No More Dishes

Rushing around, Bella stirred the stew, chopped the lettuce for the salad and tended to her ten month old son Luc.  She made every effort possible to have dinner ready at five thirty sharp when her husband would walk in the door from work.  The other kids scurried around her.  Her ten year daughter Nicky would pipe up every now and then about her homework being too hard.



“What’s for dinner,” asked five year old Chrystal. 



“Stew,” said Bella.



“I don’t like stew.”  Chrystal stormed out of the room pouting.



Her three year old son Jeff was running up and down the hallway with his Tonka truck insisting on making as much noise as possible.  Soon, Chrystal forgot all about not wanting dinner and joined her brother.  Bella was thankful that bed time was only two and a half hours away.  Finally dinner was ready.  Edward walked in the door just as the last plate was served.



“Smells good,” Edward commented as he sat at his seat.



Everyone talked about their days as the enjoyed the meal.  That is, aside from Chrystal who pushed it around in her bowl and scowled at it.  Dinner was over, plates were emptied, but Chrystal remained at the table because she had yet to eat her salad or stew.



“Just eat one bite,” Bella pleaded.



“No,” answered Chrystal. 



Throwing in the towel, Bella cleared Chrystal’s plate and sent her up to her room.  Before heading into the living room to finally relax, now that her husband was home, Bella eyed the mountainous stack of dishes in the sink.  Maybe tonight would be the night Edward finally did the dishes.  She went and sat down.  Her rest didn’t last long as the children were bickering about one thing or another, he did this and she did that.



Finally, it was time to start putting the children to bed.  The boys were first, it was always easy to put the baby to bed.  After a horrendous battle, Bella managed to get Jeff into his bed.  By the time that was over with, it was Chrystal’s turn.



“I want a story,” said Chrystal



“I’m sorry sweetie, but you didn’t eat your dinner.  No story tonight,” answered Bella.  She tucked Chrystal in, turned on the nightlight and was about to leave the room.



“Wait,” cried Chrystal.  “I can’t sleep without kitty.”



Bella searched around the room to find the lost Hello Kitty doll.  She finally found it hiding under the bed with a pair of old socks.  After handing it to Chrystal, she kissed her daughter on the forehead and went downstairs.  The dishes still weren’t done and Edward was in the living room watching Hockey.  Nicky was still at the table struggling with her math problems.  Bella sat down, and tried not to have a nervous breakdown as she attempted to explain long division for the hundredth time that week.  What seemed like a day later, Nicky was finally done and off to bed.



“Can you help with the dishes,” Bella asked Edward.



“Intermission,” he answered.



By the time the hockey game was over, the dishes still weren’t done.  Fed up, Bella went to bed. 



Morning came way too quick.  Bella was awoken to the sounds of her 3 and 5 year old fighting and the baby crying in his crib.  Bella couldn’t help but noticed the dishes still weren’t done.  She fed the children breakfast and prepared lunch for Nicky.  Edward had the day off and was still in bed. 



Coffee sounded good, but the children wouldn’t give her a chance to have one.  Luc threw his cereal on the ground, Jeff was crying because he didn’t want toast.  To top it off, Chrystal accidently knocked her glass of milk over, and Nicky still hadn’t even come down to eat her breakfast.



Bella took one look at the mess around her and stormed up the stairs.



“Get up,” she yelled at Edward.  “I’m on strike.”  And with that, Bella climbed back into bed and sent her husband down to deal with the children and the dishes. 



Word Count: 680