LOGIN“Me me me,” he says, hardly able to contain his excitement. “My turn, mama. Please.” And he looks down, again, at his little girl. “Well,” I say, shifting her in my arms and leaning forward so Ian can better see her face. She frowns in her sleep, squirming a little and making me smile. “I was think
Several hours later, I’m changed and curled up more comfortably in my bed with Victor by my side, a baby in each of our arms, and our boys curled up like puppies at the end of the bed. Archie is on the bed too, cuddled between them. We sit quietly together, all still focused on the two little babie
“It’s all right, doctor,” I say, giving her a little smile and nodding towards the boys. “We found them.” “Oh my god,” she says, shaking her head and placing a hand over her heart. Then she frowns at them. “How did they…” “Window,” Victor says, gesturing towards it and sighing. “It’s all right. Th
“Come on, Evelyn,” the doctor says confidently as Victor squeezes my hand, his eyes darting between my face and the first baby, which the doula is now wrapping in her first swaddle. “One more push, and then you’ll be done, and you can hold your little girls.” “Okay,” I huff, sitting up and shifting
Slumped on the couch, Ian heaves a gigantic sigh. “What is taking so long,” he mutters, glaring angrily at the steps as if they’ve personally offended him. “You knew it would take a while,” Bridgette murmurs, running a hand over Ian’s soft brown hair and smiling fondly at her nephew. She sighs and
“Oh my god,” Victor gasps, instantly wide awake. “Oh my god,” he says again, grabbing my face and searching it like it has answers. “Are you – are you okay?” “Yes,” I say, nodding but then belying my answer with an immediate moan. I grit my teeth, my hand going to my stomach as I weather the contra
“That’s enough,” I say, looking confusedly between the two. They never fight. I then lean down to pry Ian’s hand away from his eye, inspecting the damage. No harm done, just irritation. “Alvin, apologize. Ian, accept it. Let’s all move on.”Honestly, I just don’t have the energy to deal with that to
The next morning, Victor and I make short work of packing up the tent. We send the boys off with a little H20 test kit to see if they can find fresh water, and they come back with a couple of bottles full. We quickly set the water to boil over the rekindled fire and then re-bottle it, slipping it in
“But now,” Alvin says, looking at us in disgust. “You guys are like, gross.”“What?” Victor says, baffled and frankly a little offended. “We’re gross?”“Yeah,” Ian says, looking between us with his nose wrinkled. “We didn’t want to tell you, because we didn’t want to hurt your feelings – and because
Alvin folds his hands in his lap, shrugging one shoulder. “Ever since we were very little –““Since we can remember, I guess,” Ian picks up, miming his brother’s action.“We’ve always been able to see the magic. To notice it, when others don’t,” Alvin finishes. Both boys look apologetically Victor a







