Cheater, Cheater (Editing)

Chapter 1-Edited

Layla POV

Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep.

I roll over and shut off the alarm clock.

"Ugh," I groan, rolling back over, against my husband's chest.

"Time to get up, baby," He laughs, his chest rumbling.

"Hurry!" a muffled voice yells.

"Come on!" says another.

THUD!

"Oops!" someone shouts.

BAM!

The door is thrown open by three over-excited children, each clad in their footie pajamas.

"Uh-oh," Charles murmurs, before the kids are all on the bed, bouncing, screaming, and yelling.

"Ugh," I whine, "It's too early for this!"

"No, no, no. Mommy, up. Up, up, Mommy!" Zach, our youngest baby at only two and a half years old, yells.

Charles can't stop laughing as he tickles Veronica, the middle child.

Xavier, the eldest, sits, slightly bouncing on the end of the bed with a huge smile.

"What makes you think that you can wake me up so early?" I ask in a voice that is meant to sound mad, but everyone knows is fake.

"The beach!" All three kids yell simultaneously.

"They are right. You did promise to bring them to the beach today." Charles smirks.

"I know!" I grumble, throwing a pillow over my head. "Just not this early!"

"I don't think you have a choice." He starts laughing as Veronica begins trying to tickle him back.

"All right everybody! First things first, breakfast!" I announce.

An hour later, I walk out to the kitchen, my hair slightly dripping from my shower. My beautiful family is sitting at the table, all eating various assortments of cereal. I make myself a bowl and sit down, joining in the conversations involving random things such as school starting next month, dreams the children had last night, and yesterday's lunch. All in all, it's a perfect Friday morning.

Half an hour later, Charles is leaving for work, grabbing his luch amd kissing and hugging everybody on the way out. He gets to me last, and whispers to me on his way out.

"Saved the best for last."

Wow. I really have the perfect husband. Even after ten years of marriage, he still says the most romantic things.

"Love you all!" Charles shouts over his shoulder as he walks out the front door.

The next half an hour is a flurry of excitment as we find clothes, swimsuits, swim gear, and work on packing lunches.

Pretty soon, all three children have their swimsuits on, and they are buckled into their seats in the car. I have a cooler full of snacks, a lunch for everybody, and plenty of water. I also pack an extra set of clothes for each child, all the beach towels I can track down, suntan lotion, sunblock, and lifejackets, as well as many different beach and water toys. It's amazing that all of our stuff, three children, a dog, and myself can fit into the car, but 'That's what makes a Subaro a Subaro', I guess.

When we get to the beach, it's a scramble of children and the dog, all racing to get to the water first.

"Hold up, gang!" I yell.

Everyone comes running back.

We place some towels down, and move out stuff from the car to the spot. Then, one by one, I cover each kid in sunblock from head to toe. Xavier takes off, running towards the water. Veronica follows at a slower pace, dragging a floaty bed. Zach grabs a bucket and shovel and plops himself in a mound of sand about 5 feet away from me.

I rub some suntan lotion on my back. As I let it soak in, I watch, alternating between each kid every few seconds. Xavier is practicing his backstroke. Veronica seems to have made friends with a group of girls that look to be around her age. Zach is in the process of building a sand mountain and destroying it repeatedly. As I lay there, wishing that Charles was there to enjoy the day with us, I'm hit with a burst of realization at just how much I love my family.

About an hour and a half later, I call the kids back. They sit in a semi-circle around me as I pass out snacks and juiceboxes. I also take the chance to reapply sunblock on each kid. So far, so good on the sunburn. All that I can see is a very light shade of pink forming on Xavier's ears. As everybody finishes their snack, they decide to play in the sand so that their food can settle.

An hour later, Veronica is putting the final touches on a sandcastle that has a moat and a river leading to the water. Xavier is desperately racing around, trying to keep the moat filled even though it keeps drying up on him. Zach is taking his nap in the shade of the tree next to me. After awhile, Zach wakes up and we eat the lunch I brought with. After that, we pack up all our stuff and begin heading home.

When we get home, the kids help me bring everything into the house and put it away. The kids all pick out a movie to watch in their rooms so that everybody can have a little quiet time. It allows each child to do something they want to do, with in reason of course.

I can still remember last year's incident with glitter glue and Disney princess stickers. Never again.

While the kids watch their movies, I decide to do a little work. When Zach was born, there were some major complications throughout the pregnancy, the birth, and the weeks following it. Because of this, I couldn't work for awhile. Even after the time period of my maternity leave, I wasn't quite myself. Therefore, I am now a work-from-home-mom.

A few hours later, as the kids' movies are ending, supper gets done and Charles gets home. He kisses me and helps me set the table.

All five of us sit around the table and eat our pizza. Peperoni for Zach and I, and supreme for Xavier, Veronica, and Charles. The kids tell Charles about their day at the beach, and he in turn tells them about his day at work.

That night, Charles kisses me goodnight when I remind him that my friends Katie and Hailey and I are going out for a girls night tomorrow night.

"Alright, honey. I love you."

"I love you too."

As I lay there, falling asleep, next to my wonderful husband with my kids in their rooms down the hall, I'm hit with a sudden happiness that I can't decribe.

All I know is that this was the perfect end to a perfect day. My life wasn't perfect, but it was damn close, and I didn't plan on any of it changing anytime soon.

But sometimes things don't turn out the way you want it to.

Word Count: 1,125

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