Andy rolled out of bed around ten the next morning. She’d gone to a bonfire party with a few friends the night before and had a little too much too drink. She rarely drank, but when she did, she went all out. Jack Daniels was her best friend along with some coke, and she was sort of regretting that friendship a little bit this morning.

She walked down stairs just as her brother was walking in from working all night.

“Hey sleepyhead,” he greeted her cheerfully, knowing she had a mild hangover.

“Fuck off,” she groaned and rubbed her eyes.

“Aww, still half asleep with a headache? I’ll get ya to wake up!” He quickly grabbed his sister and threw her over his shoulder.

“Jason! Put me down!” she squealed, smacking his back and trying to kick him.

He made his way through their house and out to the gate of their pool.

”Jason, no! Don’t you dare!”

She was tossed into the pool without another word out of him, and he quickly took off running back to their house.

“That fucker is so dead,” she mumbled, hopping out of the pool.

She slowly made her way back to their house and up to her room. She jumped in the shower, then carefully picked out her clothes. She wanted something cute, but also something that didn’t matter if she got baby snot or spit up on it. She finally decided on a pair of short denim shorts and a bright teal tank top. She slipped on matching flip flops and pranced downstairs.

“Hey daddy,” she greeted her dad, sitting at the breakfast bar next to him.

“Morning honey,” he groaned, slipping his shoes off.

”Extremely. They want to transfer three of my best officers over to the county as narcotic detectives.”

”That’s bad?” She had no idea.

He laughed. “Yeah. It’d be your brother, Justin and their friend Bobby.”

“Jason? As a detective? Ha! And poor Justin is under enough stress as it is.”

”I know, I’m arguing with them over it. Hey he told me you offered to baby sit, that’s a nice gesture.”

”Thanks. I think it’ll be fun, those kids are adorable.”

“I’m going to bed. When you get over to Justin’s, tell him I’ll be there around eleven tonight.”

”Ok daddy. I’ll see you later.”

Arthur slowly made his way upstairs as Andy grabbed her purse and walked out the front door. She made her way across the small Tennessee town to Justin’s house. It was a modern home in a recently built subdivision. It was one of those ‘picture perfect’ houses. The snow white siding with brick accents and the dark hunter green trim and shutters. The yard was perfectly maintained, a small garden off the side of the driveway between the sidewalk and house next to the porch. Flowers ranging in size and color were in full bloom.

Andy knocked on the door and Justin answered, shirtless wearing only a pair of oversized sweatpants that had the police academy logo on the upper left side.

“Hey,“ he greeted her, smiling. “Come on in. It’s a complete mess so just ignore what you can.”

She walked in and was surprised, a feeling of anxiety hitting her from her minor perfection obsession. There were clothes, baby bottles, dirty dishes, just junk everywhere.

“Sorry, I know it’s a mess but things-“

”Justin its fine. I’ll straighten it up later, my mild OCD is a plus sometimes.”

”OCD?”

“Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. I have a really mild case of it, and I only get the anxiety about cleaning. So, basically, I’m a clean freak.”

He laughed, the first real laugh he’d had in awhile.

“Alright, grand tour of the house. This is the living room.” The walls were painted an off white color but for the wall the front door was on. It was a deep burnt orange, the trim all gold. The furniture was a dark cream, with dark wood accents. Andy thought the orange was kind of tacky. She followed him into a room off of that one. “This is the family room.” This one was all calm colors, really light blue and green and white. The furniture in here was pure white and she knew instantly why the room wasn’t used much. “Over here is the kitchen.” It was a huge kitchen with lots of counter space. Everything seemed to be state of the art. The dark granite counter tops complimented the light wood cabinets and black tile floor. The table and chairs even matched the color of the cabinets. “There’s a full bath through that door. The one next to it leads to either down stairs or the garage.”

“What’s down stairs?”

“My home gym, the wash room and lots of storage space. Nothing special.”

“Ok. Where’s the kid’s room?”

“Up this way.” He led her up the stairs off the family room to a small open area that had a huge recliner and was over stuffed. It looked really comfortable.

“This is ou..I mean my room. Sorry it’s still hard to say sometimes.” He stood outside the door with Andy, a sudden look of sadness hitting him.

“Justin, it’ll get easier as time goes by. Don’t beat yourself up over it still being hard. I’m pretty sure it’s normal.”

“I know,” he mumbled and walked to another room. “This is the kid’s room. It’s a complete mess just like everything else.” He actually laughed, making Andy smile.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get it picked up later on too.”

“The guest room is the next room down. I put the TV in there. The dresser in there is empty if you want to put some stuff in there for staying over nights. The door at the end of the hall is another full bath. There’s a Jacuzzi tub in the bathroom off of my room if you ever get the urge or the chance.”

“Thanks. I doubt I’ll get the chance but it’s nice to offer,” she said laughing, then walked in the kid’s room. She went around grabbing the baby bath tub, baby wash, two wash clothes and two of the cute hooded towels.

“Why do you need two?”

“One for Emma, one for Alex,” she told him simply and started looking through their clothes.

Justin smiled to himself and knew he’d finally made a good decision on his own. Andy seemed like a great kid and like she knew what she was doing. If she didn’t know, she sure as hell was a good actress.

“Alright, let’s get these little messes cleaned up,” she said and skipped off downstairs.

Justin shook his head laughing at her peppiness and slowly followed his babysitter downstairs.

She had one side of the double kitchen sink filled with bubbly water, the other had the baby bathtub sitting on it.

“You want to get Alex cleaned up and I’ll figure out Emma?” Andy asked the clueless father.

“Sure,” was his dazed response.

The two managed to get both kids cleaned up with no major incidents. There were massive puddles of water everywhere and a huge mess, but the kids were clean and that’s what they were going for.

“I got them. You got get ready for work,” Andy told Justin, laying a blanket on the floor. She put Emma in her bouncy seat and sat Alex on the blanket with a few toys she’d gathered from the messy house. Justin watched in shocked amazement of the young girl’s knowledge of kids and wondered why he didn’t know all of this with being a father. “Go get ready so you’re not late. I promise I got this,” Andy said smiling the whole time.

He laughed and took off upstairs.

A few minutes later, he appeared in his uniform, the black shirt still unbuttoned revealing his white wife beater. “The bottles are in the cabinet over the sink, formula on the counter. Alex gets eight ounces usually in the morning, nap time, with lunch, his afternoon nap and at dinner time. Emma…whatever she’ll take whenever. Lately it’s been a couple of ounces, then about two hours later another two ounces. Alex has baby food in the pantry, breakfast is fruit and his baby cereal, lunch is a fruit, veggie and meat. Dinner is fruit, veggie and a dinner. He-“

”Justin,” she interrupted.

“What?”

She smiled. “You’re rambling. And going to be late. I’ll manage, just trust me, ok? We’ll be fine.”

He sighed while smiling. “Ok, ok. I’ll be home around 3:30. You can stay until morning or leave then, it doesn’t matter.”

“I’ll figure it out then. Now go!”

“I’m going, I’m going. Bye kiddos,” and he was out the door.

Shortly after, both kids were asleep. Andy took the opportunity then to clean up the messy house. She picked up the messes, washed all the dirty dishes and duster. She got a load of clothes together and ventured downstairs to start a load of laundry.

Around 6:30, as Andy had Emma lying in her lap drinking a bottle, and Alex sitting on the floor feeding him his dinner, her cell phone rang. She saw the caller ID and smiled.  “They’re fine Justin.”

He laughed. “Driving you crazy yet?”

“No, not at all. Alex is eating his dinner, his peas and spaghetti are gone, just finishing up the bananas now. Your darling daughter has just finished a four ounce bottle.”

“I’m amazed.”

“Why?”

“Alex usually doesn’t finish anything but his fruit. And Emma…enough said.”

“What can I say? I’m awesome.”

He could tell she was smiling. “Yes you are. I gotta get back to work, don’t go too crazy.”

“Never. Be careful.”

“Aight, later girl.”

Andy was laughing as she hung up the phone.

After the kids ate, Andy managed to make some dinner and keep the kids up till 8:30. She got them upstairs, put some pajamas on them and put them in their cribs. The lights went off and the room was dark but for the last few rays of light from the sunset. The pale yellow walls brightened it up a little. Emma went right to sleep, Alex wasn’t so easy. She rubbed his belly for a few minutes while humming until he passed out.

She went in the guest room and turned on the TV. She settled on a House marathon but was asleep before the first one she had on was over.

Around one, Emma woke up fussing. Andy quickly made her way into the kid’s room to get her before she woke Alex up. “Shh, it’s ok baby,” she whispered, picking the baby up.

She walked downstairs and made a four ounce bottle. As soon as the bottle was gone and Emma was back to sleep, Alex was up crying. Andy put Emma in her swing and ran up to get Alex and brought him back downstairs.

Within a half hour, the three were asleep again in the living room, the TV on with an infomercial on.

Justin walked in his house at 4:15. He was tired and in a bad mood from dealing with stupid people all night. It all changed the minute he walked in and saw his house spotless, Andy asleep on the floor next to Alex with Emma sound asleep in her swing.

He quietly squatted down next to Andy. “Andy,” he whispered.

She didn’t budge.

“Andy, I’m home,” he whispered a bit louder, softly shaking her arm.

“Hmm,” she mumbled, eyes slowly opening.

”I’m home,” he said and smiled.

She rolled over and smiled, one of those sweet smiles that could make a man's knees melt. “How was work?”

“Good until your dad got there and told me some bullshit about the county and narcotic detectives.”

“Shh, go in the kitchen,” she whispered and quickly got up.

They slowly and quietly walked in the kitchen and he turned on the light over the sink. It was enough light to see, but not enough to light up the whole room.

“There’s a plate in the fridge if you’re hungry. It’s just chicken, mashed potatoes and steamed carrots.”

“Damn girl. You watch my kids, make me dinner and clean my house. Nicole never cooked for me, not even on my birthday. You’re a keeper,” he said laughing.

She smiled and hoped up on the counter. “They did great tonight.”

“I’m glad they didn’t drive you too crazy. I think they like you. Got more from them then I could.”

She smiled. “I really like them too.”

He laughed as he put the plate of food in the microwave. Andy sat there and just watched him while he was getting ready to eat.

“Hey Justin,” she whispered.

”Yeah?”

“If you ever need to talk….about you’re wife, I’ll listen.”

“Thanks,” he whispered and quickly looked away.

“I was kind of in the same boat before. I know how hard it is.”

“You were?” he asked, confusion all over his face.

She sighed and took a deep breath. “The guy I dated from sixth grade until last year. He died in a motorcycle accident after a football game.”

“I remember that. What was his name? Travis? No, it was….umm….Tony. That’s it.”

“Yeah, Tony Baker. Only guy I’ve ever been with. Romantically or sexually. He was my first for everything. We were going to get married after we graduated and go to college together.”

“I’m sorry Andy,” Justin whispered, sitting on the counter next to her.

“I thought I would die from all of the feelings and emotions. But, it’s easier now.”

Justin swallowed hard and looked down. “She was my best friend on top of my wife and mother of my kids. When we met, she was in college. One of those crazy college girls. It took me three months to get her to agree to go on a date with me. She-she slept around a lot when we first got together. Once we got past that, everything was perfect. I mean completely perfect. We got married, just a little ceremony at the park. A honeymoon in LA. It just doesn’t make any sense, ya know?” He was fighting the tears hard.

“Don’t take this the wrong way but everything happens for a reason. It’s all part of God’s plan he has for us.”

“He better have a damn good rest of my plan to make up for this,” Justin said and chuckled, mostly to get the feeling of wanting to cry to go away.

“I’m sure he does.”

“What part of my plan do you play?” he asked with a smirk.

Andy laughed and looked at him. “To help you.”

He shrugged and jumped off the counter, grabbing his plate. “You gonna stay or go home?”

“I’ll stay. Go get some sleep, I’ll leave when you get up.”

“Thanks Andy. I’m gonna go up and eat, then pass out.”

”Alright. See ya in the morning.”

He slowly made his way upstairs and Andy went back in the living room. She laid down on the floor next to Alex and after a few minutes of tossing and turning went back to sleep.

Justin sat in bed in his sweat pants, eating and watching music videos on TV. After he was done, he turned the TV off and got comfortable in bed. He kept thinking about what Andy had said about everything being part of a plan as he drifted into the first night of peaceful sleep he’d had in months.