Lost

Great Way To Start The Summer

"Jer! Lena! I finished dinner, come eat!" She called out to the inhabitants of the Gilbert house. The sound of feet on the floor upstairs alerted her of the incoming kids. 

What she didn't expect was to have two more children in the mix. Luckily she had made extra.

"Chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and smiley fries for my favorite Jer-bear. . ." She placed the paper plate in front of Jeremy. "How hungry are you lovely ladies?"

"Hungry."

"Starving."

"Very."

"Alright then. . ." She made them each a plate with a little more food than what she gave Jeremy. When everyone else had their plates and were happily eating, Emilia sat down with her own plate of chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and smiley fries. 

What could she say? She was most certainly a child at heart!

After dinner Emilia cleaned the pot she used for mac and cheese, washed the forks, then wiped down the table and counter.

A little while later, it was dark and the younger kids were nearly exhausted. Emilia trudged up the stairs, careful not to step on Legos or toy cars. She knocked on Elena's semi opened door and popped her head in. "Hey, are they staying the night?" She asked. 

Elena looked to Caroline and Bonnie, who then looked at eachother, then back to Elena. They nodded and Elena replied a 'yeah' to Emilia's question. 

"Okay that's cool! You guys wanna come downstairs and watch Finding Nemo with me? If you don't, it's all good. Just make sure you get a good night's sleep." Emilia pointed a finger at them with a fake serious face making them laugh, eventually she joined in too.

"We might come down in a while" Elena said, making the older girl nod. 

"Okay, well have fun" she said with a smile, leaving the girls alone. 
She went out to the rental car and brought in one of the suitcases, taking it to the guest room that was technically her room whenever she came over anyway.

When she went back down, Jeremy was sitting by the coffee table drawing. She turned on Finding Nemo and turned off a lot of the lights since it was starting to get late. Only a few lamps remained on.

-

It was around 10 pm when the movie ended. Jeremy was fast asleep, so Emilia carried him up to his room, tucking him into bed. She then looked into Elena's room and shut the light off when she saw they were all asleep.

Jetlag was finally catching up with her, so she cleaned up the toys, put away the various pieces of art supplies, and turned the lamps off. 

Eventually making her way up the stairs to the guest room to grab a change of clothes, take a shower, and climb into bed.

-

It wasn't but two hours later that Emilia woke up to Jeremy standing by the bed. She almost jumped out of her skin seeing him in the dim light whilst in her half asleep state. 

"I can't sleep." He said in a shaky voice. The words were soon followed by a loud boom of thunder and three surprised yells in the other room.

A moment later the ten year olds and the almost eight year old were all standing in the room looking at her. She sighed and made room for them in the bed. Part of her wondered if that was what it was like to be a mom as they climbed onto the large bed and laid all around her like she was the safest person on earth. . .

If it was, it didn't seem so bad.

It was a great way to start the summer.