Enough Kids

"Daddy, do you want another kid?" I had wandered upstairs to help the boys find fragments of cub scout uniforms so they could get dressed before we inhaled a quick dinner and teleported to our den meetings.

"Which one of you would I send back?" I had caught Samuel off guard. He paused to regroup.

"No, I mean - do you want ANOTHER kid?" Obviously, I had misunderstood.

"I'm pretty satisfied with the three of you. Is one of you defective?"

"No not that - ANOTHER." I guessed it was time to move on.

"Oh, you don't mean a DIFFERENT kid, you mean an ADDITIONAL kid?"

"Yeah, another one."

"I think we have enough with three." I found the neckerchief under a beanbag.

"But if Mommy had another kid, would you want it?" Nathan was in the game now.

"Yes, of course I would. But we've had all the kids we need to have."

"But how do you know..."

"It's time for dinner. Wash your hands." After a quick blessing, we got down to the business of refueling. Tonight was fish sticks, biscuits, green beans, and corn on the cob. If not the food pyramid, it was at least the food ziggurat. Nathan couldn't let it go.

"Mommy, do you want another kid?" Kristi nearly choked. Without missing a bite, Sophie beat me to it:

"Trade Nathan!"