“Jace has an ear infection,” he says. “Peyton’s in there with him.” He motions toward their SUV. “We’re taking him to Nick.”
Juniper reaches for me and my heart does a double take. I didn’t expect her to remember me because I haven’t seen her in months. Her little fists grab at my shirt, fingers twisting the fabric near my collar. She smells like baby soap and cereal, and it looks like she’s wearing more than she ate.
“Why isn’t Nick coming over to the house?”
“He has rounds today and wouldn’t be able to get to us until later. We don’t want to wait because Jace is pretty uncomfortable.” Noah sets Maverick down on the living room rug. Maverick looks at me, looks at the room, and crawls toward the basket of toys Josie keeps in the corner.
“Where’s Mom?”
“Mani-pedis with your sister.”
Noah looks at me for a moment with contemplation in his features.
“I can take care of them,” I say, readjusting Juniper. “How hard can it be?”
Noah laughs and sets down the diaper bag. “Peyton says we’ll be back before lunch. They’ve had breakfast and Mom keeps all their snacks in the pantry. There are bottles in the diaper bag but if you want to put them in the refrigerator that would be great. They’re teething and watch Mav. He puts everything in his mouth. Don’t let him near the dog food.”
I look toward the yard to see if Stevie Nicks is sitting outside, waiting patiently to come in. “We don’t have a dog.”
“Then you’re already ahead.” He pauses his hand on the doorknob. “If they’re too much, call Talisa.”
“We’ll be fine. Won’t we, Junie?”
“Pfft. Pfft. Pfft.” A line of drool drips down her chin.
Noah sighs, opens the door, and then jogs toward the SUV. Peyton’s arm waves out the window. I glance into the livingroom to check on Maverick. He’s inside the toy box, throwing toys over the side. With a slight shake of my head, I grab Juniper’s arm and we wave at her parents as they back out.
“Let’s hope that whatever Jace has, it doesn’t spread,” I say to Junie even though she has no idea what I’m talking about.
I sit on the floor, near Maverick, and keep Juniper in my lap. I hand her one of their many toys, but she doesn’t want that. She turns in my lap and uses me to stand. Juniper starts bouncing, babbling about her day. I take my phone out to start recording and she sits.
“What the heck, Junie?”
She babbles more.
“Do you want to call gramps?”
Maverick looks at me and shows me his bottom teeth.
“All right, I’ll take that as a yes.”
Noah and Peyton were good about calling us on video. We know it’s not the same but seeing them every day was a treat. They grow so fast, and I already missed Noah when he was a baby. I really don’t want to miss the triplets, which is another reason to stay home and not do a legacy tour.
I press Harrison’s name and Maverick crawls toward me. These babies know what the sound means. Harrison picks up on the first ring. His face fills the screen, and behind him I can see the far wall of his kitchen in California. He’s wearing a white T-shirt that shows every tattoo on his arms, his hair pushed back and standing at odd angles.
“Christ,” he says. “You look domesticated.”
“Shut up.”
“There’s my Junie.” Harrison leans closer to the screen. “Turn her around, let me see her face. Is she getting bigger? She looks bigger. Katelyn’s going to lose her mind when she sees her.”
Juniper lunges for the screen. Her palm smears across Harrison’s face. He laughs, and behind him I hear the crash of metal hitting a tile floor.
“Oliver James, put the spatula down!” Katelyn’s voice carries from off-screen. A second crash follows, smaller. “Both of them, Oliver!”
Harrison glances over his shoulder. “He knows how to get past the baby latches.”
“So much for baby proofing.”
