Closer 2

147.

"Elise, please just sleep," Brett begged, voice cracking. He was exhausted. Today had been one of those days where neither of the twins had wanted to sleep the night before, and neither of them wanted to sleep during their nap times. Elise had been kicking off and they had nowhere to drop her off as the daycare was closed and Ray had left the country a few days ago.

At least May was doing better now. She had said she had felt sick in the morning and had asked if one of them could drop by with some groceries this evening, which was why Brett was fighting Elise alone tonight again. The twins had fallen asleep, thankfully, but their little girl just wouldn't.

"One huggggg! Pleaseee!" Elise cried, stomping her feet on the mattress in her crib. Brett sighed, not sure what to do.

"You've had five already, Li-Li," Brett said, clearing his throat. He hated this, how she refused to talk to them during the day and insisted on hugs and cuddles at night. Why couldn't she ask for those during the day?

"Just oneeee!" Elise shrieked, shaking the bars of her crib with frustration. Brett felt tears press on.

"That's the last one, then, okay? You promise you'll sleep after?" Brett asked her, followed by a tiny sniffle. He got a tiny nod from Elise, and he leaned down to hug his daughter who held onto him tightly and just not letting go.

"Don't go," Elise requested, quietly this time, and Brett felt the tears spill over. "Please."

Brett knew he couldn't bring Elise to their bed, he knew that wasn't safe, but there was one thing he could try still. One thing they hadn't done with her since she was the twins' age.

He carefully lifted his daughter out of the crib and went over to the chair in the corner, holding her safely in his lap like he would when she was a baby. It took a bit of adjustment to curl up like he used to, but he managed.

"I won't go, okay?" Brett whispered, kissing her forehead. Tears were still running down his cheeks, and he was thankful Elise probably couldn't see it in the dark. "Go to sleep, babygirl."

Elise did as he asked, closing her eyes and resting her head on baba's chest.
"Nighty, baba," she mumbled softly. Her little hand was brought up to her face, her thumb resting in her mouth like it often did when she slept.

"Nighty, princess. Baba loves you so much, okay?" Brett whispered, brushing some hair away from her forehead. It only took a few minutes for her to fall asleep after that, but Brett didn't have it in him to move her back into bed. Instead, he rested his head against the back of the chair and closed his eyes too.

...

When Eddy made it back home, it was a lot quieter than he expected it to be.
"Brett?" he asked into the house after taking his shoes off. The lights in the living room were still on, and the door to Elise's bedroom was half open. They always closed it after she had fallen asleep, so that felt weird to Eddy. Where was all the crying and fighting?

Eddy tiptoed over the slightly creaky floor and peeked into the dark room, smiling a bit when he saw the beautiful moment between father and daughter. He knew he couldn't let either of them continue to sleep like that, though, as Elise was half falling out of Brett's lap and Brett would have the worst sore back in the morning.

Elise half woke up when Eddy carefully lifted her out of Brett's arms, but he rocked her slightly to make her rest her head down on his shoulder before carefully placing her into her crib. She stirred a bit, but quickly fell back asleep.

Then he moved on to the other sleeping baby, the big one. He carefully lifted Brett into his arms, struggling a bit as working out wasn't really a priority anymore. He still managed to hold Brett in his arms much like he had held Elise a moment ago. Just like his daughter, Brett half woke up from the movement.

"Shh, just me. I got you," Eddy whispered softly, kissing his forehead before bringing him to their bedroom instead for what would be a full night of sleep.