Three Peas in a Pod
When Violet first met her brothers, she could have cared less. They were tiny and loud, not what I think she was expecting. She clung to her father as I laid in bed, a baby in each arm; every time he tried to bring her closer she would yell which caused the boys to cry. When it was time for me to feed them again Violet started to get upset. She had always been a daddy's girl, but when she saw me start to breastfeed she got jealous. J put her to bed while I finished with the boys.
They were identical with dark blue eyes and light brown hair that I am positive will turn a dark blonde in a few months. To tell them apart we had put Ace in a onesie with an A on it and Spade in a onesie with an S on it; we ordered all their clothes specifically when we decided on their names. My favorite tattoo on J was the Ace of Spades he had on his neck, the only one on his body you could see through the strait jacket, besides the ones on his face. The only difference between the two boys was the Spade weighed about two pounds more than his older brother.
The first night after they were born was horrible. I was exhausted and sore from giving birth but I was determined to breastfeed both boys without the help of a pump for the first few months, like I did with Violet. Red stayed over to help with Violet but she only wanted J, who didn't want to leave my side. Thankfully both boys latched on with no problem. As I watched them eat, I started to cry, I was just so happy. I had never really thought about having children, and for a while I didn't think it was even possible, but here we were with three perfect devils.
The first two months were harder than I had anticipated. Spade was diagnosed with colic, or acid reflux, about three weeks after he was born. He screamed all day and night and refused to breastfeed. Once he was put on special formula and given medicine, his screaming ceased and he ate happily. Even though I was still able to feed Ace I felt like a failure. My doctor put me on post-partum depression medication which helped greatly. Violet had warmed up to her brothers in this time. She loved showing them all of her toys but they were absolutely not allowed to touch them; she was a tyrant, just like her father. J started going back to the club after the first month, which left me alone with the kids from about ten to three in the morning. He would put Violet to sleep and help me bathe and put down the boys but they were always up a few hours later to eat. I knew he had to go to keep up appearances or people would start to get suspicious. Thankfully J took note of how tired I was and had our doctor move in with us to help. She was a friend of mine from college that had been with us since my very first pregnancy, well before Violet was born. J paid her handsomely to stay with us and since she was a licensed obstetrician with a background in pediatrics, she was incredibly helpful with the kids; it was also nice to have some female company.
Violet did not like all the time I was spending with the babies so she had begun to act out. At first it was just little temper-tantrums that J and I ignored, especially since we were both know to throw our own, but soon she was writing on the walls and breaking expensive jewelry. Every time I would breastfeed Ace Violet would try to climb on my lap and one time when I tried to move her off she retaliated by trying to kick the baby. J had agreed he would never hit our children, but with this incident we had no choice but to spank her. It wasn't hard but it was enough for her to never to it again. Cecelia, our doctor, suggested that I put a few hours aside a day to be alone with Violet and I did just that. I would paint her nails while we watched cartoons or we would work on her numbers.
When the boys started crawling was when Violet really started playing with her brother. She was a genius like her father and learned that if she tied her stuffed monkey to a stick and dragged it around the house, the boys would follow her. Ace got the hang of crawling right away but for Spade it took a bit longer. He crawled backwards for a few weeks until he could figure out how to go forwards. I was worried at first, J thought it was hilarious, but Cece told me it was normal. I was just happy that Violet had finally warmed up to her brothers.