Forgotten Dawn (Forgotten Book 2)

Chapter 4

 Anna had no more made it into the house before she could hear the twins crying upstairs. She rushed into the nursery. She picked up Emily from her crib and began bouncing her to try and soothe her. The only reason she knew it was Emily was because she was dressed in pink and her name was spelled out in large pink letters over the white crib. Each half of the room looked identical, except one half was decorated in pink, while the other was in purple.

Chelsea rushed into the room wearing ice blue silk pajama bottoms with a matching camisole. Anna couldn't help but think of how wild the men would go to see the young woman on the stage. Like Anna, she had long black hair, but Chelsea's was thick and naturally wavy where Anna's was pin straight and required half an hour with a curling iron to achieve the same effect.

"Sorry, I had to go to the bathroom first," Chelsea apologized as she picked up Camilla, who was dressed in purple.

"No problem. I just got in here myself."

"Thanks for staying and helping. I'm not sure how I would have managed on my own. Tiffany probably wouldn't have left." Chelsea laid Camilla on a changing table and began changing and dressing the squirming baby. The room was arranged so that there was a crib on either side of the room and two changing tables that sat end to end on the far wall along with two rocking chairs.

Anna placed Emily on the second changing table and went to work. "I'm surprised Chase got her to agree to stay away for three nights. For someone who was so certain she would be a terrible mother, she sure has taken to it."

"Did she leave you a detailed instruction manual?" Chelsea laughed as she handed Anna a pink version of the ruffled purple dress she had put on Camilla.

"Yes. I swear she spent more time planning for the twins than she did her entire wedding."

"That's for sure. I did most of that work. She didn't care a bit about how it happened as long as she got to marry her cowboy."

Anna lifted Emily from the table and smiled at the baby. "You did a great job. It was beautiful."

"Thanks. I don't know what I would have done without Chad's help. Who knew my broody brother had an eye for decor. The lavender flower garlands in the tree were actually his idea."

Anna raised a brow skeptically, "Mr. Tall and Broody did that?"

Chelsea laughed, "Yep, I never would have thought of it."

"What's his story?" Anna asked.

"Let's get the princesses their breakfast first, because that's a long story."

"Probably a good idea. Sorry sweetie, this cow is dry," Anna cooed. Emily was rooting around her chest looking for breakfast.

Tiffany had spent countless hours over the last six months pumping extra milk to freeze for her weekend away. Chelsea left Anna with the twins, placing Camilla in a baby swing so she could get dressed and heat up their bottles. Anna took a seat in one of the wooden rocking chairs, rocking her charge until their aunt had returned.

After handing one bottle off to Anna, Chelsea picked up the other twin and sat in the matching rocker. "He enlisted in the army right out of high school. Unlike Chase, Chad couldn't wait to get out of Oklahoma. We had spent our entire lives on this ranch with nothing more than an overnight trip to the city our entire lives."

"What city?" Anna asked.

Chelsea laughed, "Oklahoma City. Sorry. Everyone who lives here just calls it 'The City'. Anyway, our parents used to live in a house on the far side of the property when Chad was a baby. It's no longer there now. Then, Grandma passed, so they moved back in here with Grandpa. I don't know how much you know about ranching, but it's a 24/7 job. There are no holidays and weekends off."