Chapter 38 - Life

Arriving back at the Owens’, Cam was surprised to find Storm sitting quietly with Noah in her arms, feeding him with a bottle, while Rain and Summer held Darcy, doing the same. Nicole smiled up at them from her seat, where Wynter was snuggled in drinking juice from a sippy cup.

“Wow, this is…how did you do that?” Cam asked in amazement.

Nicole chuckled. “Years of practice.” She winked and turned her cheek towards Lucy as she bent down to kiss it.

“You look beautiful,” Lucy whispered. The light blush that always came with any compliment Nicole received made her smile.

Whispering loudly, Storm piped up. “Michelle said I am a natural. And that this show was going to be awesome.” Proudly grinning at them, before she checked that Noah was still comfortable.

“That’s really good,” Cam said. Lucy nodded to confirm that she felt that way too. Over the past summer, Storm had begun to blossom into her own person even more. She’d always been her own person, never one to follow the crowd, and Lucy and Nicole couldn’t have been prouder of the young woman she was becoming. But recently, there had been a lot of changes; nothing too major, just little things they had noticed about their eldest. It was a pleasure to witness, and now, with Michelle’s help, it looked like there would be even more things to be proud of. “Michelle is very excited to be helping you, I know that much,” Cam added.

Noah finished his bottle and began to fidget, letting out little whimpers as he realized the milk was gone. “Hey, Noah,” Storm said, tenderly lifting him up and over her shoulder, where she already had a napkin laid. Gently, she began to pat his back and rub in circles until he let out a small burp. “See, that’s all you needed to do.” She smiled.

Cam watched this family in awe. They just took everything in their stride. The kids, the adults, nothing seemed to faze them at all. Something needed doing, and they all jumped to it.

“If the acting doesn’t work out, then may I suggest nursing or childcare, teacher maybe?” Cam said as Storm looked her way.

The youngster shrugged, just like Lucy did. “Maybe. I’m keeping my options open,” she said, grinning at Lucy.

“Yeah, good plan.”

“Speaking of plans,” Nicole said, turning her attention to Lucy. “How did the job go? You think you can do it?”

Nodding, Lucy got up and took Darcy from the lap of Rain. Holding her over her shoulder, she began to burp her just like Storm had with Noah. “Yeah, I think so. It’s mostly taking out broken wooden planks and replacing them. Sealing up some holes and making good the roof. Nothing too difficult, and I can get someone in to help with the windows.”

“It’s an awesome building, have you seen it?” Cam asked. “The history of it all must be amazing. I might do some digging online later.”

“No, I’ve never been up that way,” Nicole replied. “But I can imagine it would be impressive. They really did build things to last back then, didn’t they?”

Cam’s phone chirped. A new text message. She smiled as she read it.

>Michelle: I’m done for the day. When are you getting home? I miss my babies…but I can read if you’re having fun.

It was swiftly followed by a second text.

>Oh, and I miss you too, of course. X

Turning to Nicole, Cam said, “Well, that’s my cue to get going. Thank you for keeping an eye on them.”

“Any time. What’s two more when you already have four!” Nicole laughed, helping Cam to load herself up like a pack horse once again.