Always Us

big bank

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.