KIDS!!

when-do-babies-smile

G’day! This is a short comedy skit I wrote and it’s actually my very first attempt at writing just comedy. I had first published this story on FictionPress, and decided to also publish it on here. I have made VERY slight alterations to the story on here as I realised there was a tiny little contradiction I made in the story, but otherwise, it’s exactly the same. I will put up the links to my previous stories on here as well.

Zion

Zion: The Rebellion

Zion: War of Thrones


Susie let out a contented sigh as she stood up. She rubbed a crick in her neck. That’s the bread on. She smiled as she looked around the kitchen, which was clean, neat, and tidy. Will’s going to be pleased when he gets home. She had cleaned and scoured the whole house that morning so that it was perfect for when her husband, Will, came home from the army. She had not seen him in five months, and missed him terribly. Everything was set – the house was tidy, the turkey roast had been put on two hours ago, and the bread was on, even the children were behaving.

Nothing can go wrong.

CRASH!!

The noise had come from the verandah where the 12-month-old Rosie and the two-year-old Tom had been quietly playing just a few minutes ago!

Oh, great!

She rushed out the back door and into the verandah, and looked around frantically. Where are they? Are they hurt? Susie could not find them. The storage bins were in place, the toys were lying around here and there.

A squeal pierced the air.

It came from the behind the stack of paint cans.

Some of which were lying around on the floor and open, paint strewn everywhere.

“OH NO!”

Hearing Susie’s outburst, baby Rosie’s face peeked around the paint cans. Rosie had spots of green, streaks of yellow and one big pink spot on her nose. Rosie smiled at the sight of her mother and giggled, sucking her thumbs.

Susie ran over and found Tom rolling around in a puddle of mixed colours, and laughing his head off. “Oh no, oh no, oh no!” Susie closed her eyes and face-palmed. Oh why, oh why does this have to happen on the day Will comes home? Why, why, why?! Everything was so perfect. Then Susie remembered that the children were wearing their best clothes which she had bought just this morning.

Something nuzzled into her legs. She opened her eyes, lowered her eyes, and found Rosie rubbing her face in Susie’s trousers, her chubby little arms wrapped around Susie’s legs. Susie suppressed a smile. How cute…

Rosie looked up at her with her heart-melting smile, and giggled. Susie’s eyes went wide. “Rosie!” she scolded. By rubbing her face in Susie’s trousers, Rosie had smeared paint on her mother’s white trousers which she had bought just two days ago for Will’s homecoming.

Oh, how her heart melted.

In despair.

Susie sighed and put her hands on her hips and gave Rosie and Tom her sternest look, but they just laughed and began playing in the paint again. This is gonna’ take a while.

She happened to glance down at her watch and gasped.

Will was due home in an hour.

Susie quickly picked up Rosie, took hold of Tom’s dirty hand and quickly led them inside the house. She entered the bathroom…and then paused. She let go of Tom’s hand and – still carrying Rosie – stuck her head out of the bathroom and looked at the lounge floor. On the carpet, there were little yellow, green, and pink blobs of paint that were shaped like a foot. And they went all the way into the bathroom.

They’re too small to be me. And it certainly isn’t Rosie. Then it must be… “Tom,” she said, trying to stay calm. “Lift up your feet one at a time.”

Tom looked confused but lifted his left foot. Then his right. Susie let out a loud groan. Tom had paint all over the soles of his feet. “Don’t worry, Mummy,” Tom said, giving her the cutest smile. “We’re just helping you paint the house like you and Daddy were planning to do.”


Will could not help grinning as he exited the plane. He was back home. He could not wait to go home to Susie and the children. His mouth watered at the thought of all the food Susie would have prepared for his arrival. He quickly went through customs and ran outside and hailed a taxi. He climbed in and and told the driver his address. As they departed from the airport, Will wondered how his wife would react to him arriving home earlier than she expected?

She’s gonna’ love the surprise!


A few minutes later…

Susie took Rosie out of the bath and wrapped a towel around her. She dried Rosie while keeping an eye on Tom in the bath. Thankfully, the paint on both of the children had not hardened yet so when they went into the bath, it washed off quite easily. She exited the bathroom and went into the bedroom to get Rosie’s clothes, praying that Tom would be alright for two minutes. Rosie wanted to get down, so Susie put her on the floor so could fetch the clothes more easily. She found a really good outfit with a beanie and shoes to match. Susie pulled them out and bent down to pick up Rosie.

Except Rosie wasn’t there.

Straightening up, Susie began to search. “Rosie? Where are you?” she called out. Struck by a sudden thought, she ran for the kitchen. “You better not be sitting in the flour bin again,” she muttered. She entered and saw – to her relief – that Rosie wasn’t there. But her worry and frustration came back. Where is she? Will’s gonna’ be home soon. How am I going to get this house all cleaned up in time?

Hearing squeals and splashes from the bathroom, she ran into the bathroom and saw that Rosie had climbed into the bath again and that Tom was trying to hold her up. How does she move so quickly? Susie came over and took over holding her. Tom splashed his mother’s face. Susie shook her head. “Kids,” she muttered with a smile.

Then the front door opened.

“Hello? I’m home!”

Will! He must have decided to come home early. She was overjoyed – then remembered that she hadn’t been able to clean the house up and hadn’t been able to check on the food.

The food! Oh, I hope it hasn’t gotten burnt.

Susie heard Will opening the oven door and then shutting it, so she figured that the food still had to cook some more. “Anybody home?”

“Daddy!” Tom yelled. Will then came into the bathroom and looked at them all. Susie couldn’t look at him. She was sure that he was going to be very mad about the state of the house.

“Who wants to play with paint bombs?” Will said. Not what Susie expected. She looked at him and he smiled at her with a twinkle of amusement in his eyes.

“Yay!” Tom yelled with Rosie trying to copy him. Tom climbed out and Susie stood up, holding Rosie. Tom ran out of the bathroom and went to try and find his clothes. Chuckling, Will took Rosie from Susie and gave his daughter a big hug and kiss.

“It’s good to see you, sweetie,” he told her. He looked at Susie and she could tell by the look on his face that he was going to tease her about the house for years to come. All in good fun, of course. They kissed each other.

“Where did the paint bombs come from?” Susie asked.

“Oh, I bought them before I had left. I kept it a secret so we could use them when I got back,” he explained.

Susie laughed. She shouldn’t have worried after all. Wrapping an arm around each other, they walked out into the lounge.

CRASH!!!

Susie face-palmed. “Not again…”

COPYRIGHT

All novels and short stories on this blog are the works of @rue202 and Racheal’s Novels Unauthorised use and/or duplication of this material without the express and written permission of the author is strictly not allowed. You may use excerpts and links or reblogs of this material provided that complete and clear credit is given to rue202 and Racheal’s Novels with clear directions to the original content.



84 responses to “KIDS!!”

  1. Good one and true. :))

    Liked by 4 people

  2. So very well written. I still can’t believe you’re only 16. I ought to send my son down to Australia to be home schooled by your Mum. 😁

    Liked by 3 people

    1. LOL. I think she’s got enough on her plate as it is. 🙂

      Liked by 2 people

  3. So sweet. And, such an accurate portrayal of life with a toddler. We had many mishaps with flour, pans, toilet paper, dog food etc. 🙂

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Yeah, I know. Oh, the innocence of youth.
      Thank you!

      Liked by 2 people

  4. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
    The Eclectic Contrarian

    This is awesome, Racheal!!

    Liked by 3 people

      1. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        You wrote this like you have little ones running around you in like manner every day! Excellent writing!

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Well, I know what it is like as I have 5 younger siblings who are a handful, but I absolutely love them and I can’t imagine life without them. Thanks again.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. Yes, we do. Although they don’t get into paint cans (thank God!).

        Liked by 2 people

      4. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Paint makes everything festive!

        Liked by 2 people

      5. And messy – especially with little kids! 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

      6. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Lol!!! It washes off!

        Liked by 2 people

      7. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Lol!

        Liked by 2 people

      8. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Are you and Racheal siblings?

        Liked by 2 people

      9. Yep. It was mentioned in the podcast bottomlesscoffee007, J-M, and I did before I came on.

        Liked by 1 person

      10. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Awesome! I didn’t listen to the entire thing.

        Liked by 1 person

      11. Absolutely. I’m the oldest.

        Liked by 2 people

      12. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Pleased to meet you!

        Liked by 2 people

      13. Your name’s John, isn’t it? Mine’s John-Michael.

        Liked by 2 people

      14. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Yes sir! I have to say that intelligence runs in this family. You have hit many nails on the head on your blog. And Racheal is a born writer! Pretty awesome!

        Liked by 3 people

      15. Thanks! I’m just starting to check out your blog.

        Liked by 2 people

      16. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        Hope you enjoy it!

        Liked by 2 people

      17. The Eclectic Contrarian Avatar
        The Eclectic Contrarian

        You’re welcome!

        Liked by 1 person

  5. what a nice story. It seems as if you help with your younger siblings a lot. you speak from a place of experience.

    Liked by 5 people

    1. Thank you! Yes, it was written with many incidents with my younger siblings in mind. I do help a lot with my siblings.

      Liked by 2 people

      1. You’re gonna be a great mother one day yourself.

        Liked by 3 people

  6. Haha so good.. you sound like a mum! Really good!

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Thank you! No, I am not a mother yet. I have a few younger siblings and I was writing it with a few incidents in mind, though none quite like I wrote in the story.

      Liked by 2 people

  7. Oh Nice story, it is well written. How many novel did you write?

    Liked by 4 people

    1. Thank you! What do you mean “how many novel did you write?”

      Liked by 1 person

      1. How many books did you publish?

        Liked by 3 people

      2. I have published three stories so far on “Racheal’s Novels”. I gave the links to them at the beginning of “KIDS!!” I haven’t physically published any of my books yet, though I am saving up some money to publish them at some point in the future.

        Liked by 2 people

      3. You can publish as an ebook free! Ofcourse there is some other cost into it like editing…but good to hear it. Look forward for your paper books to be published!

        Liked by 2 people

      4. What platforms can I publish ebooks on?

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Go to smashwords.com, difinitly worth to try it.

        Liked by 2 people

      6. I’ll look at it.

        Liked by 1 person

  8. Wow Rue, I loved this fun loving story and it was awesome. Will too was so happy to see his family and a family needs to be like that, simply enjoying moments and kids are like that. Lovely and all the best for your stories.

    Liked by 2 people

      1. Welcome Rue, your story was awesome, dear. Even I write stories and may be by God’s grace will try next month to keep on Amazon.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. Thank you again. You write your stories really well. Hope you do.

        Liked by 2 people

  9. It will be so exciting to get published on paper and I know you will!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Thanks. I hope so.

      Liked by 1 person

  10. Yes you do write from a place of experience and it is very well written.

    Liked by 2 people

  11. Absolutely hilarious – just as much as it was when I first read it on FictionPress!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Ugh, right in the feels!! I was cringing so hard the whole time. Will was so good about it, though! Nicely written 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Nice dear!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. My pleasure!

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Such a nice and sweet story with pinches of fun. And the ending was perfect.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you so much!

      Liked by 1 person

  15. You did it good even if it’s your first attempt. This just popped the thought that maybe I also should try my hands at writing some other kinds and not just focus on my usual.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you! Try it if you think you should. Would be interesting to see what you write.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I will try it but I doubt I’d be posting except my editor feels it will align even just a bit with the original purpose of my blog

        Liked by 1 person

  16. […] KIDS!! – because…well, you’ll instantly see why when you go and read it. […]

    Liked by 1 person

About Me

I’m an Australian author and artist, self-published as a teenager. Fast food worker and a uni student. Love karaoke, clubbing, cosplay, makeup listening to ASMR, and photography. Genderfluid, mainly they/them pronouns, and bisexual. Also run a podcast called “The Little Book Corner by Ash Digest – Author” that’s available on Spotify and Anchor/Spotify for Podcasts

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