Living on Love

thirty

"yay stella!" junior shouted as stella ran into the kitchen with ariana behind her.

"what did stella do?" mac asked.

"stella went pee pee in the potty all by herself daddy," ariana said.

"you used the big potty all by yourself?"

"i pee pee," stella said, jumping up and down. "mommy, i ice cream."

"yes you get an ice cream, daddy hand us a pink otter pop," ariana said.

mac got into the freezer and handed an otter pop to ariana, who cut it in half and gave one part to stella and looked over to chelsea. "chels, have you been using the big potty today?"

"she certainly has, she's only had one accident today," joan said.

"here, you get one too then," she said as she walked to the couch and handed chelsea the other half of the otter pop.

"can i have one? i use the potty on my own every day," junior said. "and i wipe my own butt. and i wash my hands."

ariana laughed a little and nodded. "yeah, daddy get him one too." she leaned over the couch and kissed joan's cheek. "can i hold my brother? i haven't kissed his cheeks off in a week because you left me."

"i'm sorry that i had some on sight work to do," joan said.

"i would have babysat the kids. gimme."

joan handed the baby boy to ariana, who grinned and kissed his chubby cheeks. during the last year and a half, joan had become pregnant again and gave birth to a beautiful baby boy who she named aaron.

"hi fat boy, sissy missed you," she said.

"sissy! mine!" chelsea said.

"he's my brother too you greedy little gnome."

"no my sissy."

"oh i'm your sissy not aaron's?"

"yeah my sissy."

"i'm aaron's sissy too."

"no mine."

ariana giggles and walked over to a high chair where mars sat. "hi fat girl. watcha eatin? it looks like it's already been chewed up."

"it has been," mac said. "she's chewing it and then spitting it out. over and over."

"that's yucky, honey just eat it."

"mama," mars said as she held her arms out.

"i'm holding aaron right now you're gonna have to wait."

"up!"

"ask daddy."

"dada!"

"whatty," mac said.

"up."

"where's mikey?" ariana asked.

"in his bouncer."

"let's go see mikey, bubs," she said as she walked to the living room to see the triplets playing with blocks and her youngest son mikey. after mars was born ariana agreed to try for one more baby to see if they got another boy. when they had mikey, she finally got a hysterectomy because she now had seven children and still under thirty years old.

"mikey, watcha doin buddy?" she asked as she sat on the floor and put aaron in a bouncer next to him.

"mama," shelby said.

"what sis?"

"milk?"

"later."

"mama!"

"i said later. malcolm james, why is there a sucker on my floor?"

"i didn't want it anymore," junior said.

"then come pick it up and throw it away."

junior ran into the living room and picked the sucker up and then hugged his mother. "i love you."

"i love you too but don't leave trash on my floor. got me?"

"i got you."

"go throw it away."

as junior left the room, ariana sighed when she heard one of the girls start crying.

"bubba! no frow the blocks!" makayla shouted.

"hey. inside voice. wilder, come here right now."

"no i no frow it," wilder said.

"come here. now."

wilder got up and slowly made his way to ariana.

"did you throw your block and hit shelby with it?"

"no."

"makayla did bubba throw the block and hit shelby with it?"

"yeah, her's cryin'," makayla said.

"wilder, we do not throw things at the other kids. that's mean. get on the couch and sit there. now."

wilder sobbed and stomped his foot. "no i i frow it!"

"sit your ass on that couch before i bust it."

"no!"

ariana swatted him on the butt and turned him around towards the couch. "get up there. right now."

as wilder kept crying he climbed onto the couch and she held her arms out to shelby. "come here shelbs."

shelby walked to her whining, sitting in her lap with a plop.

"where's it hurt, sis?"

shelby patted her head and leaned back on ariana, who kissed her head and rocked her back and forth.

"you're okay. will you live?" she asked.

"no."

ariana laughed. "no? will milk make you live?"

"yeah."

"of course."

ariana took an arm out of her tank top and pulled it down, shelby immediate suckling on her breast as ariana ran her fingers through her thin curls.

"hey! me first," stella said.

"you didn't just get hit in the head with a block. you can wait."

"mommy..."

"mommy nothing. you can wait. when she's done we'll lay on the couch and watch a movie."

"and milk?"

ariana sighed. "and milk."