Chapter Three-The Real World

Taylor

"Tay, phone!" Avery called, dropping the phone so that it was dangling off of the counter.

Taylor picked up the cordless, hung up the kitchen extension, and departed for his bedroom.

"Hello?"

"Tay, don't hang up!"

Britt. Great. Just whom he wanted to talk to.

"Tay?"

"What?" he snapped.

"I'm sorry. I was just jealous. Silly me!" she giggled, "I'm so sorry!"

"What did you do at your party?"

"Stuff that wouldn't interest you."

"Try me."

"Tay! Just girl stuff."

"What'd the guys do?"

"Hung out with their girlfriends."

"I see. And you hung out by yourself?" Taylor asked, his voice dripping with doubt.

"Would I hang out with anybody besides you? Taylor, I said I was sorry."

"Fine, Britt."

"So, do you want to do something tomorrow?" Britt asked.

"Okay. What do you want to do?"

"Want to see a movie?"

"Sure."

"Taylor?" Isaac called, "Where are you? Zac!"

"Britty, I have to go."

"Okay. Bye, Tay."

"Bye."

Taylor hung up the phone and shut his eyes for a moment. He was still angry about the party. Not the mall incident, though, because jealousy was kind of flattering. Oh well. Taylor was too stubborn to forget but he could forgive.

"Ike! I'm in my room!"

"Come here!"

Taylor got off of his bed and walked to Ike's room. Zac was all ready there.

"Okay, would you guys babysit Sam and Sydney tonight? Me and Shae want to go to a movie and dinner."

Zac grinned. He hated to babysit. Taylor automatically knew that that grin was not at all good for him.

"I can't. I'm sleeping over at Jared's. We are going to go with Cassie to a movie. Cassie has her friend Cayleigh over."

At the end of his sentence, Zac sent Taylor his best "ha ha" smile.

"Tay, please?"

"Fine. Ike, you owe me big time."

Zac

Stephanie was there. Not Cayleigh. Zac gulped and glared at Jared and Cassie.

"You knew about this, didn't you?"

"No! I'm innocent! I swear!" Jared cried.

"Cassie?"

"Well, I kinda had to. I promise Cayleigh was going to come. But she couldn't. You like Stephanie anyway, don't you?"

"That's my point!"

Stephanie rejoined the group at the tiny table in MacDonalds and the conversation about Zac's crush on her stopped.

"So, Zac, are you going to come camping with me this weekend? We need to know soon," Jared asked.

"Yup! Course I'm coming," Zac answered, shoving some fries in his mouth, "When is it again?"

"This weekend."

"This? Darn! I can't!"

"Why not?" Jared was obviously disappointed.

"We're flying to New York to be on Conan O'Brien."

Darn! He'd been looking forward to this camping trip for weeks! Camping would be so much more fun than getting plane sick and doing a bunch of photo sessions. He wondered what would happen if only Tay and Ike went. Nu uh. That wasn't going to happen! He sighed.

"Don't worry 'bout it, Zac. We can go some other time, right?"

"Yeah, I suppose," Zac pouted, playing with his straw. He looked up and caught Stephanie's gaze. She smiled her funny sideways smile, and Zac smiled back.

Isaac

"Taylor, you don't have to put them to bed. Uh, their bottles are in the fridge. Sam's is on the left. Do not give his bottle to Sydney! The formula's different and it'll upset her tummy. Feed them at 6 and again at 9. Diapers and stuff are in their room. If you have any trouble, Kim isn't home, but my sister Whitney is. Only call Whitney if it is life or death. We aren't, er, exactly on good grounds with each other. Try Tracey first. Their numbers are by the fridge. I think that's it. Do you have any questions?"

Taylor shot Isaac a look, which he could understand. His head was spinning, and he didn't have to remember anything.

"Nope, no questions."

"Okay! Have fun! Bye, Sydney. See you, Sam," Shae said, fluttering her hand and kissing each on the cheek, "Be good for Taylor."

With that, Shae got her coat and did up her shoes.

"Bye, Tay," Isaac said, giving him a sympathetic look. Taylor was holding Sydney in one arm, Sam in the other, and was looking confused.

"Bye, Ike."

"Ready?"

"Yup," Shae replied, opening the door. Isaac followed her out and got in the car. They road basically in silence to the restaurant. Isaac held the door for Shae and they were seated.

"What are you planning to major in in college?"

"I was planning to major in journalism."

"Was?"

"Yeah. Writing was one of the only things I was ever passionate about. But I had to quit school last year when I got pregnant and had to get a job. So, I never finished grade 11."

"Oh. Do you miss it?"

"Yeah. I really wanted to be a journalist. But, I guess I kissed those dreams good bye."

Their drinks arrived and Shae became more interested in her hot chocolate than her story. She took some of her whipped cream in the spoon and ate it.

"So, what kind of job do you have?"

"I'm a waitress. But it's not enough, you know? I still had to go on welfare," Shae told him, shuddering at the word, "My friend, Tracey, owns a daycare. Sam and Sydney stay there."

Ike took a sip of his Coke.

"What do you want to do with your life, Ike?"

"Just be part of Hanson. Or, if that doesn't work, I'm sure it'll involve music in some way."

"Cool. You sound so sure of it. Think Tay's okay with the twins?"

Taylor

"Okay. I know it was one of you. Who's gonna come forward? None of you? That's what I thought. I'll just have to find out for myself, cause I know it wasn't me!"

Dreading the task, Taylor scooped Sydney up and waved her around in front of his nose. She kicked her feet around in front of his face, missing his cheek by about a millimetre.

"Whoa, Sydie! You are proved innocent, so don't get into a stink over it," Taylor said, grinning at his pun.

He plopped Sydney back down on the couch and reached for Sam. Gulping, Taylor picked him up and gingerly waved him around.

"Aha! The culprit! Heck, what is she feeding you?"

Making a face, he grabbed Sydney and departed to the twin's room. He placed Sam down on the change table and plopped Sydney in her crib. Changing was a breeze. Heck, Zoe'd provided enough practice!

After that, Taylor checked his watch and found the time to be 5:50. Bottle time. He left the twins in their cribs and went to the kitchen.

Now, Sam's bottles are on the right. Or was it the left? I think it was the left. Okay, go with left.

Much to his dismay, Shae had no microwave or bottle warmer. He turned on the stove and filled a pot with water. He placed the bottles in. At that exact moment, Sydney decided to see what decibal level her screams could hit. Casting a glance at the stove, Tay went off to comfort Sydney.

"There, there, Sydie," Taylor said, swaying her back and forth, "Don't cry."

Suddenly, Taylor could hear a hissing noise.

Oh no! The pot's boiling over!

He plopped Sydney back into the crib, which started her crying all over again, and rushed to the kitchen. The pot had spilt water all over the stove, and was still bubbling away. Taylor grabbed the handle, and yanked it off the burner. He turned the burner off and went to get Sam and Sydney.

Sydney stopped crying as soon as she was picked up. Sam yawned. Taylor took them to the living room and lay them on the couch. Sydney wailed again as soon as she was out of Tay's arms.

"Ssh, Sydie. I'll be right back, okay? And I'll bring food!"

He trotted off to the kitchen and fetched the bottles, taking care to remember what one was Sam's.

He sat down on the couch between the babies and made a face. There was no way he could sit comfortably; the coffee table was too close to the couch, but he couldn't push it back because there was the TV! This didn't pose a problem for Shae, because she was only 5'1", and had a lot less leg to stretch than Taylor. Shifting and reshifting, he managed to reach a semi-comfortable position and fed the twins.

Afterwards, he picked up the twins and rocked them back and forth, singing a nursery rhyme that his mother had sung to him, softly.

"Sleep baby, sleep.

Thy father guards the sheep.

Thy mother shakes the Dreamland tree

And from it falls sweet dreams for thee."

Zac

Angrily, Zac shoved his clothes into a suitcase. They were leaving the day after next for New York. He had wanted to go camping really bad. It was bad enough that he'd missed Cassie's birthday.

"Zac, phone!" Mr Hanson called.

Grumbling, Zac ran downstairs and grabbed the cordless. Before answering it, he sprinted back to his room.

"I have it, Dad!" Zac yelled covering the receiver, "Hey!"

"Hi, Zac. It's Stephanie."

Zac's stomach did flip flops and he remembered what Taylor had said about girls phoning you when they liked you. YES!

"Hi, Stephanie," he squeaked out.

"Sorry to call you, but I was there when you and Jared were talking about you going to New York. So, I guess I want to wish you a safe trip."

"Yeah, thanks."

"You sound so enthusiastic! Don't you wanna go?"

"Well, it's not like I don't want to go! It's just that I'm missing a lot."

"I think you're lucky. I've never left Oklahoma. The farthest I've gone is Oklahoma City. I would kill to see the world!"

Isaac

"Wow, that was really something," Shae said, dabbing her eyes with a Kleenex.

"Saving Private Ryan was pretty good," Isaac agreed, climbing in the car and starting the engine.

"Thanks for taking me. I had fun. I don't go out very much. In fact, this is the first time I've left the twins with anybody but Kim and Tracey. I hope they are being good!"

"Ah, Tay'll handle them! We come from a big family, you know."

"Yeah, I know. You, Taylor, and Zac seem really close. I wish......." Shae let her sentence trail off into a sigh.

"We are pretty close, I guess. Didn't you say that you had a sister?"

"Yup. She's 22. Name's Whitney. We are as different as hot and cold! Boy, did we clash! I always wanted to be closer, but I guess that 5 years was too big of an age difference. We never really got along."

Isaac stopped the car in front of Shae's building and got out. He went over and opened the door for Shae and she climbed out. He trailed behind her all the way to the apartment, so she was in first.

"Ike, look," she whispered, pointing at the couch, "Where's the camera when you need one?"

Isaac smiled. Taylor had fallen asleep, and was holding a sleeping baby in each arm. Taylor was sitting in the funniest position Ike had ever seen. He laughed.

"Tay," Shae whispered, as she walked to the couch and began to gently shake him.

"Hmmmmm," he muttered, opening his eyes, "Oh. Hi, Shae. Hi, Ike. Home so soon?"