

"Good morning, Mama" the girls say in unison.

"Well, good morning to you, my beautiful angels" I say as I walk over to hug them both.

"Papa woke us up so we could get ready faster" Lucy says as she gestures to their backpacks hanging behind their chairs.

"Great job listening to him" I respond as I reward them each with a kiss on the cheek.

"Listen, girls. We have a few more minutes before we have to walk to the bus stop, so, who wants to get ice cream before we go?" Jack offers. 

"Ice cream! Ice cream! Yay!" the twins squeal. 

"Jack Wesley Alexander! Ice cream? This early in the morning?"I gasp.

"Come on, Em. It'll only be two tiny scoops. What's the harm?" Jack persists with a smile so charming that I can't seem to resist. 

"Alright. But just two tiny scoops this once. All because you've been so good lately" I answer.

"Bye" Jack and the girls say as they make their way out the door. As I watch them walk away, I thank god that Maddox is still asleep, he would just flip if he saw Jack leave.

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At approximately 9:00am, both the boys begin to stir. As I approach Maddox's room, I find him having gotten gotten out of bed with his beautiful blonde hair in a complete tangle, cluthing his blanket ever so tightly and his monkey pacifier in his mouth, which we only allow when he sleeps.

"Good morning, buddy. Did you sleep good?" I say as I squat to make eye contact.

He simply does not respond, but looks around the room, dazed and confused.

"Alright, lets get your brother and you can have breakfast" I say as I hold out my hand for him to take in preparation for the stairs.

He nods in agreement.

"Good morning, Kyson Dallas" I say as I lean over into his crib and pick him up. His face is scrunched and he begins to fuss in my arms, and I tell him that everything is going to be okay.

Maddox begins to get impatient as he waits at my side with his arms crossed and his face matches his brother's.

"Okay. boys, lets go" I say as we make our way downstairs.

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At around 9:15am when Maddox is settled and Kyson continues to feed, Jack returns with a bouquet of lilies.

"For you, my dear" Jack says as he hugs me from behind and presents the flowers to me.

"Hmm... breakfast and flowers? What's the occasion?" I ask.

"There has to be an occasion? Can't a guy save his wife the hassle of preparing breakfast and bring her flowers just because?" Jack smiles as he kisses my cheek.

"Of course, but this is just so sudden, and I know you only give me lilies on special occasions" I respond.

"What are you really up to?" I say as I give him a suspicious look. "And what's that  smile? Did something happen?"

"No, why would anything happen?" Jack fibbed as he looked down at his feet and smiled, the clasic liar's tell.

"Jack, come on. You know you can't hide forever. I know you're just dying to tell me. I can see it in your eyes" I persist.

"Okay, you're relentless. Gosh. Hand me Kyson because I'm going to need to be kept calm when I divulge the following information" Jack says as he holds his arms out.

"Its okay, sweetie" I say to Kyson as I take his bottle from him for a less than a second while handing him off to his father, then place my hand on Jack's knee. 

"So, what's the news?" I ask with wide eyes.

"I just got a call from Sean" Jack starts.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, knowing that everything has been quite hectic since Jack took a break.

"Yeah, everything is fine. Its just that..." Jack pauses.

"What? What happened? Just be straight forward with me, Jack. You know you can tell me anything" I say.

"I've got a book signing!" Jack announces as he burps Kyson and sets him down into the bouncer.

"That's amazing! I'm so proud of you" I say as I do not hesitate reward him with a congratulatory kiss.

"Thank you. The book signing won't be for a while though" Jack responds.

"Okay, when and where?" I ask as I pull out my phone to place date on my calendar.

"December 5th in Vancouver, BC" Jack answers.

"Okay, got it. The kids will be so excited" I say.

"Umm, there is one little catch though, which is kind of why I wanted to hide it from you" Jack revealeed.

"What's wrong?" I ask, as I am quick to identify the loss of excitement in his voice.

"It turns out, the kids can't come" Jack confesses, as he exhales deeply. It appears as if it physically pains him reveal such news.

"What? Why not?" I asked, suddenly feeling panicked.

"Apparently its just not the right place for kids, especially given Maddox's situation. You and I both know that it would put too much pressure on the little guy" Jack answers.

"How long are we gone for?" I ask.

"About 4 days" Jack says as he shuts one eye and estimates. 

"Really? 4 whole days?" I respond, quite uncertain.

"What's wrong?" Jack asks.

"Its just that we've never been away from the kids for that long and all of them at once. Our record is leaving the twins with Riley while we took the boys to Maddox's speech therapy appointment" I stress.

"I know. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I knew it would be too hard for you to leave them. You don't have to come if you don't want to. But it would mean a lot to me if you did" Jack says.

"No, oh, Jack. I'm coming. This is just going to take some getting used to" I breathe.

"So is that a yes?" Jack asks.

"Of course" I answer.

"That's great. Thank you, sweetheart" Jack smiles.

"I guess it wouldn't be toop hard to leave them. I mean, Kyson will be a year old by the time we go, and we have a lot of time to prepare" I rationalize.

"Exactly. And this means we can have some time alone. Perhapsm rekindle an old flame?" Jack suggest.

"Are you serious?" I laugh.

"Not too often, but right now I am, yeah" Jack responds.

"You have got yourself a deal" I smile.

As we continue to spend quality time together, I begin imagining what the book signing will be like. I have never been to one before, and I assume it is for one of the ones Jack recently had published and released. I admit, I am scared out of my mind to leave the kids, but I can at least take comfort in knowing everything will be okay as long as they are in good hands, which they will be. 

Anticipating the book signing is like a rollercoaster. Jack and I are sitting on top of his success and enjoying the outcome. But at the same time, I am holding on for dear life, slightly terrified about being away from the kids. Either way, adrenaline rushes through us.