3:9 No Problem With Now

Time seemed to fly by since Geoffreys passing, soon it was Luis first day at school. It made Madison upset, this was the first day of many where he could have needed some fatherly advice. It would be harder once he hit puberty, but she hoped by then the pain would have faded and she would have the strength to support him.

The milestone in her sons life marked a change for Madison too. Today was the first day she'd be home alone. Almost, baby Shaena didn't really count, as she slept a lot.

Construction work had started on the small house. Madison had agreed to stay put, and as Luis and Shaena were growing quickly, the first line of business was to build an upstairs to give them their own space. They had started with the stairs, to minimise disruption to the downstairs. The stairs being put in first minimised the risk small children with ladders presented.

The day seemed to fly by once Madison realised how much housework there was to do. When Taylor and Luis arrived home, she sat down to help Luis with his homework while Taylor went to visit her favorite niece.
"So, how was school?"
"Boring." Madison smiled at her sons response.
"I used to think it was boring when I was your age. But I liked science lessons. What was your favorite lesson?"
"I liked P.E. best, but even that was boring because we only ran around the gym a few times."
"Well, that will get more interesting, they were only seeing what you can do. Do you want to sign up for any afterschool groups?" Luis shook his head and stared at his homework. Madison took this to mean he didn't want to talk about it today and left the subject to continue helping him.

_____

A week or so later, it was Shaenas birthday. Summer came round to help celebrate. Luis tried his hardest to be nice to his sister, but it was difficult when she was so boring. She'd just mastered crawling, and barely knew any words. She mainly just sat around and gurgled.

 "I can't believe you're pregnant!" Taylor exclaimed, gently stroking her best friends stomach. She felt the baby kick, and beamed with excitement.

"You have no idea how weird it feels. Knowing there's a person inside you. Inside you!" Summer shuddered, and Taylor giggled at how she got creeped out by it.
"I know exactly what you mean, Summer. You wait til childbirth." Madison chimed in, whilst stopping Shaena from chewing her sleeve.
"Oh, God. I don't even want to think about that just yet." She paused a moment and sighed. "I'd hoped that when I had children, I'd be married and they'd have the tight family unit I never had growing up. Like you two had when you were young." Taylor nodded. "I was always jealous of how you two lived with both your parents, yeah, my mum worked her head off raising me, and I'm so thankful for it, but I wish she was still around to help me with this one."

"I think you'll do an amazing job." Taylor pulled her into as tight a hug as she dared, being careful to avoid her stomach. "And you've always got us two to help out if you need us anyway."
"Thanks, guys." Summer said, pulling back and looking at the two girls who were almost her sisters. "You know, Tay, you'll have to find someone and have your own baby so you don't feel left out!"
"Nah, I'll be ok." Taylor lightly slapped Summers arm. "Not for a few years yet. I want to make it in my career before I settle down like that."

_____

Taylor went over to the library after work to use the computer. Now that Luis was at school, and Shaena was starting to walk and talk, she didn't worry as much about rushing home to help her sister. Madison still had spells where she seemed depressed, but with Shaena causing mischeif now she didn't have time to stop and think about what could've been.

Madison had almost mastered the art of multi-tasking by now. She was able to keep Shaena distracted as well as help Luis with his homework. She'd usually find time to make a salad or some sandwiches for dinner too, and constantly wished they had a stove so she could make some hot meals to warm them up on the cold nights.

While Taylor was submitting the report she'd just been working on, she felt a wave of nausea wash over her. She'd not been ill since the week after prom, so it was unexpected. She suddenly felt really tired, and decided to go home and get an early night.

She'd barely got into bed when she couldn't hold back anymore, and found herself hovering over the toilet. When she was done, she dragged herself back to bed, and fell asleep almost immediately, hoping to sleep this off.

"Mummy, I head auntie Taylor being sick just now." Luis had been setting his backpack up for school the next morning when his aunt had rushed through. Madison was putting Shaena to bed and was going to read them both a bedtime story.
"Oh dear, I'm sure she'll be ok." Madison replied, thinking nothing of it.

"But auntie Taylor is never sick, mummy." Luis pressed, as Madison rested Shaena in the crib.
"I'm sure she's just got a stomach bug, Luis. She'll feel better in a couple of days. Don't worry about it. Get in bed and I'll go get the story."

_____

"Are you feeling better today, auntie Taylor?" Luis asked the second his aunt had sat down to breakfast. He'd been worrying about her all night, and his mother had got annoyed by his tossing and turning and almost told him to sleep in one of the half built rooms upstairs.
"Yes, thankyou, Luis. I'm fine now."

Once Luis was at school, Taylor was at work, and Shaena was occupied by the xylophone, Madison remembered the gift Geoffrey had given her almost ten years ago. She smiled at how eager she'd been to open it back then.
"Well, I didn't ever peek, and I don't know when you wanted me to open it, G, but I see no problem with now." She said to his picture on the wall, as she sat on the bed and tugged at the red ribbon.






Shaena spam:

 She so pretty!! But her mouth is so tiny! Weird...