After the chaos at Eleanor's place yesterday, this morning felt like the calm before the next storm. I stuck to my usual routine to keep my own world steady. I got up at 4 a.m., hit the gym, cleaned the house at 5 a.m., then took a shower before waking the kids at 6 a.m. But, as we know, those brats were already awake. At first, my dad complained that I woke them too early, so I decided to let him look after them for a day — and boy, he didn't want anything to do with them the next morning. The way they are is easy to handle as long as you know and follow their schedule. During my pregnancy, I would wake at 6 a.m. to bathe and eat, sleep at 9 a.m., then wake up and eat at 1 p.m., play from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m., eat at 7 p.m., bathe at 7:30 p.m., then sleep from 8 p.m., wake up around midnight to eat, then sleep again. It became my routine throughout my entire pregnancy and meticulously became the twins' routine. This benefited me a lot since I had gotten used to the routine, and it was very advantageous for my tight schedule—giving me the chance to raise the twins on my own.
After bathing the twins, I went to check on Eleanor, who was also busy bathing Aurora and Lenora."How are you guys settling in? Are the girls comfortable?" I asked, stepping into the room. I crossed over to the bed and crouched down in front of Leanor, who was completely absorbed in her iPad game. I reached out and gave her cheek a soft pinch.
"We had a peaceful night for the first time in what felt like an age. Thank you for your help, or else my kids would have had to grow up in that depressive environment," she said, a soft smile slowly blooming on her face, warm and real.
"There is no need to thank me for that. I wasn't going to let my cute nieces fall into depression because of that old hag and his ungrateful son. Besides, having Aurora and Leanor around stops those two brats from driving me insane—because they love driving me insane," I said, a soft smile spread brightly across my face as I gave Leanor's cheek another gentle pinch, but it soured immediately when I remembered the day they threw a tantrum after I refused to leave them with Hokie at the hospital.
"But I don't think they are that ba—"She was cut short before she could finish.
"MOMMY!" A loud shout came from the twins' room. I looked up and shot her the see-what-I-mean look.
She laughed at me as I got up and went to check on them in their room—only to find Ha-eun shouting for me because Ha-jun refused to let her kiss him on the cheek. I just stood there, watching her throw a tantrum while he stubbornly kept refusing. For a moment, I felt like the world could just open up and swallow me—because wow, those two were driving me crazy.
"Aww, my baby, don't cry. Mommy will take you to kiss Uncle Yum Yum on the cheek, okay?" I said softly, crouching down to soothe her.
I worn their bags on my back, picked them up and went downstairs. The moment we got downstairs, Ha-eun got off on her own and rushed to Hokie. I carried Ha-jun to the living room and placed him in his baby bouncer and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. I made cereal with milk for the twins, toast with butter and jam, pancakes, fruit smoothies, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, grilled tomatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, black pudding, and toast bread. After I was done setting the table, I went to call everyone to the table. When I got there, I found Aurora kissing Ha-jun on the cheeks as she carried him as if she was trying to console him.
I stood frozen, eyes wide, watching the impossible unfold. Ha-jun—who had stubbornly refused Ha-eun's kisses moments ago—was now letting Aurora plant gentle kisses on his cheeks. What was going on? Had I stumbled into the wrong house, or was I losing my mind?