My Buddy Archie [3]

75..

Two months later

November

Connie was finally back on her feet two months after her C-section. She was all over the place, always with either a baby or a bottle in her hand, and I was no different. The twins were the same age as Archie when I first got him. I thought it was hard enough dealing with just him; now I have two of them. At one point they were on completely different sleeping and nursing schedules and I damn near ripped all my hair out. It took almost three of the eight weeks they've even been alive to fix that.

Things weren't so bad now though. Regina Good and Harry helped us a lot, especially when it came to balancing both the twins and Archie. Even Maria was surprisingly helpful, offering to pick Archie up when we had our hands tied, or letting him sleep over for the night. I didn't want to make that a habit though; we can handle our kids...it's just a change we're still getting used to.

And we're still trying to work out the attention balance. Aria was fussy and never satisfied. Zach was calm but liked Connie the more no matter how much time I spent with him. And Archie...was the reason I've had a headache for almost two months straight.

I knocked on his door to wake him up for school and didn't get a response, so I twisted the doorknob and poked my head in. "Archie, time for school."

"Okay," he muttered into his pillow. His tone sparked a bit of anger in me but I ignored it. He's been in a pissy mood for weeks and I don't want to deal with that right now. And it had nothing to do with him being forgotten because Connie and I have both tried to talk to him and include him, he chooses to constantly be in a shitty mood.

I walked down the hall to the nursery as Connie was lifting Zach from his crib. "Oh," she said once she saw me in the doorway. "Can you get Aria and take her downstairs? She already changed. Is Archie up?"

"Think so." I picked Aria up and kissed her cheek. "Good morning, love." She made a groaning noise as she wriggled against me. "Right."

"Please make sure, Archie is up so he doesn't miss the bus again." It would be his third time missing it. Just as I was about to walk out of the room she added, "And make sure he doesn't forget his lunch either." I nodded, cradling Aria to my chest, then left the room to go back to Archie's room.

"Archie—"

"I'm up already." He snapped before I even fully opened the door. "You don't have to tell me over and over."

I frowned and walked through the door while he was pulling a shirt on. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing."

"Then stop acting like there is," I bit back. He muttered something under his breath, but again I ignored it. I didn't want to get into another shouting match with him while I was hold Aria; she'd be crying for hours afterward. "Just hurry up before you miss the bus."

I left the room and went downstairs to place Aria in the swing, putting it to the lowest setting and turning on the twinkly music. "You like the twinkles?" A toothless, slobbery smile stretched out her face; she already looked a little like Connie. "Of course you do, pretty girl." I leaned down to give her another kiss.

"What happened to your room?!" Connie gasped from upstairs. "What's this mess?"

"I'll clean it later," Archie muttered before I heard him coming down the stairs. I looked over my shoulder at him as he bustled through the living room and into the kitchen. "Mum, there's no lunch in here!" he yelled.

I cringed and looked at Aria, hoping she wouldn't start crying.

"Mum!" Archie yelled again.

"Archie," I snapped.