Family Stories - the Sequel

chapter 8

Monday, 4th September

Owen: 58; Amelia: 52; Luca: 23; Leo: 16; Lily: 16

Ryan: 27; Katie: 26; Riley: 10; Ian&Connor: 7

Liam: 24; Robin: 24; Victoria: 6; Audrey Blake: 4; Madelyn: 9 months

Finn: 24; Dennis: 24; Mason-Anthony: 2

Ruby: 24; Ethan: 25

Mira: 20; Eva-Maeve: 3

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"Riley, here's your lunch for today and Boys, here's yours. Mommy prepared it for you before she left and she'll pick you up today.", Ryan explained to his children as he helped them get ready for school.

His wife had left super early to start her morning shift in kindergarten at 6am, meaning he was the one to take the kids to school today and make sure some great first-day-of-school-photos were taken.

"Daddy, when will you be home?", Ian wondered as he looked at his papa with his big blue curious eyes. "Will we see you before soccer practice starts?", he asked another question before his first one was even answered.

"No, Honey. My shift ends at 6pm, so I'll be here when you get home because mommy and Ri are going to pick you up and when you're home, the burgers will almost be ready, so the five of us can have dinner together.", the twenty-seven-year-old replied.

"You mean the eight of us.", his daughter reminded him cutely, sweetly pointing at Snickers, who was currently sleeping on Connor's chair at the dining table. Her father just chuckled and nodded.

"Conny, be a good boy for mama and do your homework once you get home. You only have half-an-hour a day because of your many hobbies, and you know that we love how sporty you are, but it's also rather stressful to take you somewhere else each afternoon, so please do your homework responsibly during the short amount of time you have.", the young brunette kindly lectured his son, who held his pinky up for a promise.

"I will, Daddy!", the little blonde sweetly responded and Ryan had no doubt that he was in fact telling the truth. Connor liked school a lot and was good in every single subject. He wasn't just sporty, but also smart and ambitious.

"Alrighty then, let's go outside to take some pictures and then we can leave.", the veterinarian told his kids, who excitedly grabbed their backpacks and put on their shoes.

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Owen: 58; Amelia: 52; Luca: 23; Leo: 16; Lily: 16

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The alarm rang, causing Owen to shut it off, while his wife just groaned and turned away from him and the evil waking machine, to hide her face in her pillow. The redhead watched her for a moment and chuckled.

"You wanted us to get up with the kids.", he reminded Amelia softly. "Yesterday you were super excited about taking back-to-school pictures of them. I'll quickly make their lunch and you can put on some warmer clothes to take the photos outside with them. And once they've left, we can go back to bed."

"Yeah.", the neurosurgeon mumbled and felt her husband kiss her head before she heard him actually get up. "I'll be there in ten minutes.", she announced tiredly and yawned.

Although Owen was right and they theoretically could go back to bed, they usually only ended up cuddling instead of sleeping again. But since she had to be at the hospital for the late shift, she would probably just eat brunch, take a nap, and then leave for work later.

"Morning, Dad.", Leo greeted his father, already eating his cereal. He and Lily were supposed to get ready for school by themselves in the mornings now, but their parents would still pack them some lunch. The two siblings shared a car, which would sometimes be driven by the young blonde and on other days by his sister.

"Good morning.", Lily said hello to her dad as well as she yawned and ate some oatmeal with fruits. "Do we have those gluten-free chips bags that I like so much?", she wondered, causing her father to check the drawer before he nodded and added one of the bags to her lunch. "What will you take, Leo?", she questioned her brother.

"BBQ chips I guess.", he shrugged. "Why's Mira not down here yet? Doesn't she have to be at work at 8?", the boy asked his dad. He knew Harriet would get Eva ready later today and bring her to kindergarten only for her to be there at 8:30, but he didn't get where his big sister was.

"Yeah, but why would she get up at 6? She'll probably get up at 7, get ready and leave half-an-hour before she has to be at work.", Owen explained. "Ah, there you are.", he beamed at his wife, who finally joined them ten minutes later.

"Hi, Babies.", Amelia greeted her children and kissed their heads before she took a seat at the table with them although they were almost done with their food. "Please be ready in fifteen minutes, so we can take pictures before you have to leave.", she told them. "Who'll drive today?"

"I will.", Leo shared. They had played rock, paper, scissors yesterday because both of them liked driving. Which meant it was going to be Lily's turn tomorrow. "Oh, also, I'll meet Cole on Tuesday after school, meaning I won't be here for dinner. This way, I can drive to soccer practice today and Lily can do so with gymnastics on Wednesday and tomorrow, Cole picks me up from school, so Lils can drive home by herself."

"I think I am currently too tired to follow you and therefore only got half of what you just said, but sure, that works.", his mother answered, barely alive right now. Her kids just chuckled along with their father, and then went upstairs to actually finish getting ready.

"It's 6:15 and you're a surgeon. How are you that tired after being home all day yesterday?", her husband wondered amused and handed her a cup of coffee to drink because he knew she probably wouldn't exactly fall asleep again once they went back to bed.

"Don't ask me. I just love sleep and sleep loves me.", the brunette sighed. "Thanks.", she smiled and kissed his cheek when he sat down next to her for her to lean against him. "I am kinda sad summer break is over. It's gonna be so quiet here during the days, especially once university starts for Luca again as well. On the other hand, I get to practice my chess moves to finally win against Miri, and also will I be having time to read. Did you let the dogs out?"

"See, it's not too bad. We'll have everyone over on Sundays, you know that.", Owen sweetly reassured his wife, sipping on his own mug of coffee. "And yes, I did let them out. After an hour of cuddling or so, I'll walk them, so you can get some more rest."

"Oh no, let's just walk them together and have brunch after.", Amelia suggested, which the redhead had nothing against, so he nodded and kissed her head. "But let's start with the cuddling first, because I absolutely need it.", she cutely admitted.