“Okay! You should get some sleep too after you finish your milk, Ms. York!” Tim replied while taking his shoes off beside the bed.
“I will!”
Arissa ruffled his hair affectionately. “Have you drank your milk?”
“Yeah, I have! I drank it together with Gavin and the others!” Tim said as he crawled over toward Gavin.
“Tim, would you like to sleep next to Mommy tonight?” Gavin asked softly.
Tim bit down on his lip as he felt a little shy about it.
Gavin then moved himself toward Oliver as he said, “You go sleep next to Mommy!”
The siblings even made sure to have Zachary sleep near the edge so that Jesse wouldn't accidentally fall off the bed.
Arissa simply smiled as she sipped on her milk while watching their interactions from the side.
“Will Mommy be sleeping in the middle?”
“Yeah!”
Jasper let out a mischievous snicker as he placed his leg over Oliver's tummy.
“Hey! Get your heavy legs off me!” Oliver protested and gave him a kick.
“I'll sleep in the middle, so three of you will sleep on one side while the other three will sleep on the other!” Arissa said.
Oliver and Jasper glared at each other upon hearing that.
“You go!”
“No, you go!”
Oliver gave him a little shove. “You sleep on Zachary's side!”
“Hmph! You're always bullying me!” Jasper protested defiantly.
“You'll be far away from Mommy if you choose to stay on this side!” Oliver reminded him.
Jasper paused as he thought about it and realized Oliver was right.
“Fine! I'll go sleep on Zachary's side!” Jasper then made his way over to the other side of the bed.
Having finished her milk, Arissa put the glass down and shut the bedroom door.
“Hurry up, Mommy!” they called out to her in unison.
“Okay!” Arissa responded as she climbed into bed and lay down with three kids on each side.
With Tim and Jesse closest to her, she gave them all a hug and a kiss on the forehead.
“Good night, Sweethearts!”
“Good night, Mommy!”
Gavin, Zachary, Jesse, Oliver, and Jasper all took turns kissing her on the cheek as well.
Noticing that Tim hadn't done so, Gavin urged him, “Go on, Tim! Give Mommy a kiss!”
Arissa looked at Tim with an expectant look in her eyes, but Tim simply blushed without doing anything.
“All right, go to sleep now!” Arissa brushed it off as she didn't want to force him.
Tim could tell that she was a little disappointed, so he leaned in and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “Good night, Ms. York!”
Feeling overjoyed, Arissa replied with a smile, “Good night, Sweetheart!”
She then switched off the light and hugged her kids to sleep.
Benjamin received a phone call after coming out of the shower, so it was really late at night when he ended the call.
Arissa and all six of the kids had already fallen fast asleep by the time he entered the bedroom.
Not wanting to wake any of them, Benjamin stealthily crept toward the bed and lay down next to Gavin.
With only the moonlight illuminating the room, he leaned over to give them all a kiss on the forehead.
Of course, he made sure to give Arissa one as well.
“Leave me alone! Go to bed!” Arissa opened her eyes all of a sudden, only to close them again after saying that and went back to sleep.
Benjamin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she didn't realize it was him.
Did she actually mistake me for one of her sons again?
He thought to himself as he closed the blinds with the remote control before going to sleep.
Benjamin was the first to wake up the next morning.
Seeing as Arissa and the kids were still asleep, he gently climbed out of bed, got changed, and left for his morning run.
Arissa broke into a sweet smile when she woke up later on and saw her kids all still sleeping soundly beside her.
She took a moment to get a good, long look at them before getting out of bed to wash up and make breakfast.
Suddenly, she thought of Benjamin and checked the living room to see if he was sleeping on the couch.
Where did Benjamin sleep last night?
She then decided to check the study, but didn't see him in there either.
Did he end up sleeping in the kids' room?
With that in mind, she opened the door to the kids' bedroom, but still saw no sign of him.
“What are you looking for?”
A familiar voice came from behind Arissa all of a sudden, causing her to jump in shock.
Arissa then turned around and saw Benjamin standing there in sports attire. He had clearly just returned from his morning run.
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