That Saturday, Lexi cleaned her bedroom with a little pep.  She didn't want Emily and Savi to think she was a total slob, so she actually took the time to put things away instead of shoving them under the bed like usual.  She made her bed and sprayed a little Febreze so it smelled nice and fresh.  Her two new school friends would be coming in about an hour.  She was so excited.

Lexi scurried out to the kitchen and checked the refrigerator, making sure the sodas she'd put in the earlier were still there.  She'd gotten snacks from the grocery store earlier as well in preparation for her friends coming over.  Lin was working on his laptop in the living room and smirked at her excitement.

"Did you get your room cleaned, Lex?" He asked her.

"Yep!" She said excitedly.

"And you didn't just push stuff under your bed?" He checked, knowing her tricks well.

"Noooo..." she said, smiling.

"Good girl," he commented.  "Will you bring me a glass of water please?"

Lexi nodded and grabbed a glass, then filled it with ice and water.  She brought it to Lin, and he thanked her.  For the next hour, Lexi was a flurry of excitement.  She went around the house, cleaning a few last things up, including a glass of orange juice that Emma wasn't quite done with.

Finally, the doorbell rang, and Lexi ran to the door.  Savi and Emily lived nearby, so they'd come over together.  The girls all squealed and hugged, then set all their bags on the floor.  Lin put his laptop aside and stood up so he could meet his daughter's friends.  He walked over to the kitchen, where they were all congregated.

"Hi girls," he said.  "I'm Lin.  I'm Lexi's dad."

The girls went into full-on fan girl mode.  They were obsessed with Moana.  Lin thought it was adorable the way they were asking him questions and smiling and nodding at him.  Lexi rolled her eyes and hurried them along to her bedroom.  They took all their stuff and soon, the Moana soundtrack could be heard blaring from behind her door.

A few minutes later, Emma walked in, exhausted from her shift at Hollister.  The paychecks were definitely worth it, though.  It was nice to make her own money. 

"Hi, sweetheart," Lin greeted her from the couch.

"Hey," she said, then heard the ruckus coming from the hallway.  "What the hell's going on?"

"Sleepover," he told her.  "They're all in the Moana play at school, so they're practicing."

"Oh great," she mumbled as she got a drink from the refrigerator.  "Do I have permission to blast my own music to drown it out?"

"If you want to stay up all night with Sebastian and Francisco," he commented.

"Where are they?"

"V took them to the park," he said, glancing at his watch.  "They should be back soon.  We're ordering pizza for dinner."

"Can I meet up with Sara later?" She asked, knowing she would get annoyed with three middle schoolers in the house.

"Sure," he said.  "Just be home by 11."

Emma nodded and disappeared to her room to change and relax a little.  At least as much as she could while listening to the Rock singing on repeat.  The pizza arrived a while later, along with Vanessa and the boys.  Emma grabbed a couple slices, then disappeared for the evening.

After dinner, the girls decided to take over the living room.  Sebastian very much wanted to be included in what they were doing.  They each had their own copies of the Moana script, with notes about their staging and movement.  They began to sing "How Far I'll Go", making motions and dancing.  Lin and Vanessa were pretty sure their choreography wouldn't make it into the real show, but the girls were laughing and having a blast.  Sebastian danced along side of them.

Lin humored them by singing his part from "We Know the Way".  Emily and Savi giggled and clapped.  It was time for bath time after that, so Lin and Vanessa disappeared with the boys to start bedtime.  Sebastian protested, not wanting to miss out on the fun.  The girls took a break and pigged out on some soda and candy.  They scrolled through Netflix to pick out the selections for the evening.  Emily and Savi set up their sleeping bags on the floor and got comfy.

Around 11:00, Emma came home and rolled her eyes.  She quickly bypassed the group and went to Lin and Vanessa's room to tell them she was home, then went to her room.  The girls had to be reminded several times to keep it down so they didn't wake the boys.

Lexi was having a great time, ecstatic that she had made a couple new good friends. As the last movie credits rolled, she took a look at the time on her watch.  It was past 1:00.  She happened to look at the date and then felt her heart drop.  It had been Amber's birthday Saturday, and she had completely forgotten. She'd been so caught up with her new friends and her sleepover that she'd completely spaced it.  Lexi felt awful, and knew that she needed to pay her friend a visit the next day.

___

The girls would have liked to sleep in later, but Sebastian and Francisco were early risers.  They were up before 8:00, and therefore, so were Vanessa and Lin.  They tried to be quiet as they made coffee and got breakfast started for the boys, but Sebby and Franky didn't really understand how to use low voices.  Franky wandered over and started climbing on Lexi.  She groaned and turned over.

"Franky, let me sleep," she said turning over.  The toddler garbled and continued to climb.  Lin came over and scooped him up to give the girls a bit more time.

A little while later, the three girls gave in and got up.  Vanessa was making pancakes, which helped.  They all sat at the breakfast bar, eating, trying to wake themselves up.  They talked and laughed about everything they'd done last night.  After breakfast, they disappeared into Lexi's room again for some girl time.

Emma appeared a while later and was offered some pancakes, but turned them down.  She got herself a cup of coffee and took up residence on the couch to scroll through her various social media feeds.  After her coffee was finished, she went to her room and changed into some running gear.  As she was lacing her shoes up, Lin was getting his second cup of coffee.

"Em, aren't you going to eat something before you run?" He asked as he sat next to her on the couch.

"I'm not hungry," she said.

"But you're about to expend an awful amount of energy," he pointed out, but she ignored him.  She got up to go, stretching her arms.

"Emma, wait up," he told her.  She turned to face him, hoping it would be quick.  "Come sit back down."

"Why?" She asked, stretching her calves.

"I need to talk to you."

She sighed and came back over to the couch.

"Emma, I'm getting worried about your eating habits," he told her, looking at her seriously.  "You skip breakfast a lot of days and barely touch your dinner.  That's not healthy."

"Lin, I'm just not hungry!" She said, her tone showing her obvious annoyance.  "I'm not anorexic or anything, don't worry."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.  "Sweetheart, you need to eat."

"I do," she said.  "I eat when I'm hungry, but like I said, I'm just not hungry."

"You've always had a healthy appetite," he continued.  "The last month or so though it's changed.  Why?"

She shrugged.  "Beats me.  Hormones?"

"Have you weighed yourself lately?" He asked, knowing he was heading into sensitive territory.

She scoffed.  "No.  I don't obsess over my weight."

"You need to start eating more, Em," he told her seriously.  "Or I'm gonna have to make you an appointment with the doctor to see what's going on."

She rolled her eyes and stood up.  "Lin, I'm fine.  You're overreacting.  I'll be back in a while."

Lin dropped it for now and Emma left for her run.

Emma headed towards Central Park, enjoying the feel of the sunshine on her face.  It felt good to physically exert herself in a way that wasn't ballet.  Running was so pure.  She just zoned out with her earbuds in as she passed through the park.

It bugged her that Lin had brought up her weight.  Didn't every man know not to talk to girls about their weight?  It wasn't like she was starving herself or anything.  She just really hadn't been hungry lately for some reason.  He'd mentioned it seemed to have started in the last couple months.  Suddenly, it clicked in Emma's mind.  That's when she'd started to get into the Adderall.  She slowed to a jog, then a walk, then stepped off the trail.  Emma pulled out her cell phone and did a quick Google search for Adderall side effects.  Sure enough, it said inappetence.  She bit her lip in thought.  She really hadn't thought much about having side effects.  She'd been so pleased with the results she'd been getting that she hadn't even noticed.  Emma shrugged, figuring it wasn't doing her any harm.  If she lost a few pounds, it wouldn't hurt.  She continued on her jog for another half hour or so.

_____

After her friends had left and she'd helped cleaned up, Lexi asked Vanessa if she could go pay Amber a quick visit.  She was told yes, so she walked over to her friend's apartment.  She knocked on the door and Amber answered.  Lexi was greeted with a frown.

"Hey," Lexi said cautiously.

"Hey," Amber said, crossing her arms.

"Sorry I couldn't come over on your birthday yesterday," she apologized.  "I was really busy.  Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, it was alright," Amber said.  There was an uncomfortable long silence.

"Umm...I was thinking.  Maybe we could go to the skate park tomorrow?"

Amber sighed and looked down at her feet.  "Look, you don't have to pretend to still want to be friends with me if you don't want to," she said.  "I'm sure you've got lots of new friends at your fancy new school."

"Amber, it's not like that," Lexi said.  "I've made some new friends, but you're still my best friend.  It's just harder now that we don't go to the same school."

"You hardly ever show up at the skate park," Amber pointed out.  "I didn't see you at all this last week.  What have you been doing after school?"

"Umm, I got a part in the school play," she said.  Amber's face contorted in surprise.

"The school play?!" She asked, exasperated.  "Who are you?"

Amber closed the door in her face.  Lexi stood there a moment, completely surprised.  Why was Amber being so unreasonable?  Lexi sighed and turned to go home.  When she arrived back at the house, Vanessa could tell something had happened.

"Lexi, what's wrong?" She asked gently.

"Nothing," she said, her arms crossed.  "I need to get started on my homework."

Before Vanessa could say anything more, Lexi had rushed off to her room and closed the door.  Obviously, she needed some alone time.  Vanessa wondered if there had been some girl drama.  It was hard moving schools, making new friends, and trying to keep up with the old friends.

____

Lexi was quiet at dinner, poking at her food.  Afterwards, she wandered off to her room and shut the door again.

"What's up with Lexi?" Lin asked his wife as they finished off the dishes.

"She came home upset after she went to see Amber," Vanessa explained.  "I'm gonna go try to talk to her.  Girl drama."

Lin nodded, knowing he wouldn't really be of any help.  Girls were way more dramatic and he didn't know how to deal with it.  That was Vanessa's territory.

Vanessa knocked on Lexi's door a while later and found the twelve year old playing around on the family iPad.  She sat on the bed and patted her daughter on the leg.

"What's going on, Lex?" She asked.  "You've been upset ever since you went to visit Amber.  Did something happen?"

She sighed and set the iPad aside.  "I forgot it was her birthday yesterday," she admitted.  "So I went to apologize and wish her a happy birthday and she went off on me about how we never hang out any more, and then she slammed the door in my face."

Vanessa let out a sympathetic sound and squeezed her shoulder.  "Friends can be hard sometimes," she admitted.  "I guess she's feeling a bit forgotten now that you're at another school."

"I wish you guys had never made me move," she said.

Vanessa gave her a look.  "Are you sure about that?  You seem pretty happy doing the play and being friends with Emily and Savi."

Lexi sighed.  "I know, but it was so much easier when it was just me and Amber."

"Maybe, but it doesn't mean you can't have both," Vanessa said.  "Friendships take work.  You have to keep up with people.  Make sure they know you're thinking about them and appreciate them."

"Well I tried to do that today and Amber got all pissed at me," she reminded Vanessa.

"Well, she was upset and she had every right to be.  Wouldn't you be upset if Amber forgot your birthday?"

Lexi nodded, feeling worse.

"Give her some space for a few days, then go to the skate park after school.  I'll bet she'll be more open to an apology then," Vanessa advised her.  She had survived her own middle school girl drama and was glad to share her perspective.  She was pretty sure this would blow over.

____

As she got ready for bed that night, Vanessa swallowed her medication that was meant to help with her pre-eclampsia.  She was definitely feeling better, which she was grateful for.  Still, she was worried about her own health and the health of her baby.  There had been virtually no complications with Sebastian or Francisco, so it was worrisome that this had just popped up.  She was set to go back to the doctor tomorrow afternoon for her weekly check-in.

Vanessa climbed into bed with her husband, who was reading a book.

"Getting any ideas for your next musical?" she asked him as she laid down.  Lin grinned and marked his page.

"It's not quite hitting me in that way," he said as he turned onto his side to face his wife.  "Is Lexi doing better?"

"Yeah," she said.  "She forgot Amber's birthday and Amber was pretty upset.  I gave her some advice to give her some space and try apologizing in a few days."

"She seems to be hitting it off with Emily and Savi," he observed.  "They're sweet girls."

"They are," Vanessa agreed.  "I like them."

"Have you noticed that Emma's not been eating much lately?"

"Yeah, I was starting to worry a bit about it," she said.  "Did you say something to her?"

"I asked her about it and she said she's just not hungry, which isn't like her.  It's been the last month or so that she's changed.  I don't know if we need to take her to the doctor."

"Yeah, maybe," Vanessa said.  "I'll keep an eye on her this week and make an appointment if she's not improving."

They leaned in and shared a few sweet kisses before drifting off to sleep.

___

Lexi had play practice most days after school, so she wasn't able to go to the skate park as much, which Amber had pointed out.  She made a point of going on Wednesday, though, and hoped to see Amber there.  Sure enough, Amber was skating, but was obviously avoiding her.  Lexi gave her some distance and just worked on some of her tricks.  As she noticed Amber starting to pack up, she wandered over to her.

"Hey," she said.  "Your kickflip is looking really good."

"Thanks," Amber said as she took a swig of water.

"Are you going to be back tomorrow?"

"Yeah, probably.  Why?"

Lexi shrugged.  "I'll be back too.  Maybe we can go get a soda afterwards."

"Yeah, maybe," Amber said dismissively, then turned around and left.

Lexi let a frustrated breath out as she watched her friend go.  She would give it all her effort, but knew she needed to be patient for Amber to come around.  She'd really screwed up forgetting her birthday.  Lexi decided to call it a day, kicked her board into her hand, and went home.

When she arrived, Sebastian was in full-on tantrum mode.  He was laying on the floor bawling and Vanessa looked like she was about to lose her mind.  Lexi set her stuff down and got a glass of water as Vanessa tried to get dinner ready.

"What happened?" She asked, barely audible over Sebastian's screams.

"He can't find his Batman and I don't know where it is," she explained.  "He's been screaming for 10 minutes."

I took a closer look at Vanessa, and she didn't look good.  "Are you feeling okay?" Lexi asked her.

"No, I'm really not," she admitted, rubbing her fingers over her forehead.  "This medication I'm taking has been giving me headaches.  Sebastian's not helping."

Lexi walked over to her younger brother and kneeled down.

"Sebastian," she said gently.  "Do you want me to help you look for your Batman?"

The little boy sat up and rubbed at his eyes and started to try to compose himself.  "Yeah," he said in a sad voice.  Lexi took his hand and they began to look around the living room and kitchen area.  They didn't find him, so they went to his bedroom.  Sure enough, Batman was hidden underneath the covers.  Sebastian beamed with excitement and immediately made his action figure begin to fly around the room.  His mood turned on a dime.  Lexi went back out to the kitchen.

"Thank you," Vanessa said gratefully.

"I went to the skate park today," she reported, sitting at one of the bar stools.

"Oh yeah?  Was Amber there?" Vanessa asked as she multi-tasked.

"Yeah.  She kind of ignored me but I said hi at the end.  I said I'd be back tomorrow."

"That's good.  It shows you're interested in her and that you want to be friends.  You can try again tomorrow."

Lexi saw that Vanessa was still struggling.  "Want some help with dinner?"

"That would be great," she said.  "Could you peel the potatoes for me?"

Lexi got to work, glad to be of help to her mother.  As a team, they managed to get dinner ready in the next half hour as the rest of the family trickled in from their various activities.  As they sat down at the table, Lin noticed his wife wasn't feeling well.

"You okay, V?" He asked, and she shook her head.

"I don't feel good," she said.  "I've had a headache most of the day."

"Have you been drinking water?" He asked, remembering the doctor saying plenty of water was important.

"I've been trying to, but I've been busy all day."

Lin nodded, concerned.  It was worrying that she was having these complications so early in her pregnancy.  Usually pre-eclampsia didn't occur until 20 weeks.  Vanessa struggled through dinner, and Lin told her to go lay down.  He and Emma took care of the dishes.

"Em, can you help out with bath time and bed time tonight?" Lin asked his oldest child.  He knew Vanessa needed some down time.

"Sure," she said as they loaded the dishwasher.  Afterwards, they managed to wrangle the boys into the tub and scrub them clean.  Emma read them both a story and tucked them into bed while Lin went to check on Vanessa.  He brought her a glass of water and the heat pad for her head.

"Sweetheart, maybe we need to check in with your doctor again," he suggested. 

"I have an appointment tomorrow," she reminded him.  "I think this is a side effect of the meds."

"Do you think you need to keep working?"

"Lin, I'm a third of my way through the pregnancy.  I can't just not work for that many months."

"You can if you get a doctor's order," he reminded her.  She had a tendency to be a workaholic, like him.  She wouldn't stop unless she was ordered to.  "How about a bath?"

Vanessa decided that sounded nice, so Lin began to run a bubble bath in the master bathroom.  He tested the temperature and then helped her into the bathroom and into the tub.  He left her there to soak, hoping it would help with her symptoms.

Lin wandered out to the kitchen, where Emma was doing her homework at the kitchen table.  "Is she gonna be okay?"

"Yeah," he reassured her.  "She's having a rough pregnancy, unfortunately.  Seb and Franky were relatively easy, which is why this is so weird."

"I got my first paycheck today," she reported, smiling.

"Doesn't it feel good?" He squeezed her shoulder.  "So are you saving up for something?"

Emma looked away.  "No, just wanted to have a little extra spending money."

"Gotcha," he said, not thinking anything of it.  "Thanks for helping with the boys tonight."

"No problem," she smiled as he headed to the couch to work on his laptop.

___

The next week, Hunter College High School was holding parent teacher conferences.  Since Lexi was so new and Emma had a tendency to overdo it, Lin and Vanessa decided they would both go to meet with their teachers.  They would each take one kid's set of teachers.

They both met up at the school after work.  The girls were in charge of the boys for the evening.  Vanessa decided to take Emma's schedule, which left Lin with Lexi's.

"Emma's definitely one of our top students," Emma's U.S. Government teacher told Vanessa.  "She's always prepared and does a thorough job on her work."

"That's great to hear," Vanessa said.  "Is there anything she needs to work on in particular?"

The teacher breathed out and thought.  "Sometimes she has a tendency to overdo things.  On projects especially.  She does way more than she really has to."

"Sounds like Emma," Vanessa commented.  "That's one thing we've been concerned about.  How's her energy level?"

"She's always alert," he said.  "Perky kid."

___

"Lexi seems to be adjusting well," her math teacher commented, looking at her notes.  "She's keeping up reasonably.  She's got a B- at the moment."

"She seems to struggle a bit with math," Lin commented.  "Are there any after school help sessions or tutoring available?"

"Yes," she said, reaching for a stack of papers on her desk.  "Mondays and Wednesdays after school."  She handed Lin a permission slip with all the information.

"Great.  I think we might sign her up," he said.  "How's she doing socially in your class?"

The teacher shrugged a little.  "She keeps to herself mostly.  She talks to her classmates a bit before and after class."

"Thank you," Lin said, and moved on to his daughter's next class.

____

As Vanessa continued to visit with Emma's other teachers, she seemed to get the same feedback with most of them.  Emma was an outstanding student, and could actually do with backing off a bit.  She was bubbly and vivacious and adored by all her teachers.

Lin heard about the same feedback from Lexi's teachers.  Hunter's curriculum was challenging, so she wasn't making straight A's anymore.  She had all A's and B's, and one C.  From what they could all tell, she seemed to be adjusting well and socializing with her classmates.

At around 8:00, Lin and Vanessa texted each other and found that both were finishing up in the next few minutes.  They met at the front stairs and walked out together, then hopped on the subway.  The boys should be in bed by now, but there were no guarantees.  They discussed what they'd heard from the teachers on the way back and decided to talk with the girls when they got home.

When they got home, they were greeted by the sounds of gleeful screaming.  They sighed, realizing the boys were not yet down.  Sebastian ran down the hallway screeching, naked, as Lexi ran after him.

"Sebastian!" She yelled.  "Come back here now!"

Lin moved forward and scooped up his naked son.  Sebastian cackled as he was carried towards his bedroom.

"Daddy!" He exclaimed happily.  Lin looked at Lexi, and she looked exhausted.

"I've got this, Lex," he told her, knowing she needed a break.

Lin set his son down on the floor of his room and he immediately jumped onto the bed.

"Sebastian, have you been listening to Lexi and Emma?" He asked as he opened a drawer to find a clean pair of pajamas and a Pull-Up.

"Yeahhh!" He said, obviously full of energy.

"Doesn't look like it," he commented.  "Come here and get your PJ's on, you monster."

Sebastian ran over to his father, and Lin held out his Pull-Ups so he could step in.  He then helped him into his dinosaur pajamas and took him to the bathroom to brush his teeth.  As he waited in the door frame, he noticed Emma come out of Franky's room, having just finished with bedtime.

"Rough night?" He asked his oldest.

Emma gave him an exhausted look.  "Yeah, you could say that."

"Sorry they were so hyped up," he said as Sebastian spit out his toothpaste.  Lin took him back to his room and read him a couple stories before tucking him in.

He found Emma laying on the couch, Vanessa sitting in the seat nearby.  "All your teachers said you need to back down a bit, Em," she said, twirling her hair.

"Why?  I'm trying to get into a good college.  I need straight A's."

"Well, it sounds like you could make straight A's with a little less effort," Vanessa commented.  "Several of your teachers commented that you do too much on your projects.  It's okay to do your best, but you don't have to go overboard."

Emma sighed.  "I feel like I'm in trouble.  How is this all a bad thing?"

Lin took a seat on the arm of the chair.  "It's not bad, Em, but you need to have a balance.  You have a full course load, you do student government and ballet and now you have a part-time job.  Just don't kill yourself."

"Alright," she sat up, obviously not really pleased with the feedback she was getting.  "I'm going to bed."

"Goodnight," Vanessa called, then sighed out loudly once she had left.  "That was interesting."

"Someone's a little defensive," he commented as he stood up to go get a snack from the kitchen.

"Have you talked to Lexi yet?"

"No, she seemed pretty frazzled from dealing with Sebby," he said, grabbing some crackers from the pantry.  "I'll probably talk to her tomorrow."

___

Back in her bedroom, Emma collapsed onto her desk chair.  She was frustrated that she tried so hard and all the feedback she was getting was that she was 'overdoing' things.  Didn't all the most successful people in the world 'overdo' things?  How would she get ahead in life if she didn't work her tail off and show that she was the hardest worker in the room?

She took out her student planner from her backpack and slapped it onto her desk.  Babysitting Sebastian and Francisco had put a dent in her school work time.  She had a problem set for math, reading for English, and a report to finish off for AP Chemistry.  Her teacher was a barbarian.  He was incredibly nitpicky and marked off for the most trivial things.

It had become like second nature now, popping an Adderall before she began her nighttime work.  After a couple hours of work, though, she felt herself dragging and decided to pop another one.  She still had a lot more to power through. Finally, around 12:30, she finished her work and slipped into bed.

___

The next morning, Lexi fixed herself some breakfast and sat down at the kitchen bar to eat.  As she was slowly shoveling her cereal into her mouth, she caught eye of a stack of papers to her right.  A permission slip for after school tutoring.  She knitted her eyebrows and reached for it.

The flyer advertised after school tutoring on Mondays and Wednesdays.  On Mondays, she had play practice, and on Wednesdays she went to the skateboarding park.  Were her parents thinking of making her do this?  She reached for the other paper underneath, which listed all her current grades.  She was making all A's and B's, and one C in English.  Lexi sighed out, frustrated that her grades had dropped from her old school.

Lin walked in carrying Francisco, in a fresh diaper.  He saw that Lexi had found the stack of papers he'd left out the night before.

"Morning," he told her as he got some dry cereal out of the pantry for Franky to snack on.

"Hi," she said.  "Am I in trouble?"

Lin furrowed his eyebrows.  "No.  Why, did you do something?"

"Why is there this flyer for math tutoring?" She turned it around to show him.

"Well, during conferences last night, your math teacher thought it might be helpful.  You're making a B-, which is one of your lowest grades.  I know you've always struggled with math."

Lexi sighed out. "I don't want to go to tutoring," she said, annoyed.

"Why not?"

"Because I don't need it and I have stuff I have to do after school."

"Well, I know you have play practice on Mondays, but Wednesdays are open, aren't they?"

"No," she protested.  "That's when I go to the skate park with Amber."

Lin set Franky in his high chair and sprinkled cereal on the tray for him.  "You can skateboard any time," he told her.  "I really think you should go to tutoring."

"I'm not going," she said decisively, stirring at her cereal.  She had a scowl on her face.

"We'll talk about it later," Lin told her, not wanting to send her off to school after an argument.  "Your teachers were all really happy with how you're doing.  They said you're keeping up and seem to be making friends."

"Then why would I need to go to tutoring?"

Lin sighed.  "Lex, I don't want to argue right now.  Let's talk after school."

"Fine," she muttered, pushing herself up to standing.  She took her dish to the sink, rinsed it out, and grabbed her backpack.  She left the apartment without another word.

As Lin sighed, Emma made her appearance.  "Where's Lexi?"

"She just left," he said.  "She's not in a good mood."

"Fantastic," she said, pulling on her backpack.  Emma began to head for the door.

"Hold up," Lin stopped her as he rushed to the pantry.  He got out a breakfast bar and tossed it to her.  "Eat."

Emma rolled her eyes and headed out the door.  Lin let his shoulders slump as he looked over at his youngest son.  Franky looked right at him and used his arm to shove all the cereal off his tray and onto the floor.  With his four children giving him this much worry, how was he going to handle five?