Chapter 54

“This is supposed to be the easy part,” Emma muttered at 3 AM, bouncing a crying Frankie while Alek changed Charlotte’s diaper across the nursery.

“Easy according to whom?” Alek asked, his voice rough with exhaustion. “Because whoever told you that lied.”

Three weeks back from Seattle, they’d finally moved both babies home full-time, ending the hospital nursery rotations that had sustained them through the early adjustment period. The reality of caring for two infants—one month apart in age—was proving more challenging than either had anticipated.

“Charlotte’s been fed and changed,” Alek reported, lifting the now-content four-and-a-half-month-old. “Why is she awake?”

“Because Frankie woke her up,” Emma replied, still swaying with their son. “And he’s awake because... I have no idea. Fed, changed, burped. Maybe he just wanted company.”

They’d established a system of sorts—taking turns with night feedings, rotating who handled which baby, trying to mainta