I groaned a little as I turned over in bed.  I'd heard little voices, so I swung my legs over the bed and pulled my shirt on.  I found some PJ pants and slipped them on over my boxer briefs.  Pippa moaned a little as she turned over, only partially covered by a sheet.  She looked sexy as hell in boy shorts and a little tank top.  We'd had a passionate night, and I liked to think I'd worn her out a bit.  I grinned as I covered her body up, kissed her head, and then went to the hallway to see who was up.

Raina and Felix were in the living room with the remote, trying to figure out how to turn the TV on.

"No, it's like this!" Felix said, trying to take the remote from his sister.

"Daddy presses the red button!" Raina told him.

"Daddy wants to watch the news," I said as I entered the room.  They both looked up and smiled.  They ran over and I soon had one twin on each leg.  I pretended to struggle as they clung to my legs as I walked to the kitchen.  They giggled as they held on for the ride.

"Alright, what kind of cereal do you want?"

"Fruit Loops!" they both requested.

"Go wash your hands," I told them.  I was released from their grasp as they raced to the bathroom.  I got two bowls from the cabinet and found their cereal, then I started the coffee.  After I'd poured their milk, I set their bowls on the coffee table so they could watch cartoons.  I pulled up the DVR and found an episode of PJ Masks, a show they both liked.

They ran out a minute later and the house was somewhat quiet once again as they ate and watched the show.  I scrolled through my email and Twitter feed as I sipped my coffee and ate some toast.  A few minutes later, Molly walked out.

"Morning, sweetheart," I told her.  She hugged me and then went to go find some cereal.  "How did last night go?"

"Fine," she said.  "Cam and Cara did most of the work."

"Good, because I had to pay 'em," I said and she smiled a bit.  Molly joined her siblings on the couch.  Her first choice wouldn't be PJ Masks, but she was a good big sister.  Molly had matured a lot in the past couple years.  She'd been very timid and shy when I first met her.  She was, by no means, outgoing, but her confidence had definitely grown.  Molly had taken up playing the violin and also sang a bit like her mother.  She had a sharp wit and made straight A's at school.

My phone rang, and I could see that Molly's father was trying to FaceTime her.  Molly didn't have her own phone yet, so he called either Pippa or me.

"Molly, it's your dad," I called to her.  She gasped with excitement and ran over to take my phone.

"Daddy!!" she greeted him as she took my phone back to her room.

Her father still lived in Japan.  For the past few years, she usually spent the summer there.  She loved spending time with all her Japanese cousins, aunts and uncles.  She could even speak conversational Japanese.  She'd gotten back from her summer abroad only last week, so it was great to have her back again.

I knew Molly struggled with having parents on opposite sides of the world.  She loved Japan, and always loved her time there but, of course, missed her father.  He visited a couple times a year and they spoke several times a week by FaceTime.

When the PJ Masks episode ended, the twins called for me to choose something else.  Raina wanted Elena of Avalor and Felix wanted Team Umizumi.  They began to argue.

"Hey, hey, don't argue," I gently chided them.  "How about more PJ Masks?"

They both agreed so I put on another episode. 

"Alright, last show, then it's time to get dressed," I told them, but their attention was already back on the TV.  I wandered back to my bedroom and heard the shower going.  I made the bed and went into the bathroom to brush my teeth.

"Lin?" Pippa asked from the shower.  I saw her beautiful figure through the distorted glass.

"Yeah, babe?" I asked.

"Will you grab me a fresh pair of underwear?  I forgot," she told me.

"Sure," I told her.  I found some panties in her drawer and she turned off the shower.  She got out and wrapped a towel around herself.

"Thanks," she kissed me as she began to dry off.  I heard a scream from the living room, so I rushed out.  The twins had been fine when I'd left, but now they were wrestling on the floor, and not nicely.  I pulled Raina off her brother and walked her over to the front door.  I sat her down on the mat, which meant time out.  She cried, knowing she was in trouble.  I went back for her brother, setting him on the mat by the sliding glass door.  They both looked at each other across the room, frowning and crying.

The twins were a funny duo.  They'd be totally fine one minute, then something would set one of them off and they were at each other's throats.  They shared a room at the moment, but Pippa and I weren't sure how long that would last.  Brothers and sisters probably didn't want to share a room after a certain point. 

I cleared some dishes as the twins sat in time out. Their cries started to lessen to whimpers.  After five minutes, I turned and told them to go sit on the couch.  I knelt down in front of them.

"What happened?" I asked them.

Raina went into a long-winded explanation of how Owlette had said something and Felix said she was wrong, and Raina said it was right.  Soon, they were pummeling each other.  It was a typical spat and easily forgotten.

"And how do we solve our disagreements?" I reminded them.

"With our words," they both mumbled quietly.

"That's right," I said, looking between them.  "We don't use our fists. Now, look at each other and apologize."

The twins looked at each other sadly and said they were sorry.  I told them to hug and they did.

"Good.  Now, go get dressed please," I told them.  "You can't stay in your jammies all day."

The twins wandered off to their bedroom to pick out clothes.  We didn't have anything big planned for the day so it didn't matter to me what they picked.  Felix especially could come up with some pretty crazy get-ups.

Pippa walked out with her hair wrapped up in a towel.  She poured some coffee.  "What was that about?"

"PJ Masks argument," I told her.  "It was intense."

I rubbed her hip as she added milk to her coffee.  "I'll bet.  Is Molly still in bed?"

"No, her dad called. She has my phone," I said.

"You poor thing," she teased, gently patting my slightly stubbly face.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," I told her.  By the time I got out, it was almost 10:00.  Cam still hadn't made an appearance so I decided to urge her along.  I knocked on her door and opened it.  She was buried under her covers and her room was like a series of landmines.

"Cam, time to get up," I told her as I carefully stepped towards her window.  I pulled the blinds and she shrank further into her covers, groaning.

"It's Saturday," she reminded me.

"Don't waste the day," I told her.  I left her to wake up, leaving the door open to let the noise in.  Her little brother and sister didn't have soft voices.  She finally wandered out twenty minutes later, at which point Molly was finished with her phone call.

"How's your dad?" Pippa asked as she looked through the newspaper.

"He's good," Molly said.  "He misses me."

"Of course he does," Pippa said.  "I missed you like crazy over the summer."

"When do I get to go to Japan?" Felix asked his mother.  She grinned at him.

"I don't know," she said.  "Do you want to go?"

"Yeah!" he said excitedly.  Molly had told them about her favorite foods and had brought them back some cool toys.  They were wowed by the photos and videos.

"We'll see," Pippa said.  Cam yawned as she settled down on the couch with some toast.  I sat with Pippa, my arm around her as the kids played on the floor.  I kissed her shoulder and gently ran my fingers up and down her arm.

"What should we do today?" I asked everybody.

"Go to Disney World!" Raina suggested.  We hadn't taken them yet.  We wanted them to be a bit older so they could remember it well.

"We can't just go to Disney World one day," Pippa patiently explained.  "We have to go on a plane to get there."

One of their classmates had gone over the summer, so it was fresh on their minds.  They desperately wanted to go.  We were thinking about taking them for Fall or Spring break this year.  Summer would be hell.

"Where should we go in New York City?" I clarified.

"The zoo?" Felix asked.

I nodded.  "We could do the zoo.  Molly?  Cam?  Wanna come?"

"Sure," Molly said.

"No thanks," Cam mumbled.  She wasn't a huge fan of family outings.  Raina wandered over to her biggest sister and laid her upper body on her legs.

"Pleeeeease Cam?  Please come with us?" she begged.  Cam laughed in spite of herself and ruffled her sister's hair. 

"I'll think about it," she said.

"She probably wants to make out on the roof with her boyfriend," Molly blabbed.  Cam shot her younger sister a sharp look.

"Shut up, Molly," she said tersely.

"Making out on the roof?" I said in a scandalous voice.  "Who's the boy?"

Cam rolled her eyes and stood up.  "Nobody's business."

I wasn't that concerned with Cam making out with someone up on the roof, as long as that was all they were doing.  However, I did want to know who it was.  Cam wandered back to her room and closed the door.

"Do you know who it is?" I asked Molly.

"Some kid from the building," she said, shrugging her shoulders.  I thought about some of the teenagers I'd seen around the building.  There weren't really that many.  There was one kid, now that I thought about it, that I'd seen Cam get googly eyes over.

We began to get the kids ready for the zoo, finding matching shoes and putting on sun screen.  Pippa wandered back to Cam's room to see if she was going to go.  She came out a minute or so later looking upset.  I took her hand and looked at her, concerned.

"What's wrong?" I asked gently.

"Nothing," she said.  "Cam was just kind of snippy with me."

I furrowed me eyes.  "Did she upset you?"

"I just wished she would be more open with me," she said.  "She still treats me like an evil stepmother sometimes."

I sighed and squeezed her hand.  "I'm sorry if she upset you.  You're wonderful," I kissed her temple, but she still looked defeated.  Cam could be really cold when she wanted to be.  It was one thing for her to be rude with me, but I couldn't stand it when she upset my wife.  She was one of the sweetest people in the world.

"Why don't you pack some snacks for the kids," I said.  "I'll be right back."

I walked down the hall and opened Cam's door.  She was laying on her bed, scrolling through her phone.

"What did you say to Pippa?" I asked her, hands on my hips.

"Nothing," she said dismissively.

"Then why is she upset?" I asked.

She shrugged.  "Beats me.  She's over-sensitive."

"Camila," I said in a warning tone.

She sighed and sat up, setting her phone aside.  "What Dad?"

"You need to treat Pippa with more respect," I told her.  "She's your stepmother."

"Exactly," she said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She's not my Mom!" she said incredulously.  "And she'll never be my mom."

"Camila, we've been married for over five years now," I reminded her.  "I thought we were past this whole you're-not-my-mother thing."

"Then tell her to quit telling me what to do," Cam told me.

"I will do no such thing," my voice was firm.  "Fix your attitude, Cam."

I turned and left the room, closing it firmly behind me.  I shook my head and tried to push the encounter out of my mind.  I loved Cam with all my heart, but sometimes she was maddening.  I got that she wanted her real mother, but Pippa didn't deserve to be treated like this.  She'd been nothing but kind and sweet to Cam.

"Everyone ready?" I asked, putting on a smile.  I picked up Raina as Pippa put some little baggies in her purse.

"Ready!" Felix said happily.

The five of us headed out the door, leaving Cam alone by herself.