Putting the water inside, Wendy headed back to the store and saw cases of bottled sports drinks and grabbed one. Going back in, Wendy grabbed the boxes of trail bars someone tossed on the floor as they’d grabbed the candy. Putting the bars in bags, Wendy passed the bags to Jo Ann and then grabbed cans of soup and crackers.
Handing them off, Wendy stopped at seeing loaves of bread. Waving her flashlight around, Wendy saw peanut butter and jelly. Grabbing them, Wendy passed them off and started filling more bags, even grabbing a portable coffee maker.
Coming back inside, Wendy headed over to a display of audio books and grabbed several that they could all listen to. Walking by a busted display, she saw a portable DVD player. Grabbing the player, Wendy headed over and grabbed several movies and then filled bags with all the batteries she could.
Wendy froze when she saw canned formula behind the counter. Breaking into a run, Wendy rounded the counter and took all three cans of Ryan’s brand of formula. Struggling to hold all the bags, Wendy came back out and looked around for diapers and saw two packages of pull-ups and one pack of diapers that would fit Ryan.
Putting them under her arms, Wendy headed for the door.
“We’re running out of room,” Jo Ann whispered from the door.
Walking out with her hands full, “We are done,” Wendy said, grunting to get the last load in. As Wendy yanked the cargo door to make it close, she heard Jo Ann climb back in the Tahoe. Running around and jumping in, Wendy dropped the Tahoe into drive and rounded the store, pulling back on the highway.
As they were driving away, Jo Ann let out a gasp. “We just robbed that place!”
Chapter Twenty Eight
Growing up fast isn’t always a choice
May 18
Hearing an alarm, Shawn sat up rubbing his eyes. Reaching over, he swatted at the alarm until it shut up, then turned to the bassinette and didn’t see Lucas. “Shit,” he grumbled, throwing his legs out of the bed. Getting up, he walked around the room to wake up the other boys. Kirk, Pat, and Tony all sat up and Shawn looked at Jim’s empty bunk bed.
“Jim went to sleep with Arthur,” Pat yawned out.
Jumping off the top bunk, “Yeah, he followed Arthur when Arthur got Lucas because he was crying,” Kirk told him.
“Why didn’t you wake me up?” Shawn moaned.
“Because Arthur had already got Lucas,” Kirk snapped. “I was getting out of bed to feed him, but Arthur walked in.”
“Oh,” Shawn said, pulling on his pants. “We have to help more with the babies. They are wearing Arthur out.”
“I told Arthur I was getting up to feed Lucas, but he told me to go back to sleep,” Kirk said, pulling on his clothes.
“Are we working out today?” Tony asked, struggling to stand as he dressed.
Heading for the door while putting on his shirt, “We’ll find out at breakfast,” Shawn said, grabbing his AR. Stepping out into the hallway, he saw Andrea pulling on her shirt. “Where’s Pam?” Shawn asked.
“Arthur got her last night,” Andrea groaned and then looked at Shawn.
“Yeah, he got Lucas,” Shawn said as they headed for the stairs. “I swear, I never heard Lucas wake up.”
As both trotted down the stairs, Andrea looked over at Shawn. “Lucas doesn’t cry loud, so you have an excuse. Pam screams bloody murder and I can’t believe I slept through that,” Andrea huffed.
Feeling somewhat better after hearing that, Shawn headed for the kitchen and stopped, not seeing Arthur already up. Andrea bumped into him and looked around not seeing Arthur. “I feel like shit now,” Andrea moaned. “How can he function going that hard and that long?”
Waving a hand at the kitchen, “Undoubtedly, he can’t,” Shawn pointed out. “There has to be a way to wake up when a baby cries.”
Pushing Shawn out of the way, Andrea walked through the kitchen and stopped at the master bedroom door. Arthur was sitting up in bed with pillows behind him. Sound asleep, Arthur’s head was tilted back and his mouth was hanging open. Nicole and Lucas were cradled in his arms and Arthur’s legs were bent forming a box, with Pam sleeping in the box formed by his legs.
Curled up next to Arthur were Robin, Beth, and Jim. “How the hell does he get Robin to wear pull-ups?” Andrea asked as Shawn eased past her.
“He puts them on her after she goes to sleep,” Shawn answered in a low voice, moving to the bed. Carefully, he picked up Lucas and Arthur’s eyes cracked open. “I’m changing him,” Shawn whispered and Arthur’s eyes closed back.
Andrea moved in and tried to get Pam and Nicole, but Shawn stopped her from picking up Nicole. When Andrea picked up Pam, they left the room. “I found out that if you take Nicole, he always wakes up,” Shawn told her, walking through the kitchen.
They put the sleeping babies in bouncy chairs as the rest came downstairs. Shelia came in, putting her long red hair up in a ponytail and looked over at Andrea. “I swear, I never heard Pam wake up,” Shelia said, holding up her hands.
Andrea just nodded and looked around the kitchen. Fourteen kids were here, plus her, and they couldn’t even wake up when the babies cried. Being the oldest of the group, Andrea felt she should be the most responsible, but she didn’t know how to take care of babies. She was the baby of the family and
