Notes: Mari and Sammy - Thank you for being your awesome selves every day!

Readers and REAL McRollers - Thank you for the amazing support. It is always appreciated.

Hope you enjoy!

A Day in the Life 2 (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)

Morning

"How much did you swim this morning, Daddy?" DJ asked as Steve joined the rest of the family in the kitchen after a quick shower.

"Just a mile today," Steve told him, running a hand through his still wet hair.

"Daddy 'wim!" Angie announced. "Daddy aww wet."

Catherine chuckled, setting Angie's plate in front of her with a waffle cut into bite-sized pieces. "Daddy did get all wet swimming. But he dried off. Now just his hair is wet."

Angie grabbed a piece of her waffle and smashed it into the syrup on one side of her plate. She put in her mouth and smiled at her parents with syrup-coated lips and fingers. "Nummy."

Steve grinned back at her and then looked to DJ. "How's yours?"

DJ nodded energetically, swallowing a mouthful. "Good!" He watched as Steve moved over to the island where Catherine was dividing up their breakfast. "Are you going to have some waffles, Daddy?"

"Waffas, Daddy," Angie repeated, already putting another bite in her mouth.

"Not this morning," he said. "Mommy and I are going to put some of these yummy blueberries in our yummy oatmeal."

Catherine grinned. "Anyone else want blueberries?" she asked, holding up the glass bowl.

DJ's hand shot in the air and he bounced in his seat. "Me me me!"

Angie immediately imitated him. "Me me me!"

"What about you, pretty girl?" Catherine asked Cammie who was sitting patiently by the table hoping for a few morsels.

Cammie gave an excited chuff in response.

"All right," Steve said with a broad smile. "Blueberries all around."

After breakfast was finished and everyone was cleaned up, the family prepared to leave the house for the day.

"Here's your take-home folder, honey," Catherine said, slipping a blue folder into DJ's backpack.

"And here's your lunch," Steve added, bringing the lunchbox he'd just finished packing into the living room.

"Thanks," DJ said, taking it. He looked up at Catherine. "Is my math packet in my folder?"

"It sure is," she replied. "We put it in there last night after we finished your homework, remember?"

DJ exhaled in relief. "Yeah."

"Angie backpack!" Angie announced, spinning to show that she, too, had her backpack on.

"Look at you, baby girl," Steve said, scooping her up. "Ready to go to Grandma and Grandpa and Grandma Ang's."

"What have you got in your backpack, huh?" Catherine asked, unzipping the small butterfly-shaped bag to check. "Let's see … a hat that I doubt you'll wear, pretend pizza and cookies …"

Angie grinned. "Cookies!"

"Kind of surprised there aren't real ones in there," Steve quipped.

"I'm still looking," Catherine said. "Though who are we kidding, a real cookie would never make it into the backpack."

Steve chuckled, tickling Angie. "True."

"Your sunglasses … here, you might need these today," Catherine continued, handing them to Angie who promptly put them on her face. "One sandal, three LEGOs, and … the TV remote control." She held up the final item and smiled wryly at Steve.

"Hey, we've been looking all over for that," he said.

"Pa' Patwo'," Angie said, pointing at it.

"I think we'll leave that here," Catherine said, walking toward the entertainment center.

"No!" Angie said. "No, Mommy!"

"You don't need that at Grandma and Grandpa's," Steve tried to reason with her.

"Pa' Patwo'!" she insisted.

"You can watch Paw Patrol at Grandma and Grandpa's without that remote," Catherine said. "I promise."

"Yeah, Grandma and Grandpa have their own remote," DJ said. His lips twisted as he considered. "Well, I think it's Grandma Ang's."

Steve chuckled and rubbed his head. "It's not baseball season quite yet, she lets other people use it sometimes."

"Okay, I think we're ready to go," Catherine said.

"Mommy backpack!" Angie said, pointing to Catherine's briefcase.

"I do need that," Catherine said, picking up the case by the door. "Thanks, honey." She knelt to kiss Cammie good-bye. "Have a good day with Esther, pretty girl, we'll see you later."

"Bye, Cammie!" DJ said, giving the dog a careful hug around the neck.

Steve set Angie down so she could say her own farewell.

"Bye bye, Cammie!" she said, wrapping her arms around Cammie and burying her face in the dog's neck. "Wuv you!"

Steve and Catherine smiled at the obvious affection. When Angie finally let go, Steve said his own goodbye to Cammie.

Angie grabbed DJ's hand. "Wes go!"

Chuckling, Catherine took Steve's hand and echoed her daughter. "Let's go!"

Afternoon

"DJ he'we!" Angie announced as she preceded DJ and Joseph through the condo's front door. "Gwamma, DJ he'we! Gramma Ang!"

"How was school, sweetheart?" Elizabeth asked, coming over to welcome him with a hug.

"Good!" DJ said enthusiastically as she helped him out of his backpack. "We had STEM today and we made stomp rockets!"

"Oh my," Elizabeth said. "That sounds very exciting."

"Indeed," Joseph said with a smile, having already been regaled with the stomp-rocket story on the way home.

"Yeah! They went so high!"

Angie clapped, not totally sure what he was talking about, but caught up in her brother's excitement. "Yay! Hi!" She waved.

Elizabeth chuckled. "Silly."

"Is Grandma Ang here?" DJ asked.

"I think she might have a snack ready for you in the kitchen," Elizabeth said with a wink.

"Cookies!" Angie exclaimed, running for the kitchen.

"Not cookies," Elizabeth called after her.

Joseph gave her a doubtful look.

"Well, maybe a little one," she amended and DJ grinned. "Then we can see if you have any homework, okay?"

"And one more," Elizabeth said, sitting by DJ at the table. "What does it say?"

DJ leaned a little closer to read the last problem on his homework sheet. "D-draw a … set … with one … l-e-less …" He looked at the image below the sentence for a clue on the last word. "Triangle!"

"Draw a set with one less triangle," Elizabeth repeated. "Good. How many triangles do you see?"

DJ pointed as he counted them on the page. "One, two, three, four, five."

"One, two, fwee," Angie repeated, seated on his other side with her own paper in front of her. She had spent DJ's homework time alternating between scribbling on the paper and going to see what Joseph and Grandma Ang were up to.

DJ smiled at her before looking back at Elizabeth. "Five," he said.

"So one less would be …" she prompted.

He looked at the paper for a moment, thinking. Remembering a trick she'd taught him, he covered one of the triangles and quickly counted again. "Four!"

"Yes!" she said proudly.

Beaming, he picked up a colored pencil and drew four triangles in the space provided.

"Now let's do your number sentence," Elizabeth said. "What did we start with?"

"Five," DJ said, writing the number on the blank line.

"And we took away …?"

DJ bit his lip but only for a second. "One!"

"Yes! And that leaves us with …?"

"Four!" he finished, completing the number sentence. "Five take away one equals four!"

"Great job, DJ," Elizabeth said, giving him a little hug.

"Hone'ok done?" Angie asked hopefully.

"All done!" DJ said, taking a moment to tuck his paper into his folder.

"Angie tu'n hone'ok," she said decisively.

"Your turn?" Elizabeth asked.

DJ smiled at his sister. "How about the shapes and colors like we were doing last night?"

Angie nodded emphatically.

"Come on," DJ said, sliding off his chair. "Let's get the puzzles. We can use those."

Angie squealed as she followed him, leaving Elizabeth to make sure DJ's folder made it back to his backpack.

A few minutes later, she came into the living room where Joseph and Ang were watching DJ quiz Angie on the floor.

"What's this, Angie?" he asked, holding up a puzzle piece.

"Tri'gul," she said immediately.

"What color?"

"Bwu!"

He grinned and held up his hand for a high-five. "Yeah! You got it!"

"Gah it!" she echoed.

"Of course she got it," Grandma Ang said. She beamed at DJ. "She's got a very good teacher."

Joseph smiled and nodded his agreement. "The very best."

Evening

"Duck … duck … goose!" DJ patted Catherine's, Steve's, and then Angie's head and took off running around the circle in the backyard to get back to his empty place.

"Get him, Angie!" Catherine encouraged, helping her to quickly stand.

Angie squealed and ran after her brother. "Get 'im! Get 'im!"

Cammie barked excitedly, following her.

Angie reached out both hands for him but he was able to sit back down in his spot first.

"Your turn, Angie," Steve said. "Duck, duck, goose," he reminded her.

With a wide smile, she patted DJ's head, "Duck …" then Catherine's head, "duck …" She started running and cried out, "Goose!" mixed with an exuberant laugh.

Steve got up, chuckling, and ran after her as Catherine and DJ cheered from their spots and Cammie ran along.

The toddler continued past the circle, heading for the beach, calling, "Get me, Daddy!" over her shoulder.

Laughing, Steve caught up with her and swung her into the air and upside down, much to the toddler's delight. He carried her back toward Catherine and DJ who were walking to meet him.

"Daddy got me!" Angie said, giggling.

Catherine laughed. "He sure did. What should we play next?" She looked at DJ who smiled excitedly.

"Hide and seek?" he suggested hopefully.

"Excellent choice," Steve said and grinned. "I'm 'it' first."

Bedtime

After a small snack and some time in the playroom, Catherine stood and motioned toward the door. "It's just about bedtime, kiddos," she said. "DJ, can you get your jams on while I help Angie get ready for bed?"

"Okay, Mommy," DJ said, putting the last of his LEGOs away and moving toward the doorway.

"Wead da books, Mommy," Angie said as Catherine picked her up. "Aww da books."

"Jams first, then we'll read. Your bed or DJ's bed?"

"DJ bed!" she replied excitedly.

"That okay with you, DJ?" Catherine asked.

He glanced back and nodded eagerly.

Once pajamas were on, DJ stood on a little step stool in front of the sink in the upstairs bathroom, toothbrush in hand. Steve stood next to him with one eye on his watch. Angie sat on the counter with Catherine right behind her doing more chewing on the bristles than actual brushing of her teeth.

"Like this, Angie," DJ said, demonstrating the technique. He recited the chorus of a tooth-brushing song. "Ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch."

"Ch ch ch!" Angie echoed.

"Okay, time for Mommy to help," Catherine said. They always let Angie try for a minute on her own in order to reinforce the habit, but one of them had to eventually take over so her teeth actually got brushed.

She held Angie's chin gently and angled the brush toward her gums. After another minute, DJ looked over at Steve questioningly.

"Time," Steve said with a nod and a smile, letting his arm fall back to his side.

DJ leaned over the sink and spit out the toothpaste, grabbing his cup to rinse his mouth.

"Okay, go ahead, baby girl," Catherine said, and Angie copied her brother. She smiled up at them with a frothy smile.

Steve laughed, wiping her face with a washcloth. "Good job."

"Book time," DJ announced. "Follow me."

"Yay!" Angie cheered.

Steve lifted her from the counter and they followed DJ into his room.

"Do you want Daddy to read or Mommy?" Catherine asked.

"Daddy and Mommy," DJ said, picking a favorite book from his shelf.

Angie nodded. "Daddy an' Mommy," she repeated.

"This one, Angie?" DJ asked, holding up another book he knew she loved.

She nodded eagerly. "T'ank you an' night," she said, attempting to say the title, Thank You and Good Night.

They arranged themselves on DJ's bed with Angie snuggled up on Steve's lap and DJ settled comfortably between Steve and Catherine. Even Cammie rested her chin on the side of the bed, enjoying a soothing head rub from Catherine as Steve began to read DJ's choice: Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site.

When he finished, Catherine opened the other book. She read about the little girl and her animal friends getting ready for bed. When she reached the list of things they were thankful for that day, she looked at the kids and asked, "What are you thankful for today?"

DJ was ready for the question. "Waffles and blueberries and stomp rockets and Grandma helping me with my homework and playing games and Mommy and Daddy and Angie and Cammie."

Catherine smiled softly, leaning over to kiss his head. "I love that list."

"What about you, Angie?" Steve whispered to the drowsy toddler.

"Cammmmie," she said sleepily, not totally understanding the question but still coming up with a true answer.

Catherine finished the quietly soothing book. She stood up, smiling as DJ leaned over to hug Angie and kiss her cheek.

"Night night, Angie," he said.

"Nigh' nigh', DJ," she murmured back. "Wuv you."

He smiled. "Love you."

Steve stood with Angie as Catherine helped DJ under his covers. She brushed back his hair and kissed his head.

"What are you thankful for, Mommy?" he asked.

"You," she said with a soft smile. "You and Angie and your daddy and Cammie and all our family."

He smiled. "Me, too."

She kissed him again. "Good night, honey. I love you."

"Love you, Mommy," he said around a small yawn.

She walked around the bed and took Angie so Steve could say his own good night.

"I bet you're thankful for our family, too," DJ said.

Steve smiled, leaning down toward him. "You're right. I'm thankful you're all safe and happy, and I'm going to keep you that way."

DJ reached up to wrap his arms around his father's neck.

"Good night, DJ," Steve said, hugging him back. "I love you."

"Love you, Daddy."

Steve held him a moment longer before straightening, smiling as DJ settled against the pillow with a relaxed and contented expression. He and Catherine walked toward the door, pausing to turn off the light.

"Come on, baby girl," Catherine said, kissing her daughter's sleepy head. "Your turn."

Steve sat back on the sofa later that night. He looked over as Catherine came down the stairs with Cammie.

"Both still sound asleep," she said, having peeked in the children's bedrooms.

"Good," he said and stretched an arm across the back of the sofa, nodding for her to join him.

She smiled and sat down with a happy sigh, curling up against him and lifting her head momentarily for a brief kiss. Cammie, seeing her remaining two humans settled, headed for her bolster bed to relax.

"Another good day," Catherine mused, a smile on her face as she rested her head against Steve's shoulder.

"Like I told DJ, our family is safe and happy … I'd say that makes it a great day."

She clucked her tongue good-naturedly. "Semantics." Her expression softened. "But you're right. And I know we're going to have a lot more in the future."

He nodded, giving her arm a gentle squeeze. "Agreed."

They settled into a comfortable silence, simply happy to be in each other's company with the knowledge that their children were sleeping peacefully upstairs and the time now to fondly recall the various moments of the day.

One moment came back to Steve and he glanced across the room, brow furrowing in sudden realization.

"Hey … where's the remote?"

Catherine looked toward the entertainment center where she'd set the TV remote control that morning after finding it in Angie's backpack. She chuckled and shook her head, sliding an arm across his torso in a clear signal that she had no intention of moving.

"That's a problem for tomorrow."

He smiled, pulling her closer and closing his eyes.

"Deal."

Hope you enjoyed!

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