The next Monday Harlin went off to town with Heidi. Heidi had prepared all 3 meals for the children, before they woke up. Hopefully, they would be back after lunch or best case scenario: right before breakfast.
David was the first to wake and came down to find tea, pound cake, and biscuits and a little note.
The note read:
David put the note back on the table and poured himself a cup of tea. He grabbed 2 biscuits and put them on his plate. Karen came down a few minutes later, and noticed the note. She read it and sat down with her brother. "I wonder why Mrs. Hopscotch went with Mr. Hopscotch," Karen said as she took a piece of toast.
David answered, "Maybe there were a lot of deliveries to be made, she must be helping out."
Karen poured the tea and said, "Perhaps, or they're doing something."
"Can you figure it out? You have always been the smart one, sis."
Karen laughed and continued to eat breakfast. Bell came down and asked where her parents were, so David handed her the note.
Back at town, Heidi and Harlin went off delivering toys. They had delivered 2 packages to the Persian Cats, 1 box to the Yellow Labradors and 7 small boxes to the Wooly Alpacas. Some of the boxes needed to go to Sylvania, so they dropped them off at the Sky Ride box. Heidi told Harlin that the next delivery was the Striped Cats who wanted a bunny rattle, drum, pull toy duck, Ella Elephant doll, and doll house. The couple got out and opened the trunk of the Cherry Cruiser, revealing many toys wrapped in gift boxes, plus there were even boxed toys in their original packaging. Harlin got out more boxes from the back seat and put them on the ground.
After making 6 deliveries, there was still a large load of toys. Harlin then remarked that they still had a meeting with the Hopper Kangaroos! Heidi and Harlin needed to work fast, not to mention they had 4 kids and 3 babies waiting for them at home.
Back at the Deluxe Village House, Skip had woken up to the sound of crying babies. He heard 2 figures rushing upstairs whispering among one another. He got up and quickly brushed his teeth and climbed the ladder to see what was wrong.
Hopper had woken up and started banging against the crib door…again. That noise woke up Breeze and Honey, who were quite upset. Bell and David unlocked the crib door and freed Hopper, who quickly crawled off. David turned on the nightlight and read the baby girls a quick story. Breeze and Honey fell asleep, 20 minutes later. Skip and Bell were watching Hopper. Skip looked around and noticed that he couldn't hear the sound of mother Heidi cooking or father Harlin setting the breakfast table, so he could eat. Then, he remembered that it was Monday, his father had woken up early to deliver toys, but where was his mother. "Where's mother?" asked Skip.
Bell turned and said to Skip, "She went to town with dad. Karen is downstairs doing the dishes."
Hopper started whining, he was trying to climb his parents' semi-double bed. It wasn't an easy task for a baby of his size. Skip grabbed Teddy (the teddy bear that was every babies' favorite toy) and sat down on the bed. Skip tried to motivate Hopper more with Teddy.
Bell had suddenly disappeared for 7 minutes and came back with her art notebook and a pencil.
She quickly sketched Hopper, and lifted him up onto the bed after the drawing was done. Hopper was very satisfied with his newfound discovery: the bed. Hopper was quite proud of himself and dozed off on his parents' bed. Now that all the babies were taken care of, the children needed to go study. Everyone checked the schedule downstairs, Bell had Art, her favorite subject. She had finished half of it because she drew Hopper and Skip, now she just had to write about it. Karen had history, so she decided to make a historic prediction on what Mr. and Mrs. Hopscotch were doing.
It was time for the meeting, Harlin was very nervous. Heidi kept telling him that everything will be fine. As Heidi said, everything was fine. Actually, it went great. Harlin received a raise, when they got outside the couple was jumping happily and they wanted to quickly get home.
After all the deliveries were shipped, Harlin insisted that Heidi drive the Cherry Cruiser home. Heidi questioned why Harlin didn't want to go home so soon. Harlin explains he needs to get some things done and he'll call Heidi when he needs to be picked up. Heidi tries to convince Harlin that she could go with him, but is reminded that she has many kids to take care of. Therefore, Heidi drove the Cherry Cruiser home and Harlin stayed in town square.
Heidi arrived home 35 minutes later and kept asking if the children were alright. She went upstairs and checked on the babies and was confused on why Hopper was on her bed. After making sure everything was alright, she went into the kitchen and did her cooking magic. Skip tells his best friend, David, that his mother forgot that she had already prepared a cherry pie for lunch. David laughs and remarked to Skip that his mother was very loving. Skip replies by saying, “Yup, that’s my mom.”
David sighs and says, "I miss my parents."
The two friends stand there for a moment, sort of loss in thoughts. “Lunch is ready!” hollers Heidi.
Bell comes down for lunch and invites her mother. The dining table only had 2 chairs so it was first come first serve. Heidi accepts and sits down with her daughter. Today’s lunch was baked carrot and squash. “I can’t wait for Honey and Hopper’s birthday,” exclaims Bell.
Heidi smiles and replies, “Me too! I want them to have an amazing birthday.”
They keep talking about the coming birthday and then the subject of Aunt Teri comes up. Bell asks when Breeze will be reunited with her family and if she’ll go back to Sylvania. Heidi asks, “Bell, you don’t want Breeze to leave, don’t you?”
“Yeah, I like Breeze staying here. I miss cousin Coco and Freya too.”
Heidi suggests Bell phone Freya and Coco after lunch, Bell admits that she forgot that there was always calling as an option.
“Strange though, your father hasn't phoned me yet. I wonder what he’s doing,” Heidi says.
Bell reassures her mother that Harlin is fine. BEEP, BEEP! Everyone rushes down and opens the door. They can’t believe their eyes. Harlin was in the driver’s seat of a royal blue van. Everyone was asking questions, when Harlin stepped out. Harlin yelled, “ONE AT A TIME PLEASE!”
Everyone quieted down. This was another pro for living in a more remote area, you could yell and nobody would ever know. Slowly, everyone asked their questions. Harlin answered all of them with a simple summary. He said, “I received a raise today from the Hopper Kangaroos. That means we have more money we can spend and I thought about the growing number of people in our home. Most of y'all never been to town square before and we can’t all go together because of the limited car space. Therefore to solve the problem was this! Everyone, this is the Family Seven Seater!”
There were many Ooh’s and Ah’s, until Skip mentioned that they were 3 babies, 4 kids and 2 adults, or in other terms 9 critters. Harlin had bought a Family Seven Seater. Harlin, a little shocked, suggested that some critters ride in the Cherry Cruiser.
David proclaims, “Mr. Hopscotch, it won’t be as fun or nice.”
A lightbulb flicks atop Karen’s head! “I know!" she yells and quickly opens the car doors.
Everyone watches in awe as Karen finds a solution. She moved the 3 baby car seats backwards and now the row where the babies sat is free. The baby seats are safely hooked onto the back of the row.
Everyone cheers, "Hooray!"
Harlin even says, "Now that is thinking out of the box."
Everyone couldn't wait for their next ride in the new Family Nine Seater.
Comments