Trixie, with Diana and Honey following, opened the door to her house while chattering about a day in the city shopping for dresses for the upcoming festivities to celebrate the opening of Jim's school.
Trixie was putting away her wet umbrella and taking off her saturated raincoat when she stopped and lifted her head to listen for sounds in the house. Although her daughter was only 2 years old, she had enough experience both as a Bobby-sitter and as a mother to realize that something was off.
Trixie looked at Di. "It is too doggone quiet. You don't think he left them still down for naps do you?"
Diana groaned, "Oh I hope not. If they are still asleep, it will take forever to put Joey to bed tonight."
Honey piped in, "I don't think you have anything to worry about. So it’s quiet. You know that he wouldn't let anything happen to them."
Trixie put down her packages. "Honey, you just wait a few years until that bump is in the middle of the terrible two's. Then you’ll understand what we have to be worried about. No. Let's look around and see what's up."
The trio wandered into the den and stopped short when they saw a large counterpane draped over a table with each of the four corners tied to nearby chairs. There were baby dolls, diapers and baby clothes tossed in different piles under the makeshift tent. A ways away from the table, Jinga blocks were laid out in two rows to make a road, and several cars and trucks of random sizes were lined up along side. Nearby, the remains of the spaghetti lunch sat on a small child size table among crumbs and crusts of garlic bread and cups of juice/
The women looked at each other with grins on their faces. Honey chortled. "Hmm. Maybe you are right. It does look like someone bit off more than they could chew, doesn't it?
Trixie gathered the lunch dishes and headed toward the kitchen. Diana pushed ahead to open the door and stopped suddenly. There was spaghetti sauce dripped all over the top of the stove, splashes of purple juice on the counter, and a big pile of soap bubbles in the sink. "I can't believe anyone could make such a mess. Not even Mart."
Trixie looked out the window as she placed the dishes in the sink.
She giggled, then laughed and held her finger to her lips to ask for silence as she guided her friends to the open back door.
Three figures were standing in puddles in the back yard, and all of them were dripping with muddy water. Of course the muddy splotches weren't as noticeable in the dark hair of the children, as it was in the red locks of their taller playmate.
The distaff Bobwhites stared at the tall man as he stood there watching the two dripping children hopping and splashing in the middle of the largest mud puddle in the back yard. The ladies watched with interest as he noticed the garden hose suddenly turned in his direction. It apparently wasn't enough that there had been a steady downpour earlier in the day. The kids had turned on the water faucet and the hose was disgorging a steady stream of clear water directly at their sitters feet that was making the already large mud puddle steadily bigger.
"Gleeps! Would you just look at us. Your mothers are going to be very ticked with me."
"What does ticked mean?" asked Nellie Bean.
So much like his Dad, Joey rushed to show his younger cousin how smart he could be. "Ticked means mad."
Nellie Bean lifted her face as tears started streaming down her muddy cheeks. "My mommy's going to be mad at me? Why?"
"Aahhh Nellie. Don't cry. I think both your moms are more likely to be mad at me than at you. I really enjoyed telling you stories about how my Dad taught me to make mud pies and splash in puddles. And then we had a lot of fun jumping in puddles ourselves, didn't we? You two are truly the next generation of great puddle jumpers. But I am sure that your Mom isn't expecting to come home to such a muddy back yard.
"But its time to stop now. If we don't get you dried off soon, you could catch cold, and I just hope that the lights in your shoes will still work after your shoes dry out.
The three soaked playmates stopped in surprise as they heard loud laughter. They turned and saw the two mommy's and Aunt Honey giggling on the porch holding up their cell phones. Then Trixie called out. “Say Cheese, you guys. We have to take pictures for your books.
Epilogue:
A few weeks later all the Bob-Whites and their families, friends and donors broke open bottles of champagne to celebrate the ribbon cutting of the new school.
At the front of the room, Trixie, Honey and Diana rose in unison and suddenly the room heard whistles of Bob-Bob-White, Bob White.
Diana lifted her glass and invited, "Everybody, please join us in a toast."
As Honey pulled a cord to lift a curtain drape, Trixie continued.
"We have all waited for this day, for Jim to be able to complete his dream. We have often listened to him talk about his plans, and how he hopes to care for and teach his students. Sometimes though, we have worried that Jim would be such a responsible administrator, that he might forget to have fun. A few weeks ago, we found that we were worried for nothing. We want to present this picture to the school, to be placed front and center, to show that under Jim's tutelage, there will always be time for fun."
As the drape fell, the audience laughed and offered a big round of applause as they enjoyed the large portrait of a very muddy Jim playing in the mud with two young children.
