The morning did not start off on the right foot for Spencer.
It all began when he woke up to an already empty bed. At 8:15am, the Baker-James household was in full swing, and he knew his wife was already somewhere out there wrangling their four kids. He decided to go find her and help, but stopped short when his foot made contact with a stranded lego on the floor.
"Shit," he cursed under his breath as he hopped over to the master bathroom.
Hoping to find a way to restart his day, he decided on a quick shower. Standing in front of the touchpad screen outside the shower, he set the temperate and pressure to his liking before getting in.
Coming up, Spencer tried to stick to his humble roots. But there were a few luxuries that once he discovered them, he couldn't turn back. For example, the custom shower and the towel warmer were some of the things that he felt upgraded his daily lifestyle. Not to mention, his watch collection, the state of the art grill, and his three cars sitting outside. But besides those simple luxuries, he prided himself on keeping his superfluous spending to a minimum. If you asked his wife, she would argue otherwise, but most days, she let him live in his little bubble. Unfortunately for him, today was not most days.
Not long after his relaxing shower, he walked out of his bedroom into the hall and tripped on a yellow Tonka Truck.
"Jackson," he called firmly.
"Yes, daddy," his oldest son ran down the hall, eyes wide, wondering what trouble he got into before 9am on a Saturday.
"I keeping telling you, please keep your toys in your room or the playroom."
"Sorry, daddy," he smiled sheepishly, scurrying towards Spencer to pick up the toy car.
Shaking his head, Spencer headed downstair to continue his search. He followed the sounds of Aaliyah and found Olivia in front of the stove with her braids piled high and his hoodie swamping her slim frame.
"Good morning, baby," she grinned as his arms slipped around her waist, his head nestling into her neck.
"Do you think we're spoiling them?" Spencer got straight to the point as she flipped Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes.
"No," Olivia replied simply, transferring a lopsided mouse from the griddle onto a plate. "Why are you asking?"
"I feel like they're taking over the house," Spencer vented to his nonchalant wife. "Everywhere I go, there's a sign that one of them's been there. Maybe they have too many toys."
"They're kids, Spencer," she rolled her eyes, pouring three slightly uneven circles of batter. "Kids have toys."
"Yeah, but this many," he pulled away, leaning against the counter to look at her face. "Maybe we should start limiting things."
"I don't agree," Olivia shrugged, turning towards the island to pour out two cups of orange juice, one cup of apple juice, one cup of cranberry juice, one cup of lemonade, and a glass of Fiji water for herself.
"See," he followed her, pointing out the multiple bottles of juice. "Growing up, we only had one option. You didn't like the drink of the week, you had water. And not this fancy shit," he picked up the square-shaped bottle to inspect it.
"Can you flip that," she looked over her shoulder, finding him something productive to do. "They have preferences, just like you and I. Plus, half of the drinks in that fridge are for you."
"Yeah, well, I paid for them."
"Okay, well let me go tell our eleven, seven, and three year olds to go buy their own drinks then," she picked up the platter of scrambled eggs and turned towards the breakfast nook.
He trailed her. "I didn't mean it like -"
"The pancakes, Spencer."
He groaned and turned on his heel before he got blamed for burning breakfast.
_____
Later that afternoon, Spencer sat supervising the twins while they played outside.
"Look daddy!!" Gianna screamed from the miniature Range Rover as she drove her and her brother in circles around the driveway. Both of them sported customized shades to protect their eyes from the glaring L.A. sun.
"I see you, baby girl," he nodded. "Why don't you let Caleb drive a bit." Another concept he was trying to teach his kids was sharing.
"No!" she yelled back. Her twin looked over at her, unbothered.
"He has his own if he really wanted. He likes riding with her," Olivia approached, settling down into the spot next to Spencer.
"How are they going to learn how to share if they all have their own everything."
"Fine," Olivia reasoned. "We'll work on sharing."
"Do you think that they need all this branded stuff," he wondered out loud. "What if it's giving them the wrong impression of what's important in life."
"You're wearing Balenciaga sweatpants," her eyes lowered to his waist.
"These were free," he justified. "Plus, they're extra soft and I like the way they cuff at the ankles."
"Okay," she drew out the word, turning her attention back to the twins.
"I'm just worried that they're going to grow up to become entitled adults."
"I grew up rich, and I turned out just fine."
He turned to her, cocking his head.
She squinted her eyes back.
"What are you trying to say," her voice was suddenly tense.
"I didn't say anything," he chuckled.
"Oh, you said plenty," she pushed herself up and turned towards the house.
"I was playing," he tried to reach back to grab her leg, but she dodged his grasp. "Liv," he called after his wife. "I was joking! Liv!"
"Mommy!!" The twins followed their father's lead. "Mommy!!!" Gianna swerved the Range, driving it toward the door while her brother clutched onto the side door. The pair came short when the car hit the front step. Determined, she pressed her tiny foot down on the accelerator, but the motor struggled under her insistence. The front wheels kept spinning against the edge of the concrete until they finally sputtered to a stop.
"Okay, mama," Spencer ran up to the vehicle, shaking his head. "It's not going to go anywhere like that."
Gianna tried slamming her foot on the reverse peddle, but there was no response.
"No work," she looked over at her brother before her doe eyes landed on her dad.
"Mine," Caleb opened the passenger door, stepping out and making sure to close it behind him before running to the garage.
"'scuse me, daddy," Gianna slammed her door into Spencer's leg, finding a way to wiggle through the crack when it wouldn't open all the way.
"Wait, let's try to fix this," Spencer urged, but she had already run off after her brother.
Moments later, Olivia came back out with Sienna in tow.
"Where are you going?" Spencer followed them towards the four cars parked on the far side of the driveway.
"The spa," Olivia replied flatly, opening the back door of the real Range Rover for Sienna to hop in.
"How long are you gonna be gone?"
He got no response as his wife walked over to the driver's side and closed the door on him. The engine roared to life as she looked around and checked the rear-view camera to make sure neither of her youngest were nearby. But before she switched the car into reverse, she had a second thought and rolled down the window.
"Don't forget to check on Jackson every once in a while."
"I know how to watch my kids."
"Doesn't look like you're doing a very good job," she looked over his shoulder before rolling up the window.
"What?" he shook his head before turning to find Caleb sitting in the driver's seat of his mini G-Wagon while Gianna stood in front of the car, using all her weight to stop him from going forward.
"Hey!" he ran after them.
_____
When the mother and daughter returned home hours later, they entered the house with bags of food from Spencer's favorite barbecue place.
"Hello?" Olivia called as she walked through the house in search of her family. "Set these on the counter, baby," she instructed before going to look in Spencer's office and the playroom. Not finding him in his usual spots, she returned to Sienna in the kitchen where she found her other three kids.
"What are you doing?" she asked in exasperation as she caught Jackson climbing up the shelves of the pantry.
"They want fruit snacks," Jackson looked over at her guiltily.
"And why didn't they ask your daddy?" She grabbed him by the waist and set him down.
"He said no." Jackson dropped his shoulders as he averted his mother's gaze.
"Where is he?" she sighed as she walked over to the twins who sat teary-eyed at the table with nearly empty bowls of Wheat Thins.
"He went to the bathroom," Jackson whispered. Behind him, Sienna strolled into the pantry and reached for the box of fruit snacks, pulling out two packs for her youngest siblings.
"Hey baby. Oh, you got my favorite," Spencer walked in cheerily, noticing the styrofoam boxes on the counter. Catching his oldest daughter, he tried to stop her. "They already got snacks."
"I don't know what the lesson is now, but starving our children is not the way," Olivia gaped at him.
"Wait -, who -," he stuttered, "what, no one is being starved. I gave them snacks."
"Why are they crying over bowls of Wheat Thins?" Olivia threw her arm back towards the table.
"I told them they could only pick one snack," Spencer defended himself.
"And they picked Wheat Thins?!" Olivia took a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes and setting her gaze on her husband.
"They couldn't agree on one, so I picked for them."
"Spencer, there's a loaded pantry with every snack in the world. They don't have to be forced to eat one thing."
"Can we not do this here?" he asked as he looked around at their kids staring at them.
"Fine, let's go upstairs since this is so important to you," she mumbled quickly. "Mommy and daddy will be right back," she announced to the kitchen.
Following Olivia upstairs, Spencer mentally prepared to hold his stance.
"I get what you're trying to do, I do," Olivia paced once they reached their room. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Except you're going about it the wrong way. Sure, they're privileged kids, but taking away their toys and food isn't going to prove the point you think it's going to."
"They need to know that not everything is just going to be handed to them," he sat down on the bed as his eyes followed her.
"And we can do that by exposing them to the real world and having conversations once they get older," Olivia sighed. "Withholding snacks from a pair of three year olds who are used to having their say isn't going to get you anything but a tantrum."
"This is all just the polar opposite of how I grew up in Crenshaw."
"And you didn't think about that when you went after a career in the NFL? You didn't think when you got drafted that 'hey, my future kids are going to have a completely different childhood than I did?'"
"I did, I just - "
"You bought them most of these toys," she stopped in front of him, propping her hands on her hips.
"Yeah, but recently, I've just noticed how they act and it's made me think."
"They act like kids," Olivia shook her head. "Kids should get to be happy with their toys and eat their favorite snacks. Within reason, of course, but we're not spoiling these kids rotten, Spencer. Our kids are going to benefit from our wealth. That's just the way it is, but they'll be good humans. Trust me because one of the best humans I know is raising them."
He dropped his head at her words, realizing that he may have gone too far. Lost in his thoughts, he didn't sense Olivia approach him until she brought his chin up with her finger.
"Wheat Thins," Olivia tried to hold back a giggle, "really?"
"That was the closest things we had to what I used to have growing up," he smirked at her. "There were no organic, all natural, non GMO fruit snacks in my kitchen in Crenshaw."
"You're ridiculous," she dropped her hand, turning back towards the door. "I need to go feed my babies before their food gets cold."
"What did you bring me? Did you get the ribs this time? You know I love the ribs," he perked up, rushing to follow her down the stairs.
"Nothing," she shrugged as she turned down the hall to the kitchen.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I brought you nothing."
"But you know Bobby's is my favorite," he whined.
"I know, but I figured you used to have leftovers back in Crenshaw. We have leftovers in the fridge."
Stopping in the middle of the hall, Spencer dropped his shoulders, watching on as Olivia disappeared into the kitchen.
"Come on, let's eat," her voice carried through the house. "I got everyone's favorites."
____________________________________
I hope with everything in me that Spencer's life ends up being this chaotic.