Time skip!

     Six years later...

    Lucy, Natsu, Natsu Jr., Lillian, and Sherri were all wide away. They looked at the time. It read 7 am.

   "Oh, now we will be late for school!"  Natsu Jr. complained.

    "I know right, and it is our first day of first grade!"  Lillian exclaimed.

    "Captain obvious strikes again," Sherri stated. She was tired of the others saying what was obvious to the rest of them.

       "Sherri and Nastu Jr. will be the only ones late for school," Lucy said.

         "Remember, you agreed to be homeschooled again this year," Natsu told Lillian.

       "Oh, yeah, that is right," Lillian responded.  She enjoyed homeschooling because it gave her more time to spend with her mother after school. She had to admit she would miss her brother and sister while they were away.

    Sherri hurried to get her backpack, and lunch before the bus arrived.

     Natsu Jr. had his backpack already and was finished packing his lunch when the bus pulled up to the curb.

   "Come on you two, the bus is here," Natsu stated.

          Sherri hugged her father and then headed out the door. Natsu Jr. gave his mom, dad, and Lillian a quick high five then joined Sherri on the bus.

           As the bus pulled away, Lillian pouted. She hated this part of the day. She wished the others were still homeschooled like she was. Why did they have to leave for that silly public school anyway?  

           Lucy sensed Lillian was sad when the others had left. She gave her a cookie for a quick snack, and then handed her the math assignment for the day. Lillian worked on the math but threw a fit when she found out she had missed two. She had made a 98 on the test, but no matter how much Lucy assured her it was okay, Lillian was having none of it.

       "Mom, you don't understand it will ruin my perfect score," Lillian whined.

      "Lillian, we have gone through this already,  a 98 is an A just as much as other grades 90 and above are, so don't be so hard on yourself," Lucy told her.

      "But Mom..." Lillian argued.

    "Lilian that is disrespectful to your mother who works hard to teach you, cook, and still clean up around here." Natsu remanded her.

    "Besides, I  will need your help around here in a few weeks," Lucy added.

    "A few weeks, what happens then?"  Lillian asked.

    "Your baby brother will be born then, that is what, kiddo," Lucy said.

*Author's note: Yes, that is right, Lucy is pregnant again. 

  "Another baby at your age, mom?" Lillian inquired. She looked at her parents as if she thought they were nuts. She knew they loved her and her siblings, but honestly another baby.

    "Ha, ha, kid, that is just how life works sometimes," Natsu said.

     Natsu took the dish rag from Lucy. He washed the dishes so Lucy could make sure Lillian studied for her spelling test.

   As Lucy called out the words for Lillian to spell, Natsu smiled.

Meanwhile, at school, Natsu Jr. and Sherri had arrived on time.  Their first class was homeroom which was a total bore since the teacher only took attendance there. 

    After this, they went to science. Natsu Jr. excelled in this class and looked forward to it while Sherri struggled a bit. Sherri was more of a math, and history geek. She was bad at science and English. She was barely good at much else. Natsu Jr. was great at science, math, history, and most other subjects, but he still struggled with Grammar, Literature, etc.

    The teacher gave them their science papers back.  Natsu Jr. smiled when he saw the 96 A on his. Sherri frowned. She had received yet again another 76 C and the teacher had commented, "Needs improvement: above the grade in bold red ink.

   "Seriously another C?" Sherri asked.

   "Well, you were fortunate to have gotten the bonus question right, all the matching, and short answers, but you missed most of the true or false, fill in the blanks, and multiple choice questions." The teacher explained.

"Oh," Sherri said.

 After science, Natsu Jr. had history, while Sherri had math.

   Then, they both had English class, computer lab, lunch, study hall, volleyball for physical education, another study hall, and dismissal.

   The two were happier to return home to their parents and sister than they were to anything else.

    Back to Lucy, Natsu, and Lillian...

Lillian did well with the rest of her schoolwork. She received a 92 on her spelling test and did not complain for once. She cringed at the bad grade on her art piece. For Lillian, it was a disappointment, because she had gotten an 80 B on it. She hated any grades that were not A's. 

The rest of her school day went well.

After her brother and sister returned, she hugged them.  "Guess what? Our baby brother is going to be born in a few weeks. I know because mom told me," Lillian bragged.

   Natsu handed over his recent test. Natsu posted it on the fridge next to Lillian's spelling test.

    He also posted Sherri's math quiz grade on the fridge.

  "Well, we sure have a smart group of children," Natsu said.

"That we do," Lucy agreed.

"What if the new kid is stupid, would you still love him?" Lillian asked.

 The others nodded their head in agreement.

   "Yes, we would love him because he is our flesh and blood, but I don't he will be stupid," Natsu answered.

   "I  agree with your father, we would love him no matter what because we all of you no matter what," Lucy replied.

A few weeks later...

Sherri and Natsu Jr. were homesick.  Lillian was doing her art.

  Natsu had to leave to take Lucy to the hospital to have baby number 4.  Lillian saw the babysitter pull up shortly, after this and let her inside.

 The sitter wore gloves, a face mask, and a funny-looking pair of safety goggles. Lillian laughed when she saw her.  The babysitter was a bit of a germ a phobic.

   The babysitter was not amused. She checked on the sick children and saw they were napping. Then she made sure Lillian did the rest of her schoolwork.

  Around lunchtime, Natsu Jr. and Sherri's fevers had broken, so they came downstairs.

Sometime after lunch, Natsu called the house to say, "Your brother is finally here, and he weighs 9 1bs. 15 oz. and is 22 inches long!"

  "Wow, what is his name?" Natsu Jr. asked.

   "Yes, what do we call him?" Lillian added.

  " Indeed, what is his name?" Sherri asked.

" His name is Ignor Henry II,"  Natsu answered.

  "How soon do we see him? When are you and Mom coming home?" Lillian chimed in.

      "We will be back tomorrow, you behave now for the babysitter," Natsu said.

        "Hey children, we love you, and Ignor will be so happy to meet you all soon," Lucy said.

   That evening the children were too excited to sleep. They had a new baby brother. They all wondered what he looked like.

  The next day Lucy, Natsu, and Ignor arrived home to see Lillian, Sherri, and Natsu Jr. eating breakfast. The babysitter looked worn out.

   "Awe, he is cute," Lillian said.

   "Yes, he sure is," Sherri agreed.

  "Cute, ha, is a chubby little thing," Natsu Jr. remarked.

the end...

bye-bye, 

little owlets!

Summer out!