Risk // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 83: The Countdown

I was counting down the hours until Sebastian got home.

Emma and Archie had just turned four months old and thought Sebastian's first week at Hogwarts was the perfect time to go through a sleep regression and the quiet nights turned into a symphony of baby cries and sleepless hours. Each night, I found myself pacing the nursery, trying to soothe the twins back to sleep. The exhaustion began to weigh on me, and I longed desperately for Sebastian's return.

24 hours

Thursday afternoon dragged. I sat in our small front garden, watching Eloise play on the cobblestone path with some of the other small children in the hamlet. Emma and Archie laid on a blanket next to me, working on trying to roll over and kicking each other in the process.

A few passerby's, who knew us by name now, stopped past and cooed at the twins, complimenting how well behaved and smart Eloise was as she tried to learn how to skip from one of the older girls.

"Thank you. They're pretty good kids..." I forced a weary smile back.

Feel free to come past at 3am and make the same comments...

The sun began to dip behind the horizon, beautiful hues of orange, red and pink being cast across the hamlet. I looked over the shrubbery nearby and caught a glimpse of the castle in the distance, wondering if Sebastian ever looked at Aranshire the same way I looked at Hogwarts.

20 hours

Eloise had a jam sandwich for dinner.

She loved it.

But these twins would not stop screaming. They couldn't be put down.

Eloise finished her jam sandwich and was now trying to help in her own way. She handed me a baby bottle. "Here, Mummy. Archie's bottle."

I couldn't help but smile at her eagerness to assist, even when I told her she didn't have to.

"Thank you, baby girl." I kissed her softly on the head as she settled in to the rocking chair with her arms extended to take a baby to feed.

19 hours

The first moment of solace all day.

Bath time.

As I filled the baby tub with warm water, soft gurgles from Emma and Archie replaced the constant cries that had echoed through the house all day.

"Look, Mummy, I'm a bath helper!" Eloise exclaimed as she collected the towels and placed them next to the bath for me.

I laughed. "You sure are. A fantastic bath helper."

With the twins gently placed in the water, their cries dulled to happy coos. Eloise took her role quite seriously, carefully pouring water over Archie's tiny toes and singing nursery rhymes to Emma.

As I sat on the edge of the tub watching them, I smiled at the resilience of children. Despite the exhaustion, the sleepless nights, and the constant demands, there was a magic in these tiny moments that made it all worthwhile.

The warm water, the soft babble of the twins, and Eloise's infectious laughter temporarily lifted the burden of carrying the whole household myself.

Before the water got too cold, bath time came to an end, I wrapped each baby in a fluffy towel, their faces pink and happy as I dressed them in their pyjamas. Eloise helped me carry them to their cribs, where they would hopefully drift into a peaceful sleep.

And when the twins finally were asleep, I took an hour to just be with Eloise. I felt guilty she felt like she had to help me. I ran us a fresh bath and we jumped in together, simply enjoying our one-on-one time.