The weekend had begun, and as promised by Derek, he had to take full responsibility of the baby and Olive for those two days. It was eight o'clock on Saturday morning and Addison was still sleeping. He got up as soon as Arleth started to fuss so as not to wake her.
"Olive, pick up the toys you left scattered in the living room," he said as he hung a small towel over his shoulder. In his other arm, he carried the baby.
"Oh, Dad..."
"No, go pick them up."
"Are you going to bathe Arley?"
"Yes. Do you want to help me?"
"Yes!"
"Good, come. But promise to pick up the toys before your mother wakes up."
"Okay."
Derek prepared the bath, found her sponges and wipes, and once it was at the ideal temperature, he gently placed her inside. The warm, soapy water covered the baby as he held her in his arms. Arleth's furrowed forehead relaxed as soon as she felt the warm embrace of the water.
"She likes it!" Olive exclaimed excitedly.
"Yes, I think she does," he smiled.
"Do you want me to bring my rubber duckies?" she asked, dipping her hands in the water.
"No, Ols. She doesn't know how to play yet. We're just going to bathe her."
"Can I put the shampoo on her?"
"Yes, but be very careful not to get it in her eyes. Use the sponge instead."
Olive put a little shampoo on the sponge and passed it over her sister's head, causing her to start to close her eyes in irritation.
"Slower, Ols. You don't have to scrub. You have to do it gently as if you were stroking her head. You can use the brush to comb her hair."
"Oops," she accidentally let go of the sponge, and soap got into Arleth's eyes, causing her to start crying.
"Olive..." Derek took a damp towel to quickly remove the soap.
"I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's nothing. Hand me her towel, I think that's enough for her, she's not enjoying it anymore."
Olive got up and went to get the dry towel while Derek rinsed off the remaining soap from her body, trying to get the baby to stop crying, but it seemed impossible.
"Here," she handed it to him.
"Thanks, Ols," he said as he lifted Arley out of the water and wrapped her in the towel, "let's go to her room to dress her."
Derek walked to Arleth's room with Olive following behind. He laid her down on the changing table while he searched for something to dress her in.
"How should we dress her today?"
"A dress!" Olive said excitedly. Addison had bought her some dresses for special occasions, but they were big on her.
"Something comfortable for the house. How about this yellow onesie?"
"I like the green one with frogs better. And we can put a headband on her!"
"Alright, we'll do that. Get it."
"Can I put it on?"
"Mmm... okay. But first, we have to put on a diaper, don't you think?"
"Yes," she affirmed, laughing.
Derek lifted Olive and sat her next to her sister since she couldn't reach the changing table. Then he opened one of the drawers, took out a clean diaper, and quickly put it on Arleth, who was still crying. In fact, she had never stopped crying.
Then he put a white sleeveless onesie on her as the first piece of clothing, and let Olive put on the other one.
"First, you're going to put her arms in, and then the rest of her body..." he said, helping her dress her sister.
"Mom puts the feet first."
"Oh, really? Well, then do it like Mom does."
With a little difficulty and concentration, Olive managed to put it on correctly, and Derek finished the rest.
"Now we have to put her perfume on her, and then she'll be ready."
Derek opened the closet and took out a baby perfume that Addison always put on her clothes.
"Just put it on her clothes, not on her face."
"And the headband!"
"Put it on."
She did what her father said, and finally, they left Arleth looking impeccable.
"Thank you, Ols. I couldn't have done it without your help. Now we'll go get a bottle because I think she's hungry."
"I think she pooped."
"What?"
"Yes ... she dirtied her back."
"Oh no," he said, lifting her quickly and seeing that she was indeed all dirty.
Olive began to laugh at the disgusted look on her father's face.
"Okay, change of plans, we're going to bathe her again. Go turn on the water quickly."
"Okay."
"Hurry, Olive!" he said as he held the baby from her chest so as not to get dirty.
Olive got off the changing table and hurried to the bathroom while he began to carefully remove the dirty clothes.
"Everything okay?" Addison asked, approaching down the hall. She had a wry smile on her face; her husband and daughter's screams had woken her up, and she wanted to see how Derek was coping.
"Everything is more than fine, I have everything under control."
"Mmm, I see... did you bathe her?" she asked, trying to contain her laughter.
"Oh, we're just about to bathe her. This is just a little accident."
"Little?"
"God, how can someone so tiny poop all the way to her head?" he asked, taking off both onesies.
"You'll have to learn to put the diapers on properly."
"It was put on properly, but no diaper can withstand such an explosion."
"Oh, can't Daddy handle a little poop?" she asked, pouting and teasing.
Derek threw one of the onesies at her, making her scream.
"Derek!"
"Oops..." he said, imitating Olive and going to the bathroom with the baby.
~•~
"Well, I bathed her again, dressed her, fed her, put her to sleep, washed and hung the clothes outside to dry," Derek sighed, sitting next to Addison at the breakfast bar.
"Congratulations, Dad of the year. It's only nine-thirty in the morning," Addison said without paying attention, reading the newspaper while having breakfast.
"I'm hungry," Olive appeared with Milo in her arms.
"But I already made you breakfast earlier," he responded.
"But it's been a while, I'm hungry again."
"What do you want to eat?"
"Waffles with maple syrup and blueberries."
"Olive, you won't make me cook again, will you? Don't you want yogurt?"
"It's Saturday, Derek. You have time to make waffles for the girl," Addison said, holding back laughter.
Derek said nothing, simply took out the ingredients, and started making the waffle batter. While he was pouring the batter into the waffle maker, he saw through the kitchen window as a black crow landed on Arleth's clothes, which were hanging outside.
"Hey, that darn bird again!" he shouted, opening the window to scare it away.
"What are you doing, Derek? Don't shout like that," Addison said.
"Why are these crows back again? Where are they coming from?"
"Maybe there's a dead animal in the forest," she took a sip of her coffee and continued reading the newspaper.
"And why is it messing with the baby's clothes?" he took off the apron he was wearing and went out to the garden to look for the clothes. He had hung them outside because they would shrink in the dryer.
When he returned, he continued making waffles for Olive, and minutes after he finished, Arleth, who was lying in her carrier next to them, woke up again. Derek sighed tiredly and picked her up again to stop her from crying.
~•~
"Can we order pizza?" Olive asked as she approached her father, who had just put her sister to bed in her crib.
"Did you pick up your toys?"
"Yes," she lied.
"We won't order anything until you pick them up. And I've told you countless times not to bring the cat onto your bed, go put him down."
"He's sleepy!"
"Well, he has his own bed. Don't bring him up anymore."
"Dad!"
"Don't yell, you'll wake the baby and it was hard enough to put her to sleep this time."
"It's because she wants Mom, not you."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing."
"You better watch it. Go pick up everything right now."
Olive rolled her eyes and reluctantly went to pick up her toys.
"Running out of patience, Chief?" Addison asked, approaching.
"Oh, shut up."
"I think you have vomit on your shirt," she said, pointing.
"It can't be, I just changed."
Derek sighed again and she laughed, enjoying the moment.
~•~
"Can we go to the lake today?" Olive asked after lunch.
"I don't know, your sister is too fussy today," Derek said, trying to calm the baby. She had been crying for a while, probably colicky.
"She can come with us. And we can throw her in the water."
"What?"
"I'm kidding."
"Don't make those jokes ever again."
"Sigh, you used to be funny. Now you're boring."
"Why do I feel like I'm hearing Amelia talking through your vocal cords?"
She shrugged.
"Where is your aunt?"
"I don't know."
"I haven't seen her around the house for days. Have you seen her?"
"No."
"Does your mom know where she is? Has she seen her?"
"I don't know."
"Has she talked to her?"
"No."
"You're giving me a lot of information today, Olive."
The girl shrugged again. What did he expect her to say?
"Does your sister cry like this every day?"
"Yes."
"What does your mom do to make her stop crying?"
"I don't know."
"God, Olive. You're so expressive today. What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Are you mad at me?"
"No."
"Are you mad at Mom?"
"No."
"Are you mad at Arley?"
"Yes."
"What did she do to you?"
"She won't stop yelling and my head hurts," she said, putting her hands on her forehead dramatically.
"Oh, I see. Yes, she's very upset today. Come to think of it, maybe we could go for a walk in the woods to calm her down. Would you like that?"
"Mom won't want you to take her to the woods."
"I'm in charge today, so mom can't say anything. Go change, put on your sneakers, and we'll go to the woods."
"Can we climb trees?"
"Um... well, only the ones that are shorter."
"Yay!"
Olive ran off to change her clothes while Derek continued to rock Arleth in his arms. He was surprised at how much energy she had for crying.
"Are you going to stop screaming in my ear for a little while? Huh?" he said, kissing her face. "Are you going to behave, Daddy's little girl?"
She screamed even louder and Derek sighed, exhausted. He put her in the baby carrier he had hanging and went out with Olive for a walk in the woods.
~•~
"Look, Dad! I'm on a tightrope!" Olive shouted, balancing on a tree branch fallen over the edge of the lake.
"Olive, I told you not to go near the water, you could fall... shh... shh," her father tried to put a pacifier in Arleth's mouth, but she spat it out and kept screaming.
"That's what they do in circuses! It's called balance!" she said, touching her toes while still on the branch.
"Be careful, Olive..."
"For Halloween, I wanna wear a circus costume! And I can do these tricks!"
"Get off the branch..."
"Or I can dress up as a monkey! Then I can walk on all fours and jump... or as a witch! And use the branches as a broom to fly. Or as a cowgirl, like Jessie! You could be Woody and mom Betty. And Arley... She can be the baby with a spider body."
"Whatever you want, but come here. Shh... shh," he continued trying to give the baby the pacifier, without success.
"Can we take Milo to New York?"
"No."
"Why not? He can also dress up and he already knows how to climb. He can climb the branches like me!" she said, jumping to another nearby branch floating in the water.
"Be careful, Olive. Why don't you come and see these rocks here? You don't have these at home."
"What ro... OUCH!" she exclaimed as she fell in a sitting position into the water, just like her father had warned her a few seconds earlier.
"Damn, I told you that you would fall for doing this stupid thing," he ran to her and lifted her out of the water.
"I'm sorry."
"Your mother is going to kill us. We'd better go back."
"Don't tell mom!"
"It will be impossible not to tell her if she sees you all covered in mud and water. You're soaked!"
"Please don't tell her anything!" she cried. Now he had two girls crying in his ears, one on each side.
"Let's go. When we get there, you'll get in the shower and wait for me to help you."
"Can't it be in the bathtub?"
"No, I'm tired and your sister won't calm down. I need to get there and give her her bottle."
"Okay..."
Derek kneeled to roll up Olive's pants and make it easier for her to walk, although at that moment she looked like a wet entity.
They walked back to their house, and in the distance, Derek could see another black crow trying to get in through his window. He didn't want to say anything so Olive wouldn't be scared, so they just walked in and went straight to the bathroom.
"What happened? Why is the girl soaked? Where did you go?" Addison asked when she saw them arrive.
"Not now, Addison," Derek said, locking the bathroom door. He still had Arleth crying in a carrier hanging from his chest.
"Why is Arley crying so much?" she said from outside the bathroom.
"Olive, stand on the toilet and help me take off your clothes," he said.
"Mom is talking to you."
"Yes, I know. But I can't be with your mom right now. Do what I tell you," he said impatiently.
Derek left Arleth in her carrier, took off his wet shoes, rolled up his shirt, and quickly bathed Olive. Once she was dry and dressed, they left the bathroom. Addison was still there, getting angrier.
"What did you do to my daughters, and why did you close the door? Do you think you can shut the door in my face and forbid me from seeing them?"
"Not now, Addison."
"'Not now Addison bullshit. Stop saying that! Why has the baby been crying for 40 minutes and you're not doing anything? What's wrong with you? How can you let her scream like that?"
"I'M DOING EVERYTHING TO MAKE HER STOP CRYING AND IT'S NOT WORKING!"
Arleth started crying even louder, while Olive was scared to hear her father shout. She wasn't used to seeing them argue like this.
Addison noticed her daughter's worried face and turned around. She wasn't going to keep yelling in front of her, no matter how much she wanted to kill Derek at that moment.
He sighed in anger and turned to Olive.
"It's okay, wait for me in your room, I'll dry your hair soon. I'm going to get a bottle for your sister."
"But..."
"To your room, I said."
She nodded and quickly went without saying anything else.
Derek went downstairs to get the bottle, and once he had it in his hands, he went back up. He walked barefoot down the hall, rocking the baby to try to make her stop crying, but it wasn't working.
Approaching Olive's room to dry her hair, he accidentally stepped on a piece of Lego and saw stars.
"OH, DAMMIT!" he shouted, scaring Arleth even more. "I TOLD YOU TO PUT AWAY YOUR TOYS, OLIVE!"
"Oops... I didn't see those pieces," she said, peeking out the door.
"PUT AWAY ALL THIS SHIT NOW!"
~•~
After drying Olive's hair, Derek tried to get Arleth to eat, but she rejected the bottle nipple as if it were poison. She had not complained the previous times he had given it to her, but now she didn't want to see it at all. Several hours had passed since the last time she ate, and she was probably starving, but she refused to take anything from it.
He knew she wanted Addison. It wasn't just because of the bottle that she was acting this way; she wanted to feel her mom. She wanted to be held in her arms and smell her while drinking from her breast, which was much softer and warmer than the tasteless silicone nipple.
He was too tired to keep insisting, so he had to swallow his pride and go to their room, where he knew Addison was angry. If it had been on another occasion, he could have gone hours or days without seeing her again, but now he needed her.
He opened the door gently and looked at her with tired eyes. She knew he would eventually give in.
"She's hungry, and my nipples won't work for her..." he said in a low voice. That was the closest thing to an apology that could come out of his mouth.
She reached out her arms and he handed over the baby, who quickly calmed down once Addison placed her on her breast.
"I'm sorry, okay? It hasn't been 24 hours and I'm already exhausted. It's not easy to be with both of them all day."
"I know."
"I shouldn't have taken the position as the hospital chief with the girls so young."
"No. You shouldn't have."
"And I thought I could handle both of them today, but I couldn't. Arleth hates me. I've never seen a baby cry so much in one day, and Olive is constantly looking for trouble. You can't take your eyes off her for a second, and she's already falling into the lake."
"Olive fell into the lake?!"
"No, it's just an expression," he quickly lied. "What I'm trying to say is that... she's very hyperactive, very inventive... she gets bored easily and needs things that require our attention."
"I know, Olive has always been like that."
"I'm going to quit."
"Are you crazy, Derek?"
"I can't leave you alone with the two girls every day like this. I was alone with them for just one day and I'm already at my breaking point. I can't leave you with this burden."
"Listen...first of all, I wish you hadn't accepted the position, that's true. But now... now you can't quit, Derek. You've taken on that responsibility, you can't back out. You promised many people that you would take care of the hospital and they trust you."
"But what about the girls?"
"It will be hard in the beginning, but we'll get used to it, we always have. We'll hire a nanny to help us, especially when I go back to work. We'll share the burden and try to make it lighter. But don't give this up now, because you'll spend the rest of your life thinking about it and blaming me and the girls for taking away your dream."
"I wouldn't blame them."
"Unconsciously you would, Derek. You know that but...I want you to fulfill your dream, and I don't want our relationship to die. Do you remember how we were seven years ago?"
"I don't want to remember that."
"We were in New York having the same problem as now, but without children. And that's what led us to the marital crisis."
"I know. It won't happen again."
"It's up to you to figure out how to divide your time between the hospital and your family. But always prioritize your family. We all have to make sacrifices to achieve things in our life, but we shouldn't turn our backs on what really matters. It's the only thing that will remain after everything else."
"Did you know that I love you?"
"Oh, don't try to win me over with that."
"I love you," he said, moving closer to her face until they shared the same air. "I love you."
Addison made a small smile and he kissed her lips for a few seconds. Then they stayed with their foreheads together in silence, reflecting on what they had just talked about.
"You managed to get her to sleep..." Derek whispered as he saw Arleth had fallen asleep.
"She needed her mom."