Lourdes raced out of school, all the way to the twin's preschool. She was just in time. Actually she had a few minutes, which was good as she desperately need to catch her breath. She waited under a large tree out of the sun, hands on her knees as she heaved in some deep breaths. When the school bell rang, there was a mass exodus of little people flooding the school grounds. They were not allowed to leave the school area until their parent or guardian fetched them. Lourdes saw the identical twins, Louis & Liam holding hands as they came bouncing out, holding hands. She made her way around the parents' cars in the parking lot & waved them over. She stopped and braced herself as they both threw themselves at her, almost knocking her over. They were both talking a mile a minute and she knew that their first day of preschool hasn't been bad for them. They had each other, ready made best friends and brothers. She really tried to pay attention to them but it was hard. Except for the occasional Loulou, everything went much too fast X 2. She whistled & got immediate silence from the twins & weird looks from those people milling around. She hugged each boy, placed a kiss on their cheeks and ruffled their head. "Arasso, now I'm ready for you to tell me about you day, taking turns" Lourdes instructed as she held out a hand each for the twins. With their little hands tightly clasped in her secure hands, they swung their hands as they walked home, with the boys re-telling every minute of their day.

When they got home, Lourdes got the boys to wash up while she fixed them their tea. She set up the "Disney Cars" DVD for them and settled them down while she went back to the kitchen. Time to start on dinner. She decided to go easy today and took out the makings for burgers. It may not be the most nutritious meal, but it did cover a lot more of the required good groups and it was easy, which helped the Lourdes who was almost dysfunctional in the kitchen . She checked up on the boys as she collected their dirty dishes. She pulled out some coloring books for them, in preparation for when the movie was over and started on her homework. Multitasking was the only way she could get everything done. She shook her head as she thought of her Doctor parents. Why they even bothered having children was beyond her. They were always too busy with their own lives, to pay much attention to their kids. It was bad enough with just Lourdes, but now with the twins, they became her responsibility at the age of ten. She became both mother & sister to them and was still expected to excel at school. Who knew what would have happened to them if she wasn't around. She loved them to bits, but sometimes she just needed to be a kid too. At sixteen almost half her life was spent looking after herself and then the twins. She loved them to bits but felt like she was always tired. She worked on her maths homework as the movie played in the background, keeping one eye on the boys.