Not enough days in the weekend: E-book serial episode 153

She was so glad it was the weekend, home alone with 5 babies was certainly quite hard, even with so many helpers. At the end of the day only Mary could breastfeed her triplets and look after her twins 24 hours of the day. It was quite onerous really and she had lessened the burden by deciding that she would only breastfeed for 6 months and then she'd become herself once again, a person, not a milk bar, and no more pregnancies, of that she was quite sure. She felt quite intrigued at the prospects that lay ahead of her, now in just 5 months time, she wondered what shape her breasts would be in and despite all the exercise and the skills of modern day physiotherapy that stetched skin on her abdomen was settling down to so many wrinkles and those rather large ones that Mary could not envisage ever seeing much more improvement than she had achieved already.

But she was nearing forty now, and really didn't expect much in the way of demands on her beauty. Jim loved her, she felt confident of that, and his morals, nowadays met the highest standards so this made her feel quite secure.

Domesticity was going to be a big part of her life for many years to come but the pregnancies and breast feedings had taken their toll and she would be glad to be free of them, she was just so lucky that the feeding had come easily, even with twins and triplets, at least she was good for something it seemed.

The morning had passed quietly and the twins had been good and the babies were sleeping and they were all together in the conservatory and the garden surrounding. On such a beautiful day it was quite pleasant really despite the need to be a constant supervisor of young babies.

She was looking forward to Jim's return from golf which would be about lunch time and meanwhile had had a great breakfast and a morning tea of hot chocolate and shop biscuits which weren't all that tasty and certainly not very filling and now all she had to do was wait for Jim's return. She knew he'd come home full of his golfing prowess and she laughed to herself at the thought of grown men hitting that tiny little ball and calling it sport, it really was very amusing. Jim always managed to make it sound like hard work. She wanted to get lunch but was enjoying the tranquillity knowing that as soon as she moved the twins would be clamouring to join her, so it was easier to just sit and watch their little antics and keep an eye on the triplets outside in their pen, something of eternal fascination to little Michael who given the slightest opportunity would be in with them, no doubt squashing their tiny little bodies, with the distinct possibility of doing some injury. This just could not be allowed but the twins were happy to trot around, coming in then going out, just seeing what their Mummy was up to, which wasn't much as Mary just sat but she was feeling restless.

Suddenly she heard Jim's footsteps, home at last, and she got up to kiss him and the twins burst in with their little cries of daddy, dad, da, dad, daddy and every variation of that word you could think of.

She left the room and made him his favourite coffee. "What's for lunch?" he enquired.

"I'll make some really nice sandwiches" she replied "and we can all eat in here" as she left again to go back out into the kitchen.

She found everything she could possibly want and filled a large tray with some delicious looking sandwiches, Rachel really was doing a great job with the shopping and keeping everything in apple pie order, throwing out old fruit and vegetables and Mary had to admit they were creating a lot of waste as they had visitors coming and bringing their own supplies and she and Jim had ordered several meals out which meant things in the house to eat simply deteriorated. But it was early days yet and as Mary's routine improved she'd find more time justifying spending more time preparing their own meals.

There must be something about golf Jim certainly had a huge appetite and seized quickly on the sandwiches as soon as Mary set down the tray. The twins were confined to their playpen while they ate and had their milk, their eyes on daddy wondering what he'd do with them out in the garden where they loved to play.

As if reading their minds, without a word Jim leapt up and went outside , four little eyes following him, returning after about 5 minutes. "Just put the swimming pool heater on, I'll take them in for a swim once the water is warm"

"Good", thought Mary, "I might actually get some time to myself before I go for my walk later" which Jim tended to almost always forget about always appearing surprised when she seized an opportunity between feeds to get out on her own for that important walk, all with the aim of getting her body fit and keeping it that way.

The twins were happy to have daddy around and Mary left them all to feed the babies, it now took only about 30 minutes, nappy changes included and that is when there weren't wet beds to change. Today she was lucky.

She went off for her walk, taking the opportunity to go a different way, it was an inspiring time of the day and the weather was warm and balmy, she would like to go for a swim too but it was too soon after the birth for her.

By the time she arrived home Jim had Michael and Kathryn in their small bathers and with extra towels took them up to the pool, shooing away an errant chook in the garden which Jim hoped would find its own way back to the chook pen, Michael doing his best to assist in the process by chasing it, thinking it was great fun, but the chook was too clever for Michael and kept well out of the way of those clutching little hands.

She took the opportunity to shower and wash her hair and with fresh clothes she felt great, that walk on her own certainly helped and the chance to have a long shower in peace was too good to miss.

She went back to the conservatory and out into the garden dragging the pen inside, it would be a nightmare if it suddenly rained and it got wet over night, it would take ages to dry out.

Returning to the kitchen she made herself a chocolate drink, keeping up her consumption of milk and sat alone drinking and wishing she had some nice cake, feeding three certainly increased one's thirst and appetite.

She got the twins clothes ready for bed and tonight intended that she do the baths for them, not wishing to be completely outshone by daddy.

She was apathetic about tonight's dinner but knew she should at least cook for the twins and hopefully it would be early to bed for them and Jim, she knew, would be only too happy to go out and get food for the two ot them, it would be a good Saturday night, an indulgence that only money could buy and they seemed to have more than sufficient of that, despite Jim's wondering and worrying about his non-existent budget.

Swim over the twins came in and Mary took them off to the bathroom, Jim seized the opportunity to go for a good swim no longer having to look out for two little ones, as he had turned the heater off once the water was warm it was fast cooling rapidly and his swimming was brisk and purposeful in the chilly water.

By the time he came back inside the twins were in their pyjamas with large bibs and eating their dinner, Mary keeping a stern watch on their eating habits, one bath a day was enough, she did not want to give either or both another one. As she had thought the swimming play in the water and the afternoon spent with daddy had fast worn them out and when they began yawning she took them straight off to bed after they had finished their tea. Now it was just her and Jim.

Jim looked around expectantly wondering what was for dinner but he had a light globe moment and said "do you want me to go out and bring dinner home Mary?" she nodded happily giving him her sweet smile so good naturedly he got dressed and out he went giving some thought as to what they should have, they could hardly have Chinese again.

Well, suddenly it was Sunday but this time, unlike Saturday there was no golf and despite Mary's regrets at not being able to go to Church which were reinforced when the Church bells rang, a wonderful thing for those who could go, but hauntingly beautiful for those who could not and Mary was left wondering just when she'd get to Church again.

They sat around in between baby feeds and toddler duties and the hours went languidly by. It was so pleasantly relaxing, but come lunch time with another round of sandwiches Mary decided she wanted to bake a cake, it would be lovely to have something especially nice for afternoon tea and they agreed that as soon as she'd fed the triplets Jim would take sole charge of the twins and keep them out of the kitchen while she cooked.

She did a simply delicious strawberry shortcake and while she was at it made a chocolate meringue pie for dinner that night which they could have with ice cream. When she had finished she called out to Jim that she was off for her walk, feeling quite invigorated on her return and took care of the twins who had been in the pool again while Jim had his swim.

She did a chicken casserole for tea, making enough for two nights and putting half in the freezer, they ate their dinner all together and Jim's eyes lit up at the sight of the chocolate meringue pie and the twins really loved their small helpings being supervised so they did not make a giant mess as Mary had bathed them while Jim had his swim.

All good things come to an end and Mary retired to bed early so she could get a good night's sleep before having to feed the babies again and Jim took himself upstairs to do his little envelopes deciding his system was working quite well. He, too, went to bed early, knowing his bed needed changing but leaving that for another time and he had to admit his separate life upstairs was beginning to pall as the bathroom needed cleaning and the floors doing, but with his being the only one to have access he had quite a problem and was not partial to the idea of doing that himself: this was something he would have to turn his mind to, but they'd had a nice weekend and envelopes distributed he fell into bed, wanting to be fresh and alert for work the next day.

Mary had done well this first week on her own, next week she'd be more used to things and despite the hardships imposed by two multiple births within a very short time, things had to get at least a little easier from now on.