Big shout out to my commenters last chapter. We had fewer death threats towards my characters so let's aim for none this time! Thank you to @jueka1 @themckenziefrenzy and @writerschic

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The ear-splitting wail pulled me from my slumber. Blinking at the early light of the morning, I rolled off my mattress onto the ground then pushed myself to a standing position.

Eyes barely open, I put one foot in front of the other until I was in the living room.

"Come on, Lexi," Lily cooed at my mini-me. "Go to sleep for mummy. Please? I'll buy you two barbies when you're four."

"Are you bribing them already?" I asked, a yawn following my eyes.

Like a deer caught in headlines, her head flicked back, eyes meeting mine. "I... um... you didn't hear anything."

Chuckling, I sat down by her and held my hands out. "Give her to me and go get some sleep."

"You still have another hour," she whispered.

Smiling at her, I said, "It's okay. I can have my coffee and shower once she's fallen asleep. And before you say it, don't worry. I'll bring the monitor into the bathroom with me so I can keep an eye on them."

Hesitantly, she transferred Lexi into my arms, and, within moments, her crying ceased, big blue eyes blinking up at me.

"That's so uncool, Lex," Lily scoffed, poking her tongue at the baby.

"Did you seriously just..."

"She hates me."

I deadpanned at her. "Firstly, she can't hate anything. She's a baby. Secondly, she loves you. You are her food source. Thirdly, she loves you, you are her mother. You two have some crazy chemical bond thing."

"Callie loves me. She easily latches, easily sleeps. But Lexi thinks my milk is gross or something and always cries when I hold her."

"Cut yourself and Lexi some slack. You know what the lactation consultant said. This is new for the both of you and you both have to learn how to do this."

"Breastfeeding is supposed to be natural!"

"Yeah, well... It is. But it's also a learning curve. Did she feed before by the way?"

Lily shook her head. "Callie was fine, but Lexi wanted none of it, so I ended up pumping while Callie fed."

"Did you give her the milk from the bottle?"

"Yeah," she sighed.

"Then all is good. I've got the next watch, Lily. Go get some sleep."

She heaved her body to a standing position and turned to leave.

"Lily?" I called out, trying not to be too loud to disturb the kids.

"Mmm?"

My eyes trailed down to her bottoms. "You need a change of pants."

Her eyes followed down and her bottom lip quivered as she took in the red that had stained her bottoms. "I'm never going to be normal again," she sobbed and then took off to the bathroom.

I turned my attention back to Lexi, who was still staring up at me, blinking. "Mummy is a little silly, isn't she?" I whispered. "But it is a big change too. Daddy needs to remember that. I'm lucky I don't have to go through this. But I'm so happy it brought you and your sister to me."

Lexi's face contorted into a smile. While I knew it was too early for them to be intentionally smiling, I decided to claim it as a win.

"Daddy is super funny, isn't he?" I cooed.

Zipper down. Tabs flipped. New nappy ready. I wiped Callie down from front to back, powdered her bottom, then popped her on the new nappy, snapping her into it and zipping her up again in almost a minute.

The first time I tried this, it was a nightmare. Poop and pee went everywhere, and Lily and I spent more time cleaning up our mess than it took to change their nappies.

But as I walked back into the living room, bouncing three-week old Callie in my arms, a more rested Lily smiled up at me. Lexi was in her arms, eyes wide, staring at Lily in awe.

The pair had figured out their disagreements and Lexi was finally latching properly.

But as I looked over Lily as I sat next to her, eyes barely having time to catch what she was watching, I leaned over and whispered, "You're leaking."

Eyes going over her shirt, she heaved a groan. "Seriously?"

She placed Lexi down in the moses basket and hurried off to the bedroom, coming back a few moments later with a new shirt.

"I feel like a cow sometimes," she said as she took her seat next to me and picked Lexi back up.

I smiled as I watched Lexi's heavy eyelids begin to blink before sleep consumed her. "A very pretty one," I said as I looked up at Lily.

She shook her head and clicked play on the movie.

As I leaned into the recliner, plopping a sleeping Callie on my chest, gently patting her back, I said, "You know they're too young for Disney, right?"

"The Disney is for me. With the amount of stress and tiredness, I can only handle simple storylines."

"It will get easier."

She shook her head. "I can't imagine doing this without you," she whispered, glancing over at me.

"No. No crying," I said as I saw her bottom lip quiver. The new emotions that came with breastfeeding had taken quite the toll on Lily. Nearly everything brought her to tears. But even I found myself crying whenever Lexi or Callie reached a new milestone.

Nodding, she sniffed and blinked the tears that threatened to spill from her eyes back inwards. "Thanks, Cory," she whispered.

I shrugged and turned my attention back to the TV, letting the silence consume us for a while. "So... when are you going to get Tyler to meet them again?"

She bit her lip. "I'm still wearing nappies myself."

"He saw you in the hospital," I replied.

"Yeah but... I was covered in a hospital gown and blankets, so he didn't really know what was going on. And my milk hadn't come in..."

"Lily, you're still gorgeous. You created life. Don't beat yourself up for something that's so spectacular."

She shrugged, turning her attention down to the sleeping Lexi.

"He's studying to be a doctor, Lily. He can handle this much, I assure you."

"I'm just scared he will see all this and think that... I don't know... maybe it's all too much. Maybe juggling me with the babies and his studies..."

"You don't know until you give him a chance."

Then, once we reached the month mark, a routine already in order, I began to pack my things back into my bag.

"I wish you could stay," Lily mumbled as she walked me to the door. The girls were sleeping in their crib as I was sneaking out the door.

"I'll come around every day still to see them. And the moment they're old enough they will definitely be spending some nights at mine."

"Of course. But are you sure you don't want to—"

"You need to get Tyler back over and I need to not be here. It will be weird for him if we're acting as full on parents with the both of us around. He might feel like he's intruding and we don't want to do that to him."

She nodded, averting her gaze.

But I did all I could in that moment. I pulled her in for a brief hug, not holding on too long for things to get weird, and then I turned around and went home.

Prepare for some more time jumps as we move towards the tail-end of this story, by the way.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter of Lily and Cory finally being parents! How do we think they're doing? Isn't it nice seeing them get along?

Finally... watch this space. The next chapter may be coming sooner than you think. >.>