A life changing trip - wroetoshaw/Miniminter

Double Digits

"DAD!" a boyish scream filled the house at 8am.

Simon and Chloe who still laid in bed woke to the scream.

"MUM, DAD!" The screaming continued sending panic into the soul of both parents. Chloe and Simon both pulled back the covers as they shot out of bed in a hurry. Simon running across the landing checking George's room which was found empty.

"DAD." Another scream echoed. This time much closer to Simon with a wallow of a cry.

Simon raced to the bathroom to find George standing on top of the toilet lid, screaming at the sight of a spider on the floor. Simon jumped back in shock as he saw the size of the creature, not a usual house spider but almost 3 times the size.

"Is everything okay?" Chloe panicked as she appeared behind Simon to find George stood still on the lid of the toilet. Chloe looked down at the spider and let out a scream as she cowered behind Simon.

"Pass me that cup." Simon said quickly to George. The boy turned round and grabbed the plastic cup that held onto three small toothbrushes. He emptied the contents into the sink and leaned forward from the toilet lid to pass it along.

In one swift movement Simon crouched down and trapped the spider under the cup before it could scuttle away. Simon scooped up the cup with paper underneath, taking the spider outside and letting it loose in the garden.

"Who knew I lived in a house with a bunch of chickens." Simon said as he walked back up the stairs, meeting chloe comforting a distraught George.

"Happy birthday buddy." Simon smiled as George wiped away his last tear.

"Thanks dad." George smiled back.

"Oh gosh the big 1-0." Chloe said attempting to pick him up. She often forgets how old her son is, quickly placing him back to the floor as she couldn't lift his weight.

"Oh god." Chloe let out a grunt. "You're getting too big. Stop it. You used to be able to sit in my hip."

"Mum!" George moaned embarrassed as she placed kisses on his cheeks.

"Should we wake up the girls and then we can get started on the presents?" Simon asked chloe much to George's delight.

Simon sent George down stairs to attempt to find the hidden presents, scattered around the house as chloe and Simon prepared the search the night before.

Chloe and Simon each took one child as they woke them up and got them dressed for the day.

Madison and Julia were 2 and a half years old at the time of George's tenth. A spacious 7 and half year age gap between them. It was nice to think that the girls would have a big brother to care for them, and George could still maintain his innocence with two younger sisters to keep him busy.

"Come on maddie." Chloe said as maddie put on a grumpy expression.

"No." She moaned as chloe tried to take her out her pyjamas. She wasn't anything like George when he was her age. Chloe put it down to having sibling, learning and bouncing off each other's emotions.

"If you help me get you ready, then we can go and have a look at the birthday cake yeah?" Chloe persuaded to which Madison became compliant. Chloe looked over at Simon who had already gotten Julia dressed, her hair tied up in a small blonde ponytail on the top of her head. It was Simons specialty to do that style, mainly because it was the only one he knew how to do.

Madison had slightly thicker hair than Julia, which allowed chloe to tie up two plaits, one on each side of her head, tucking just behind the ears.