Chapter Thirty-Two... Trying
Cameron headed back to our home that night, leaving the kids and I stranded at my parents' house. And it was simply because our car wasn't big enough to hold ten people! If we had've considered the possibility that we'd someday have eight children all under the age of ten, then we'd probably own a bigger car.
But nobody really plans to have eight kids, I guess. Of course in saying that, I wouldn't have it any other way.
They all lit up my life in different ways.
Becca was probably the most intelligent. My eldest, she was very protective of all of her younger siblings, and she had a great smile that would warm anybody's heart.
Addy was the most talkative. For a girl who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when she was five, she's a happy child. Of course, the insulin injections are routine now, and she doesn't fight against it. I remember tears in my eyes as we had to hold her down several times, because she was smart and knew exactly what we were going to do.
Zane and Ethan were definitely a joined force. But Zane was less outgoing, and less troublesome than his identical counterpart Ethan. Zane on occasion would enjoy a quiet moment alone, colouring in or drawing, He was very creative. Ethan on the other hand was by far the most energetic, and he could resemble a monkey with his climbing skills, which scared me.
I always had visions of him climbing a tree and falling, which sent shivers down my spine.
Lily was the quietest. She was excellent at reading, and could write (to an extent) some pretty creative stories for a five year old. Most of the time she told stories, and her dreams were always so vivid and full of detail. I could see her being an author, on top of aceing all of her speeches at school.
Emily was the most girly out of all of my girls. She'd taken to dressing up, as best she could for an eighteen month old. Most of the time I'd catch her in my makeup, lipstick all over her face and foundation on her hands. She'd laugh, and I'd smile because she was happy. Becca, Addy nor Lily ever went for the make up...
And my newborn twins Olivia and Isabella were my newest pride and joys. Both of them made me smile as they slept, and as I held them and they looked at me with their deep brown eyes.
I awoke in the morning to hearing an argument that sounded like my kids fighting. I got out of bed and walked out into the hallway to find Addy and Lily shouting at Zane and Ethan. Becca stood between them, trying to stop them and silence them.
"You broked my dolly, Zane!" Lily screamed, tears in her eyes.
"Boo hoo!" Ethan sneered. "It was ugly anyway!"
"I didn't break it, Lily!" Zane pleaded.
"Yes you did!" Lily cried. "She was fine, and now she's not! You was holding her! You broked her and now she's broken!"
"Ethan broke it, not me!" Zane wailed.
"He's lying!" Addy shouted. "I saw him."
"You're a liar, Addy!" Zane screamed.
"Shut up!" Becca begged. "You're gonna wake mom and nana up, and they're gonna be really mad! Or you'll wake Olivia or Isabella up, and they will be mad, too!"
"Go away, Bec!" Ethan shoved her.
"Hey!" I bellowed over the top of the five of them.
My children all fell silent as their eyes landed on me. I felt angry not because I was woken up, but because they were fighting. I hated it! Becca stood there, looking apologetic. She'd tried to stop them so that I didn't know they were arguing. But who could sleep through their bickering?!
"Mom, Zane broke Lily's doll," Addy broke the silence.
"No I didn't!" Zane snapped.
"Oi!" I shouted, and they fell silent again. "You five know better than to shout and yell at each other at seven in the morning. Or any time, actually. Addison, go sit in the corner of the living room. Ethan, you go sit in the corner of the kitchen. Becca, can you go and see if Emily's up yet. If she is, let her out of bed but if she isn't leave her, okay?"
"Do you want me to come back here after that?" she asked.
"No, I want you to sit in the corner of the room," I sighed. "Now, Zane... did you break Lily's doll?"
"Mommy, it wasn't me," Zane said calmly. "Ethan broke it, not me."
"So was Addy lying when she said she saw you do it?" I questioned.
"Yes," Zane replied. "I saw Ethan do it, and I walked over and picked up Lily's dolly and tried to put its head back on. But then Lily came and saw me, and thought I broke it."
"Lily, it looks like Zane's telling the truth," I said calmly to her.
"I'm sorry, Zane," Lily whispered, and she hugged him. Her eyes were filled with tears.
I took their hands and led them each to a corner. I managed to glue the doll's head back on, and left the kids in a time-out. Becca came out with Emily, who was jumping across the floor. I lured all of the kids out of their time-outs, and then sent them off to get ready. I got the twins up and fed them, and they happily laid on the living room floor around the chaos.
I bathed and dressed Emily, and put her into her high chair for breakfast. She sat there laughing at my mother when she came out with her hair in curlers.
"That's attractive, mom," I chuckled.
"Nan, nan!" Emily giggled.
"Nana looks silly, doesn't she bub?" I grinned, kissing Emily's cheek.
"Where are the twins?" mom asked.
"Laying on the living room floor," I smiled. "The TV is on, and they're fed. I'm about to lure the five fighting amigos into here for breakfast. Can you believe they were shouting at seven this morning?"
"I thought I heard arguing," mom sighed. "Let kids be kids, Rose."
"I put them into a time-out, because they could have woken the whole neighbourhood," I frowned. "And they get punished at home, too, when they pull crap like that."
"Let kids be kids," mom repeated. "Siblings fight. If I had've punished you four for every time you were naughty, my hand would've fallen off."
"We weren't that naughty," I chuckled.
"Says the one who went off and got herself pregnant at fifteen," mom said warily. I turned to face her, smiling.
"Never gonna let that one go, are you?" I questioned.
"Nope," she laughed.
"Hmm, didn't think so," I half-smiled.
I served up breakfast and went to check on the twins. Olivia was almost asleep, but Isabella was taking in her surroundings in detail. She watched me as I walked in, and after I'd turned to walk away I knew she'd still be watching. She was highly observant already.
Mom took Lily, Addy, Zane and Ethan shopping, because they all wanted to go. Becca was happy to stay behind, watching TV with Emily for a while. But I was getting claustraphobic in my parents' house, and so I put the twins into the pram and grabbed Emily and Becca and we walked down the road. We walked so far in fact, we found our old street, and the house we used to live in. Cameron's parents lived there now.
I hadn't seen them in a while, and they hadn't been to visit the new twins yet because they'd only gotten back from an overseas trip the night before. I walked up to the door and knocked on it, and his mom answered.
"Rose!" she grinned with delight. "And children. How are you?"
"We're good," I smiled. "Hoping this week goes fast, but still good."
"I was only thinking about coming to visit you today," she smiled. "I wanna meet my two new little granddaughters. Olivia and Isabelle, or Isabella?"
"Isabella," I answered. "They wanna meet you, too."
We walked inside, and Elena grabbed Olivia from the pram first. Becca sat down on the floor, and Emily started to walk off before I hastily grabbed her.
"Bubba," she mumbled, pointing to Olivia.
"That's Olivia," I whispered. "Remember?"
"No," she replied, and Elena chuckled.
"You're getting so big, miss Emily," she smiled. "You look so much like your mother... all of your daughters do. My son didn't get a look in edgewise!"
"Oh, but Zane and Ethan are the spitting image of Cameron," I chuckled.
"That's true," she smiled thoughtfully. "Where is the rest of the brood?"
"Mom's taken them shopping," I answered. "Cam's coming back here Friday... hopefully the next few days go quickly."
"He said you guys needed a bigger car," she recalled. "So you're staying with your mother until then, I suppose?"
"Yes, and you're free to visit whenever," I informed her. "I'm bored in this town, anyways. I know why I left now."
"It will always be signifigant to you, no matter what," she reminded me.
I spent a good couple of hours visiting Elena. Becca told her all about Noah, which was cute. I hoped that even if Noah wasn't the first boyfriend she brought home in high school, that all the guys she happened to date would be like him. He was sweet for a ten year old.
When I returned to mom's house, the triplets were all painting and Addy had taken over the television. Becca joined her, and I put an exhausted Emily down for her nap. Isabella was wide awake, so I fed her and mom fed Olivia who woke up ten minutes later. The afternoon moved quickly and soon I was tucking my children into bed and kissing them goodnight.
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It was Friday night before I knew it, Cameron had rang to say he was on his way, and that he'd found us a car. So we could successfully get our eight children back home the next day. Tonight Elena was babysitting the six older children, because she wanted to. So I had the twins down early and felt lost without all of my children. The twins were a week old tomorrow, and I couldn't get over how fast that time had flown.
I fell asleep on the lounge, only to be woken by someone.
"Rose?" a voice whispered, and I noticed someone was shaking me gently.
"Huh?" I snapped up quickly, half-asleep.
"Sorry," Cameron chuckled softly in the darkness.
"You're here!" I grinned, leaping off the lounge and into his arms. You have no idea how much I missed you while you were gone!"
"Well uhm... I have to go again," he sighed.
"Wait, what?" I frowned. "I thought you'd gotten us a car so we could leave tomorrow?"
"It's Lance," he said, sitting down. "He had a massive seizure, and they found a new tumour. They don't think he's gonna make it long. I have to take my parents and pick Sarah up from the airport."
"Well, I want to come with you," I breathed, tears in my eyes.
"I'm gonna take our old car," he began to explain. "I want you to drive the new car there, and bring all of the kids."
"You want me to make a six hour drive with eight kids alone?" I frowned.
"Not entirely alone," he said, smiling.
"Huh?" I was confused.
"Well, my cousin Luana wants to see Lance, too," he explained. "She's almost thirty, and she's great with kids. None of her own, but she was at our wedding, remember?"
"Yeah, I remember her," I smiled.
"She's gonna travel with you," he kissed my cheek.
Cameron walked off and I followed him. He led me into the kitchen, where a familiar tall brunette with long hair stood, flipping through a magazine.
"Long time, no see," Luana smiled. "I almost forgot what you looked like, Rose."
"Luana," I returned the smile.
"I wish we'd met again on better terms, but if my favourite cousin dies and I don't get to say goodbye, I'd be devastated."
"Second favourite cousin," Cameron corrected, and she lightly shoved him.
"You wish," she snickered.
"It's time for me to go," Cameron cleared his throat. "Luana's gonna go down to mom's and pick the kids up. Pack all of their things and be ready to leave when she returns, okay?"
"Okay," I said, and he took me in his arms.
"I'll see you there," he kissed me. "I love you."
"I love you, too," I breathed.
They left, and I woke mom up and packed up everything. I put the twins in the pram, and mom helped me carry everything outside. Luana pulled up, and I put the twins into their car seats. All of the kids were sound asleep. I kissed mom goodbye and climbed into the passenger's side.
"He didn't want to leave you alone," Luana explained. "But his mom... she wanted them all to be there first, so that they could be with him if he dies. It was inevitable, we all knew that."
"So Sarah's flown over from Australia?" I asked.
"Yes," she answered. "She had to leave her little boy over there with her husband, because she left so fast. He's coming over though, too. He'll hopefully be in the country by the time we arrive. Thought it best to leave tonight, since the little ones will sleep most of the way."
"Thank you," I breathed. "For coming with me."
"You're family," Luana smiled weakly. "And I was going anyway."
I hated knowing that this was probably Lance's final moments. It brought tears to my eyes. But he'd been sick for a while, and we knew it was going to happen.
But hopefully everyone would get to say their goodbyes before he left us forever.