Our Life Together

My Favorite People

I walk into the living room ready to start our movie, smiling at what I see.  Liv is holding Scar while they sit on the floor, and the boys are all crowded around the couch with Brad in the middle.  They're all cuddled up under blankets clutching popcorn and snacks.  I go over to join them, sitting on the couch next to Brad in my designated spot.  He wraps a blanket around us and the kids start the movie that they picked out.

"How many times have we seen this movie?  If they don't have it memorized already, I do."

"I don't know, but they love it for some dumb reason.  They all like the same thing for once.  It's a freaking miracle."  He pulls me closer, handing me some popcorn "If it makes you feel any better, I'll sneak us alcohol so it isn't as bad."

"Honey, we're the parents, we don't need to sneak alcohol, we deserve it.  They should know by now that they're the reason we drink."  I lean over, kissing him "You should go get us some though.  I need it if I'm watching this thing again.  This has to be one of the dumbest movies I've ever seen."

He walks out to the bar room to get us some, and the second he gets up, Scar crawls over to me and I know she needs fed.  She smiles at me as she tries to pull herself up.

"I really need that drink."  I sigh, lifting her up to my chest, watching as she situates herself and starts to eat.  She plays with a lose strand of my hair, twirling it around her tiny fingers, and using it as a toy.  I look from her to Olivia, still amazed at the fact that they look so much alike.

"So, I guess this means I get both drinks?" Brad sits back down next to me "Unless you think she'll be done soon."

"I'll drink it!" Liam offers "Nobody will know!"

"No!" We both say in unison.  Brad puts mine on the coffee table as he starts to drink his.

"Not with all of them around.  They can't keep their tiny mouths shut." 

"I want some."  Jack walks over to my glass and picks it up.

"No, that's not for you."  Brad stops him quickly "You can drink your juice." He walks away sulking until he sees that it's his favorite part of the movie.

Scar stops eating, so I set her down on the floor again and she crawls around until she finds the perfect spot.  Brad and I sit on the couch watching all the kids as they talk and play basically ignoring the movie.

"They're lucky we love them so much and don't bother putting something else on."  I say once they're all doing their own things "As soon as we change it, they'll say they were still watching."

"So what?  We made them all, we make the decisions too."  He digs around in their pile of crap until he finds the remote "Let's get something funny."

"Okay, but not too funny.  I just got Liv to stop running around yelling "fuck" the other day.  I don't need to deal with that again."

"You're so mean, you should just let them express their feelings.  Maybe she was having a bad few days."  He picks the first comedy movie he sees that's somewhat appropriate "She hears you swear too much, she thinks it's normal."

"Liar.  I think she's in the car with you too much.  All they ever hear in your car is you bitching about other people." I look up to see that she kids are much more interested in this movie "Figures the one we don't really want them to watch they pay attention to."

"Well yeah, of course.  What did you expect?"

They all move back to their original spots, and the girls climb up with me and Brad.  Liv lays with me, eating all my popcorn and blocking my view of the movie, while Scar bounces around in Brad's lap.

"Maybe we should just take them up now." I suggest, noticing that Liv, Scar, and Jack are asleep "Liam and Gabe are going to pass out the second they hit their beds."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." He stands up with Scar, and picks up Jack "I'll take them.  Just make sure those two don't fall up the steps again."

"I'll walk behind them."  I laugh, looking over to see that they can hardly keep their eyes open "If I can even get them to stand up."

I lay Liv down for a few seconds to take the blanket off the boys and get them awake.  They complain that they have to move, and walk as slow as possible.

"Boys, come on.  You can sleep once you get to your rooms.  Just walk faster.  Your sister is getting heavy."  They ignore me, continuing to walk like zombies. 

Once I finally get them upstairs, they pass out the second they want into their rooms.  They don't even make it to their beds.

"Good night, princess."  I gently lay Olivia down in her bed, kissing her forehead and walking out of the room quietly. 

"She still asleep?"  Brad asks as I walk out "Jack woke up, but I think he's sleeping again now."

"Yeah, she's passed out.  Didn't even move when I laid her down."

We walk into our room to get changed and ready for bed.  He pulls me closer once we're laying down, and I rest my head on his chest.

"It's so nice when we get to do things like that." He admits, brushing his hands through my hair "Just spending time as the 7 of us."

"Yeah, me too.  It's my favorite." I trace his chest as it rises and falls with every breath "I miss them so much when we're away, but that makes up for it."

"I love you." He leans down to kiss me.

"I love you too."