Chapter 79

Chapter 79

Thorn

"We need a plan."

My brother glared at me, then stared down at the babies, his message clear, but he needn't have bothered. I wasn't waking the little sprogs up for anything. This tiny window into Nat's last few months was already scrambling what brains I had, so Kraken 1 and Kraken 2 needed to stay asleep for as long as possible. Both of us backed away from the kids with the kind of care people did dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, grabbing the baby monitor at the door.

"Of course we need a fucking plan," Koda hissed as we went to the stairs and then tip-toed downstairs. "I'm just not sure what to do."

"Hello, darlings." Mum appeared like a patchouli-scented apparition summoned by our words, and when she saw our expressions, she rushed forward, flinging her arms around our necks. "I'm hoping you've developed a newfound respect for twin parenting."

"I am so, so sorry, Mum." The words just came babbling out. "Like for being born, for crying all the time. For shitting my pants at inopportune moments."

"There was that moment at that big party—" Koda said, but I jabbed him in the ribs to shut him up.

"And you know how much I love you." I held her at arm's length, catching her wry smile.

"Because you need my help." She nodded sharply. "Honestly, I've been waiting for the call. C'mon, everyone's waiting."

We walked into the dining room to find Lars snoozing with his head on the table, the rest of the mothers clearing away the tea things. If I thought the cavalry had arrived, I was quickly corrected.

"What the fuck have you lot been doing?" Holly appeared in the kitchen door just in time to punch her finger into my chest.

"Ow! We?—"

"Let Nat get run down, desperate?" She stared at us in disgust, but she didn't get it. Nothing she could say or do would be worse than how I was feeling. Holly's eyes flicked to the ceiling. "The way Lars tells it, she's damn near on the edge."

"And you're going to bring her back from it and not before time." Ingrid always got straight to the point, and she did just that right now. Her hands went to her hips as she regarded the lot of us. "The only thing Natalie must do is feed the children."

"Try telling her that…" I muttered, but that just earned me another dirty look.

"Everything else can be done by the rest of you," she continued.

"By us." Holly shot the room a grim look. "Like me and babies are not a great combination. All that poop and vomit and… urk!" Her hand slapped over her mouth as she gagged, but she seemed to get herself under control. "But those little soul suckers are my bestie's babies. I'm helping out until she gets things under control. Admittedly, I'd prefer to cook meals or vacuum the floor. Hell, I'll clean the bathroom grout with a nail file if it gets me out of shitty nappy duty."

"You don't need to clean our sons' butts," Koda told us. "But yeah, the other stuff? That'd be a big help."

"If Nat will let you." I stared at each member of the group. "Are we all just going to pretend that's not a thing? That everyone wants to help her, but it seems to make her more mad. Even having people in the house will set her teeth on edge when she gets up. It never used to before?—"

"But things have changed." Jane's lips twisted into a faint smile. "Changed so much and so fast Natalie can barely keep up. She's used to being in control and competent, and now she feels anything but and that's terrifying for her. Right when she needs to bring her A game for her children, she's struggling to survive, let alone thrive. Why would she want anyone to see her at her weakest?"

"So that's what it is?" I said in a small voice.

"Of course it fucking is," Koda snapped. "Sometimes I can't believe you're my twin. Mum, you dropped him on his head when he was a baby, right? That's the only explanation."

"Shut up." I shoved his shoulder and he shoved me back until Mum fixed us in her steely gaze. "So what do we do about this? I don't know how to give her back a sense of control."

"You don't." Mum's smile was a well-worn one. "That's part of having children. I couldn't help you find your mate, even after you'd looked for her for years. I couldn't come with you to the work site and make sure you stayed safe. The moment you give birth to a child, you start giving away control and autonomy, but you get back so much more." She moved towards us, reaching up to stroke our faces. "Love, so much love. That's what Natalie needs to see, feel right now. To choose love, not the illusion of having it all together."

"Love…" I nodded, warming to the idea by the second. Because while the way I felt for my mate hadn't wavered for a second, that didn't mean she didn't need some sort of reminder. "Fuck yeah, I wooed the shit out of my mate the first time. I can do it again."

"Yeah, you will." Holly pointed one of those really pokey fingers at me again. "Or we're going to have words."

"Oi, dickhead." Lars' head shot up off the table and he blinked while I sat down. "We're sorting things out for Nat."

"Already got a plan." His stubble rasped as he rubbed his chin. "Talked to the mums, worked it out."

"Well, then fill us in then."