thirteen

Rising at 7am, I let Kameron out of his room, letting him use the bathroom before getting Elena and letting her do the same. Finally, I get Brayden up, putting him on the potty as well and letting him go before taking all three kids downstairs.

I put some music on to play through downstairs and head to the kitchen, deciding to make them eggs and pancakes this morning instead of giving them something less filling.

After scrambling the eggs and cooking a few pancakes, I make each of them a plate and set them at the table.

"Breakfast is ready, come eat!" I tell them.

They all run into the kitchen, getting to the table and immediately starting to eat.

After I finish cooking, I sit down at the table too, eating my eggs and pancakes with them.

"Mommy, water?" Brayden asks.

"Say 'please'!" I tell him.

"Please!" he exclaims.

After getting him some water, I start washing the dishes and wait until the kids are done before making them wash their sticky hands and letting them go play while I clean up completely.

While the kids play, I find myself upstairs cleaning, vacuuming the kids rooms along with their bathrooms. Soon, 11am arrives and I make my way back downstairs, making the kids some chicken nuggets for lunch and serving it to them along with some fruit.

After the three of them are done, I lead them upstairs, making Kameron go in his room for quiet time and the two others go down for their naps.

Soon, they probably won't want or even need to go down. But quiet time will resume, of course. Mama needs a couple hours.

Leaving them to rest, I find myself downstairs again, cleaning up lunch and the toys scattered among everything in the living room before vacuuming and then lying on the couch and relaxing for a while until the kids wake up and I'm forced to get snacks together, put them on the potty and take them downstairs again.

Once their snacks are gone and they're playing again, I take this time to start a load of laundry and fold the laundry that I had finished yesterday.

"Mommy, I'm hungry." Kameron tells me.

"You just had snacks!" I say playfully. "What do you want?"

"Ummm," he starts. "I think I want yogurt."

"Okay." I nod, getting him a yogurt... and the other kids since no one can have something without them wanting it too.

As they eat their yogurt, I continue to fold the laundry before going upstairs and putting the clothes away.

As 4pm rolls around, I tell the kids to clean up their toys, wanting them to have some calmer time. Kameron asks for his tablet, making me give it to him while putting the other tablets out in case they want them. I also turn the tv on, putting on Finding Nemo for them to watch.

"Kameron, I want you to practice your letters, numbers and colors while you're on there. That's the deal, got it?"

"Got it." he says, giggling.

As he begins to play and the kids begin to watch the movie, cuddled in their blankets they insist on using, I go to the laundry room, switching the laundry and bringing the dry clothes to the living room to fold.

As 5pm nears, I rise from the couch, putting the clothes away and going to the kitchen.

Taking out a pack of thinly sliced chicken breasts, I clean them and season them with salt, pepper, adobo and a bit of garlic powder before putting them in a oiled frying pan.

When they're done, I take them out of the pan and set them aside on the chopping block before adding a box of low sodium chicken broth into the pan followed by the pasta and covering it with the lid.

While the pasta cooks, I take the chicken and cut it into smaller bite sized pieces so that the kids won't choke.

I then stir the pasta and remember that I haven't made the alfredo sauce yet. Getting out the cream cheese, butter, garlic powder, parmesan and pepper, I start to melt the butter a pot before adding the cream cheese and garlic powder, whisking it until smooth. Stirring the pasta again, I drain it since it's now al dente and slowly add the milk, eventually I stir in the Parmesan and pepper until it's the consistency I want. I put in the pasta, adding the cut up chicken and stirring it together.

Sighing to myself, I start to make the kids plates, the clock striking 6:07pm as the front door opens and shuts.

"Daddy!" Kameron screams.

My eyebrows furrowing, I set down the ladle and go around the corner, seeing Justin greet the kids as a smile appears on my lips.

"You're home." I say, tearing his attention away from the kids.

He grins, nodding. "I wanted to be home tonight."

I smile. "Dinner just finished. I'll make you a plate."

He smiles back.

"Kids, come sit at the table."

"Yay!" they yell, setting down their tablets and running to the table.

I make sure the food on their plates is cool enough before setting them in front of them. Making Justin a plate as he walks upstairs and changes his clothes, he then comes into the kitchen, washing his hands and sitting at the table with us.

"Daddy, I'm glad you're home." Kameron says while piling food into his mouth.

"Slow down bubba." Justin chuckles.

"Oh." Kameron chuckles. "Sorry daddy."

"It's okay, buddy." Justin smiles. "And I'm glad I'm home too."

After dinner, I start to go towards the stairs to take the kids for a bath, but Justin stops me.

"I've got it tonight."

I raise my eyebrows at him.

"In fact, I've got the kitchen too. Lay on the couch and relax. We'll watch a movie as a family before bed and then when they go to bed you can take a nice long bath and I'll clean up." he says.

"Really?"

"You do it everyday." he tells me, kissing my forehead. "I got it."

I smile, nodding. "Okay."

He grins, kissing me before turning. "Kids! Bathtime, let's go!"

All three kids run upstairs with Justin, getting in the bath while I sit on the couch as instructed, using this down time to go onto Instagram and Facebook for a while.

Once the kids are done in the bath, they run downstairs and jump onto the couch, getting comfortable with their blankets while Justin turns on a movie for us to watch together.

By the end of the movie, all three kids had fallen asleep while Justin turns off the tv and takes the three of them upstairs and puts them into bed.

I listen to his suggestion, going upstairs and getting into the bath to relax for a while while he's downstairs cleaning up.

After he's done cleaning up, he enters the bathroom and showers while I relax before we both get dressed in our pajamas and climb into bed.

Justin climbs to my belly, making me grin automatically.

"Hi princess..." he starts. "I know momma's been the one talking to you lately. Daddy's been really busy at work." he sighs. "But you're almost here. We've only got a few more weeks until you get here and I know me and momma and your brothers and sister can't wait to meet you and snuggle you."

I giggle at his words.

"I can't wait to see you, princess." he says.

As he talks, baby girl begins to kick, letting him know she's listening.

"And I know momma's been really upset that daddy's not home." he says. "And daddy's really sorry."

He looks up at me, telling me he's talking more to me than the baby.

"And that he's going to try really hard to be home and see your brothers and sister and to help at nighttime."

"And momma appreciates it but knows it probably won't happen because daddy's so invested with getting the company up and running again." I answer.

Justin sighs, resting his chin on my belly. "I'm gonna try, Eli."

I nod. "I know. But I'm not counting on it sticking."

He sighs. "Babe-"

"No." I shake my head. "I'm sorry. I know more than anyone how much everything is struggling right now. I do some of the paperwork, remember? I know it's hard right now and I don't blame you. It's just frustrating. Especially with the baby getting here in under ten weeks."

He nods. "I know. But, I'm going to try. That I can promise." he says.

I sigh. "Okay."

He grins, leaning up and kissing me before going back to the bump and starting to talk again, making me feel whole and happy for once in a while.

***

hey everyone!

thank you all for reading the new chapter!

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i really hope you're enjoying the book!

all my love,

shan:)