[*next reunion*...Monday--November 25, 2002--9AM]

DING-DONG
        Brian was sitting in the living room and looked up when the door-bell rang.
        "WILL SOMEONE PLEASE GET THAT?" Sarah yelled from her room. She was busy looking up recipes on the Internet.
        "I WILL!" Brian put his paperwork aside, got up, and walked to the front door.
        He opened it, and there stood Marie--of course, he didn't know who she was--holding a bag and a baby in each arm.
        "Oh, hi! You must be Brian. Tell Sarah sorry for being so late, but thank you all for doing this. Scott and I are running a little behind schedule--the flight's gonna leave really soon. Here's Lily..." She handed Brian the small ebony-haired baby. "And here's her twin brother, Ethan. I'll leave their bags here." Marie placed a brown-haired little boy in Brian's other arm put two bags at his feet. "You should have everything you need. Oh, yes, Zachary is at our neighbor's house, sleeping over with his friend, and will be dropped off here tomorrow. All the phone numbers you may need are in the bags as well, along with copies of all the kids' insurance and pediatrician's contact numbers. I think I put enough diaper supplies and formula, but if you end up having to buy anything for them, anything at all, jot it down so we can pay you guys back. Here are their car seats," she continued, as she moved the carriers from their seated spots on the porch to sit in front of Brian's feet with the baby bags, "and they should have enough of their favorite toys to keep them occupied. Sarah said she'd find a crib for them so I didn't bother bringing theirs. Thank you again and see you in a week!" Marie smiled and turned to leave.
        Brian stood there with his mouth open, but no sound coming out. He saw Marie climb into a nearby car with her husband and drive off.
        "Who was at the door?" Nick asked, coming down the stairs. He stopped dead in his tracks when Brian turned around; bewilderment on his face and a baby in each arm, a pile of stuff around his feet. Nick laughed. "So they FedEx babies now?" he grinned. "That's a nice upgrade from storks," he laughed.
        "SARAH!!!!!!" Brian yelled.

[2 hours later]
         "Okay, so run this by me again...we have to take care of two babies over our Thanksgiving break?!" Nick asked incredulously. Lily and Ethan were sleeping downstairs in the guestroom and all the house occupants had gathered in the family room for a "meeting."
    "Um...yeah." Sarah weakly smiled. "Marie called me up like a week ago all frantic--her parents were supposed to take care of the kids while she and her husband went on their 'second honeymoon,' but at the last minute, that plan fell through. You know I'm really bad with saying 'no,' so I ended up giving in and agreeing for us to take care of the twins..."
        "Are you serious? Twins? WE have to take care of them?" Nick didn't want to believe it. "I thought we had to deal with Thanksgiving without our mothers. Now this?"
        "It's only a week..." Sarah sheepishly replied. "Its not like you guys have planned on cooking or anything. Who was looking up recipes this morning?"
        "Babies are cute," Julie grinned.
        "C'mon, it can't be that hard," Chin piped up. "Babysitting is a breeze."
        "Yeah, I mean, with all of us here, and only two kids, it'll be a piece of cake," Cathy added.
        "Well, um, actually...THREE kids," Sarah pointed out.
        "They just keep multiplying, huh?" AJ laughed uneasily.
        "Zach will be here tomorrow," Brian informed them, remembering Marie's mile-a-minute one-sided conversation from two hours ago.
        "What do you expect us to do with three kids?!" Nick asked.
        "What do you do with your siblings?" Sarah asked.
        "But mine are older than BABIES!"
        "Nick, stop whining, we can do this..." Howie had his arms around Cathy.
        "...If we can't, then that would be pathetic," Kevin spoke up. All ears perked up when the sound of crying filled the house. A second wail chimed in a few seconds later.
        "They're awake," Nick stated the obvious, groaning. Brian looked at everyone.
        "Battle stations."

[late afternoon]
        "Where is Ethan?" Howie yelled to Chin. He was at the top of the stairs and she was at the bottom.
        "I don't know!" she yelped, lightly bouncing Lily on her hip. "How's little Lillian?" she cooed to the baby. Both Chin and Howie heard a yell and a blur that seemed to be AJ running to his bedroom, then out to find the closest bathroom.
        "Umm...AJ?" Howie asked.
        "Ethan's in the guest room downstairs." AJ muttered from Jenny and Sarah's bathroom. "I'm not changing that boy ever again. The little dude's like a fountain," Howie heard AJ mutter as his band mate reached for a bar of soap, the water in the sink running full-bast. Howie stifled his laughter till he got to the bottom of the stairs.
        "What happened?" Chin asked, concerned.
        "Apparently Ethan was with AJ," Howie spoke slowly, walking toward the guestroom with Chin trailing behind, Lily still on her hip.
        "Uh-huh..." she said impatiently while Howie picked up Ethan.
        "And little Ethan here decided to pee on him," Howie laughed and made faces at the baby in his arms.
        "You're kidding me?" Chin chuckled. She turned to the baby boy who flashed them an innocent smile.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[1PM, the next day]
        Lance stumbled into the front hallway, just arriving from the airport. "Hannah!" he whined, "If you're gonna make me carry your bags, at least attempt to make them weigh less than an elephant!"
        "What are you talking about?" she cried innocently from the garage, "You offered!"
        "Yeah, yeah..." Lance mumbled dragging in 5 bags. He had a duffel on each shoulder, a bag dangling from his neck, he was trying to drag in a bag with his foot, while shoving another one with both arms. Hannah smiled at him as she walked by, heading for the couch.
        "Lance! You look tired..." Jenny noted. She had just placed her bags in her room and had come back downstairs because she had forgotten her purse in the car. "Here's my bag..." She swung the strap of her purse around his neck. He stopped and gave her a dirty look.
        "Bad Jenny..." Sarah walked in to give Lance a hand.
    "No! Let the studs do it," Cathy laughed as she plopped down on the sofa with Hannah, having been the last to come in from the garage. Sarah looked back to the girls on the sofa... to Lance... and back again.
        "Alright... the studs will... especially when you put it that way." AJ, who had been observing the scene from the doorway, strolled over to Lance, picked up Jenny's little purse, and walked off.
        "AJ!" The four girls burst out laughing.
        "GUYS!" everyone heard Chin yell from upstairs. "SHHH!!"
        "Uh-oh..." Kevin and Brian showed up to help him, and glanced upstairs.
        "What?" Lance asked as Brian and Kevin pulled the duffels from him.
        "The babies..."
        "What babies?!" Lance exclaimed; he dropped the bag that had been hanging from his neck.
        "SHHHHHHH," Chin stated again as she walked downstairs, carrying a little ebony-haired baby girl.
        "Chin! What the hell!? I JUST saw you 4 months ago and you were NOT pregnant! When did you and AJ get back together?! Oh... tell me he IS the fath--"
        "Lance!" Hannah screeched, cutting him off. Chin made a face at the two as Lily woke up.
        "Hannah?" He looked over at her, his mind racing. "Why didn't you tell me?" he muttered, walking toward her, "I made a total fool of myself not knowing--"
        "First of all..." Chin recovered from Lance's odd outburst and handed Sarah the groggy baby, "There are three kids in our house. Not including Nick--"
        "Hey!" Nick yelled from upstairs. The response was Zach screaming about it being too noisy.
        "Second, none of the kids are ours. And third, no--AJ and I are not back together."
        "Oh..."
        "Good job, Lance..." Sarah muttered, taking Lily in the next room to rock her back to sleep.

[Noon, Lunch...everyone scattered around the house...kids napping upstairs]
        "...What are you talking about? I didn't say that," Brian said, trying to keep his voice down.
        "You could have said it. You implied it plenty." Jenny crossed her arms, eyeing him.
        "Don’t take it out on me, Jenny," Brian replied coldly. "...Aren't you the one who said you've had enough of fighting? Stop this, then."
        "I didn't start this, Brian."
        "Oh, so you're saying I did? Do you think I PLAN these things or something? 'Let's have at least one fight every time we see each other'...is that it? Is THAT what you think goes through my head?" His voice was rising.
        "Brian, I didn't say that. Stop putting words in my mouth."
        "Well, you IMPLIED it," he hissed. "How quickly the tables have turned, huh?" He hated the way he was acting, but he couldn’t help it. Nowadays, it just came out...
        "What's going on?" Kevin walked into the living room after putting his dishes in the kitchen.
        "Nothing," Jenny muttered and turned to leave through the door he had entered. Brian, a few feet away, sighed and looked at the ceiling.
        "What do you mean, 'nothing?'" Kevin caught hold of Jenny's arm as she walked by, preventing her from exiting the scene. "I heard a loud argument. That's something."
        "Leave them alone, Kevin." AJ entered the room, having finished his lunch.
        "Since when did you defend her?" Brian asked bitterly. AJ looked at him quizzically.
        "What are you talking about?"
        "AJ, stay out of this, it's none of your concern," Chin spoke up, making her presence in the room known.
        "What does your say count as? You wouldn’t care," AJ spat, letting pent up anger and frustrations get the best of him. A voice screamed in his head, shut up! you guys are finally friends again, but at that moment, his mouth wouldn't listen. Chin looked hurt, but she took it.
        "Just shut up and stay out of it, AJ." Chin narrowed her eyes at him. It felt as if all that time they had spent over the last few months repairing their friendship had been meaningless...
        "Just forget about it, everyone," Jenny stated, trying to leave the room again.
        "Just run away, like you always do, Jenny," Brian muttered. Jenny stopped in her tracks and turned around, looking him in the eyes.
        "What's THAT supposed to mean?"
        "What do you THINK it meant? Are you going to twist my words around even more?"
        "What are you talking about?” she snapped, “You're the one who’s always being difficult, not me!"
        "You guys..." Kevin spoke up in the brief silence, finally getting a word in. He was ignored.
        "Brian, stop being the aggressor," AJ said.
        "There you go again." Brian shook his head and looked disgustingly at his band-mate.
        "There I go WHAT again?" AJ yelled.
        "Brian, what is wrong with you?" Jenny asked, frustration in her voice. All she wanted to do was get out of the room...
        "Nothing's WRONG with him!" Chin exclaimed. Why couldn't they just stop fighting?
        "Chin, I don't need you to defend me," Brian stated coldly.
        "Don't talk to her like that. She's just trying to help, Brian," AJ barked back.
        "WHAT IS HAPPENING IN HERE?" Cathy exclaimed, entering the room, Howie following.
        "Guys, stop it," he begged.
        "Stop what?" AJ shrugged sarcastically. "I just came here to help." He shot a look at Chin.
        "A lot of good you did," she muttered. One minute he was against her, the next, defending her, and back again...
        "What is that supposed to mean?" AJ exclaimed. "I'm TRYING to understand and help here. Someone else isn't doing that."
        "Oh, so I'm supposed to have the miracle Band-Aid for everything, AJ? It THAT it?" she screamed.
        "There's no such thing!" Hannah yelled, entered the room, following Lance, who had wanted to see what all the commotion was about.
        "JUST DROP IT!" Lance ordered.
        "WHAT is going on!?" Julie showed up, rubbing her temples. "I can't concentrate on my work with you guys bickering in here!"
        "Maybe you'd be able to if you gave your work a rest for once," Nick stated, entering from the hallway.
        "That made NO SENSE, Nick. Keep your own bitterness out of this," Chin exclaimed.
        "Talk about hypocrisy. Are you guys making any sense? This is all a bunch of shit!" Nick yelled back.
        "GUYS," Kevin's voice grew louder. He was still ignored.
        Everyone fell into their own small fights, accusations thrown, hurtful and unmeant words said, bitterness evident, tension mounting...the noise was getting louder and louder. The one member absent from the room quietly descended the stairs, a baby and bag in each arm, Zachary trotting behind her, holding onto a pocket of her cargo pants. She took the three kids to the garage, placed them in the car, and pulled her Civic out of the driveway to temporarily park it on the street. Zack was bouncing up and down, talking about how he couldn’t wait to go to the park. His sister and brother were watching him intently. All three had been awakened from their naps by the noise, but no one had seemed to notice; they were too busy fighting. The kids deserved peace, and the others weren't allowing that. She made her way back to the house, making sure the children were out of earshot. She could still hear the fighting...Her patience was gone.
        "GUYS, IF YOU DON’T SHUT THE HELL UP BY THE TIME I GET BACK WITH THE KIDS, ALL OF YOU ARE GOING TO PAY WITH YOUR ASSES. GET OVER YOURSELVES AND YOUR STUPID PRIDE, AT LEAST FOR THIS WEEK, DAMMIT."
        SLAM
        All discussion came to a halt as they heard the loud announcement and the door to the garage bang shut.
        It was silent.
        All of them noticed that Sarah was the only one not in the room.

[That evening]
        Sarah spent about three hours at the park with the kids. She probably would have been there longer if Cathy and Hannah hadn't showed up. They convinced her to come back, promising that everything had cooled down, that it was understood that the kids didn't deserve to hear the nonsensical fighting.
        Dinner was a bit tense...almost as if everyone had been placed back in time to July...Sarah didn’t look at anybody. No one dared to say much besides the usual "please pass...” and other polite interactions, in fear of setting something or somebody off.
        After dinner, everyone scattered...The kids were tired from the park and went right to sleep. Cathy, Howie, Lance, and Hannah took the three dogs for a walk. Julie left for her office...Nick picked a random movie to watch in the family room. Jenny went to her room while Brian stayed downstairs. AJ went to the game room...Chin worked on the computer in the study. Sarah headed out to the balcony, dragging a beanbag with her.
        "Hey," she felt and heard a presence behind her. Kevin.
        She didn't bother telling him to go away--he'd either refuse, or leave but eventually come back.
        "Hey," she replied softly, looking out over the backyard, her knees to her chest, her head resting on top of them.
        "Anything you want to talk about?" he almost whispered, sitting down beside her, half on the beanbag. She shook her head. "You sure?"
        "It's not like anything is going to be done. Yeah, maybe everyone agreed to quiet down cuz of the kids, but what happens in 4 months? Everyone will be fighting again..." She sighed. Kevin put a warm arm around her.
        "I'd like to think we're not fighting." Kevin tried to get her to smile. He didn't succeed.
        "Sometimes..." Sarah started, but trailed off.
        "Sometimes, what?" Kevin asked.
        "Nothing. Just forget about it."
        "But--"
        "Just forget about it," Sarah insisted. Her voice told Kevin not to push it.

[that night]
        Lance rolled over and reached his arm out for Hannah but found a little body instead. He grumbled and opened an eye.
        Stretched out between him and Hannah, lay Zach.
        For some reason, she looked so perfect with a child sleeping beside her.
        A smile spread across his face just before he turned back to sleep.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
[Wednesday, November 27, morning]
        "I got him!" Kevin yelled running up the stairs. He was heading for a crying Ethan with Lily in his arms. Most everyone had gone out of the house to shop for food and other necessities. Brian was outside playing ball with Howie and Kat, and Julie was in her room, swamped with work. The remaining occupant in the house who happened to be wandering aimlessly at that given moment also happened to fall into Kevin's line of vision.
        "Nick, here!" Kevin exclaimed to the blond Boy walking down the stairs. He handed Lily to Nick and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
        "But I'm not good with babies..." Nick whined after Kevin. So far, he had managed to push off duties to the others, but now he was standing alone in the middle of the upstairs hallway, a baby in his arms.
        "Nice excuse. You're the oldest of a huge family, Nicky," Julie said, walking by him with newspaper files. "You can take care of one if you have to."

[Noon, Lunch]
        "They're finally asleep," Sarah plopped down in her seat at the dining table. The tension had settled a bit...and what better way to get into a good mood than to spend the morning with three adorable kids?
        "So we have, what, four hours before getting disturbed?" Nick grinned, munching his food. Everyone rolled their eyes at him.
        "At least it's not Gerber food." Brian made a face.
        "AH! There goes my appetite, thank you," Hannah laughed, pushing away her plate.
        "More for me." Lance took it and placed it atop his empty dish.
        "So how are we gonna do this tomorrow?" Kevin asked, reaching for his glass of water.
        "Well, my mom said to marinate the turkey today, so I did. It's sitting in the fridge. I've never had a baked turkey...I only know how to smoke it like my dad always did," Sarah shrugged. The guys all looked at her.
        "Then you're in charge of the turkey!" Lance laughed. "That sounds gooooood."
        "Who's making the mashed potatoes?" AJ asked. "Can I help??"
        "Well, you guys can either opt to help us or take care of the kids," Julie spoke up. "We don't want too many cooks in the kitchen, but we do want to somehow get the meal made and the kids taken care of."
        "Chin is taking care of Zach," Hannah stated.
        "What's that supposed to mean?" Chin exclaimed.
        "Just that these three kids have certain people they like more than others," Hannah pretended to sniffle.
        "Oh..." Chin shrugged. "Sure... I can cover Zach." She smiled.
        "Not to mention you can't cook," Hannah finished up, leaning back in her chair.
        "HEY!" Chin pouted.
        "Okay... I think Brian should take care of Ethan... and Nick with Lily..." Kevin quickly added.
        "Are you trying to say we can't cook either?" Brian squinted at Kevin. Nick broke out laughing when he saw Chin pretending to be hurt.
        "Nothing of the sort!" Kevin grinned.
        "Anyway...food!" AJ spoke excitedly. "Can I make the mashed potatoes?" AJ asked for the second time. "I make some MEAN mashed potatoes, lemme tell ya..."
        "Okay... we have AJ on the mashed potatoes..." Julie was making a checklist in her head. "Brian, Nick, and Chin on the kids... Who wants to help with the potatoes?"
        "Does AJ need help with potatoes? You just cook 'em, add butter, salt, pepper, etc, and mash...presto," Sarah said. "He's a big boy, I think he can do it," she laughed. AJ beamed.
        "He's a big boy with a big appetite...I for one don’t trust him alone with any bit of MY portion of the food!" Jenny exclaimed. "I'm helping." She crossed her arms with a don't-argue-with-me look. AJ's smile faded; he joined the club of pretenders and made his smile into a frown.
        "AJ, stop that... Who wants to help Sarah with the turkey?" Julie continued.
        "ME!" Hannah jumped up. "Oh please let it be me." Everyone burst out laughing.
        "Calm down, Hannah," Lance said through his laughter.
        "Hannah and Sarah on the turkey..." Julie noted.
        "Can we make the pumpkin pie?" Cathy asked for herself and Howie.
        "Sure!"
        "I think we'll have to make more than one, though," Cathy sighed, looking across the table at Hannah, AJ, Brian, and Nick.
        "WHAT!?" all four exclaimed.
        "What else is there?" Lance whined. "I wanna make something!"
        "There's a lot of other stuff, don't worry..." Kevin said.
        "You know what?" Cathy spoke up.
        "What?" everyone asked.
        "We actually sat here for over 20 minutes...without fighting..." she noted. Everyone smiled.
        "Good stuff," Chin grinned. The was a content silence for awhile.
        "So... who wants to stay up with the twins tonight?" Nick sighed; he was the one up the night before bouncing Lily around till she fell asleep. Before anyone could answer, the phone rang.
        "I'll get it..." Sarah began to get up, but Chin interrupted.
        "I got it!" She shot out of her chair and ran to the phone. Howie and Kevin swapped knowing glances... Chin didn't want anyone to get the phone if it was Rebecca.
        Everyone heard her say "Hello?" into the phone, and then there was silence. After a few minutes, when she didn't return, everyone ventured into the kitchen.
        "Chin?"
        Chin was sitting on the tile floor clutching the phone to her chest.
        "Chin?" Jenny knelt down beside her. "You okay?" Chin glanced up; she hadn't even noticed that everyone had came in and were surrounding her.
        "What?"
        "Are you okay?" Lance repeated Jenny's words.
        "Oh... OH... Yes!" Chin jumped to her feet. "I tripped," she laughed, looking at the floor she was sitting on... only Kevin and Howie caught onto her act.
        "Who was on the phone?" Julie questioned.
        "Nobody... Hung up after I said 'Hello'..." Chin lied and returned the phone to its base.
        "Alright... dinner's gotta be made and--" Nick began to change the subject.
        "We just had lunch!" Jenny exclaimed.
        "Never too early to start!" Nick winked. She swatted him. "OW!"
        "How were you gonna finish your sentence, Blondie?" Sarah asked. Nick shifted away from Jenny's vicinity.
        "I was gonna say...dinner's gotta be made, and since the plans for tomorrow are all set, I thought we could start today with some of the stuff...you know...the chicks will cook and watch the babies while us men watch--"
        "FOOTBALL!!!" Brian yelled, interrupting Nick.
        "How about we play football? Girls against boys?" Cathy piped up.
        "Yeah...We win and you guys have to do the cooking and watching...ALL of it...including today," Chin dared. The guys glanced at each other.
        "Chin!" Julie swatted her. Chin smiled sweetly at the guys and held up a finger to signal "hang on a second," then pulled the girls aside into the family room.
        "They wouldn't hurt us! We can play tackle football! Where we can attack them... but they wouldn't lay a finger on us! After all..." Chin looked up at us all helpless and sweet, "we're girls..."
Jenny laughed so hard she started coughing. Cathy slapped her in the back.
        "Thanks..." Jenny choked.
        "Well, girls?" Brian called from the kitchen. The 6 girls entered the dining room, grinning at each other.
        "You're ON!" Hannah yelled, as everyone began to head outside.
        "Prepare to eat GRASS!" Jenny added.
        "What happened to the plans we made though, guys?" Julie inquired.
        "This is much more interesting..." Chin grinned at the guys as the group headed to the backyard.
        "Just think...so many blackmail pictures of them in aprons in the kitchen," Sarah pointed out.
        "Setting off the fire alarm, running around with spatulas and mixing bowls," Hannah laughed.
        "Feeding the kids their bottles and food..." Cathy added.
        "PRICEless...better than MasterCard." Jenny winked.
        "Just wait till we BEAT you girls," Kevin squinted at all of them.
        "We'd like to see that..." Cathy snorted.
        "BRING IT ON!" Howie challenged.
        "That's a girly movie..." Nick wrinkled his nose.
        "AH. Captain Obvious to the rescue..." Jenny crossed her arms and cocked her head. By now, the girls were facing the guys on the grass. "So what will it be?"
        "Take it or leave it." Chin stepped forward and stuck out a hand. The guys glanced at each other and grinned like idiots.
        "Isn't the answer obvious?" Lance smirked.
        "Taking..." AJ shook her hand.