Jaison stumbled into the house, a sparkly purple heap lying over his shoulder, sound asleep.
"Aww," I whispered. I kissed Sadie's flushed cheek.
"It's okay if you wake her up," Jaison said. "I want to give her a bath anyway."
I peppered Sadie's face with more kisses.
"Hey, sleeping beauty," he said softly. "You gotta wake, up, honey. You have to take a bath."
Sadie's eyes opened a crack, then she buried her face in Jaison's neck. Jaison and I chuckled.
"Did you have a fun day, baby girl?" I asked.
Sadie nodded, not pulling her face away from Jaison. I smiled.
Today was the twins' 4th birthday party—ocean themed. We had invited all of their friends over for food, desserts, and games, all outdoors. By the time the party was over, my little girl was exhausted. For an extrovert, she sure did get tuckered out really fast.
"Okay, we're going to give you a quick bath, okay, sweetheart?" Jaison said.
Sadie whined. "Nooo," she grumbled.
"Yeees," Jaison mimicked in a high voice. "Sweetie, you're all dirty. You need to get clean before you go to bed."
"Is Conor taking a bath too?" she asked.
Jaison looked at me.
I shrugged. "I don't know where he is."
"He's with Bennet. Where's he?"
I opened the porch door an stepped outside. "BENNET," I yelled. "CONOR NEEDS TO TAKE BATH AND GO TO BED!"
"WE'RE COMING!" he yelled back.
A minute later, Bennet came jogging up to the house carrying Conor, who was dressed in a shark costume.
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"He was chasing me around the yard, denying that he's tired," Bennet whispered to me as they came into the house. I chuckled.
"You and your sister are going to take a bath, okay, buddy?" Bennet said to Conor.
"Nooo," Conor whined. "I don't like baths!"
"Too bad!" Bennet chirped. Conor groaned, and Jaison laughed. He and Bennet carried the twins upstairs for their baths and I followed.
Upstairs, Jaison handed Sadie to me. "I'm going to help Mom and Dad clean up the decorations and things outside," he said. I nodded and he rushed downstairs.
"Where's bubby going?" Sadie asked.
"He's going to help Mommy and Daddy clean up," I said. I went into the bathroom, where Bennet was filling up the tub with Conor sitting on the floor waiting patiently.
A set down Sadie and shut the bathroom door, then started changing her out of the mermaid dress she had insisted on wearing for her ocean party. After she was stripped down, I got Conor undressed. By then the tub was filled up.
