Our Life Together

It's Been Forever

"Mommy!"  Jack jumps around in he cart "I want cookies!"

"I know you do, buddy."  I turn to walk down the next aisle "We'll get them when we get there." 

"Can we get these?" Liam holds up a bunch of chips "I need them."

"We just got some last week."  I protest looking around for Gabe "Do you really need them again?  You had like 3 bags."

"Yes!  I'm growing.  I need lots of food."

"Fine.  Put them in the cart."  I finally find Gabe and pull him closer "You need to stay next to me.  If someone takes you I'm gonna let them keep you."

"That's mean."  He stops walking "I want with Jack."

"Okay, but then we won't have room for too many snacks."  I pick him up and set him next to Jack "No throwing food around either."

I make sure Liam hasn't run off and start to get what we actually need.  Olivia plays with her toys in the seat right in front of me completely content with herself.  Makes me wonder why they couldn't all be girls.

"Liam, can you get the apple juice?"  I point it out for him.  He hands it to me and I put it with everything else.

"Jennifer?"  Another older lady walks up next to us.  My first instinct is just to smile because it's a fan, but then I get a better look at her.  She looks very familiar, but I can't remember her name.

"Oh my God!"  She walks over to hug me "It's been so long!  How are you?" 

"I'm good."  I smile hugging her back after I realize who it is.  It's my mom's sister, Joan.

"Are they yours?"  She asks pointing towards the kids "They're adorable."

"Yeah,"  I happily point them out to her "Liam is 9, Gabe is 6, Jack is 4 and Olivia just turned one."

"Aw, they look so much like you and Brad!"  She walks over to play with Olivia, who loves the attention, for a little "She looks so much like you did as a baby."

"They definitely use the cuteness to their advantage."  I laugh "How are you?  It's been so long since I've seen you."

"I'm good.  I miss seeing you."  She looks back up at me "We should really get together some time."

"Yeah, we should."  I agree with her "Brad gets done filming next week, so maybe sometime after that when he can be home more."

"Momma!" Olivia interrupts us.  She reaches out for me to hold her.

"What honey?"  I rest her on my hip "You don't wanna sit anymore?"

"Well I should get going." Jane says "But it was really nice to see you.  Tell Brad I said hi!"

"I will."  I smile as she walks away.  Liv starts to get cranky and the boys get even more crazy than before so I hurry getting everything else.

"Okay what kind of cookies are we getting?"  I ask.

"Chocolate!"

"Oreo!"

I grab one of each to keep them from fighting and move on.  We make it to the ice cream aisle when we see Brad standing there.  He's supposed to be on set for another hour yet, so it's a surprise to the kids.

"Daddy!" Olivia yells the second she sees him.  Brad turns around immediately and takes her from me.

"Hi, princess."  He plays with her "You want some ice cream?"

"Yeah!" She answers excitedly.  He helps the boys pick out what kind they want, then she points out the first pink one and decides she wants it.

"You're done early."  I walk up next to him "I didn't even make dinner yet."

"Well, I was going to surprise you guys with an ice cream dinner, but since that failed, I think we should all go out somewhere.  You deserve a night off."  He leans over to kiss me.

"I'm not gonna say no to that." I agree to not having to cook.  We finish shopping and Brad pays for everything while I take the kids out to my car. 

We leave shorty after following Brad.  He picks the only restaurant that he knows that kids will eat at.  Of course, it also means the stuff we like isn't the best.  It also means that the kids sometimes like it. 

"What are you getting?"  Brad asks after we helped the kids decide "I think I'm just gonna get the steak."

"Probably the spaghetti.  I've been craving it for a while."  I go back to helping Liv color her menu.  Brad helps Jack while Liam and Gabe "argue" over dumb things until the food gets here.

"How's your food?"  Brad asks the boys.  He's clearly not too impressed with his and neither am I.

"It good." Jack looks up at him covered in food.

"I like mine."  Liam adds.

"Mine is gross."  Gabe says.

"What about you, Liv?"  He asks Olivia, who is the pickiest of all our kids.

"No."  She says trying to push it off her highchair.

"Well I guess we aren't coming back here anytime soon."  Brad says.  I practically force myself to finish my food while Liam and Jack inhale theirs in minutes.

"I love it." Jack tells us.  He knows Brad and I don't like ours.

"Is it better than Mommys?" Brad asks him before looking over at me laughing.

He looks over at me, trying to make up for the fact that he is about to say it is. 

"Yeah.  But mommy's good too."

"Good save, dude.  You're lucky I love you." I joke

"I cute."  He adds quickly, knowing it's his best excuse.

"This is good, but yours is better, mom."  Liam tries to sound like the better child "I don't like it that much."

"You're just saying that because you want her to like you more."  Brad says laughing "Your mother isn't stupid."

"You should just be happy we brought you guys here."  I say "Next time we get to pick.  I can't eat this 'food' anymore."