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Katie scampered down the hallway, her fight gone, and Rose turned her attention back to the kiddos. She was just turning down the hallway to take them to their beds when she saw the UPS truck pull up in front of the house.
She breathed a sigh of relief. It didn't change naptime, but at least now she knew that after naptime would be better.
Katie had slept fitfully but she still felt rested, which just spoke to how much she had probably needed the nap. She could hear Noah and Claire stirring in their rooms and knew she should go in and tend to them in case Rose was still napping. But her bed was comfortable and warm, and she knew that outside of it nothing was waiting for her but the same old, same old. Getting out of bed was harder and harder these days.
She heard footsteps down the hall and knew Rose was up, heading into the kid’s rooms. She would tend to them for a while and then she would come for Katie. Except Katie didn't want to be come for. She snuggled deeper under the covers, effectively hiding from the world.
After about twenty minutes, Rose poked her head in.
"Sweetie, it's time to get up. Naptime is over!"
Rose sounded a lot calmer and happier than she had before nap time, but it wasn't enough to coax Katie out of the nest she had created.
"Katie, little one. Rise and shine!' Rose tiptoed into the room and walked up to the bed, poking Katie in the butt with one finger. "I know you're awake, little one. You throw the covers off when you sleep and only bury yourself in them when you’re awake.” The bed shifted as Rose perched on the edge of it. "Are you mad at me, little one? I'm sorry I was so impatient, but I just needed some quiet time."
Katie poked her head out of the covers. "I'm not mad at you, Auntie. I understand. You do so much and we’re a lot. You deserve some alone time sometimes and I'm really glad you only need it sometimes." With that cleared up, Katie buried herself back in her blanket nest.
"Thank you, little one. I'm glad you understand. But if you're not upset, why aren't you getting up?"
"There's no point Auntie. I have nothing to get up for!" Katie proclaimed dramatically.
"Oh, I don't know about that," Rose answered with a teasing lilt in her voice. "I thought you might want to get up for the surprises that are in the living room."
"Surprises?" Interest piqued but hopes not yet up, Katie searched Rose's face for clues of insincerity. The way things were going, she wouldn't be shocked if “surprises” was code for "broccoli you have to eat because you didn't eat lunch" or "look, I got a new spoon to spank your butt with!"
"What kind of surprises?" she asked suspiciously.
Rose smiled. "If it's not good, it's not a surprise. I know better than to use that word willy-nilly around you, little one."
Curiosity piqued, Katie jumped out from under the covers. "I guess I should go investigate," she said seriously.
"I guess so."
Katie hurried out of the room and Rose followed fast on her heels. Claire was in her swing and Noah was on the couch watching SpongeBob, glued to the TV, oblivious to whatever was going on. Not seeing anything surprise-worthy, Katie frowned and kept walking.
When she rounded the corner into the dining room she gasped. The table was piled high with surprises. The good kind. Katie spotted the telltale bright red LEGO logo and ran to investigate. There wasn't just one brand new LEGO set, there were five—big, fun fancy ones that would take more than an afternoon to complete. There was even the Disney castle she’d been wanting for years. There were also several Duplo sets for Noah. But that wasn't even all. The table was piled high with so many goodies. There were new chapter books for Auntie to read to them and puzzles and coloring books and Hot Wheels tracks and Beyblades for Noah, and all sorts of colorful and noisy toys for Claire.
"See anything in there worth getting out of bed for?" Rose asked.
Squealing, Katie ran to Rose at full speed, nearly knocking her Auntie over with the force of her hug. "Oh, thank you, Auntie! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"You're welcome, honey. We all needed a change and some new things to do. Hopefully this will keep us busy and help keep the sads away."
"I don't know if anything can keep them all the way away," Katie admitted wiping her eyes, "but this will definitely help... Can we play with it now?"
"Of course we can. That's what it's there for. Which one do you want to work on first?
"The castle!" Katie exclaimed. "No wait! The train station! No wait… Maybe the pop-up book! I don't know!"
Rose chuckled. "Okay, well you work on deciding while I help Noah set up a new Hot Wheels track and figure out which one of these noisy toys is the least annoying and will keep Claire happy and occupied the longest."
"Okay, Auntie," Katie whispered looking up at her with a smile. "Thank you. This was a really nice surprise and I really needed this today."
"We all did, little one. We all did."
