Hollywood Journey

Helpful Brother

"Zany I know you love your sisters, but it's night time. We have to let them sleep." I gently pick him up from where he's sitting in the girls room watching them sleep.

"You can play with them all day tomorrow when you're all awake again."

"They so cute." He smiles, leaning his head on my shoulder. I rub his back, trying to get him calmed down for sleep as well, since he's the only one still awake.

"I love you, baby." I lean down to kiss him as he cuddles up to his blanket, closing his eyes.

His little eyes slowly open back up, toying with mine for what feels like forever before he jolts up, staring at me. He extends his arms for a hug, so I hold him, hoping this helps him finally relax long enough to get tired.

Once I feel his grip getting weaker, I lay him back down, tucking him back into bed, making sure his stuffed puppy is laying next to him.

He sucks his thumb for a little before finally falling asleep for good, letting me know it's finally bed time.

I crawl into bed next to Brad, who is reading some random parenting book, turning my light off to finally get a good night's sleep since Jane and Willow volunteered to take care of nightly feedings and changing for us.

Just as I'm about to finally fall asleep, our door creeps open, revealing a wide awake Zane, staring at us with his blanket and puppy stuffed animal.

"Go to sleep, I got this." Brad gets out of bed, picking him up. I wait until they're finally gone to close my eyes, knowing I'll be out any second from pure exhaustion.

Jane's POV:

"Hi baby," I scoop up Janelle from her crib, carrying her over to the rocker with a bottle "You slept so long. You must be starving."

I watch her eat as she cuddles up to me, trying to help hold the bottle at such a young age, wanting her and Brooklyn to stay this little and adorable forever.

As I put her back in her crib once she's done eating, I hear some squeaking noises coming from Brook's crib and go to check on her, only to find a huge surprise.

Nolan is laying next to her quietly, unaware that I'm around, with his shirt off and bare chest near her mouth, expecting her to start breastfeeding like she does with Jen. She has a huge smile on her face, gripping onto his fingers with her tiny hand, swinging her arms around.

I practically run out, needing to wake Jen to see this adorableness before it ends, quietly waking her, explaining that I have a surprise.

"Jane, I love you but this better be a good surprise if you woke me."

"Shhh," I lead her to the girls room, opening the door quietly "Look in Brook's crib."

She looks a little worried as she walks over, but quickly cups her hands over her mouth in shock as she watches Nolan.

"Oh my gosh," she turns towards me, trying not to laugh "He was asking me if he could help feed them, I didn't think this is what he meant."

"He really want to help you."

She quickly takes a picture of them before reaching in to take Brook out and feed her, much to Nolan's dismay.

"Mommy I feed her!" He points to himself, standing in the crib. She just laughs, not knowing what to say as he crosses his little arms around his chest, letting us know he's serious.

"Nols lets get you out of the crib," I grab him before he gets too mad, sitting next to Jen as he turns his head away, obviously still mad at her "Buddy you can't feed the babies that way like mommy does, but you can feed them with a bottle like the rest of us."

"But why?"

Before I get a chance to answer, Jen is pulling him onto her lap to talk.

"Because mommy's have special milk in their bodies for their babies. The babies can smell it, too. That's why when daddy holds them they always reach for me if they're hungry."

"But I have nipples!"

"I know you do, but yours aren't the same. Mine have special things in them for the milk."

She hands him over once he starts crying, placing Brook back in her crib and leading us out of the room so he doesn't wake them.

"You can still feed them with bottles, they'll love that." Jen rubs his back as he reaches over for her, now in a full blown meltdown, flying his arms and legs around "Hey look at me,"

She sets him on the floor, leaning down to his level to get his attention as he continues to cry.

"Do you want to sleep with me and daddy? Since you haven't been able to since we brought them home?"

"I wanna feed themmmmm." He drags out his words between sobs to be extra dramatic "Mooooommy!"

"Baby I know you want to, and you can when they're hungry, with a bottle. But they're sleeping right now. We can't wake them."

"Tomorrow?"

"Of course. You can feed them breakfast if you're good."

He perks up a little, reaching out to hug Jen as I watch, amazed that she made it out of the room before the meltdown escalated and we ended up with 3 crying children.

I go back to bed, leaving them to do whatever while I get some sleep before I'm woken up again.

Jen's POV:

"Lay quietly, okay? We can't wake daddy. He's tired."

"Mommy?" He dries off his tears as he gets comfortable, "I feed them lots?"

"You can feed them until their bellies are full."

"Can Zany help?"

"Of course, if he wants to."

"Okay."

"I love you, baby."

"I love you more mommy."

I wrap my arm around his tiny, squirming body, kissing his forehead as we both drift off into a deep sleep.