Chapter 1 (Part B)

•••

Maria sat and worked, not a word to anyone else as she typed, read, and submitted every file that she had been given to overlook for the day.

As closing time finally rolled by, she completed reading through the last document and then shut the computer down.

Standing up, she stretched her arms and then packed up her things that had been loitered all across the table.

Stepping out of the cubicle, Maria walked amongst her colleagues till she reached the elevator. She stood and waited for a few minutes then got on to the elevator.

They arrived at the bottom floor about ten minutes later and she left toward the garage.

Getting in the car, she put her bag down on the passenger seat and started the engine.

Driving out of the garage, she got onto the highway and drove back home.

On her way back, she stopped at the convenience store to get some things.

Walking amongst the many aisles, she strolled into the snack section and put some chips and chocolates in the cart.

After checking out at the counter, she went back to the car and put the stuff she had bought in the back set of the car.

Starting the car again, she drove ahead and then stopped at an apartment building.

Getting off, she walked inside and went up to the second floor. She knocked a couple of times on the door of room #6 and then stood and waited.

The door opened and a young girl with strawberry-blonde hair and purple eyes stepped out, closing the door behind her.

"Hey, big sis," she said with a small smile as she stood next to her.

"Hi Marianne, how was your day today?" Maria asked she turned around and walked off down the hall toward the stairs.

"Boring as always, good thing Lily was there today or I would not have survived it," she said as she swung her bag over her shoulder and followed behind her sister. "Can you believe they asked us to bring a full four-page essay on World War 1?"

"Oh my god, not even an extra day?" Maria asked astonished.

"Nope. They also told us we're supposed to bring a 3D model of a robot by Monday, and it's like half of our grade!" Marianne exclaimed as they stepped up to the car and sat down inside.

On their way back, they talked on and on until they finally stopped at an apartment building a small distance away from the last.

They parked the car in the parking lot of the apartment building.

Getting off, Marianne walked off toward the door and ran off upstairs. Maria, on the other hand, took the snacks she had bought before picking up Marianne and then took them upstairs with her.

As she stepped inside the door, she was suddenly swarmed by children.

She put the things down on the table beside the door and knelt to greet the four little girls who were happily jumping as they looked at their elder sister with happiness.

"Your back! What took you so long?!" said one of the two boys as they also rushed to greet their sister.

"We missed you!" one of the four little girls said as she huffed angrily and jumped up and down.

"Oh, I missed you all too," Maria said with a small smile as she hugged all four of them.

The two boys, feeling left out, also joined in the hug.

"Hey! Where's my hug?!" Marianne asked as she walked out of the kitchen and saw that everyone was hugging by the door.

She walked over and joined as well. They stayed in that position for a bit then got up and Maria handed out all of the chocolates.

"Here you all go, now run along and do your homework while I make us some dinner, ok?" Maria said with a small smile as she handed everyone their snacks.

They all ran off to the lounge as Maria and Marianne went off to the kitchen.

"Don't you have an essay to write?" Maria asked as she looked over at Marianne who had followed behind her into the kitchen.

"Just a little bit, please?" Marianne begged with puppy dog eyes.

"Alright, but you better have your essay complete before midnight," Maria said with a sigh as she set to work.

•••

They all sat down at the table about half an hour later when dinner was served.

Everyone ate quietly with content looks on their faces.

When everyone was done eating, they all went and sat down in the lounge and turned on the TV.

The little girls sat and watched with excited smiles on their faces while Maria and Marianne cleared away the table.

The two boys stood in the kitchen and washed all of the plates and organized them.

Then, after about one whole hour, they all went back to their rooms.

Maria sat down on her bed and let out an exhausted sigh. She rubbed her tired eyes and layed down.

In a matter of seconds, she had already drifted off to sleep before even a minute had passed.

•••

The loud ringing noise of Maria's alarm cut across her ears. She opened her eyes tiredly and sat up straight.

Standing up, she trudged over to the bathroom and splashed her face with ice-cold water.

After freshening up, she went into the kitchen and started preparing breakfast.

By that time Marianne and the twin boys, Matthew and Mason, had already woken up and sat down at the table waiting for breakfast.

She put their breakfast down on the table and went to go wake up the quadruplets.

They woke up and sleepily trudged over to the bathroom one by one. They then proceeded to the table and ate their breakfast silently.

Everyone then got ready for school and they all went down to the car.

After dropping them off, Maria took a deep breath and then set off to work.