Caleb Gets His Dinner. (A Caleb story -as was requested... xoxo) -Enjoy, Ali :)

It's supper time... Mom and Dad decide to take the whole clan to East Side Mario's for a pizza night! Everyone jumps up and down, smiling and singing their way to their seats in the car. Caleb has had an especially nice day as he's just returned from a visit with a friend across the street. Coming home just in time, he joins the crew in the vehicle.

The van pulls up to the restaurant, and after everyone gets in the front door, the waitress leads them to their table. Mom thinks to herself that walking through the restaurant with four kids always feels like a parade, she smiles and nods to onlookers who are busy munching their meals.

The kids are OVER THE MOON with excitement at just being in public. Garrett grins ear to ear (well really that's normal...), Abby has donned 5 layers of lip gloss to look her best and Jack is literally skipping so hard that for a moment Mom wonders if his boots are going to fly off. Caleb (who ADORES eating out) is UNUSUALLY quiet, pensive almost.

They all take their seats in the booth and flip through their menus. As is custom at East Side, soon a fresh loaf of bread arrives accompanied by a big salad. Mom gives each child a portion of salad, while Dad cuts the loaf. Each child gets a little piece of bread that's really no bigger than a cracker wide. Pizza is ordered and on it's way.

The feast is ON!!! Lettuce is devoured like it was candy and bread like it hadn't been available for years. Yes, the feast is on, well for MOST of the clan. Caleb is pushing his food round and around the plate. Mom watches him... wondering...

Dad delivers another morsel of bread to each plate, but when he tries to put it on Caleb's, it is refused. The two parents are shocked! This is AFTER ALL one of their BEST "eaters"! A parental glance of knowing is exchanged and then the two grin.

"Caleb?" Mom asks, "Did they give you snacks when you were visiting across the street earlier tonight?"

His eyes look down at his uneaten food. "Yes" he sighs. It's apparent that something else of the truth is still absent from the conversation... Both parents are openly snickering now though...

"Caleb, did you already eat dinner tonight?!" Really, considering he's eaten a leaf of lettuce and a bite of beautiful bread... the truth has already outed itself.

"Yes, I did" he grins sheepishly. "I'm TOTALLY stuffed!"

The table breaks out in hysterics now... Dad is trying to hold back his laughs on account of being in public, but to no avail! Mom is tearing up she's laughing so hard. People are staring now!

Caleb is clearly NOT impressed that his parents find this amusing... "WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING?! This is NOT funny!!"

"Oh Caleb, we're sorry, but this is EXTREMELY funny!! We can't help it!"

"Am I in trouble?" he asks.

"TROUBLE? Oh no... this is TOO PERFECT! You won't be in any trouble from us! You're learning on your own here why telling Mom and Dad the truth is important!"

The giggles subside a bit when Dad asks Caleb, "Just out of curiosity, what did they serve you across the street?"

Caleb closes his eyes for a moment and like it's a curse, whispers... "pizza... and you KNOW what it does to me... I can't help it... I can't stop eating it... I had three pieces!"

Laughter overtakes his parents again... He's getting his "just desserts" and they haven't even ORDERED it yet!!!

The pizza arrives, the rest of the meal is moments of quiet, fits of laughter and a poor green-faced young man vowing to tell the truth from this dinner forward!