Chapter 7 - Life

Storm ran in from school with all the excitement a 10-year-old could muster. “Mom, Mama!” she called out as she raced through the home they now lived in.

“Hey, what’s all the noise?” Lucy said, grinning at the commotion. Her eldest thumped against her and wrapped her arms around her middle.

“You will never guess.”

“You’re probably right. Can I have a clue?”

Suddenly, Storm jumped back and broke into song, “My name is Tallulah….”

Lucy’s face broke out into a bigger grin, “You got the part? I thought they weren’t announcing till next week?”

Storm dropped her bag and jumped up into her Mama’s arms. “They aren’t, Ms. Arnold held me back after class and I thought I was in trouble but then she said that she wasn’t supposed to tell me, but she knew I could keep a secret. I got the part!” She quickly kissed Lucy’s cheek. “Thanks, Mama.”

“You did all the hard work, kiddo.”

“But only ‘cause you told me what to do.” She grabbed Lucy’s face in her palms and rubbed their noses together. “Can we have pizza to celebrate?”

“What are we celebrating?” Nicole asked as she entered the room with the twins already pulling off their coats and dropping their backpacks to the floor.

“Well….” Lucy said, swinging Storm around, “someone has some exciting news.”

Unwinding her scarf, Nicole smiled. “Oh?” It always amused her that Storm would hold back information in order to tell Lucy first, even though she had just ridden in the car with her mother for 15 minutes on the drive home from school.

“I got the lead part in the summer play!”

“Aw honey, that’s fantastic.” She crossed the room quickly and joined in the hug, quickly followed by the twins.

“Group hug!” Rain shouted in glee.

Summer chimed in, “Is Storm gonna be a star, like Michelle?”

“Oh…I said I’d call her and tell her. Can I?” Storm said, wriggling out of Lucy’s hold till her feet were back on the floor.

“Alright, but don’t keep her talking too long. You know she has the babies now,” Nicole warned as Storm was already dashing across the room to the phone.

“I won’t.” She grinned over her shoulder as she threw herself onto the couch and grabbed the phone.

“So, we have a little star in the making,” Nicole said as Lucy put an arm around her shoulder. “Going to grow up just like her Mama.”

Lucy poked her in the ribs and laughed. “More like she wants to be Michelle, but I can live with that so long as she is happy.”

Nicole rolled her eyes as soon as they heard their eldest scream down the phone. “Storm, calm down.”

Storm held a thumb up and nodded as she listened to Michelle saying, “That is wonderful news, Storm. I am so happy for you.”

“Uh huh, I have a lot of lines to learn though. As soon as I get the script I’ll start reading, and hopefully if I follow the things you talked to me about, then I will be the star of the show,” she said excitedly.

Michelle laughed at her exuberance. “Well, why not? Cam and I will be coming to the lake soon, so I can run lines with you if you like?”

“Really? That would be so cool.”

One of the babies began to cry in the background, and Storm sighed, knowing her time with Michelle was up. “I will definitely look forward to that, Storm, but I have to go right now. Darcy is hungry, and it won’t be long before she wakes Noah too.”

“Aww, give them both a big hug from me.”

“I will. You take care, and I will see you soon.” Michelle hung up and Storm sat back with a big smile on her face.

“Mama, are we having pizza?”