#108 Don't Give Up, Mallory

[ozqueen]

“Here’s my drum.” Claire proudly held up a baby-wipe box with construction paper taped across the top. She thumped on the paper and sang, “Pa-rump-a-pump. Pa-rump-a-pump!”

Nicky’s drum was ten times the size of Claire’s. It was a big box that hung from a belt draped around his neck. “This strap lets me march!” he declared.

Just to prove it, he marched in a circle, beating the box with an old wooden spoon. This was going to be some parade.

“No, that’s not how you do it,” Adam cried as he and the other triplets entered the backyard. They’d been down in the basement, decorating their drums.

Nicky stopped and his shoulders drooped. “What am I doing wrong?”

“You’re not doing anything wrong,” Adam said. “It’s just that we’re supposed to be a band. A band marches together. Margo and Claire, go up there and march with Nicky.”

Margo and Claire followed Adam’s orders and fell in line behind Nicky.

Then Adam turned to Byron and Jordan. “Why don’t you guys lead?”

“Right, Coach!” Byron said with a salute. He trotted in front of Nicky. Jordan was beside him.

“We’ll circle the yard drumming,” Adam explained. “Then, when I blow the whistle, we’ll double time it.”

“Double time?” Nicky asked, wide-eyed.

Adam grinned. “Yeah. That means we march twice as fast as before.”

“Cool!” Margo cried.

Adam took his place at the front of the Pike Family Band. Then he picked up his whistle and blew it three times. “Ready?” he bellowed. “March!”

Omg ♥

BE MORE ADORABLE, WHY DON'T YOU, PIKES? ♥