“ Come on, Terry, wake up!,” Maddy said and shook her vigorously.
“ Mmmph,” Terry mumbled. She curled into a ball, pulling her pillow over head.
“ Terry! Come on! Up and at ‘em!,” Maddy called cheerfully, yanking the pillow away. Terry’s only response was to roll into a tighter ball and burrow under her covers.
“ Felicia, will you help me? I can’t get her up,” Maddy frowned impatiently at Terry’s ‘cocoon’.
Felicia walked into the room, still in a pair of boxer shorts and an over-sized tee-shirt, running a brush through her hair. “ Sorry, what did you say?”
Maddy sighed. “ I said, ‘I can’t get her out of bed’. Will you help me get her up?”
“ Oh. Sure. I just need you to help me carry that bucket of ice water up here,” Felicia winked at Maddy.
Maddy stared at her in confusion for a moment, then grinned with understanding.
“ Ah yes, the ice water. Sure. A nice cold shower ought to wake her up.”
They both looked down at Terry as she sat up with a groan. “ All right, all right, I’m up.” She threw her arms up in a stretch and opened her mouth in a huge yawn. “ What time is it time anyway?”
“ About 9:30,” Maddy responded.
“ 9:30? Are you kidding me? There is no way I am getting up that early!,” Terry said as she fell back against her pillow.
“ What time did you get to sleep last night?,” Felicia asked her.
“ Uhh, I think about 5:30.”
“ Ah. Tough night, huh?”
“ Nah, I just had some things on my mind.”
“ I can sympathize. I hate insomnia.”
“ Yeah, me too. That and getting only four hours of sleep. Damn it, I can’t stand bed hair,” Terry groused, tugging at the tangles in her fine blond hair. She looked up at Felicia and Maddy with an apologetic smile. “ I’m sorry guys, you’re gonna have to excuse me. I’m always rather bitchy for an hour or so when I wake up.”
“ Will some breakfast help?,” Maddy asked, pulling Terry’s arm to help her up.
“ No, but getting some sleep will. Ooooh, head rush,” Terry groaned and held her head.
“ Sorry, breakfast is your only option.”
“ I guess it might. What have you got?,” Terry asked. She accepted Felicia’s brush and gently ran it through her hair.
“ Pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and toast., complete with milk and juice. I’ve been up since 8:00 and got a little bored, so I thought I’d be nice and fix something good.”
“ Aww, how sweet,” Terry put her arm around her in a hug. “ Do you always get up that early? You didn’t even get to sleep until around 3:00 last night. Believe me, I know. I was still awake long after you fell asleep.”
“ Yeah, I guess so. I can’t seem to sleep too late,” Maddy shrugged.
“ That’s nothing. I’ve seen her live off of three hours of sleep,” Felicia spoke up, “ Though she’s usually grouchy as hell when she does.”
“ Sounds a lot like me. Hey, did you know you snore?,” Terry grinned.
“ I do not!,” Maddy said defensively.
“ Yeah you do. I fell asleep long after you did,” Felicia said, “ It sounded like you were trying to hock up a lugie or something.”
“ Yeah, a really big lugie,” Terry added.
“ Well Terry drools in her sleep. I wonder if I should have taken a picture of it for Isaac?,” Maddy smirked.
“ If you had you would have died,” Terry informed her, “ And besides, I don’t drool in my sleep. Hey, ‘sleep’ doesn’t sound so bad,” she perked up. “ I propose we take a nap after we eat.”
Maddy rolled her eyes. “ Forget it. You’re not going back to bed. You’re up and you’re staying up.”
“ You’re too kind.” Terry sighed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She glanced around as they entered the kitchen. “ Wow, this looks pretty good.”
.Set at the table were three plates of delicious smelling food containing a portion of scrambled eggs, two pancakes, two sausage links, two strips of bacon, and a side of toast. Above each plate was a small glass of milk and another of orange juice., set above neatly folded napkins and silverware. In the center of the table were more helpings of each dish.
“ It better look good,” Maddy grinned,” I spent more then an hour on it.”
“ I could get used to this,” Terry said as she sat down.
“ Don’t. I don’t plan on making a habit of it. I honestly do not know how people can do this for a living.”
“ Well don’t think she didn’t have help,” Felicia added, “ I fixed the eggs, set the table, folded the napkins, and set out the food.”
“ Well thank you both of you. It really looks great,” Terry grinned.
“ Your welcome,” Felicia and Maddy said in unison.
“ Anyone want my sausage and bacon?,” Felicia asked, eyeing the meat.
“ Oops, sorry about that, Felicia. I forgot you don’t eat meat,” Maddy said.
“ I’m not much into bacon, but I’ll take the sausage,” Terry replied.
“ It’s yours,” Felicia grimaced.
“ I’ll take that bacon. Hey, why are we eating in here when we could be in there and be watching Saturday morning cartoons?,” Maddy said, indicating the next room.
Without a word, they all picked up their plates and a glass of milk or juice and filed out of the kitchen.
***************************************************
“ Well I’m full,” Terry stood up, “ That was really good, Maddy.”
“ Ahem. Aren’t we forgetting someone?,” Felicia said.
“ Oh, sorry. You too, Felicia. You guys want me to take your plates while I’m up?”
“ Sure, thanks,” Maddy said as she handed her the empty plates, “ Might want to hurry, Sylvester and Tweety are going to be on any minute.”
“ Are you ever going to give up on Tweety?,” Felicia glanced at her.
“ Never! I love that bird. ‘I tawt I taw a putty-tat. I did! I did taw a putty-tat!’,” Maddy said in her best voice.
“ Hey Terry, can you grab that plate of brownies while you’re in there?,” Felicia called after her.
“ Well I could.”
“ Smart ass. You know what I mean,” Felicia laughed as she tossed a pillow in Terry’s direction.
“ Careful, I’ve got dirty dishes and I know how to use them,” Terry smirked, “Yes I’ll get the brownies.”
She quickly set to work rinsing the dishes and vaguely heard the phone ringing, then the sound of Maddy answering it. Must be her parents, checking up on us and letting us know they’re on their way home, Terry thought.
“ Hey, Terry!,” Maddy called.
“ What?”
“ Diana’s on the phone. She says she really needs to talk to you.”
What is Diana calling me at Maddy’s for?, she wondered. She’s not upset about my date with Isaac, is she? But then why would she call me here?
She quickly wiped her hands on a dish towel, grabbed the plate of brownies, and ran to the phone.
“ Here,” she said as she handed the plate to Felicia and took the phone form Maddy. “ Hello?”
“ Hi hon. I’m really sorry about calling you while you’re at a friends house,” Diana immediately apologized, “ I just really need to ask you something.”
“ Sure, what’s up?,” Terry asked, a little nervous.
“ Walker and I have to take Isaac, Taylor and Zac to meet with some of the producers from Mercury. They want to go over some guidelines for the next album. They just called this morning and need to know if we can make it for this afternoon. The older girls and Mackie are going to a friends house this afternoon, but Zoe isn’t feeling very well today, so I don’t want to take her with us. I was hoping you might be willing to come and baby-sit for a few hours while we’re at that meeting. We’ll even double the salary.”
Terry felt herself relax. So that was it. She needed someone to watch the baby.
“ You need a sitter that bad, huh? What time do you need me to be there?”
“ I would say from 3:00 to 6:00, if that’s okay.”
“ 3:00? Sure, that sounds fine. Maddy’s mom was going to take me home around that time anyway.”
“ That’s great, thanks a lot. It shouldn’t effect your plans with Isaac, by the way.”
Terry blushed slightly. “ He told you about that, huh?”
“ He had to, if he wanted to be able to borrow the car tonight.” Terry could almost hear Diana’s smile. “ But I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“ All right. See you then,” Terry said and hung up the phone.
“ What was that all about?,” Maddy asked as Terry re-joined them on the couch.
“ She needs me to take care of Zoe later. It sounds like she’s sick, so they need to leave her home.”
“ Ugh, taking care of a sick toddler is not my idea of fun,” Felicia said.
“ Shhh! Tweety and Sylvester is on!,” Maddy admonished.
