Triplets were a new ordeal. Walker, Erika, and Louie had moved into the basement. Helen had stayed because when they started crying, all three needed to be soothed at once. Soren and Zephyr would cry the second they heard one of their siblings crying or if Louie was barking. Lucinda on the other hand only cried if she wanted something and promptly stopped when her brothers started sharing her wails. However, if her needs were not tended too before they stopped, she had let out the loudest scream imaginable, until the neighbours complained and Idina though her perfect little head might explode.

"She has your lungs, Dee," Aaron joked as he bounced her up and down, rocking her and trying to calm her down. He had shaved off his scruffy beard in favour of a clean, smooth shave for the babies.

Idina was trying, and failing, to nurse Zephyr. He was bawling because his sister was bawling, and he was hungry. It had been hours since he had last had something to eat. Her mother was feeding Soren with a bottle and Lucida had nursed calmly until Zephyr's hungry cries had given her a headache. Soren was the only one not in tears.

She hummed a small tune as she dabbed some milk on his lip and her breast, hoping it would encourage him. Finally, he latched on and started sucking like a vampire. His green eyes would go huge as he fed, like a child given free rein of a candy store. Soren had his same green eyes while Lucinda's were brown like her father.

An ache began to grow in Idina's breast, but she ignored it. She was not pumping enough, she knew that, but they had more than they needed and Idina could not spend all day finding the right balance between breastfeeding and pumping if it even existed. Soon the boy had sucked her dry and started crying again. She quickly tried to change him to her other and went through the process again of convincing him to eat. Then Soren started screaming because he was full, and Lucinda was still crying.

"Take Cindy downstairs," Helen suggested. Then Soren and Zephyr could have some quiet time.

Aaron nodded and went downstairs. Ten minutes later the house was eerily quiet. Idina and her mother brought they boys down and they rolled out a playmat. This was Idina's favourite time of the day. They were clean, fed, and a bit groggy since her milk seemed to have some baby knock out juice inside, but they could play for a half-hour before the triplets needed to be put down for another nap, and then, hopefully, they would get a few hours of peace, and maybe even sleep, before it started all over again.

It was midafternoon but Idina found herself crawling to bed with her husband. Erika said Helen could sleep in her room since she was now in the basement and Helen had moved in a blow-up mattress and her suitcase to be closer to her grandchildren. The entire basement now doubled as a bedroom, study room and playroom for their elder children and dog, as well as a bathroom for anyone who did not want to wake the twins up while they were sleeping. Since the one in the master bedroom was soundproofed since Aaron had put in the heated flooring, they were giving everyone free rein of the bathroom for anything that might wake the triplets up. It was a group effort and was going as good as could be expected.

She flopped herself down on Aaron who chuckled. Rolling her eyes, she told him he was her mattress again. Her husband wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her hair, saying he was glad.

"Sure I'm not too heavy?" she asked.

"Idina, when this started you weighed next to nothing. I'm so glad you're eating." He kissed her forehead. "Now be quiet and get some sleep, we're on duty in three hours."

Idina chuckled and curled up. "I just don't want you to be in pain because the baby weight's a lot. You'd tell me if it was, right?"

"Of course," he replied. "But you're good. Besides, it is less than three hours," he continued through a yawn.

Idina yawned too. "Good," she said as she made herself comfortable. She checked the baby monitor before drifting off to sleep.

~

That evening when Erika and Walker came home from school Idina was sprawled out on the floor, playing with the triplets while Aaron was cooking. They took Louie out for his second daily walk when Helen approached her daughter.

"I was thinking we should do a girls' night tonight," Helen said as she picked up one of the toys and tickled Zephyr with it. The boy giggled. "I think it would be good for Erika, especially after Dawn's outburst. We'll bring Cindy, and Louie too so Aaron's not stuck with four kids and a dog."

"I'm not sure," Idina said as she blew on a fan, then showed it to Lucida who tried the same thing, though only succeeding with Idina's secret help. She looked back at her husband. "I don't want to leave him alone."

"He could call his sister over," Helen pointed out. Aaron's sister, Remona, had stayed behind to help with her niece and nephews and came over every other day or so to relive them for a few shifts.

"I guess so," Idina admitted, unconvinced. "It's not fair that I get to go out and he doesn't get a break." And she did not want to leave. Her home was perfect and leaving her bubble was not at the forefront of her mind. "He's never done babies before. It has only been a week. And Erika's still studying for exams, I don't think she'll want to go." Idina got out the bubble juice and blew some for the triplets who were overjoyed at the rainbow orbs flying towards their faces.

"Don't make excuses Dee. You both need time out of the house. You need to destress the most with your condition."

"Brain injury, you don't need to dance around it, mom," she huffed. "This is destressing enough," she said, pulling a rattle out of Soren's hand as he was hitting himself and stuff with it. She blew a raspberry at him. How was it possible to love these little guys so much? She sat up and pulled Zephyr and Lucinda into her lap while her mother took Soren.

She and Aaron were writing songs for all of them. So far, they had one for all three, one they swapped the names in and out of while they fed them, and one for Zephyr and Cindy. Aaron had a song he sang to Soren. She started humming a few bars and she bounced around the newborns.

"Zephy and Cindy, being really silly," she singsonged, blowing kisses at the both of them.

It was not long until one of them got fussy and chaos broke loose. Zephyr needed a diaper change and Lucinda was hungry, maybe, they were not sure, but she was bawling so something was wrong, and Soren probably needed a nap.

Erika and Walker came through the door with Louie, who started barking before dashing downstairs.

"Do they have to cry all the time mom?" Walker asked with his hands over his ears.

"They can't communicate any other way," Idina told him and she bounced Soren up and down, trying to soothe him.

Aaron was working with Lucinda and Helen had taken Zephyr to get cleaned up.

"They're just so loud and smelly," he said.

"Every baby is loud and smelly," Aaron replied. "Why don't you help out and hold your sister while I finish supper?"

"What are we having?" he quizzed.

"Stir-fry," Aaron replied.

Walker thought for a moment. "That's acceptable," he decided, taking his younger sister from his stepdad and sitting down on the couch beside his mother. "He's still so small," Walker said. "Was I this small once?"

Idina nodded. Aaron brought back a bottle and Walker to try feeding her and seeing if that worked while Idina hummed to Soren.

Erika came back up from the basement with Louie's feed bag and put it on the high shelf in the pantry. It had taken a few days, but she was warming up to the twins. She never asked about them nor spent extended periods of time with them, but her good and helpful nature often won out when they were in the middle of a fit. Idina always thought she might have some sort of magic baby touch and was slightly disappointed every time she seemed to be as clueless as the rest of them. Having the magical baby touch seemed something that would be so Erika to have, but as she knew very well, everyone had limits to their superpowers. She did sometimes wonder if the concept of babies made her eldest uncomfortable but had no idea how to bring it up. She just wanted to let Erika know it was okay and that she would not judge her. Maybe a girls' night out would be a good idea.

"Can I help?" Erika asked.

Idina nodded and handed her Soren. Erika held him at arm's length for a moment, somewhat stunned, then pulled him close and started rocking him back and forth. His wails died down once Lucinda started feeding and stopped wailing. Helen came back out with Zephyr who was hungry now too.

Idina was still self-conscious about breastfeeding in front of her other children, but they both insisted multiple times they did not mind, and the smell of Aaron's cooking was too good to pass up. She turned away for a moment, until the boy latched, then sat back down faced away from them. Walker came over with Lucinda and sat down beside her, watching his younger brother. He was simultaneously transfixed and annoyed by their existence.

"They eat a lot," he said. "Like all the time," he clarified.

"Not as much as you think," she informed him. "They're just small, so they can't hold a lot of food like you or I can, so they need to eat every few hours. As they get older, they'll be able to go longer and sleep longer too."

Zephyr finished eating and Lucinda had drained the bottle, so Idina directed that the twins be set down in their hampers in the living room after she made sure Soren was not hungry too. He fed for a little bit, and by the time he was done the table was set and supper was ready. Idina put him down, already looking a bit drowsy since the triplets had an extra-long playtime today. When supper was over, Idina approached Aaron about Helen's suggestion.

"Go," he said instantly.

"I don't want to leave you alone or leave. You," she explained.

Aaron placed the plate he was scrubbing in the sink and hugged her. "Go, Dee. It is just an evening, go shopping for Cindy. We barely have anything for her. Spend some time with Erika. She needs a study break too. Destress. I know you have not had any episodes, only nightmares, since the birth and you are not stressed right now, but what is the harm in taking precautions, especially now? I'll be fine here for a few hours."

She held him tightly. "I don't want to leave Soren and Zeph either."

"We don't want them to get separation anxiety," he reasoned. "You going away for a few hours, them being well taken care of, then you coming back will help avoid that."

"It's not stopping my separation anxiety," she pouted, still holding onto him.

"I've got this, I promise. We have bottles in the fridge, and I can call my sister. You will only be gone for a few hours. You trust me alone with the boys, right?"

"I'm not sure, I don't trust anyone alone with them," she admitted. "They were all mine for nine months and now I don't know what to do to get them back."

"They're still yours, Dee, promise." He nuzzled her comfortingly and pulled her closer. "I'm here for you and them. Have some fun. I have been out a few times, you can go. Everything will be in order when you come back. And the court date's coming up, so again, destress before it does."

"But are you sure you will be okay?" she asked, pulling back to look at him in the eyes. "I know it's hard all alone, especially with two. I don't want you to get burnt out because there's no way I can do this if you get burnt out."

"First, I'm a lot less likely to get burnt out if I'm not worried about you. Second, you can do this. It is hard, but you can do so much. You took care of Walker and you could take care of the triplets. But you won't have too." He kissed her forehead. "I'm here."

She smiled and hugged him again. "Thanks for the pep talk," she said. "If something happens, you call me right away. Before it happens. My phone will be on and the ringer will be on so there's no excuse for not calling and texting like the world is ending."

Aaron chuckled. "I will. If, and only if, something happens. Nothing is going to happen. I've got this."

"You're so confident now," she observed. "Only a few days ago you were worried you were going to screw this up."

"I think I've got the hang of it," he said with a wink. "Now, get changed and have some fun with our daughters."

His hand slipped down to her butt and he squeezed it with another wink. Idina snorted and swatted at him playfully as he chased her up the stairs. The door to their room was closed.

"Got you," Aaron said as he pinned her against the door.

"Are you sure I don't have you?" Idina asked deviously, her hand secretly looking for the doorknob. "Maybe you're right where I want to you to be."

"I think you're trying to take this win from me," he replied, slowly breaching the gap in between them.

Idina waited until there was a hairbreadth between their lips before she opened the door and stepped backwards. He stumbled forwards into the room as she laughed at him.

"Got you!" she exclaimed.

Aaron tackled her, still caught up in a laughing fit, down to the bed. He kissed her face, making her laugh more.

"I think I have you now," he chuckled, planting more kisses on her face. "What?" he asked as she couldn't get a word out in between her giggles, "can't admit that I won?"

"You... have not... won... this... is. ... not over... you... are so... de...dead, Aaron," she finally got out, trying to stop herself with deep breaths. When she finished, she held one, puffing out her cheeks like a chipmunk, making Aaron chuckle more.

"Draw?" he asked.

Idina nodded vigorously, the air deflating from her cheeks and the room filled with the wonderful sound of her laugh again. She kissed Aaron's cheek, catching a glimpse at the door where Erika was standing a bit out of the way, looking at them with a small smile, yet the same furrowed brow she had when she was trying to make sense of something. As soon as the girl noticed Idina, she acted like she was just walking by.

"I think we have a little stalker," Idina whispered. "Erika was watching us."

"We might be the first healthy relationship she's ever seen," Aaron replied. "So that's another reason why you need to have a girls' night out with her. Especially with your mom. So," he said as he crawled off her, "get dressed."

She smirked. "You'd love that, wouldn't you?" she teased, throwing a pillow at him. He caught it and tossed it to the couch.

"No pillow for you then," he mocked. He went over to their closet and pulled out a dress he knew Idina hated. "How about this?" he asked, holding it up.

"No," she said with an eye roll.

"Then choose something at getting changed. The clock's ticking. I am going to go and finish the dishes. I want all the women out of the house before I do."

She shook her head, grinning as she pulled herself up at when to the closet and Aaron left the room, closing the door behind him.

~

Helen dragged both Idina and Erika to the strip mall. She figured shopping would solve everything, or at the very least would be a nice change of pace. It was the evening and the shops had not closed yet, but they were only an hour or two left before everything would be shut down. There were few people out, much to Idina's relief.

Erika was carrying Louie, as he was a bit tired since he had already been out twice and Idina had Lucinda strapped to her chest. The girl was so tiny her head was not very visible to people passing by, but she was growing, and her mother was right, they needed some stuff for her. Neither of them had been prepping for a girl, let alone three children and they were finding out every day there was something they had just glossed over or forgotten.

Lucinda had been barely five pounds when she was born but was now pushing six. Her brothers were pushing nine, having been seven and six and a half, respectively. Idina still found it hard to believe she had just pushed twenty pounds of baby out less than a week ago. It had done wonders for her weight, but her figure was still squishy, floppy, and deflated. It was good there was no one around to notice.

Lucinda gurgled and Idina look down, a smile growing on her face.

"Like it outside?" she cooed to the little thing, stroking a small fist. The baby latched onto her pinkie finger with a death grip. "I love you too Cindy," Idina cooed, planting a kiss on her daughter's brow. The baby gurgled again in satisfaction.

"Here we are!" Helen exclaimed as they approached the baby store that seemed to be the target of her escapade. She turned to Erika. "You'll have to hold Louie the entire time, but other than that he should be fine." She scratched the dog behind the ear. "He's such a good boy, isn't he?" Helen asked, "Aren't you Louie? You've done such a good job with him, Erika."

"I haven't done much," she replied sheepishly. "It's a group effort."

"You love him, it goes a long way," Helen replied. Blushing, the girl tried to hide her face in the Westie's fur.

Idina wrapped her free arm around Erika's shoulders before walking into the store. "I love you too," she whispered to the teen. "I'm so lucky to have both, my daughters," she continued to no one in particular. "Sometimes it's the unexpected that brings us the most joy." She squeezed Erika a bit tighter. Louie barked in response.

The spent a good hour looking through clothes for Lucinda. There was so much, things that would only fit for a few weeks but too adorable not to at least have for those few weeks. Idina did not bother with any toys. They had so much, gifts from friends and family, and it did not matter whether they were blue, pink, or orange. Baby toys were baby toys. They did pick her out a ballerina rabbit plush since both Soren and Zephyr had plush toys from their maternal grandmother and Helen had gotten Mr. Rabbit for Walker when he was born. Lucinda would have had one too had anyone known about her.

"I could get you one too Erika," Helen said.

"I'm fine, honestly," Erika replied. "I don't need one."

"I'm getting it anyway," she decided, picking out the purple variant of the one she had gotten for Lucinda.

"You don't have to make up for what Dawn said," Erika stated. "She's right in a way," Erika admitted, making Idina come closer to her, ready to tell her off on just how false that was before her mother cut her off.

"No, she's not, and the fact that you think she is right is the reason why I have too," Helen replied.

Erika said nothing and looking away. Helen paid for everything then put the bag with the purple plush in Erika's hand. Louie sniffed at it intensely, then decided it was uninteresting and rested his head on her shoulder. Idina came back to Erika's side and Louie took a prompt interested in the baby. He licked her face and she started bawling, startling the dog.

"She's a bit too young for that Louie," Idina said apologetically. "And she's hungry and maybe a bit poopy too, so it was stacked against you."

Erika kisses the dog's forehead and scratched his ears. His tail was wagging eagerly.

They found themselves sitting behind a tree wall at a small outdoor restaurant that had a privacy corner for more high profile guests and a policy that dogs were okay as long as they remained at their owner's table and did not bark or cause a ruckus. Louie was a good boy and once given some water and a treat was happy to lay at their feet if he received the occasional pet from one of them or their waiter.

Idina went to the bathroom to change Lucinda once they had ordered. Lucinda was still fussing when she came back and figured the girl was either tired or hungry. Since she snoozed in the store, Idina guessed she was the latter.

"It's it, um, okay if I feed her?" Idina stuttered. This was so uncomfortable still.

"It's fine," Erika said. "I don't mind." She went back tot eh book she was reading on her Kindle.

"I don't care either Dee," her mother said. "I've been through it all. There's no one else here."

Lucida took a while to latch on, still too fussy to realize that she was being helped. Idina sighed when she finally did. She wanted this over before her teenage male server came back and saw her.

She loved nursing Lucinda. She was not a vampire-like Zephyr or overtly meticulous and fussy like Soren who often preferred a warmed bottle and her father over his mother. She was also so light Idina never felt sore. And she ate more than what seemed physically possible, but it never bothered her. Not to mention she had the lovely brown eyes of her father. Idina hummed to the baby as she fed, smiling. The best things in life were the surprises.

"Excuse me!" a loud woman exclaimed after Helen had left to get to the bathroom, pushing her way past the gate into their private area. "Could you cover-up, please? Oh my God, I cannot believe you are exposing yourself to a teenager, what is wrong with you? You're going to give her bad ideas." The woman was overweight and had a botched blonde pixie cut and stood about four eleven. Her make up was caked on her face and Idina sighed internally.

She asked Erika to get the blanket from her bag. She had a feeling something like this would happen.

As Erika did so, the woman came closer, much too close for Idina's liking, asking all sorts of questions that Idina was not keen on answering.

"Please leave me alone," she said meekly, trying to defuse the situation.

The woman pressed on as Erika pulled the blanket out from the bag. Louie was now standing up, growling in the slightest bit but the woman was being too loud to notice. Then Erika stood, taking a step towards Idina who freed her hand to help cover herself, but in a turn of events, the girl put the blanket over the banshee's head.

"What the hell was that for you disrespecting slut?" the woman growled as she threw the blanket off.

"First, no one yells at Idina," Erika said. "Secondly, you're the only person with a problem here and you're not even supposed to be here. Third, how would you like eating underneath a blanket?" She positioned herself so that she was between Idina and the crazy lady. Idina could tell she was a lot more scared then she was letting on from the way her hand was digging into her elbow from behind her back, but Erika had a few inches on the woman and was using it to her advantage.

The woman opened her mouth to rebuttal, but Erika pointed at the gate. "Leave," she said. "This is a private event and private table." Louie's growls grew louder and he was standing in between Erika's legs, his leash wrapped around her ankle from the commotion.

The stager, suddenly noticing the guard, shrieked, disturbing Lucinda, and making the girl begin to scream and exposing Idina's nipple. Then the woman took it upon herself to restore her original tirade. Erika, in a sharp motion, bent down, picked the blanket up, and placed it back on the screaming woman's head. She was so shocked that she stopped her verbal assault for a minute and just stood there swaying in the darkness. Idina could not help but chuckle. Erika looked back at her, smirking too and proud of herself, then Idina went back to focusing on her youngest, trying to calm the babe down for everyone's sake.

Just as the stranger pulled the blanket off her head for a second time, Helen came back in with some security officers who drag her away kicking and screaming. Suddenly realizing she was the loudest thing there; Lucinda's wails soon die down and she begins suckling again eagerly.

There was a slight shriek as Erika tried to sit back down, but her feet were so wound up in Louie's leash that she went plummeting towards the concrete instead. Idina watched in horror as when down face first, her hand raising to protect her face and her palms sliding against the concrete as she broke her fall with her hands and knees.

"Ow," she moaned as she rolled over onto her butt.

Helen was down in an instant, checking her over. "Just sone scraped and road rash," Helen informed Idina, but the latter could already see the blood trickling down her legs and arms.

A server came back with their salad and was promptly mortified, leaving to bring back some warm clothes.

Erika was shaking her left hand violently, in clear pain. Louie was struggling to get close to her, his leash still wound up around her feet. Helen undid his leash and unwound it before tethering the dog, who was no in Erika's lap giving her soppy kisses and making her giggle. The waiter came back was a first aid kit and his manager, who started apologizing profusely to Idina while tending to Erika. He cleaned her hands and knees, disinfected it with alcohol wipes, then out gave her some band-aids which she applied to her liking. She thanked him before standing up and sitting down. The manager apologized again, offering them many things which India said they did not need.

They were left alone with the salad and side dished they had ordered to share since no one was hungry for a full meal. Lucinda was snoozing in her mother's arms, sucking on her pacifier.

"Are you okay?" Idina asked, still a bit shaken.

"Yeah," Erika replied with a head nod.

"So, what exactly happened while I was gone?" Helen asked.

"That woman started screaming at Idina," Erika replied.

"And Erika thought it would be a good idea to put a blanket over her head like as of she was a bird in a cage or something," Idina followed with a chuckle.

"It worked," Erika pointed it.

"It did," the star agreed. She then proceeded to record the events in detail to her mother, making Erika out to be her big hero as they ate.

~

When they finally made it home, the boys were sleeping in their downstairs cots and Aaron was passed out on the couch. Walker was sitting on his stepfather's feet and watching a Land Before Time film on low volume.

"Mommy!" he said excitedly, running up to her and hugging her.

Zephyr woke up and started crying. Soon Soren was doing the same.

"Sorry," Walker whispered.

"It's fine," Idina replied, kissing his forehead. "Why don't you help out and try and soothe one of your brothers?" she asked.

He nodded and picked Zephyr up from his cot and sat down in a chair, telling him not to cry. Aaron had been awoken by the crying and was picking up Soren when Idina came behind him. She had removed the baby carrier and was just holding Lucinda.

"Erika's fine," she said, knowing somewhat that starting a sentence like that always started panic, even if it was meant to be reassuring.

"What?" he asked, turning around. "What happened?"

"She fell on some pavement, just some scraped and road rash. Mom's getting her some Tylenol."

"I need more information, Dee," he informed her, looking around for Erika who was not in the room.

Idina told him, much to his relief.

"This was supposed to be a destresser," Aaron lectured her playfully, "Idina, come on," he teased as Soren began to settle. "We should bring the munchkins upstairs. It'll be quieter."

Idina agreed and she asked Walker to bring Zephyr up. They laid the triplets down. They were still fussy, but Idina had a feeling they would cry themselves to sleep soon if need be.

Aaron when to seek out Erika, who was in the basement playing Mario Cart with Walker.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied, rolling her eyes. Her hand stung the most. She had scraped a nerve bin, that was certain. Her knees throbbed, but it was not as bad as it had been.

Aaron took her hand and looked it over. Most of it was exposed with a few colourful band-aids across it. "It needs to breathe, but tomorrow we're going to wrap it properly for the day," he said.

"I just lost because of you," she said, pointing to the screen where Walker had won.

"Thanks!" Walker exclaimed. "She never lets me win on this track."

"You're more important than a game," Aaron said.

Erika rolled her eyes again. Aaron smirked. Moody teen. He had never thought a moody teenager would make him so excited and proud.

"Thanks for standing up for Idina," he said. "I'm glad you were there since I wasn't."

"It was nothing," she replied quietly. "And it was kinda funny anyway," she said with a small laugh.

"You know she's going to be obsessing over it for days, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to be begging you until it heels," he replied. "How's the knee?"

"Better then my hands," she admitted.

"Want me to kiss it better?" he asked.

"That doesn't work," she informed him.

"I have dad magic, it does," he replied.

"Mommy magic works," Walker told Erika. "Maybe dad magic does too."

"Only if you're comfortable," Aaron replied, realizing her might have overstepped.

"Fine," she said, presenting her palms to him.

He kissed the band-aids, then the ones on her knees. "Better?" he asked.

"Kind of," she admitted, blushing.

"See, I told you so," he teased, pulling her into a hug. "Dad magic works."

"I guess dad magic does work."

Aaron froze for a second, wondering if she realized what she had just said. Erika had never once used the word 'dad' before. Then he squeezed her tighter, deciding not to point it out. It would be his little secret for a while. And by that, he meant until he went upstairs to his wife and rubbed it in her face.

"Don't stay up too late," he told them, ruffling their hair. Louie barked, jealous. He petted Louie before going upstairs.

He walked to his bedroom and crawled into bed beside Idina.

"Guess what?"

"What," she asked, not looking up from her phone.

"Guess who just got called dad?"

"What!" Idina said, almost yelling and turning to face him.

"Shh, you'll wake the triplets"

"Spill, now. What happened?" she demanded quietly.

"Well, she didn't say it directly, but I was teasing her about dad magic kisses, like your mommy magic for Walker, and she said that she guess dad magic did work," he recounted.

"What?" Idina asked again in excitement, tears welling in her eyes.

"So, she didn't actually call me dad, but she like, associated me with the word."

"That's amazing," Indian replied, but Aaron could see there was a longing in her eyes.

"I'm sure mom will come soon," Aaron replied. There were tears in his eyes too.

"You do spend more time with her now," Idina rationalized. "And she has more complications with mom than with dad. You are helping her with driver's ed and all that stuff. That is an hour a week you two get alone, that's not fair on my end."

"True," he said with a bit of a smirk.

"Stop it," Idina whined, swatting at him playfully.

"What's interesting on your phone?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I wanted to show it to you," she replied, her voice going sombre. "Taye got out of rehab last month apparently, and well, I guess things are crazy now."

Aaron raised an eyebrow as she handed him her phone. He read the long text wall from her ex.

Hi, Idina, it is Taye. I got out of rehab last month. I was staying at my parent's place for a while, but I am going to be leaving the state soon. That is not why I am writing this. I'm not sure how to break it to you but my parents have gone round the bend a bit and I don't think it's a good idea or safe for Walk to visit them for a while. They are still very mad about the divorce, which I know you know, but they are also pretty wound up about the triplets (congratz btw). They think it is satanic or something and that is why I left. They are nuts, so I am just warning you. They have graves for the two boys in their backyard. I am worried they might try and take Walk so I would like to ask it if Aaron could take my paternal rights for now. If it would make it harder for my parents to get custody of him if they tried, then I want him too, because they are scaring me and that is saying a lot. Also, as I said I am leaving the state, so I will be selling the house. If there is anything you or Walk want, let me know so we can work out a time for someone to get the things. I know you would prefer it if we did not run into each other. I am so sorry for everything and if there is ever anything I could do, let me know. And please tell Walk I love him. Taye.

"What the..." Aaron asked.

"I have no clue. I want to think that he's high, but He's been sober since Christmas or they wouldn't have let him out and this doesn't seem like a relapse."

"I mean I would adopt Walker if you want," Aaron said, "and if that's what he wants. How are we going to break this to him?"

"I have no clue. They have graves for the boys in their backyard..." she mumbled. "What if they try and break into the house or something? Or try and hurt the boys?"

"I don't know," Aaron replied. "We have a lot of security, so they can't try anything without being caught. And they are in New York, so that's a lot of travel to get here."

Idina took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself before anything happened. "I think he's being truthful; I honestly don't think he's trying to mess with me. He sounds like a concerned father."

"I think so too, Dee." He pulled her into a hug. "We'll sort this out. Let's wait a bit before we talk to Walker. Everything will be okay, I promise," he said.