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A sudden squeal came from the direction of her room. They all froze.
“Well. That’s early, but hopefully if we feed and change her now, she’ll sleep for a few hours yet.” Kier took off to go get Onyx from her bassinet.
Misty fumbled a few pieces awkwardly. “Did I wake her up? Was I too loud? I’m sorry I got excited.”
“No way.” Taylee put her hand on Misty’s tiny shoulder. “Don’t ever apologize for being too excited. I love seeing you happy and eager to learn new things. It brings so much joy to all of us. Babies just wake up. They get hungry. Cold. Lonely. They need a change. Sometimes it just goes like this. I can move her with me if she’s waking up too much. You have school tomorrow.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Can I help feed her?”
“Sure. If you want to sit down on the couch, I’ll make her bottle.”
They left the puzzle and Taylee worked at mixing up a bottle. When Kier came back out with a sleepy Onyx in his arms, she blinked at the bright light, but she wasn’t fussy. She even gave them all a small smile, like she knew she wasn’t supposed to be awake at this time and she was milking it for all it was worth, having a great time keeping them all guessing.
Kier brought her into the living room and started doing swingy acrobatics with her. He raised Onyx above his head and lowered her, kissing her on each cheek. She kicked her legs and flailed her arms, reaching for him. He let her grasp his nose before raising her again, tickling her sides.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get her settled back down if she’s practicing her flips and flying all night,” Taylee complained, but she didn’t really mean it and they all knew it.
Kier grinned and set the baby in Misty’s arms. She kissed her cheeks, and then played a game of peek-a-boo with her until her bottle finished heating up.
Kier passed over the flannel receiving blanket he had on his shoulder. They tucked it under Onyx’s chin to catch any drips.
They both watched as Misty carefully helped, holding Onyx up just right so she could latch onto the bottle and guzzle down the formula. After, she even lifted her to her shoulder and patted her back until she got one heck of a burp out of her.
“That was well brought up,” Kier chuckled, using the old line.
Wait. The old line?How did she know that? It was another frustrating thing to add to the list of strange and bizarre things that had stuck with her, but by now, it was less frustrating and more just another thing to note.
He stood and stretched, patting Misty on the shoulder as he walked by. “I’ll get that bedtime snack ready and then you can brush your teeth and get into your pajamas.”
She sat with Misty while Kier did the cooking. The smell of toasting bread was divine, and by the time it was ready, they were all practically salivating. He took Onyx from Misty and started rocking her, patting her bottom and back softly to help her settle down. Surprisingly, as they ate, she settled pretty much right away.
“I’ll go put her back down,” Kier whispered. “I think she’s out.”
Misty stood up and looked over his shoulder, where Onyx’s tiny face was sticking out. “You’re right! She’s fast asleep.”
Once they were done, Taylee went to the bathroom with Misty. After forgetting her toothbrush the first time, the second time she came, there was one in a package waiting for her. It stayed there now. She picked up Misty’s hairbrush, sparkly with bright pink bristles, and combed through her hair. She was gentle, starting at the ends, holding up top as she worked her way through. Misty’s hair was thick and lovely, but it was just about always snarled up at the end of the day. It took Taylee a good five minutes, but when she was done, Misty’s hair gleamed.
“Thank you,” Misty said, eyes wide. “Not many people have done that for me.”
That was a lance through Taylee’s heart. Everything she did for Misty, the little girl was so thankful for it. “No problem, sweetheart. I loved that. Maybe tomorrow we can practice doing a braid before you go to school?”
“You know how to braid hair?” Misty nearly leapt up and down on the spot.
“I… Yes. I do.”
Another bit for the list. She justknewshe could do it.
“Yay!” Toothpaste nearly flung all over the bathroom as Misty tried to apply it to her toothbrush in her excitement.
Taylee laughed. She loaded up her own toothbrush and they brushed together, rinsed, and spat.
They were quiet going into Misty’s bedroom. The little girl tiptoed in. Onyx was fast asleep in her bassinet, her lips pursed, little hands tucked up beside her angel face. Her onesie was yellow tonight, with little fuzzy ducks on the chest and fuzzier ducks for the feet.
Kier and Taylee both left for a few minutes to give Misty time to get into her pajamas. She opened the door when she was ready to be tucked in. They sat on either side of her bed. Kier smoothed the blankets down and Taylee leaned in and kissed Misty’s forehead.
“Good night, sweetheart. Have a wonderful sleep. And if Onyx is ever disturbing you and you want her to sleep with us, you just let us know.”
“Okay.” Misty yawned. “Can we finish the puzzle before I go to school?”
