"Ok, so what you're telling me is that Mason and Mathew are going to be living with me?" I ask still not fully understanding.

"Yes, but Mathew will only be with you for three days because his Grandmother lives closer to the school he'll be going to," Amanda says. I found out her name when I invited them in.

"Ok, so Mathew for three days and Mason is with me for two weeks and is with me at school?" I ask stirring the noodles. I'm making spaghetti for the kids.

"Yes, your father says you're really responsible and the boys can't come with where my husband and I are going." She says and I hear Hailey start crying.

"One moment," I say leaving the noodles to see Mia holding a toy and Hailey trying to grab it. "Mia, did you take her toy?" I say and she looks up at me.

"It's mine, not hers." She says holding the little pony to her. I kneel down at her level.

"What did we talk about sharing?" I ask and Mia shakes her head. I take a deep breath and grab Hailey. Once she's in my arms she stops crying and plays with the necklace I have on. "Sorry about that," I say putting Hailey on my hip and adding the sauce.

"No, perfectly fine, trust me I know the struggles," Amanda says and I smile. "Also you'll be getting a 100 dollars every week for the boys. They both eat a lot and Mason will go through your house." She says and Mason becomes a little red. Mathew is sitting on the ground playing a video game on his DS.

"Well ok. Did they bring any clothes?" I ask and she stands up and nods.

"Boys go and get your bags." She says and they do. "Mathew loves to play his video games so if he is misbehaving just threaten to take them away. He'll do anything for you after that and Mason is a quiet boy. He keeps to himself but loves to play basketball. I was hoping you could introduce him to the rest of the team at your school." She says and I nod.

"Sure, what grade is he in, though. I mean they've both been homeschooled so..." I say and she looks away from me as they walk back in with their bags. "You guys can just put it in the living room somewhere," I say and they nod their heads.

"Well they say Mason should go into 12, and that if he has any issues that he can get a personal tutor. For Mathew, they said 3rd grade and that he should be ahead of his class." She says and I nod my head in acknowledgment. Hailey continues to play with my necklace not noticing any word anyone's saying.

"Well, I'm a junior so he'll probably have different classes than me," I say trying to hint at her to tell me why he would need to follow me around for whole two weeks. I mean that's a lot of time to get used to a school.

"Well you are in almost all advanced classes so that should meet up pretty well and he's just really shy. We just don't want him to be thrown into high school." She says and watches as the boys walk back to the kitchen.

"Ok, then. I guess I'll see you in two weeks when you come back." I say and she holds out her hand. We quickly shake as I'm still cooking and holding Hailey.

"Really nice to meet you." She says with a wide smile.

"Likewise," I say before she turns to her boys with a stern look.

"If you two give her any trouble so help me, you think Dad's bad wait til I get at you." She says and I try not to laugh because both of her kids look up at her frightened. She then gives them hugs before leaving. I laugh lightly and look back at the little boy.

"Mathew you can go play with the other kids. Josephine can tell you all their names." I say and he smiles. I laugh as he runs to the front room. He's such a cute little boy. I then look towards Mason. "Do you have any school supplies?" I ask beginning to make everyone's plate.

"Yeah, my mom got me lots." He says holding up a full backpack.

"Well you won't need that much, but it's your choice how to want to keep track of all your notes and things," I say making the last plate.

"Yeah, I don't have a clue what I'm going to do." He says looking worried.

"It'll be fine. I show you what I do and you can see if you like it that way or we'll come up with something different." I say and he looks relieved. "Kids wash up," I say loud enough for everyone to hear.

I place the plates down and everyone takes a seat. They are just enough for everyone. Mason and Mathew sit next to each other. I sit Hailey and Mia in their seats, with Hailey by Mason, then me, and Mia to my right. Josephine then takes the last seat which is between Mia and Mathew.

Everyone begins to eat and there's little talk. Once everyone's done I tell them to go brush their teeth. I put Mia in her bed, Josephine then goes into her room, and I make a little bed for Hailey on the floor. She goes to sleep easily and then I walk back to the living room. Mathew is on the loveseat and I turn the lights off before exiting. I find Mason's things on the couch in the front room.

Once Mason finishes putting all his bedding on the couch he walks over to me. "So, should we go through school stuff?" He asks. I nod and usher him to follow me.

We go to the kitchen and I turn the light on. "Ok, you wanna take all the supplies out of your bag?" I ask and he nods. He begins to grab everything and my eyes get wider as he pulls more and more out of his bag. "Well I'm going to put the things you have to have over here," I say pointing to where I'm standing. "and then we'll see if you want the rest."

I begin making sure he has pencils, pen, calculator, highlighters, just the basics. Once that's done I stare at the rest. "Ok, what I do is I have a notebook and folder for every class. Then if I think I need anything else I just add it, but you might prefer a big binder with folders in it or even a binder for every class." I say and he looks back at his stuff.

"I'll just try the notebook and folder thing." He says. I smile and nod my head.

"Ok, do you know that classes you will be taking?" I ask and he nods. He rummages through another backpack, this one is red with some black. He pulls out a crumbled paper and tries to flatten it out on the table. I lean over to read the paper. "Ok AP English Language and Composition, Red folder and you'll probably want two notebooks. I also have this class." I say. He grabs the two and then writes the class name on them. "You have IB History, rough. Ok, blue notebook and folder." We do this while going through all of his classes.

"Why do you have a lot of my classes?" He asks after putting the stuff he's going to use in his backpack.

"In middle school, I was in advanced classes and last summer I took a few classes," I say and he nods his head. "What surprises me is how many AP classes they put you in."

"What's AP?"

"Advanced Placement are college classes and IB are kinda like college classes," I say and he nods his head understanding.

"Well, they made me come in and take a test today." He says and I raise my eyebrow. "It was a pain, asked all these questions about everything and anything." He says sounding annoyed. I laugh and nod.

"Ya, they all suck," I say and grab a folder from my backpack. He wanted to see how I had taken notes so he had a few pointers for tomorrow. "I have homework to do so you can do whatever, just please keep quiet," I say and he looks at me funny. "What?"

"I don't know. I swear I've seen you somewhere, though." He says and shakes his head. I shrug and begin my math homework. He looks over at it and his face twists in confusion. I laugh continuing to do the problem.

"I'm in calculus."

"What? That just looks like..well a headache. Please tell me I'm not going to have to do that." He says in a pleading voice.

"Nope, you have Algebra 2," I say and he lets out a breath. I laugh and finish the problem. I only had one left when I was doing it in my language class. I put it back in my bag and look for my sketchbook. "Where is it?" I say aloud.

I then take everything out of my backpack and find that it's not there. "I know I grab it," I say sitting my backpack down confused.

"What are ya looking for?" Mason asks looking up from his phone.

"I can't find my sketchbook," I say and his eyes open wide.

"Does it have a purple cover with a lot of drawings on it?" He asks. I nod confused. "You must have been the person that ran into me." He says and opens his bag. "It had fallen out and I tried to get your attention, but you were gone." He says and pulls it out handing it over.

"That was you," I say confused grabbing my sketchbook from him.

"Yup. My mom felt so bad and told me just to hold onto it and wait until tomorrow to hand it to someone at the school." He says and I shake my head.

"Small world I guess," I say and he nods his head. I open it up to my latest drawing and begin to finish it. It's due tomorrow.

"Wow, you're really good." He says watching as I continue to work.

"I hope so. This is what I want to do for a living." I say and he looks up at me.

"Really?" He asks and I nod.

"I love art. There are so many ways to do it and so many messages that can be portrayed." I say turning my sketchbook again.

"So what is your least favorite material to work with?" He asks and I think about everything I've worked with.

"I think wire is the worst. It's hard to make a good strong sculpture with it-wait no. I really don't like watercolors." I say remembering an old project. He laughs a little.

"What's your favorite?"

"My favorite is acrylic paints and chalk," I say and he looks a little confused.

"What is acrylic paints and you can use chalk?" He asks watching as I shade in more of my drawing.

"It's the opposite of watercolors. It's more of a thicker paint and not like kids chalk. Like....Sargent chalk is what I use mostly. It's just a brand name." I because he still has a confused look.

"How long have you known you've wanted to be an artist?"

"Since I was like five," I say and wonder why his mom thinks he's shy. He seems to talk my ear off. He nods his head and just watches in silence.

Once I've finished he says he's going to bed. "Night," I say as he gets up.

"Night." He says back as he begins walking away. I watch as he leaves and then get back to working.

***

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" My alarm clock goes off and I hit it quickly. I rub my eyes and stretch. Once I'm done I grab my clothes and make my way to the bathroom.

I take an average 10-minute shower and then get dressed. I throw my hair up in my towel for it to dry and make my way to the kitchen. I hear Josephine's alarm clock go off for the first time. She has five alarms just to get up. I find that way more stressful and annoying.

I begin cooking pancakes tiredly when Mason pops into the kitchen. I back into the counter startled. "Geez, you scared me," I say holding a hand to my chest as I recover.

"Sorry, and why are you up a five in the morning?" He asks rubbing his face.

"This is the time I get up and then get everyone else up," I say and he shakes his head.

"Way too flipping early." He says and takes a seat at the table.

"What time did you use to have to wake up?" I ask and he looks over at me.

"Anytime before nine thirty." I laugh shaking my head.

"School starts at seven for us," I say and his eyes open wide. He plops his head on the table making me laugh.

"You can go take a shower before Josephine wakes up." He nods and makes his way to the bathroom. He I see him again.

"How does it work?" He asks his face a little pink.

"Just pull up and left is hot, right is cold. Also, the towels are under the skin." I say and he walks back to the bathroom.

After he and Josephine have showered I take the bowl with all the pancakes and put it in the middle. "You wanna wake your brother?" I ask. Mason nods and I go to get Mia.

"Mia, time to wake up," I say moving her blankets. She squints and slowly gets off her bed. Once she has picked out a billion different clothes she finally has a shirt and a pair of pants on. "Go get some breakfast," I say and she waddles down to the kitchen.

When I get into my room I hear the doorbell. I turn back around and answer the door. "Hey Grandma, I was just going to get her," I say walking back to my room.

I pick Hailey up and she begins to whine. "Shhh, Hailey," I say rocking her as I make my way to the front door.

"Yes, I'm her Grandmother." I hear my Grandma say. She's shaking hands with Mason. When she sees me she sends me a look saying who's this.

"Mason and his brother Mathew are staying for a little," I say and she gives me another look. "Tell you later," I say when she can only hear. I hand her Hailey and she begins to cry. "Hailey, you need to go with Grandma," I say, but she doesn't stop.

"It's alright. Bye Autumn." She says before leaving. I turn back to the group and take a breath.

"And the day begins."