Carolina Wren

Chapter 48

Wren's POV

Good intentions had me expecting that I would spend the kids' naptime cleaning up the living room and finishing up toddler proofing the house. That's how I usually spend those moments when they're asleep: doing homework, cleaning, preparing for the next wave of messes to begin. Keeping Nathan's house under some semblance of order seemed like the least I could do since we'd taken over it with next to no warning. Luke, however, insisted that we needed to sit down and work on the grocery list. I should have been suspicious, since it would have been easier to just change the address and use the order history from Sean's account, but I went along with it.

Next thing I knew, I was waking up wrapped in a blanket that smelled like Nathan on the couch with only the faintest recollection of giving Luke some ideas for dinners over the next few days. I could hear Juni crying, so I blearily sat up, rubbing my eyes as I looked around for the time. Once I catch sight of the clock on the wall, I throw the blanket off, clarity coming back like a wrecking ball.

Before I could sit up all the way, Nathan leaned around the corner and gave me an apologetic smile as he rubbed at the back of his head. "Hey, we weren't sure if you wanted us to take care of her or if you'd want to handle it."

"I've got her," I replied as I moved towards the hall. "Why did you guys let me sleep for an hour and a half?"

Nathan shrugged. "You had a rough night. The kids were all still asleep until a minute ago, so we just let you sleep." I didn't believe for a moment that this hadn't been part of their plan. They decided I needed a nap, so they figured out how to make it happen. Juni's cries morphed into whimpers the moment I pushed open the door to the bedroom. "Come here, sweet girl," I cooed, scooping her into my arms and kissing her cheeks as she calmed down. "We're going shopping again today and I'm leaving you in charge of keeping Gabe under control, okay?"

She just blinked at me and clenched her fists before curling into my shoulder.

"Okay, good talk."

Getting ready to take kids anywhere is nothing short of a nightmare and from the moment Juni woke up, I was working on getting everything set to go. They needed snacks and Juni needed a bottle, but Keegan was still groggy and wanted to be held. Luke tried to take him, but he just really wanted sissy. Diapers had to be changed and then changed again. I had to play 20 questions with Dylan over my hair being different.

By the time Victor got there, I was just about ready to tell Gabe that he'd need to figure something else out because I just couldn't imagine trying to drag three grumpy, groggy, clingy kids through the mall. They need clothes, though, and I'm a little scared of what he'll bring back if I'm not there to remind him that kids stain things and need room to move around.

Snacks seemed to help with the grumpy and groggy parts, at least. Trying to fight the babies into their car seats was a battle finally won by Luke reaching over the backseat to tickle Keegan's tummy, tricking him into actually folding long enough that I could get his butt in the seat and the straps fastened.

When I stepped back out into the garage and shut the door of the SUV, muffling the sounds of Keegan pitching a fit, Victor gave me an apologetic look. "I know this isn't your idea of a good time," he muttered as Gabe climbed into the passenger seat of the BMW. Nate was already in the driver's seat for the SUV with the engine running so the A/C was blasting. "I want to warn you before we get there that I can't hold onto any of the kids."

Not that I'd expect any of them to, but an explanation would be nice. When I said as much, he grimaced and blushed. "It's not that I don't want to help, I do. Last time wasn't so bad, but we had an extra person and one of them wasn't terrified-of-babies Nathan. But if I'm caught in public holding onto them, it would bring way too much attention to you. Their pictures could end up online and people will start speculating about their relationship to me."