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In the Davis' apartment on the seventh floor, CJ and Harry prepared to escort Mrs. Davis to the hotel, while Matt and Sady would stay with the children at the apartment.
Kristen Davis talked faster than Matt and Sady together could comprehend. She gave them each a package with a detailed routine outlined, down to fifteen-minute intervals. The information covered food, entertainment, sleeping, education, exercise, and everything else an OCD mother could imagine.
Matt nudged Sady, "I don't see bathroom time," he whispered with a grin. He turned to see five-year-old Argus glaring at him. Argus had red hair and freckles. His sister looked just like him.
"Uh, oh. Someone didn't make a friend," Sady whispered back just before she had a screaming three-year-old girl thrust into her arms. Sady looked helplessly at Kristen Davis.
"Don't worry. She quits after a half hour," Kristen assure Sady.
"Is she on a timer?" Matt asked and CJ gave him a dirty look.
Mrs. Davis didn't seem upset at leaving her darling children. In fact, she looked happy as she pushed CJ and Harry out the door with a wave. "I've written down everything so you don’t need to call me." The door slammed as Matt and Sady gaped at each other in shock.
"Uhm, Argus. Do you know how to make your sister stop crying?" Sady asked desperately.
"Sure," he said confidently. He turned to his sister and said, "Hey, BB, you're such a baby. Wahhhh! Cry like a baby." Beatrice screamed louder and almost pulled out Sady's hair.
"Check the list," Sady told Matt desperately. "Isn't there something I can give her?"
Matt scanned the list, a look of awe on his face. He shook his head. "There's nothing on here a kid would like."
"Well, do something," Sady begged. "Do you have any ice cream?" He nodded, and she told him to go get it.
"We're not allowed to have ice cream," Argus told them. "It's bad for our teeth and most brands aren't all natural. We only get organic frozen yogurt for a special treat."
Sady gave Argus an exasperated look and demanded Matt get the ice cream. Ten minutes later Bea sat in her booster chair shoveling the artificially colored and flavored frozen treat into her mouth.
"I'm telling," Argus threatened.
"Good, you do that," Sady replied as she mainlined ice cream straight from the carton. She stopped long enough to hand him a pencil and paper. With narrowed eyes she asked, "Now do you want to write this down to tell your mom or have some ice cream?" Argus tossed the pencil and paper, eagerly accepting the bowl Sady offered.
After Bea finished Sady cleaned her up and pulled her from the booster chair. Matt sat in the living room with a beer while he watched the game on TV. Sady plunked the baby on his lap. "Hey, what's up? I thought we'd split this up- you watch the girl and I'll watch the boy."
Sady’s placed her hands on her hips. "Yeah, well, I just watched them both and I need to hose down the kitchen. There's ice cream everywhere. You hold her while I clean and check the list. I'm sure there must be some activity scheduled for them."
Ten minutes later she was back and Matt wasn't happy. She looked at the TV. Michigan was winning so something else was wrong. He lifted Bea, and Sady saw the wet spot on his jeans.
Argus snickered. "You're supposed to ask her if she needs the potty," he explained like they were stupid. "If you don't ask she just goes."
"You think?" Matt asked rudely while Sady tried not to laugh. Matt stood up and handed Bea to Sady. "You take her while I go change."
"I know where you live, so you have five minutes," Sady threatened. She took Bea to the bathroom and set her on the little potty.
"Don't gotta pee," Bea insisted. Finally Sady took her off the potty, cleaned her, and put on fresh clothes.
When they returned to the living room Argus was in Matt's chair holding his beer can with a grin. The door opened and Matt came in. Sady chewed him a new one for leaving the beer can while Argus stuck out his tongue at Matt.
"Hey, it was empty," Matt defended himself.
"That's no excuse," she scolded. "No more alcohol for the duration. And I mean it!"
One look at her red face and Matt peeled the empty beer can away from Argus. He smashed it and threw it in the trash.
"There's a ten cent deposit on that can," Argus scolded him. "Since you smashed it you should have at least rinsed it and put it with the other aluminum for recycling."
"How old are you?" Matt asked him.
"I'm five but my intelligence is advanced for my age," he replied smugly.
"I thought you were an adult midget," Matt said, earning a glower from Argus.
Bea raced around the apartment with the TV remote. When Matt tried to take it from her, she screamed and pointed. "Go," she yelled at him.
"Just see if you can get the game on," Matt asked Sady. Bea screamed "Go" at Sady when she tried to fetch the remote.
"Guess you'll have to find it on the radio," Sady said with a shrug.
"This weekend's gone straight to hell faster than... ouch! Will you stop snapping my head?" he asked with a clenched jaw.
"Stop swearing in front of the children," she told him. "Were you raised in a barn? They'll need to be de-programmed after a few days with you."
Bea screamed again, "Go!"
Sady turned to Argus. "Do you know what she is talking about?"
"Hell, yes," Argus answered her. Sady's mouth dropped, and she flicked Matt again.
"That's not a good word," Sady reprimanded. "Now what does Bea want?"
"She's been saying she needs to poop," Argus announced.
Sady sniffed the air. Too late. “Hell’s bells,” she snapped.
Matt laughed as she herded Bea off to the potty for another futile and too late bathroom session. A half hour later Sady and a freshly bathed Bea came out of the bathroom.