Summer Babysitting Job

Chapter Twelve

"Morning, Wes," I said, stretching my arms. He was still asleep, arm drapped across my waist.

Frowning, I pulled out my phone. "Surfer Girl" played with my volume all the way up.

"I'm up!" Wes yelled, sitting up.

"Good. Now get out," I said, shoving him off the bed.

"Harsh!"

Laughing, I put on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. It's supposed to be chilly today.

Today, I decided, we should throw a small party. I walked into the kitchen to propose my plan to the boys.

"That means we'll have to clean the house, go grocery shopping, and decorate!"

"Yes! Yes! Can George come?" Sam asked.

"Of course, they're all invited."

"Abby gets here tonight," Alec added.

"Good, she can party with us."

Dismissing every question and statement from them, I started on a grocery list and a chore list. Then I assigned everyone jobs.

Alec will supervise the twins, Dane, and Ben in cleaning, Andrew can decorate, and Sam and Wes are coming to the store with me.

"Alright, pile in!"

Wes sat in the passenger's seat, and Sam sat in the middle row. We took the van so we would have room for the groceries.

We pulled into the parking lot, and got out. Grabbing two carts, we went from section to section, taking anything and everything off the shelves.

In total, we should have 33 people. There were the four boys, their combined number of nine brothers and three sisters, then the five girls from the party plus Callie and Bri. Also, there's me, the eight boys, and Abby.

"Can we please get it?" Sam begged, pointing to a big container of Cedar Crest ice cream.

I looked at the flavor. It was a four-gallon container of Blue Moon ice cream. Only was $30. How could I say no?

Finally, we made it to the checkout. I check my phone. We'd be there for an hour already.

The total rang up to $287.54. Thank the Lord for parent's money. We pushed the carts out to the car, and loaded all of the stuff.

As soon as we got home, the three of us began putting the groceries away. We started with the cold stuff, then left the chip bags and buns on the counter, since they didn't need to be cold.

The house looked remarkably better. Alec did a good job dictating the boys.

I sent out a mass text, telling everyone to get there around five. I got responses from everyone saying they could come.

Andrew was decorating the deck with string lights.

"Where'd you find those?" I asked. I've never seen them before.

"They were in your basement. There's a lot of cool stuff down there," he replied, plugging them in. Even in daylight, they looked fabulous.

"Wow, those look spectacular. I can't wait to see what else you do!"

I walked back into the kitchen, slipping through the sliding door that leads to the deck.

"Who can make burgers?" I asked.

Dane stood up and came over to me. I handed him two pounds of meat, and he began working.

"Who can cut up fruit without a trip to the emergency room?"