Lauren's POV
Jrue and I walk hand and hand to Tobin's and A-rods' room. I know Moe needed to be gotten onto for her actions at the table, but I still don't think it was necessary for him to go ahead and do that. He should have at least waited until dinner was over and then taken her up to our room where it would have been a lot more private than the restroom. I feel Jrue's lips on my temple as he knock on the door making me smile. He knows I'm a little upset at him and he's trying to get back on my good side. Even my husband knows not to mess with my "Momma Cheney" mode.
"Hey." softly says Carli opening the door for us. "She's not too happy Laur." I look around her and my heart breaks. Morgan's curled up on Amy's lap with her head in her neck. As I go to her I watch as Amy gently runs her fingers through Moe's brown hair trying to calm her down.
"MoMo?" I ask carefully taking her in my arms. As soon as her eyes meet mine she starts to tear up again. "C'mere baby girl." I sit down with her sideways in my lap and brush the hair from her face. I wipe her tears and kiss her forehead. "We'll talk about what happened at supper later alright?" I whisper in her ear so I don't draw any more attention to what Jrue did. I feel her nod so I look up at Tobin,"What's this about the girls not going to sleep?"
"Well," she starts, "they have been staying up way past their bedtimes. Carli's the one who brought this to my attention so she might know more."
"All I know is that they are both extremely tired at practice, hardly make it to breakfast on time, and are posting all over social media when their phones are supposed to be off." Carli explains glaring down at Julie. "Speaking of phones, yours belongs to me missy." JJ sighs, but puts hers in her Mama's open hand. Moe snickers at her making me swat the outside of her thigh.
"Not nice." I quietly scold. "Where's yours?" Now that I think about it I haven't seen Moe's since we got here and normally she is attached.
"Toby has it." she mumbles playing with my hands in her lap. I look up at Tobin confused and she just looks at Moe with her eyebrows raised.
"Why does Tobs have your phone baby?" I question sitting her up in my lap so she has to look at me. She continues to look down and mess with my fingers so I look up at Jrue for help.
"What?" he ask confused. I roll my eyes. Thanks for nothing. Tobin elbows him and nods over at Morgan to try to give him a clue. "Uh um. Listen to Lauren."
"She hung up on Tobin last night." says Amy. "She apologized though and they are fine so don't freak out on her Cheney. Let's just solve this sleeping issue these two little ones have."
I nod, "Alright, but Morgan Paige that is very disrespectful. If it happens again I'm going to take it and you will not get it back. Do you understand me?"
"Yes ma'am." she says messing with the hem of her shirt.
"JJ, honey, why don't you tell us what's been going in you guys' room?" suggest A-rod. Julie sits up on Hope's knees before beginning.
"Well Moe has a hard time falling asleep so she gets on her phone or turns the T.V. on. Sometimes she just rolls around all night. I tried to ask her what was wrong one time, but she just got mad. Now I just lay there until I know she's asleep so that I know she's okay." explains Julie nervously looking at Morgan. She is literally one of the sweetest people I know. If Moe would just lose this attitude she'd be up there too.
"Jules why didn't you tell someone?" ask Hope softly.
"I didn't want to embarrass her Mom."
I smile at her, "Thanks for being a good friend and staying up with her JJ, but kiddo that's something you need to tell. What if you two slept through your alarm one day and missed the bus because you were both so tired?"
Julie's eyebrows furrow together, "I didn't think about that." She turns and looks back at Hope, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you Mom." Hope smiles and kisses her forehead while hugging her tightly.
"It's all right JB. Mommy loves you."
"I love you too." grins Jay. Now that we got one of the two trouble makers sorted out we all turn our attention back to the, what seems to be main problem, one on my lap.
"MoMo why can't you go to sleep sweet girl?" I ask tucking some of her hair behind her ear. She blushes red from embarrassment and keeps her eyes trained downward not wanting to talk. "Moe, baby, I need you to tell me what's wrong." Dang it Jrue. If you didn't punish her like you did she wouldn't be this freaking quiet! This happens every single time. He should have waited like we talked about on the flight here.
"I-I-" she starts before starting to tear up. She buries her face in my neck to try to hide it. I slowly rock her back and forth and shh her as she begins to breathe heavy.
"This is ridiculous." mutters Jrue angrily. "Morgan Paige stop crying and answer her. Do we need to go have another talk?" She quickly shakes her head no and throws her arms around my neck in fear. I glare at him while trying to console her.
"Jrue." I warn. I am literally going to kill him. "Baby she's-"
"No Lauren!" he snaps at me. "She needs to be a big girl, dry up those tears, and tell us what's wrong. Her crying is doing nothing. She's only trying to make you feel bad so she doesn't get in trouble."
"Am not!" yells Morgan suddenly.
"Hey!" says Tobin stepping in between Morgan and I and Jrue. "You don't do that." she says pointing her finger at Moe. "And you!" she says pointing over at Jrue. "Chill the fuck out!"
"Tobs!" sighs Amy standing up and moving Tobin away from Jrue. "Watch your language."
"But Amy you heard what-"
"Yes Tobin!" shouts Amy over her. "We all did! Okay?" Tobin takes a breath and steps back. "Sit down and relax, alright?"
Carli's POV
"Mommy?" I hear Julie quietly call to Hope.
"Yeah baby?" Hope ask back holding her closer.
"Jrue's scaring me." she whispers snuggling into Hope more. I put my hand on her shoulder making her look up.
"Why don't you take Jules to our room?" I suggest. "Maybe take Moe too?"
"Yeah alright." agrees Hope nodding. "Jay here." she hands her a room key. "Go ahead and I'll be there in a second." Julie looks up to me unsure so I nod encouragingly. I watch as she carefully maneuveres around Jrue and runs out the door. "Lauren?" asks Hope standing up. "Do you want me to take Moe to my room with Julie?"
"Yeah yeah," agrees Cheney. "Moe go with Hope so Momma can deal with Daddy." Lauren gently pushes Morgan off her lap. The two of them leave without anyone else in the room noticing probably. Tobin is still having it out with Jrue and A-rod is trying to calm them both down.
"Tobin shut up!" I say taking control. This is going no where. "All of you sit and close your mouths." The girls do immediately, but Jrue is more hesitant. I glare at him and he gives in. "I do not appreciate you scaring my kid." I say to him crossing my arms.
"See!? You didn't need to-" starts Tobin shouting.
"Heath!" I bark turning to her. She gulps and sinks down. "Close your mouth, or you're going to do sprints until you puke after the game tomorrow."
"Yes ma'am. Sorry." she mumbles squirming uncomfortably under my gaze.
"Mhm." I hum. Now that I've got her squared away I put my full attention onto Jrue and Lauren. Poor Cheney looks like she's about to be sick. "I get that you are frustrated with her Jrue, but yelling like that, especially in front of all of us, was not necessary. Snapping at Lauren in front of her was definitely not a good idea."
"I'm sorry for that babe." he says getting up to sit next to her. "It's frustrating to watch her act out like that though. She's normally so calm and just you know, our sweet baby Moe. She knows better than to talk to me like she did earlier and she knows better than to yell like that."
"Honey you know she's still shaken up from, um, you know." Lauren trails off and gives him a quick kiss.
"I know that baby, but she knows better." he says. "She should've just answered you when you asked instead of starting to cry. You know more than any of us that she doesn't like consequences and will do anything to get out of them."
"You're right." sighs Cheney. "I'll go deal with her, okay?" Jrue nods and kisses the side of her head. "Does anyone know why she's so anti sleep before I go in there?"
"She misses you Laur." whispers Tobin still afraid of me. She looks at me for permission to speak so I nod for her to continue. "She told me last night that you used to always tuck her in and now that we haven't been doing that she just can't sleep."
"Are you serious?" ask Lauren sounding absolutely heart broken. "This is my fault?"
"No Cheney." says Amy shaking her head. "We should've picked up on it. We shouldn't have had to pick up on it! We should've known to tuck her in."
"Alright." agrees Lauren still a bit unsure. "I'm going to go talk with her and put her to bed."
Moe's POV
"Morgan?" ask Julie passing a ball to my feet. She's sitting on Hope's bed and I'm on Carli's.
"Hmm?" I hum not looking up. I slowly roll the ball back and forth before tapping it back.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Moe," she sighs trapping it. "Tell me." she adds whining.
"JB stop that." says Hope squeezing my shoulder from behind. "Leave MoMo alone." I tense at the nickname. Hope doesn't call me "MoMo", only Momma, Jrue, Toby, and A-rod do. Someone knocks on the door just as Julie is about to say something else. Hope turns to get it and I sniffle. Dad's really mad at me. I didn't mean to make him that mad, I just got frustrated. "Morgan, Lauren's here!" I sigh in relief and crack a little smile. Cheney is a lot better than Jrue on nights like this. If Daddy was the one at the door that would most likely mean I'm getting a spanking. He already used his belt tonight and I do NOT need or want him to use it again! I get up and go to her happily.
"Thanks Hope for letting her sit in here." thanks Lauren putting her arm over my shoulder. "And I'm so sorry for Jrue. Carli said Julie got scared and-"
"It was nothing and Jay will be fine." says Hope shaking it off. "Don't be too hard on that one. I think she just needs you."
"I think you're right." Lauren smiles at me and starts to lead us down the hallway. "We when get down there go ahead and get ready for bed sweetie pie. We're still going to talk, but we're going to cuddle too. I've missed my Cheney and Moe time." She kisses my cheek making me blush as I open the door. I throw on my pajama pants and change my shirt before crawling into my bed next to her.
"Momma?"
"Yeah baby?" she ask back playing with my hair.
"I'm sorry I yelled." I say messing with the big blanket we have over us.
"How about tomorrow you tell Daddy that?" she suggest.
"Jrue doesn't like me anymore." I mumble.
"That is not true Morgan Paige. He loves you very much." she says moving to where she can hold my face in her hands. "He just got frustrated baby. He still loves you more than anything. He probably loves you even more than me!"
"Nah uh!" I argue. She starts to tickle me making me laugh.
"Yeah huh!"
"Momma Momma! Stop!" I yell twisting around. She stops that but starts to pepper my face with kisses. "Momma!" I whine. "Yuck!" She pouts. I giggle and give her a peck on her check. "I love you."
"I love you too pretty girl." she says smiling. "Tomorrow I want you to have a good attitude though alright? I didn't came all the way here to have to get onto you the whole time."
"Okay." I nod yawning.
"Get some sleep sweetie." says Lauren pulling the blankets more around us. She flicks off the light. "I love you Morgan Paige. Sweet dreams baby girls."
"Goodnight Momma. Love you too."