My 'Perfect' Life

Chapter 29: Yet Another Surprise

Sarah

I can hear my phone ring in the back of my head. I yawn, only wanting to turn onto my other side and pull the covers over my head, but instead, I sit up and reach over the edge of my bed to retrieve my phone from the bedside table. I answer the stupid call, immediately getting annoyed with the fact that it's Niall. He knows how much I need sleep right now. I haven't been able to sleep well these past three days because Lukas has been getting up in the middle of the night and won't go to sleep. Niall hasn't been helping out because his work wears him out, him being gone all day. 

"Hello," I croak. 

He coos, "Good morning, my love."

"Niall, don't," I warn, my morning voice still clear in the air. 

He goes silent for a second, "Hey listen, I'm sorry I haven't been home at all this week, so I've got a surprise for you. I'll be home in a couple hours, okay?"

"M'kay," I lazily brush my hair out of my face. 

He hums, "I love you, babe."

"I love you, too, Ni," I reply, my mood is slowly making it's way up the happy scale. 

I hear him kiss me through the phone and I do the same before hanging up. 

I hear rapid footsteps in the hallway and soon Parker appears in the doorway. Her mop of hair bounces on her head as she skips towards me. She climbs onto Niall's half of the bed and pulls the sheet up onto her lap without saying a word. 

"Good morning, babe," I plant a kiss on her head. 

She slouches back against the pillows, "Morning, Mama."

"How long have you been awake?" I set my phone back down on the side table. 

She sighs, "Hours."

"Really now? What have you been doing for all these hours?" I question, not really believing that she was awake for hours. 

She shrugs, "I played barbies on my bed."

"Oh, that's fun," she must have been up for maybe 30 minutes than. 

I shrug, "You still tired?"

"Nope," she gets up onto her knees. "I'm wide awake."

I chuckle, "Do you want some breakfast?"

"Waffles?" she perks up.

I shrug, "Sure, why not?"

"Yum!" she jumps off the bed and darts out into the hallway. I groan, knowing she'll wake up the two younger ones from all this noise. 

Soon enough, I hear a loud wale, coming from Lukas' room. I grumble, trudging towards the door, stepping out into the hallway. I put on a smile to greet the crying child. I slowly open his bedroom door, and sure enough, he's standing, his hands on the horizontal bar of his crib. His bottom lip is sticking out, his cheeks are rosy and his eyes are red and puffy. 

"Hello, Lukey," I hoist him out of bed and hold him to my chest to help calm his cries. "Did you sleep okay?"

His crying steadily dies down as I take him down stairs to see what Parker is up to.  I sure hope she's not making a mess in the kitchen, expecting me to clean it up after her. I hold in a short breath, but quickly release it, seeing as though everything is normal. She sits quietly in one of the chairs at the counter and pours a box of Cheerios into a plastic bowl. She grabs her spoon and starts scooping the dry cereal into her mouth .

I slightly giggle, "Would you like some milk?"

"Yes, please," she politely responds. 

I set Lukas down, but he quickly starts whining. After lifting him up against my side, I open the fridge and find that we don't have much food, and I really need to go grocery shopping. I grab the jug of milk and set it on the counter for Parker, but she doesn't move.