Meet the Howlters

Five

YEAR: 2053

[Delilah's POV]

"Evan, honey, eat up, you have to catch the bus soon. Katherine! Hurry up!"
"Mum, stop yelling," Fiona whined.
"Sorry honey," I said.
"Mum, can I please have some tea?"
"Yeah, sure," I said. "Joe!"
"What?" he called.
"Could you make Fiona some tea?"
"Yeah, of course."
"Thanks," Fiona pouted. "I hate being sick..."
"Oh yeah, please stay away from your mother," Joe said, handing Fiona her tea.
"Why?"
"She gets sick too easily."
"Oh... okay..."
"I gotta go to work," I sighed. "I love you," I said as I kissed Joe's cheek. "Fiona, Evan, I love you guys. Katherine, get down here right now! And Joe, make sure they get off to school. Feel better, Fiona. Call me if you need anything."
"Thanks mum," she frowned.
"Bye honey. Oh, before you leave, are you gonna be able to be home for Kat and Evan?"
"I don't know, but I'll try."
"Okay," he kissed me. "I'll see you at five."

***

Work was relatively slow that day, which I guess was good for me. I was just about eight and a half months pregnant, and I actually can't deal with moving around and going to trials anymore. Around two, I was working on a file, when out of nowhere, dad called me.

"Hello, Delilah Howlter, attorney at law. How may I help you?"
"Awe, how cute! Do it again!"
"Dad," I blushed. "What's up? I'm working."
"Oh, I was wondering if bear and I could see you guys."
"When?"
"Today? We haven't seen you in like two months.  We... I miss you..."
"Powers out at your house, isn't it?" I grinned.
"Okay, yes, it is. Can I just say, how much I hate snow? Like, I used to love it, but lately it's just been knocking out my wifi and ugh... I hate it."
"Dad, are you asking to stay with us until your power gets back?"
"Yes please..."
"Alright," I said. "I'll leave work early, clean up a bit, and you guys can come over at like five or something."
"Oh, honey, you don't need to leave work early for us."
"Dad, do you understand how much of a blessing this call was? For the past month I've been looking for an excuse to leave early."
"Well then, I'm glad I could help," he smiled. "I'll see you at five, princess."
"See you at five."

***

I eventually left the office around 3:30 so I could get home in time to tidy up the house. When I walked in, Fiona was still a miserable sneezing, coughing, wheezing mess; Katherine and Evan were at football practice with Joe.

"How was your day, princess?" I asked.
"Awful," she coughed.
"Hey, would you mind sleeping on the couch tonight?"
"Why?" she pouted.
"Grandpa and papa are gonna be staying here for a bit."
"Ugh, I hate it when papa comes over."
"Why?" I asked. She rolled her eyes, wrapped her blanket around her, and trudged into the kitchen.
"I hate it because he doesn't remember who we are. He also yells a lot, and does nothing but complain. I'm also not too crazy about how he whines to grandpa; he's just so rude," she explained. She walked over to the stove and poured the rest of the hot water from the kettle into her cup, and made her tea.
"I know, honey, but they need a place to stay until their power comes back on."
"What's wrong with their power?" she asked, taking a sip.
"The snow storm knocked it out."
"Again? I swear that's like the tenth time this year."
"It's only the second," I chuckled.
"Whatever," she said.
"So, do you mind sleeping on the couch?"
"No," she sighed.
"Thank you," I kissed her forehead.
"Yeah, whatever," she grumbled. "What's for dinner?"
"What do you want?"
"Pizza..."
"Then we'll have pizza."
"Thank you..." she smiled.
"No problem," I beamed.

Fiona and I headed back into the living room, turned on the tv, and just watched until dad and bear knocked at the door. I waddled over, and greeted them with a smile.

"Hey guys," I said as I hugged dad. "Dan, may I please have a hug?"
"No," he scoffed. "I don't even know who you are. You could be a murderer, for all I know."
"I promise you, she's not," dad said. "Dan, we've been over this. This is Delilah, she's my daughter. Okay?"
"Okay," he mumbled.
"So, can I have that hug?" I asked as I opened my arms.
"I guess," he shrugged. He walked towards me, and gave me a weak hug before I invited them inside.
"Sorry it's a bit messy. I haven't had much time to clean up."
"Oh, it's alright," dad said. "Hi Fiona," he waved.
"Hi," she whispered.
"What's wrong with Fiona?" dad asked.
"She's got a sinus infection," I said.
"Please kill me," she moped.
"Don't joke about death," I warned.
"Sorry," she said.
"So, where are the other three?"
"Football practice," I said. "They should be home soon."
"Terrific," he said.
"Mr. Howlter, I don't wanna be here. I wanna see my Phil!"
"We'll see him after, okay?"
"Fine," he sighed.
"Would you mind if we had dinner with my daughter and her family?"
"I guess not..."
"Good," dad said.
"Hey, we're home," Joe said, walking in the the kids.
"Hey! How was practice?" I asked.
"It was good," Evan said. "I scored a goal."
"Congrats!" I cheered. "What about you, Kat?"
"Nothin," she sighed. "I was on defense so I couldn't exactly do much."
"Awe," I chuckled. "At least you're a good defense player."
"Yeah... I guess..." she shrugged.
"Okay, I'm gonna order dinner," I said.
"What are we having?" Joe asked.
"Pizza," I mumbled.
"Whoa what's the occasion?" Katherine asked. "You never get us pizza."
"That's because I make pizza," I smirked. "And it's the best damn pizza you'll ever have."
"I mean, you're not wrong," Fiona laughed.
"Damn straight."