Bedtime

Reader

I sighed tiredly, as I turned the car off and stepped out, grabbing my purse and the files I had to look over. I had to attend a meeting with my boss today, and he dumped all of his work that he didn’t want to do on me. That’s what I hate about my job; my boss is the one in charge, and because of that, he thinks that he can boss me around like I'm one of his board members, when I'm not. I'm the country of (c/n), and I shouldn't have to do as much as I do, but whatever. All the suckiness of the day, every headache that comes and goes, is all erased when I get home. Smiling up at my home, I stopped on the porch and put my key in the lock, turning it and taking the key back out, before I opened the door. Not even two steps in, I heard the pounding of little feet, as well as the sound of cheering and tired sighs. Smiling, I closed the door and stood there, waiting and bracing myself for the pile-up. Minutes later, 7 children came running through the living room entryway, followed by my blonde husband, who had two more children in his arms. He looked at me and smiled. I smiled back and him and laughed as I was knocked over by 6 little bodies all at once. “Yay! Mommy’s home! Mommy’s home!” One of my 5 year olds, Alfred, cheered, as he hugged my arm tightly.

“Mum! You have to see what I did today! It’s so awesome!” Another one of my older children, Cody, said. I smiled at him.

“I will sweetie.” I told him, fighting back a yawn as I looked at my last 5 year old, Aesha. She smiled at me, hugging my stomach before letting me go and sitting down beside me, smiling bigger. “How are you today, Aesha?” I asked her gently, and she giggled, covering her mouth with her hands.

“I’m okay, mama! I had fun with Mattie today!” she smiled, and my expression softened, as I looked over at said 4 year old, who was standing over by my husband, hugging his polar bear doll, Mr. Kumajiro, to his chest, smiling shyly at me. I smiled at him and raised my arm the best I could, and he smiled, dropping his bear and running to me, before pausing, running back to get the dropped toy, and dragged it back over to me, before abandoning him for a second and hugging my waist.

“Hi, mama…” he said in his soft voice, and I smiled.

“Hi, my little maple. How was your day? Did you have fun with Aesha?” I asked, and he smiled against me, nodding. “That’s good.” I whispered, before I looked up at the last 3 children that were clinging to me. “Leon, Michelle, Grace? What about you?” I asked, and I was confronted with three pairs of beautiful eyes and smiles.

“It was fun, mommy! Daddy let me swim in the big bathtub!” Michelle giggled. I laughed; Michelle always did love the water.

“Daddy helped me sew up Ani!” Gracie said, showing me a newly sewn lamb doll; the same doll I had given her the day she was born. I smiled at her. She really loved that doll, just as much as Mattie loved his Mr. Kumajiro, even if he could never remember his name, always saying it only half right.

“It was okay.” I smiled, amused, at Leon’s short answer. Ever since we adopted him, he’s been quiet, polite, and, well, grown up. Now, there was nothing wrong with that, but it would be nice if he would let loose every once in a while and be the little kid that he is. I smiled and pushed myself up, forcing the kids off, as I stood up and walked over to Arthur. Two little pairs of eyes peeked out from Arthur’s shirt, before two giggles filled the air, one pair of arms reaching for me. I smiled, reaching out and taking the child, a girl, from her father’s arms, placing her on my hip and kissing her forehead.

“Hey there, Ophelia! How’s my special girl today, huh?” I cooed to her. She and Peter, the child remaining in Arthur’s arms, have had colds for the past couple of days, and from the looks of them, the worst was behind us. Ophelia giggled and nuzzled into my neck, as I cradled her, and looked at Arthur, who was smiling at me. He walked closer to me and gave me a light kiss, before pulling away.

“Welcome home, love…” he whispered, and by the tone of his voice, I knew he was tired from chasing the kids around all day. I giggled, and ran my fingers through Peter’s blonde locks, kissing his head before looking back at Arthur.

“Thanks.” I whispered, holding back a yawn, but he seemed to catch it.

“Love, you’re tired. Don’t even think about telling me you’re not, because I know you, and you’re a terrible liar.” He said, fixing me with a knowing look. I looked to the side, avoiding his gaze, making him laugh. “Okay kids, spaghetti o’s will be ready in a minute, go wash up.” he said, and I brought my hand up to cover my laughing. That was the only thing I was able to teach him to make, that all the kids liked, and he didn't burn. I remember the day he made it for the first time by himself; everyone was so happy, we had all knocked him over in a huge bear hug, laughing when he got irritated. That was also the day that Peter and Ophelia were conceived; but, that’s another story for another day. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I looked down at the child tugging on my pant leg, only to see Cody with a smile on his face.

“I can take Ophelia, mum! You just relax!” he smiled at me, and I blinked, before handing him Ophelia, making sure he had a good enough grip on her, kissing his forehead and standing back up, seeing that Matthew had Peter, and they both started walking up the stairs to the bathroom. I smiled after them, leaning into Arthur’s chest when his arms wrapped around my waist, and his lips touched my neck.

“Come here, love…” he said, pulling me by the hand to the couch, sitting down and letting me lay my head on his lap, resting my eyes for a second. It was a couple more minutes in the blissful moment, before the sound of the timer went off, and the sound of feet were pounding down the stairs, before the kids ran through the doorway, Cody and Matthew walking in after them. Sighing, I got up and walked into the dining room to see the kids all climbing into chairs, Cody and Matthew putting Ophelia and Peter into high chairs, and then all of them looking expectantly at us. I laughed, following Arthur into the kitchen to get all the bowls and food into them, bringing them out and setting them out for the kids. We got back with our food, and, sitting down with them, we all dug into our food.

~After dinner and baths~

“Alfred! Come on, stop running!” Arthur yelled, chasing Alfred down the hall, trying to get him into the rest of his pajamas. I laughed, walking out of our bedroom and standing right in the middle of the hall. The two of them didn’t seem to notice me, as Alfred just continued to run down the hall, only in pajama bottoms with little burgers on them. Smiling at my hyper active 5 year old, I leaned down and scooped him right up off the ground, raising him in the air, before bringing him down and blowing raspberries on his tummy, making him giggle.

“Ah! Mommy, stop! That tickles!” he said, laughing and squirming. I laughed and stopped, linking my hands under his bum and holding him to my front, putting his forehead on mine and giving him Eskimo kisses. I looked away from Alfred at the sound of soft chuckles, to see Arthur standing in front of us, his arms crossed, Alfred's shirt in one of his hands, and a smile on his face. I smiled at him, and held out my hand for the shirt, to which he set it in.

“Arthur, can you get the rest of the kids, while I get Alfie ready? Oh! And just bring Ophelia and Peter in here. I’ll get them ready.” I smiled, walking back into our room, as Arthur shouted okay and went down the hall.

“Okay kids! Front and center, I want everyone in your mum and my bedroom!” I heard him shout from the hallway. I laughed, before I set Alfred on our bed, taking the shirt and bunching it up and holding it in front of him.

“Now, baby, can you put your shirt on for me?” I asked him, smiling at him. He blushed lightly, but nodded and put him arms out, letting me put his shirt on. Pulling it over his head, I poked his tummy before pulling his shirt over his stomach. Giggling, he smiled and shuffled to the top of the bed, going under the blankets, before peeking out at me. I smiled at him, and lied down on top of the blankets, lying on my side and pulling the blankets from his head, running my fingers through his hair. He closed his eyes, leaning into my hand, and I had to bite my lip to stop from just awing at how cute he was. We stayed like that for a couple minutes, before the sound of sleepy shuffling came from the door. Looking up, I saw Cody and Aesha shuffle through the door, followed shortly by Grace, Michelle and Leon, with Matthew bringing up the rear. Matthew, however, was stumbling, and that caused him to trip over his pajama bottoms and fall. Gasping, I got off my bed and rushed over to him, picking him up and cradling him, before he even had a chance to register what happened. The kids all climbed up on the bed, and copied Alfred, snuggling under our covers. I looked back at them all, and just stared at them. Now, I’m really happy that Arthur invested in that bigger bed.

“Love, I got them! Now, is everyone else i-” I heard Arthur in the doorway, before I heard light laughing. Turning to look at him, I saw him looking at the kids, Peter and Ophelia nuzzling either side of his neck, their pajamas in his hands. I smiled at him, but raised an eyebrow when he looked at me, a worried look coming to his face. “What happened, love? Why does Matthew have little tears in his eyes? Did Alfred do something again?” he asked, starting to walk past me, before I put my hand out to stop him.

“He’s okay. He just tripped on his pajama pants, that’s all. He’s okay, aren’t you baby?” I asked Matthew, who pulled his face from my neck and nodded, as I wiped the tears from his eyes. Setting him on the bed, I let him join his brothers and sisters, before I took Ophelia and Peter from Arthur, setting them on our bed, too, and pulled clothes off and putting pajamas on both of them. Smiling, I kissed their foreheads and giggled as they both crawled up to their brothers and sisters, collapsing near the top of the bed. I set my hands on the bed, leaning over and smiling at all 9 of my children. “Okay kids, I wanted you all in here, so that I could ask you a question before you go to sleep. What’s your dream?” I asked them, and I got confused, tired glances from most of them.

“What do you mean, mama…” Gracie asked, rubbing her eyes and falling over, leaning on Cody, who whined, trying to push her off. I laughed and sat down on the edge of the bed, Arthur sitting beside me.

“Well, what do you want to be when you grow up? When you go to sleep at night, what do you think about?” I asked, smiling at them as
they all got ‘lightbulb’ faces, as Arthur liked to call them.

“Oh! I wanna be a hero, mommy! I wanna be mommy’s hero!” Alfred shouted, throwing his hands in the air. I laughed, smiling at Alfred, as he got from under the covers and crawled over to Arthur and me, collapsing by our hands. Arthur laughed and picked Alfred up, letting him rest his head on his shoulder. I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead.

“One down, 8 to go…” I whispered, so that Arthur was the only one to hear me. He smiled, setting Alfred down, letting him snuggle into the blankets on the bed. I looked up at the others, sending them an encouraging smile.

“I want to be a dancer! And a singer! And an actress!” Aesha listed off, giggling in a sleepy stupor, as she smiled at us. I smiled back at her.

“That’s a wonderful dream, sweetheart.” I whispered, as her eyes started to droop.

“I want to have a fireworks store.” Leon said, before he yawned, little tired tears coming to his eyes. I smiled, realizing that he only seemed to let his actual age show when he was tired.

“I want.. I wanna! I wanna be a swimmer, mommy! An owmpic swimmer!” Michelle exclaimed, and I giggled, Michelle’s little age induced speech impediment making me smile, remembering when the older kids talked like that. Michelle settled into the blankets, a tiny yawn slipping through her lips.

“I want to be a hockey star! I want to make money so that I can buy mama and papa nice things!” Matthew smiled, yawning and cuddling his polar bear tightly. I smiled, and looking at Arthur, who had a soft smile on his face as well.

“I wanna be just like Steve Irwin!” Cody said, smiling and bouncing up in our bed, making the others groan in discomfort over being
moved. I laughed.

“Well, my darling, I’m sure that you will make that happen one day. And when it does, daddy and I will watch every episode!” I smiled, gesturing to Arthur, who chuckled. Cody smiled and settled back in bed, turning on his side and smiling to himself, as I looked at my last little talker. I frowned. Gracie had little tears in her eyes, sniffling.

“Gracie, honey, what’s wrong?” Arthur asked, looking worriedly at Gracie. She sniffled and rubbed her eyes on Ani.

“I don’t know what I want to be!” she cried, as tears started to lightly fall down her cheeks. I smiled at her.

“Gracie, baby, come here.” I said, holding my arms out for her, as she scrambled out of the covers and crawled over to us, still crying. I smiled at her, and took her in my arms, cradling her and kissing her forehead. Arthur smiled softly at her and kissed her cheeks, kissing away the tears on her face.

“Darling, it’s okay. Calm down, love.” He whispered.

“Yeah, Gracie. Sweetie, it’s okay if you don’t have a dream right now. It’s okay if you don’t know what you want to be. You are only 3 years old; you have plenty of time to figure out what you want to do.” I whispered, placing my forehead gently on hers and rocking back and forth. Grace whimpered again, clinging onto my shirt, but nodded, before she smiled up at the both of us, while we smiled back.

“Well, loves, it’s time for bed now. Come on.” Arthur said, before he stood up off the bed, looking over and laughing at our kids. All of them had fallen asleep on our bed. I smiled, setting Gracie down on the bed next to Alfred, before I walked over to the head of the bed and picking up Ophelia and Peter, who just snuggled into my chest, fast asleep. I smiled at the two children, and started to walk out the door.

“I’ll be right back to help you, Arthur. I’m just going to put these two to bed.” I whispered, hearing a small okay in response, before I walked out, walking next door and walking through the door. Walking to one side of the room, I set Ophelia in her crib, and then set Peter in his, before kissing both of their foreheads. “Good night, my little loves. Sweet dreams.” I whispered, before I turned the baby monitor on, then I tip toed out of the room, turning the lights off and closing the door lightly. Walking back to our room, I leaned against the door frame, seeing Arthur picking up Aesha, and turning around. His eyes widened, seeing me smiling at him, before he blushed, and smiled down at Aesha, kissing her forehead and walking over to me. I kissed her forehead.

“Shubh… ratri… mama… I love you…” Aesha mumbled, curling into Arthur. I quietly awed at how cute she was, and kissed her forehead again.

“Good night, my sweet. I love you so much.” I whispered, and Arthur smiled, before he walked out of the room.

Arthur

I walked down the hall to Aesha’s room, cradling her as she fell asleep in my arms. Opening her door, I walked over to her bed, pulling back the silky red blankets and setting her in her bed, tucking her in and kissing the top of her head. "Good night, my little dancer." I whispered, standing back up and walking to her door.

“Shubh… ratri… papa… I love you…” I heard, and I smiled at the sleepy 5 year old.

“I love you two, sweetheart. So very much.” I whispered, shutting the door quietly behind me, walking back to the room I shared with _______. I walked in, and we shared a smile, before we each picked up a child, walking them all to their rooms. Finally, we got to 3 children left. Picking up Alfred, as ______ picked up Matthew, we both walked them to their shared room. I pulled back Alfred’s Captain America blankets, setting him down and tucking him in, kissing his forehead, as _______ walked over to his bed, still holding Matthew, and doing the same thing.

“Night mommy… daddy…” Alfred mumbled, and we looked at each other, smiling, before looking back down at Alfred.

“Good night, sweetie. Sweet dreams. We love you.” we both said, and Alfred smiled in his sleep.

“I… love you… too…” he muttered, before light snores started to come from him. I smiled, and walked over with _____ to Matthew’s side. I sighed, having to push toys out of the way, so that she didn’t trip on any of Alfred’s stuff on the way to Matthew’s side, which was neater. Pulling back his maple leaf blankets back, I stood back and watched _____ lay Matthew down, before she tucked him in, kissing him on his nose, as I kissed his forehead.

“Bonne nuit… maman… papa… je… je taime…” Matthew whispered, before letting out a big yawn. _____ giggled, before her eyes
widened.

“Oh! Almost forgot! Be right back, sweetie!” she said, before she rushed out of the room, leaving me with a confused look on my face, only to return a second later with Matthew’s polar bear. Walking back over to his bed, she tucked the bear in with Matthew, who snuggled up to it immediately, hugging it tightly and falling asleep. I smiled at him.

“We love you too, Mattie.” I whispered, kissing his forehead again, while ______ kissed his nose again.

“Good night, sweetheart. Sweet dreams.” She whispered, before she took my hand gently, and led me out of the room, and back to our room, where one more child was still on our bed, teetering between being awake, and being in dreamland. _______ walked over, picking Gracie up, and walking back over to the door, stopping in front of me. I smiled at her, and led her out of our room and walking down across the hall to her room, but not before I grabbed Ani from our bed. I walked into Grace’s room, to see ______ pulling back the lamb covered sheets and blankets, and setting Grace down on her bed, tucking her in. I walked over to her bed, setting Ani in her arms.

“Good night, angel.” I whispered, kissing her temple, as she turned over to face us, her eyes opening slightly, and she smiled a sleepy smile at us.

“Good night mummy… daddy…” she yawned, rubbing her eyes.

“Good night, angel. We both love you so much.” ______ whispered, leaning down and kissing her other temple. Gracie smiled, as ______ stood back up. We started walking out of her room, but her little voice stopped us, and we turned back to her, looking at her from her doorway.

“Mummy…” she asked, sitting up in bed. _____ smiled a tender smile at her.

“Yes, angel? What is it?” she asked. Gracie smiled.

“Do you have a dream, mummy?” she asked, and I looked at _____, wondering the same thing. Her eyes widened, but then they softened, and she sent Gracie a soft smile.

“Yes I do, baby. My dream has already come true, though. I’m married to the love of my life, and I have the world’s most amazing children.” She smiled, and I blushed.

‘That’s her dream…?’ I thought, as I turned from her to Gracie, who blinked.

“Really, mummy? I’m glad…” she smiled, lying back down and cuddling Ani, before she fell asleep, a small smile coming to her face, before it faded to an open mouth. I laughed lightly under my breath, as ______ smiled and led me out of her room, shutting her door behind us, as we walked back to our room. Getting to our room, I stopped _____, picking her up in my arms and kissing her lips, walking into our room. I could feel her smile as she wrapped her arms around my neck, kissing back softly. Breaking away from her for air, I set her on our bed, getting in on the other side, and scooting over to her, hovering over her.

“Is that really you’re dream, _______?” I asked, smiling down at her softly, trailing my hand down her side. She smiled back at me, yawning and nodding sleepily.

“Yes it is. You and the kids are my dream come true, and I wouldn’t change that for anything in the world.” She whispered, and I leaned down, kissing her lips again lightly, before pulling away and lying on my side, pulling her to me and setting my forehead on hers. Her finger tips ghosted over my cheeks.

“Well, you are my dream come true. I’ve been dreaming about a love like yours since I was little, and I’m happy that I found you, my darling.” I whispered, kissing her forehead, as she leaned into me, wrapping one of her arms loosely around my waist.

“I love you, Arthur.” She whispered. I smiled against her forehead.

“I love you, too, ______. I love you, too…”