Splitting Our Odds Into Evens

No Way Home

Three weeks after bringing the twins home, Bonnie had stopped pretending they had a schedule.

They had something resembling one. Brixton usually ate first because he woke up hungry and made sure everyone knew it. Blossom took longer to wake up, longer to eat, and somehow even longer to fall back asleep. 

It was almost eleven when she came downstairs and found Kol in the kitchen with Blossom against his chest.

He had one hand supporting her head while the other held a bottle. Brixton was asleep in the bassinet near the kitchen table, and there was a plate of eggs sitting untouched beside Kol.

"You made breakfast?"

Kol looked over. "I attempted to."

Bonnie smiled as she walked into the kitchen. "It's eleven."

"Yes, well, I began making it considerably earlier."

That made sense.

Bonnie opened the refrigerator and took out a bottle of water. Her body still didn't feel completely like hers. She was sore in places she hadn't known could stay sore for three weeks, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd slept longer than three hours without waking up.

She'd also never been happier to walk into a room and see two bassinets. "How long has she been up?"

"Nearly an hour."

Bonnie looked at Blossom. "Seriously?"

"She ate. Then she fell asleep for approximately four minutes, realized she'd made a terrible mistake and woke herself back up."

Bonnie laughed and sat beside him.

Blossom's eyes were open, staring somewhere around Kol's chin while she drank.

Kol looked down at her again.

Bonnie had noticed that he did that constantly. Even when one of the twins was perfectly fine, Kol watched them like something new might happen if he looked away.

He'd learned everything about them frighteningly fast.

He knew Brixton hated being cold during diaper changes and that Blossom settled faster when somebody rubbed the middle of her back. He could tell which baby was crying from upstairs. Two nights ago, Bonnie had woken up and found him standing beside Brixton's crib because he'd made a strange noise in his sleep.

Kol had been alive for over a thousand years.

Apparently none of it had prepared him for a newborn making one weird sound.

"It's so cute when you stare at her," Bonnie said. She could see the love Kol had for their kids and it warmed her heart more than anything. 

Kol didn't bother looking up. "Oh, don't give me too much credit. How can one not stare when these big beautiful eyes stared at me first," he said. He rubbed Blossom's nose and she sneezed. "Bless you."

Bonnie smiled. 

She leaned over to look at her daughter.

Blossom's little hand was curled against Kol's hoodie. Bonnie touched one of her fingers, and Blossom closed her hand around it.

It still got her every time.

Sometimes Bonnie couldn't believe these were the same two babies she'd spent months feeling kick her ribs. Now they had faces. Personalities were starting to show up in tiny pieces. Brixton stretched dramatically every time he woke up. Blossom frowned in her sleep.