Lymber craft's Arc

Chapter 51 of 70

Two weeks after the section, the clinic cleared Max and Missy to come home. Lymber sat in the discharge room with a car seat on each knee. The nurse walked her through the feeding chart one more time. Max took two ounces every three hours. Missy took an ounce and a half and sometimes stalled halfway. Paul stood by the door with the diaper bag over his shoulder. Polly waited in the hall. Lymber signed the last page and the nurse said, They're yours. Take them home. Paul drove slow. Lymber sat in the back between the two carriers and watched their chests move. At the house Maggie opened the front door before Paul could reach the handle. Violetta pushed past her legs and stopped when she saw the seats. Jett was on Maggie's hip in a clean shirt. Maggie said, Bottles are warm. Cribs are made. I moved the wipes to the changing table. Lymber said thank you and Maggie stepped back to let them through. Polly carried Missy up the stairs. Paul carried Max. Lymber climbed behind them with one hand on the rail. They laid the twins in the two cribs under the framed ultrasound print. Missy started to fuss inside the swaddle and Lymber lifted her out. She sat in the rocker and fit the small bottle to Missy's mouth. Missy took half an ounce and pulled off. Lymber tried again. Missy turned her head. Polly said, Give her ten minutes and try. Paul was already changing Max on the pad. Violetta stood in the doorway with the puppy at her ankle. Lymber said, Come see your sister. Violetta walked in and touched Missy's foot with one finger and said her name. By nine that night both babies were fed and down. Paul sat on the floor of the nursery with his back against the wall. Lymber lowered herself next to him. She said, She only took an ounce. He said, She'll take more tomorrow. She said, What if she doesn't. He said, Then we call the clinic. He did not soften it. Downstairs Maggie was running water in the sink and Polly was on the phone with someone about the morning. Lymber looked at the two cribs and the monitor light and understood the house was full now in a way it had not been full before. She set the feeding log on her knee and wrote down the time and the ounce and a half and the half ounce, and she started the clock again.