Phoebe's POV
I wake up in the hotel room to the sound of the shower water running. I don't want to get up, but I know I can't stay in bed all day. I need to get up and get myself ready so that I can go with Trevor to his soccer tournament. I still cannot believe he showed up at my competition yesterday. I had already prepared myself for him not being there. I was originally disappointed because I really wanted him to be there for my first solo, but I accepted it because I understood that he would have been there if he didn't have the soccer tournament. He told me last night that there was a possibility that he would be able to get away in time to see me perform, but he kept that from me. He didn't want to get my hopes up in case his second game ran late. I'm glad he kept that from me. The thrill of seeing him there yesterday is just indescribable.
I lean up and watch him walk out of the bathroom. He is wearing a towel around his waist and using a smaller towel to dry his face. There are droplets of water dripping down his back. I so want to climb out of bed and help him towel off, but I resist the urge. I'm not sure if he even wants me to do that, but watching him walk around like that just does things to me. I want him. I really do want him. Oh no. He catches me staring.
"See something you like?"
I clear my throat and look away from him instantly. I'm so embarrassed. "Um, how's the shower?" I manage to ask him.
"It's good. I saved some hot water for you. Why don't you give it a whirl while I get us some breakfast?"
I nod my head and climb out of bed. I still feel embarrassed for staring at him. I spent weeks waking up next to him while we were on the road trip and never had a moment like this one. Why do I feel so uneasy? I quickly gather my things and head into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.
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Christian's POV
It feels good to be home. I'm glad that Ana and I didn't make any plans for today, especially since Natalie isn't well. I'm very much looking forward to just laying around the house and spending time with my girls. I carry Natalie into the house while Ana follows. Barlow carries our bags in and takes them upstairs.
"Ana, why don't you head into the main room and put your feet up? I'll take her up and change her." Natalie starts to whimper at the mention of being changed. Poor baby. I rub her back and try to soothe her. "It's okay, Baby."
"I'll come up with you. You might need my help."
I really hate it when she defies me, but I manage to show great patience. "I'll be fine. I need you to take care of yourself. Feet up, now" I order but with a gentle tone. She smirks at me but doesn't argue. She turns and wobbles into the main room.
I take Natalie upstairs and she cries when I set her down on her bed. I know she doesn't want to be changed, but I need to get her cleaned since she still has the diarrhea. I sit on the bed and rub my hand through her hair and the other up and down her side in an effort to soothe her. She manages to stop crying when I give her one of her dolls to hold onto. While she's distracted, I go into her bathroom for some cotton and water. Thankfully we do keep cotton in her bathroom. When I return she is talking to her doll. She is so cute.
I am careful when I remove her diaper, but she notices and immediately gets upset again. I gently shush her and go about gently cleaning her with the wet cotton. This is so disgusting but it's the only way to get her clean without irritating her skin. Her bottom is so red. I don't remember any of our kids having a rash like this. Once she is clean I pick her up and hold her to my chest for a bit, shushing her and telling her she did such a great job. Once she is calm I lay her down again and show her the small container of Vaseline. The cream and powder are just not going to cut it. I let her stick her finger in the Vaseline so that she can see what it is. While she's distracted again I gently rub it all over.
I can't bring myself to put a diaper on her, so instead I wrap one of her blankets around her waist and carry her downstairs. She is just going to be sitting on the sofa with Ana and me so she should be fine. I walk into the main room and Ana looks at me questionably when she sees the blanket. "Is she alright?"
I gently put Natalie next to Ana and she leans into her side. She moves around until she is comfortable. "I didn't put a diaper on her. Think she'll be okay like this for a little while?"
"Let's put another blanket underneath of her just in case." I find another blanket and get Natalie sorted again next to Ana.
"How's that Baby?" I ask her, and she nods. "Good?" She nods again. I kiss her little forehead and leave my girls to go in search for Penny. She usually prepares our lunches and dinners on the weekends while Gail has some time off.
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Phoebe's POV
Trevor and I are sitting in our hotel room having a late breakfast. He doesn't have to be at the field for hour and thirty minutes so we have some time. He told me that he was up early and went for a run while I was sleeping. I didn't even hear him get up.
I'm feeling a little better after having a shower and putting some clothes on. Trevor has also covered up. He's looking mighty fine in his soccer uniform, although I have to admit that seeing him in nothing but a towel was doing things to me. I would only admit that in my subconscious of course. I don't know why these feelings are surfacing now. Where were they months ago when we were on the road trip?
"This weekend worked out pretty good?" he says. We've been eating in silence until now.
"Yes it has. I cannot believe you made it to my competition."
He smiles that sexy smile of his. "Was that a good surprise?"
"Was it ever? Trevor you really are an amazing boyfriend. I hope you know how much I appreciate you."
"I know." He leans across the table and kisses me. "Just the look on your face yesterday said it all for me."
I can't help but smile at my boyfriend. How did I get so lucky? He is so kind, so patient, so sweet and thoughtful. I hope that I can surprise him too. That's what I want to do. I want to surprise him. I think it's time I had that talk with Ava.
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Christian's POV
After Ana and I have some lunch, we manage to get Natalie to drink some of the pedialyte that Elliot and Kate had sent home with her. She drinks about half of one and then falls asleep. We leave her sleep on the sofa as Ana and I look through some containers of Christmas stuff. It's that time of year already. We had decided to start getting the decorations out early this year since Ana is very pregnant and could have the babies in December. Taylor usually rounds up the staff to decorate our home, but Ana and I still like to look through everything first, especially the pictures. We display some of the pictures around the house during the holidays. It's fun to look back and remember our kids as babies, as young children, as teenagers, and now we get to do that with Natalie and the twins after they are born.
Ana picks up a picture of Teddy from when he was just under five months old. It was his first picture with Santa. He didn't cry, but he made a funny face. His eyes were wide and he was looking directly at the photographer. I pick up a picture that was taken professionally at our house when Teddy was three and Phoebe was thirteen months old. Phoebe has a big open mouthed smile and Teddy is sitting next to her handing her a small Christmas wrapped box. I know that the photographer had set them up for this pose, but this picture speaks true of how Teddy was with Phoebe. He was always so thoughtful of her and always looked out for her. He still does even though he is on the other side of the country.
"Look at this one" Ana says as she hands a picture to me. It is of me, Ana and the kids with Santa. That's right. Ana and I did get in a picture with our kids with Santa one year. I remember it well. Teddy is sitting on Santa's knee and Ana is standing next to him on his right. I'm sitting on a bench on Santa's left and I have Phoebe in my lap. She was five and Teddy was seven. Three of us are smiling, but Phoebe is frowning.
"Yeah, I remember this."
Ana and I are at a mall about an hour outside of Seattle. We had decided when Teddy was a baby that we would take our kids to see Santa at a mall that wasn't close to home so that we could avoid the press. So far it has worked well for us. This is the ninth year we are doing this and our security has been able keep the press at bay. We take a few guards with us to surround the area when our kids meet with Santa so that the only good pictures that could be taken are the ones taken by the photographer, me and Ana.
When it's our turn, Teddy is bouncing up and down. He is so excited to see Santa and tell him what is on his Christmas list. Phoebe, on the other hand, is reluctant. We have to push her to follow her brother and sit with Santa. Teddy walks right up to the jolly old man and sits on his lap, but Phoebe stops and stands a few feet away from him. Ana gently pushes her again and manages to get her to sit on Santa's lap. We take a few pictures as Teddy talks to Santa and Phoebe just listens. She has a sad expression on her face. She was afraid of Santa when she was a baby, but I thought she had gotten over that.
When Santa manages to get a word in, he turns his attention to Phoebe and starts to talk with her. When he asks her if she's been a good girl, she starts to cry. He isn't able to get her to calm, so I step up and squat down a few feet in front of Santa. She climbs off of his lap and walks into my arms. I'm not sure why she's so upset. She did really well the past two years we brought her.
"Phoebe, Baby, what's wrong?" I ask her softly. She just shakes her head. She doesn't want to tell me. "Are you afraid of Santa?" She shakes her head no and buries her face in my neck again. I allow the photographer to just take the picture of Teddy for now. Perhaps we can take a break and try again later.
We walk around the mall for a bit and Phoebe does manage to calm down. But she won't tell us why she got so upset. Regardless, Ana and I explain to her that we'd still like a picture with her, Teddy and Santa because we want to have one taken every Christmas. She doesn't want to do it, so Ana suggests that we get in the picture too. I'd rather just have my kids in the picture, but we ultimately decide to go along with Ana's idea.
When we arrive back at Santa's Toyland, we only need to stand in line for a few minutes. There are a few people trying to take our picture, but my security is doing a great job of blocking them. Once it is our turn, Phoebe turns to me and insists that I pick her up. I do as she asks because I don't want her to get upset again. I try to get her to sit on Santa's lap, but she's just not having it. I settle for having her sit on my lap next to Santa and the photographer snaps away.
It is late when we arrive home, so it's right to bed for both kids. Phoebe wants me to tuck her in, so Ana takes Teddy to his room and reads one of his Christmas books with him. Once Phoebe is in her pajamas she picks out a book for me to read to her. She just recently started learning how to read, but at bedtime Ana and I still do all of the reading for her. Before I read to her, I am able to talk with her about why she was so upset at the mall. Her answer is just heartbreaking.
I stare at the picture for a few minutes and then look over at Ana. The look on her face tells me that she is remembering too. "She didn't think Santa was going to bring her any presents because she wasn't a good girl that year. I hate that she thought that for even a second."
"I know. Our kids made mistakes here and there, but they never deserved to even think that that would happen." Ana looks at a few more pictures while my focus stays on the one in my hands.
"She didn't believe me when I told her that Santa would bring her presents."
Ana looks over at me again. "What happened that year to make her think that she wasn't good?"
I can't help but snort. How could she forget? "The television?" I see the light bulb moment in her eyes. Yeah, that day was pretty bad.
I cannot believe my kids broke the television. I am furious and just fucking grateful that it didn't fall on top of them. I haven't been able to sit down since leaving their bedrooms. I hate having to punish Teddy and Phoebe. I've always believed that spanking them is most effective if they've done something dangerous or just completely out of line of the rules that Ana and I have set for them. Yes it is effective, but it causes me so much anxiety since I know they are upstairs crying and hating me at the moment for making their backsides sting. I told them to stay in their rooms since they need to calm down on their own and they need to think about what they've done. I gave them both a chance to explain while the four of us were in this room with the broken flat screen lying on the floor. Neither of my kids could provide an explanation, so Ana and I agreed that we needed to punish both of them.
Ana doesn't like when the kids have to be punished either. She has a hard time with it. She would never spank them, so that task always lies on me. She's usually the good cop while I have to be bad cop. But we've always kept a united front. If we disagree on something, we make sure not to do it in front of the kids. We also make a point to talk with them together whenever we can. It is very important to us that our kids find us both approachable, not just Ana. She and I have been in the main room for the past half hour cleaning up the mess since we don't use a house keeper most weekends. This is one of the weekends that Gail and Taylor are off doing something together.
Ana leaves the room for a few minutes, and when she returns I look in her direction and am immediately annoyed. She walks into the room with her hand on our seven year old son's shoulder. "Theodore, why are you out of your room?" I ask sternly. He flinches and it is clear that he could just start crying at any moment. Ana remains calm and glares at me. Is she undermining me? So much for a united front.
"Can I talk to you?" he asks me. He is trying to be brave. In light of today's events I actually admire that right now.
I do my best to sound less stern but my CEO voice is not far away. "Come over here" I say to him and sit on the sofa. I have him stand in between my legs and I hold his arms. No turning back now, Son. "What is it that you'd like to say?" I ask him. Ana sits down next to me and keeps her hands folded in her lap.
"It was my fault. I'm sorry Daddy." He doesn't look at me. He looks down at my legs instead. His voice is trembling and he sniffles. This is hard, but I need him to learn to admit his mistakes and face them. I can't coddle him right now. I know this is difficult for Ana as well. She'd like nothing more than to just hold him in her arms and dry his tears. I decide that I need to push him.
"Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"
He still doesn't look at me. He squeezes his eyes shut and I can tell he is trying not to cry. "Because I didn't want you to spank me."
"I see. And how did that work out for you?"
"Not so good." He brings his hand up and wipes some tears away from his eyes.
"Not so good" I repeat him softly. I leave go of his arms, wrap my hands around his waist and lift him to sit on the coffee table. I move forward and sit on the edge of the sofa so that my knees are touching the coffee table.
"Tell me what happened." I manage to make my voice softer. He responds by looking at me for a moment.
"It was Phoebe's turn to watch one of her shows. She wanted to watch 'My Little Pony'."
I have to suppress the smile that threatens because I know that Phoebe loves that show. I know it must be torture for Teddy to have to watch it with her when it is her turn, but rules are rules. "And did you let her?"
Teddy sighs. "Yes. But she wanted to watch the same episode that she's seen over and over again. I tried to show her how to access the menu on demand and arrow down to the other episodes, but she wouldn't let me."
"Did you have the remote?"
"Yes, I was trying to help her, Dad."
I nod and think about what he had just told me. I can imagine my son holding the remote control in the air where Phoebe cannot reach it and trying to show her something, but Phoebe is stubborn. Teddy often tries to show her things and teach her things but she is not always receptive. She gets upset and cries until Ana and I acknowledge what is going on between them and intervene. "What happened next?"
Teddy looks down and I can tell we've gotten to the worst part. "Phoebe got upset, so she stomped over to the TV and tried to hit the power button. We're not supposed to touch the TV so I tried to stop her. And the TV fell."
I nod again and can feel Ana's hand on my back. I turn my head to look at her. She gives me a sympathetic smile and rubs her hand up and down my back. "I'm going to get some water for you, Teddy. Christian, do you want anything?"
"No, Baby I'm good." She walks away to get our son some water. I look at him again and he is looking at anything but me. "Do you understand that you and Phoebe could have been hurt, had that television fallen on top of you?"
"Yes"
"What would have been a better way to handle it?"
Ana returns and gives our son a glass of water before he responds. He takes a few nervous sips and then sighs. Ana reclaims her spot on the sofa next to me. "Son?" I ask him again.
"Let her do what she wants, I guess." He shrugs his shoulders. He looks defeated and disappointed. Teddy is so smart and knows so much at such a young age, and he tries to instill some of that knowledge into his younger sister. But she isn't as analytical as Teddy. We can tell Phoebe that the sky is blue and she'd be just fine with that, but not Teddy. He'd argue that he sky has many other colors at different times of the day. Phoebe often just doesn't want to hear what Teddy has to say and she even tries to tune him out by singing or talking over him. Ana and I have tried to get her to stop since we know that it hurts Teddy's feelings. She's been made to sit in time out several times because of it. We don't want her to be rude.
Ana puts her hand on my leg and cuts in. "I know you want to help your sister and teach her things. She might not appreciate that right now since she's so young, but that will change as she gets older."
"You can always talk to us, you know? Mom and I are always interested in the things that you have to say. You can teach us a few things too."
My son seems surprised by this. He manages a small smile and sips his water again. After he puts it down on the coaster I open my arms to him. He is hesitant, but he eventually stands and allows me to embrace him. I kiss the top of his head and rub my hand up and down his back. "Thank you for telling us the truth, Son. We forgive you. And we love you so much." I continue to hug him and then lift him to sit on my lap so that he's between Ana and me. "Teddy sandwich?" I say to Ana. She smiles and leans into us so that Teddy is sandwiched between us. We hug and kiss him while he screams in laughter. He begs to get away but we know that he likes this. After a while I start to tickle him and he is a ball of giggles.
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Ana's POV
"Teddy sandwich" I giggle at the memory of my little boy laughing so hard, it's a wonder he never wet himself. We used to tackle him with kisses, hugs and raspberries as well as tickle attacks. I miss my little man, who is now a big man. I rub my hand over my bump silently hoping that at least one of our twins is a boy.
"Are you hoping we have another boy?" Christian asks. To this day I can't believe I'm amazed that he can hear my unspoken thoughts. I smirk and look down at my hand on my bump.
"I miss our kids being little" I say as I feel a frown spread across my face. "I miss watching them play and learn. Laughing with them and drying their tears."
Christian nods. "I miss it too. Teddy mostly laughed. It's Phoebe who cried the most."
After talking to Teddy, Christian and I climb the stairs to the second floor and enter Phoebe's room. Christian seems surprised to not find her on her bed, but I'm not. I know exactly where she is. I look down at the princess tent that we keep in her bedroom and make my voice firm. "Phoebe Grace, come out of there now, please." She doesn't come out and she doesn't make a sound, but Christian is now certain that she's in there too. He walks over and stands next to me. He makes his voice even more stern, in fact it scares me a little.
"Phoebe, come out of there now or you will receive another punishment."
I can hear her whimpering. She is in her tent and she most likely has her blankets covering her head. Christian has told her many times not to do that because she could suffocate under there. I know she is doing that because she is afraid. Sometimes I think that Phoebe is more afraid of Christian's angry tone and bad temper than actually being spanked. She still doesn't come out. I know I will pay for this later with Christian, but I'll just have to deal with that. Rather than wait for her to come out on her own I climb in and get her. I scoop her into my arms and carry her out with one of her blankets. I notice that she is only wearing her pajama shirt so I try to cover her up with the blanket. Christian just watches as I walk over to her bed with her clinging to my body for dear life. I sit down and have her sit on my lap. Christian walks over and sits next to me without saying a word.
Phoebe avoids eye contact with her father, but she is able to look at my face a few times as I talk to her. Her hair is a mess since I didn't get a chance to brush it for her yet.
"Honey, why aren't you wearing bottoms?" I ask her. She snuggles into me closer and hides her face. I bring my hand up and stroke her slightly tangled hair. I look over at Christian hoping he gets the hint, and he does. He stands and walks over to the tent, I'm assuming to retrieve the rest of her clothes.
"I peed" she whispers. I can hear shame and embarrassment in her voice. I continue to stroke her hair as Christian gathers her clothes and blankets and drops them in the laundry basket. He walks over and reclaims his spot next to me on the bed.
"Why didn't you use your bathroom?" I ask her. It's rare for Phoebe to have an accident. She's been properly trained since she was three and has only wet her bed twice since then.
"I was afraid" she whispers and whimpers.
"What were you afraid of?" She is reluctant to answer me, probably because Christian is sitting right next to me. "It's okay, you can tell us. What were you afraid of?"
"Daddy would yell" she says and then whimpers.
"Daddy's not going to yell anymore" Christian says softly.
I stroke Phoebe's hair some more until she calms down. Once she is calm I position her so she's not snuggled into my chest. We need to address what happened earlier in the main room. "Phoebe, can you tell us what happened in the main room today?" I ask her.
Her voice is still very quiet, almost a whisper. "The TV fell."
"How did the TV fall?"
"I touched it."
"Are you allowed to touch the TV?" I ask her.
"No" she says as she shakes her head dramatically. She stops and has a frown on her face.
"Why did you touch the TV?" She doesn't answer right away, but I decide to give her a chance to think about her answer. She is only five and she's not used to anyone interrogating her to this extent. I'm grateful that Christian is keeping quiet and letting me take the lead with this. It has to be killing him to not step in and give her his inquisition. She starts kicking her legs which have been dangling in between mine. I'm sure it is a nervous reaction. I put my hand in front of her legs to get her to stop. She does and she looks at me for a moment. "Phoebe, why did you touch the TV?" I ask her again.
"I wanted to turn the TV off" she says softly.
"Why?"
"Teddy wasn't letting me watch my show. He was changing it."
I know that Teddy was trying to help her, and I need for Phoebe to see it that way. "Phoebe, was Teddy trying to show you that there were other Pony shows?"
"Yes, but I didn't want to watch the oder ones, I wanted to watch dat one."
Phoebe still has trouble with her "th" sound, but her "r"s and "l"s have improved greatly over the past year. I rub her back and she starts to kick her legs again. "Teddy was trying to help you, Baby. Remember what we talked about? How Teddy is the older brother and likes to show you things. What do we say if we don't want something?"
"No thank you" she looks up at me, confident in her answer.
"That's right. Did you try saying that?"
"No" she says and looks down again.
"Do you think that would have been the better way to handle that, instead of touching the television?"
"Uh huh" she says.
I look at Christian and wonder if he feels the same concern as I do. I get my answer when I see him put his arms out toward me and pull Phoebe into his lap. He takes her blanket and wraps it around her as he does it.
"Baby, do you understand why Mommy and Daddy were upset with you?" I watch my baby girl's face as Christian asks her this question. I'm pretty sure she doesn't understand just how close she came to being seriously hurt. Christian's arms tighten around her when she doesn't answer. "Do you know what could have happened if that TV had fallen on top of you?"
"It would have hurted."
"It would have hurt a lot" he says to her. "We would have had go to the hospital. You are so little, and that TV is so big. That's why you and Teddy are not allowed to touch it."
"I'm sorry, Daddy, I won't touch it anymore."
He kisses the top of her head and continues to hold her tight. I think he's shaking.
"That was so scary, Ana" he says to me as we both remember that day. "How did we ever get through raising them and keeping them in one piece?"
I have to giggle at that. "I don't know. Those two sure kept us on our toes. Oh!"
Christian is by my side instantly as I adjust to the feel of something all too familiar. "Ana, what is it?"
"One of the babies just kicked" I tell him excitedly. I take his hand and place it on my belly. I hold it there for a moment until one of our babies kicks again. We both are in awe as we sit and wait to see if it will happen again. It does, but this time I think it is the other baby. I can't help but laugh and cry at the same time. I love this. Christian wraps his arms around me and keeps his hand placed on my belly.
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Christian's POV
I love it when I get to feel our babies kick. I just get more and more excited about meeting them. I'm having a lot of mixed emotions today. There's fear. Fear of our kids being hurt or sick. Teddy and Phoebe really did keep us on our toes, and I know Natalie and these twins will do the same. There's anger. Anger anytime the kids break rules that are made to keep them safe. Sadness, there's always sadness anytime that I need to punish the kids. Pride, I am so proud of my wife and kids. Happiness, I am so happy that I have Ana in my life and that we get to raise these amazing kids together.
I wrap my arms around her and kiss her hair. "Have I told you how much I love you today?" She giggles again. I really do love that sound. I plant another kiss in her hair before we both turn our attention to Natalie. She is awake from her nap and she starts to cry as she moves to sit up and remove the blanket that has been covering her bottom half. I make quick work to stop her since there is poop in the blanket. Ana sits next to her and she is able to help me get her cleaned up without messing up the sofa. She wraps the soiled blanket into a ball and we both stand. I take Natalie into my arms and soon realize that it was a mistake to not have another blanket or towel handy. Ana watches and I can feel the warm, thick but runny liquid drip over my arms and onto my clothes. "Christ" I say under my breath. I watch Ana's expression change from shock to amusement. She's laughing at me.
"Ana?"
"I'm sorry" she says, but I know she's not.
I rub Natalie's back since she is crying again. "Shhh, its okay Sweet Pea. Daddy's got you."
Ana follows me upstairs to our bathroom. I don't want her to climb the steps too often, but I need her help even though she is still laughing at me. "Ana, will you please stop laughing?" I ask her while trying not to sound too annoyed.
"I'm sorry. Let me help you." She starts the shower and then removes mine and Natalie's clothes while I'm still holding her. I step into the shower and Ana uses the removable shower head to wash both of us. I continue to rub Natalie's back as she does it and it seems to calm her. Ana applies soap to Natalie's body while I hold her, and she's careful when she washes her bottom. I watch Ana's beautiful face screw up when she sees just how bad the rash is. Natalie winces while her bottom is being washed and she starts to cry again. I do my best to calm her by swaying and rubbing her back as Ana washes as much as my body as she can without having to bend or squat. When she's done I take the shower head and rinse my legs since she couldn't reach them. I then hook it back on and just stand under the warm water with Natalie to see if she likes it. It helps her calm, so I let the water wash over us for a bit longer before shutting it off.
I climb out and Ana towel dries both of us before wrapping a towel around my waist.
"Why thank you, Mrs Grey." I kiss her lips once she secures the towel for me. It's rare for Ana to take care of me in this capacity. It is usually me taking care of her.
We both dress Natalie together in our bedroom and decide to put a diaper on her this time. She's not very happy about it, but we are able to get her to calm after we dress her in her favorite pajamas. I hate that she's in this much pain. I wish there was a way for me to take this pain for her.
Once I have both my girls downstairs, I settle Natalie on the sofa with Ana and she helps her drink some more pedialyte. We skype with Teddy for a few minutes and I call Phoebe on her cell phone. She and Trevor have decided to have dinner before heading home. I remind her not to be home too late as she will be going to school tomorrow. I know she isn't looking forward to it, but she said she'd try to go back to school with her classmates tomorrow when the school reopens. After I hang up with my daughter I quickly phone Taylor to make sure we will have security at the school tomorrow. I'm sure the paparazzi will be on hand since a school opening after a shooting is a big deal. Phoebe will have Dovis with her tomorrow, and Sawyer will be clear to work again soon. He's been doing a few hours a week of surveillance but he recently inquired about coming back and guarding Phoebe part time. I plan to have four extra security guards stationed at the school. Phoebe doesn't need to know about them. Taylor assures me that everything is in place and that the extra security will know to be discrete.
"So, it is just the three of us tonight" I say as I tuck my blackberry away. Ana shows Natalie some of the photos we were looking at earlier while I set up our movie. Natalie hasn't said much today but we were able to get her to pick a movie. She decided on Lion King, which I've only watched a few times with my kids so I don't mind it as much. After the movie is ready to go, I join my girls on the sofa and we look at some photos together for a little while. Natalie is smiling as we show her pictures of Teddy and Phoebe when they were little. She manages to giggle at a few of them, which is a nice sound to hear.
"Daddy, sit on you lap" she says as she leans toward me. I lift her and move closer to Ana before I settle our baby girl in my lap. I kiss her head and start the movie. Ana leans into me and rests her head on my shoulder as the opening credits come to life on our TV screen.
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