Page 66 of Briggs
“Thank you,” I told him. I cradled Willow in my arm, and with the other, I rubbed the nipple on her lips. She instinctively opened, and after another few seconds, she thankfully stopped crying.
Todd was now kneeling on the bed on the other side of the change pad, undoing Wrenley’s blanket. “Briggs?” he said quietly. I leaned down and kissed the top of his head, trying to not stress out too much about everything.
“Something woke me,” I told him. “When I rolled your way, you were in your cheetah form. The twins were starting to make noise, so I ran downstairs to make bottles. By the time I came back, they were crying, and John was awake. You were still in your cheetah form, just staring at them.”
“I’m sorry,” Todd said. I could hear the emotion in his voice and knew he was going to be crying before he could get situated enough to feed Wrenley.
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I told him. He had Wrenley changed in no time, and that alone seemed to quiet her some.
“If you want to go to the bathroom, I’ll watch her,” I said. “Or do you need help?”
Todd moved to the side of the bed, and with a bit of hesitation, he slid from the bed and stood without so much as a wobble. You’d never know he’d just given birth a few hours ago if not for the newborns in the room and the fact that he still had a bit of a stomach. I knew that would most likely be completely gone within a few days, but it didn’t bother me one bit.
I placed Willow on the bed beside her twin, and with John’s help, I was able to get Wrenley drinking as well. It wasn’t ideal, but there weren’t too many other options. We would have to work on our system, but for now, for this very first feeding, I’d say that things were going okay.
“I’ll take the diapers to the hall bathroom and put them in the pail,” John said.
“We moved it into ours,” I told him. “We didn’t think we’d be using the nursery for a few weeks, and it just made more sense to move the diaper pail into ours instead of the one in the hallway.” I’d been incredibly surprised when Master Edison had added a private bathroom to John’s room. John certainly hadn’t complained about the prospect of sharing his bathroom with the twins, but he also hadn’t said anything negative about having an en suite in his bedroom either.
“Oh. Well, I’ll just roll them up and wait.”
“Thanks,” I told him. Both girls were quiet and hungrily sucking on their bottles. Todd came back, now wearing a pair of pajama bottoms. I wasn’t sure where they’d come from, but obviously, they had been in the bathroom.
“Did you not need help?” Todd asked. He was looking at me where I was holding a bottle in each hand. It wasn’t ideal, but it was what I could do.
“Well, I’d love for you to take one and feed her. These are their first bottles and diaper changes. There are going to be lotsof firsts, obviously, but she was hungry, so I went this route instead of making her wait. But I would think you very much wanted to be in on all of this with the way you were talking leading up to their births.”
“Yes,” Todd said. He was now standing beside me, and when he reached for Willow, I stopped him.
“Go sit on the bed and get comfortable. I’ll bring her to you,” I said with a smile on my face. Todd looked at me like he wanted to say something, so I just leaned in and kissed him on the forehead quickly. “It’s all right. Once you’re situated, I’ll bring her to you.”
Todd hurried to the bed, and after moving the pillows, he climbed on and sat and waited. I was about to pull the bottle from Wrenley’s mouth when John was suddenly there. “I’ll hold it while you take her to him.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. John took over holding Wrenley’s bottle while I carefully picked up Willow and took her to Todd.
“Which one is this?” he asked. “You didn’t put them back in anything color coded.”
“I haven’t had a whole lot of time,” I said. “This is Willow. I noticed there were anklets on them when I was changing them. I’m thinking it was Dr. King’s doing.” I watched as Todd found the little bracelet on Willow’s ankle and smiled.
“That was so sweet of him. I always thought he couldn’t stand me and I was just an irritation that caused him more work, but he couldn’t get rid of me because the council wouldn’t let him,” Todd said absently.
I reached out and touched Willow’s head before I went back and rescued John. I really liked the young alpha, but he looked like he was overwhelmed a bit. “Thanks, John,” I whispered.
“I don’t think I’m ready to feed them or anything. What if one of them chokes or something? I wouldn’t know what to do.”
I continued to smile. “It’s all right. I appreciate all of the help you’ve given me this morning. Did you want to go back to sleep? It’s still incredibly early.”
John glanced over at Todd, who was talking quietly to Willow. “I think that might be best. Can I see them again later?”
“Why couldn’t you?” I asked as I picked up Wrenley.
“Okay, then. I’ll try to go back to sleep,” John said. He left without another sound, and I managed to think to grab a pair of burp cloths before I joined Todd on the bed.
“I wish I was that graceful,” Todd said as I joined him.
“What do you mean? You’re graceful.”
Todd sighed and leaned his head back against the headboard before he looked my way. “I feel like there’s a medium-sized rock in my stomach still. I can walk, but I thought I’d not feel pregnant anymore. I guess I was wrong.”
