Dream lay awake in her babies nursery, silent tears falling from her eyes while she patted Avayah's back, putting her back to sleep-which most likely wouldn't be for long anyway.

The twins' sleep schedule was so wonky, and Dream hated it. She was trying to put them on a stricter routine, but obviously it wasn't working because it was currently four in the morning, and Avayah was wide awake.

It was going on more than 36 hours of running off zero sleep for Dream, and honestly, she didn't know when the next opportunity to get some sleep would come. Exhausted wasn't even a word that could describe how tired she was.

She didn't want to admit it to herself, especially since it had only been three weeks, but Dream was so tired of being a mommy already. This was the hardest job she'd ever had in her life, and she saluted every other mother alive because they were doing the damn thing!

Her babies were literally so attached to her, and wouldn't fall asleep unless it was on her chest. They didn't cry much, but when they did, it was more like ear-piercing screams. They were always hungry, always pooping, and she had to stop Kemani from choking himself with his blanket at least five times a day.

Kentrell and Dayvon did help as much as they could, however, it seemed like a mother's job was literally never done. All her babies wanted to do was be up under her, and so did their dads. Dream was so drained of this already, and it definitely showed in her appearance.

She hadn't gotten her hair, nails, or lashes done in over a month-and anyone that knew Dream, knew she kept herself together. There were bags forming under her bloodshot red eyes, her hair had been in this same messy ponytail for two weeks now, and she hadn't put on real clothes since she'd given birth.

Hell, she hadn't even left the house since they arrive home from the hospital two weeks ago! The only thing she had enough energy to do was take showers and brush her teeth, and that was only because she didn't play about hygiene.

Even with all of that, all Dream wanted to do was get in the bed and go to sleep. That didn't seem possible, though.

"You always think something funny. You're not funny. Take yo' butt to bed." She chuckled, steadily rocking Avayah in her arms, who was giving her small smiles here and there-with nothing but a mouth full of gums.

It was like Avayah knew that her and Kemani were literally about to send Dream into a manic episode. They found themselves to be quite comedic, too.

Using the back of her hand to wipe away her tears, Dream sat up on the couch that was in the nursery, pulling her left breast from out of her boob, and Avayah wasted no time to latch on to it. It was the quickest way to put her to sleep.

Honestly, that was probably why the routine she was trying to set wasn't working. Whenever they cried or had been up too long, all Dream did was pull out her boob to get things back under control. Maybe if she became stricter with their feeding schedule, a sleep schedule would follow suit.

Avayah ended up falling asleep just as Dream had hoped, and she was able to lay her down in the crib without waking her. She blew out a breath of relief when she realized she finally had a moment to herself. She was grateful for it, even if it was just for a few minutes.

If the twins weren't all over her, Kentrell and Von would be their normally clingy selves, holding her however they could, asking her questions, kissing her-just no personal space at all. She didn't mind it before, but now it seemed like she never had any 'me-time'. Everyone's presence was low-key overwhelming.

Since she was the only one left awake, she began to do the only other thing she was able to do besides be a mom and a girlfriend. Chores. Oh, how she dreaded chores now.

Her time was always being used up by her family, so the house would now go unkept for a couple of days or so. Dream hated it so badly, and tried to keep it clean as best as she could while dealing with everything else.

There were baby bottle's everywhere, pacifiers, the laundry needed to be done, her kitchen was a mess because Kentrell and Dayvon could hardly clean up after themselves when they attempted to make dinner, the living room pillows were scattered out of place, and Midnight's area was also a mess.

She definitely planned to do better, she was just having a hard time adjusting to the new additions to her life. With all of this going on, Dream was still grateful that her family was safe and healthy. That's what mattered over everything else.

Over the course of four hours, Dream got everything cleaned up-and by clean, she literally bleached and scrubbed every single surface of her house. She did everyone's laundry, and even folded it all, and put it up in the closets and drawers.

Thanking God for Instacart being open to deliveries 24/7, Dream was even able to order groceries to the house. She tipped the deliverer almost two hundred dollars because she had ordered well over eight hundred dollars in groceries.

After stocking her kitchen, snack pantry, toiletries, and more cleaning products, it was now nearing ten in the morning. She was dog tired, but both twins were now awake and ready for breakfast. Like mentioned earlier, a mother's job was never done.

Before breastfeeding them, Dream took both of them a bath, moisturized their bodies in Aveeno Baby Daily Moisture Lotion, and dressed them up in cute little onesies that covered their hands and feet.

For some reason, the two of them couldn't keep their hands away from their faces, and each had at least two scars from when they'd scratched themselves. When Dream put mittens on them, they used their feet to scratch at their legs. So, one piece onesies were their best friends for right now.

"Hi baby. There's breakfast in the oven if you're hungry." Dream let her head tilt to the side after Kentrell greeted her with a few cheek kisses.

"You smell good mama. How you feelin'?" He continued to kiss against her skin, subtly sniffing it at the same time.

"I'm okay. How are you? You sleep good?" She smiled at his affection, holding her robe closed. She'd just gotten out the shower as well, and didn't have the energy to put any clothes on.

"You sleep at all?" He returned a question without answering hers, and she laughed, watching him pick both of the twins up at the same time.

"Not really. I had a busy morning." She chuckled, resting her head on her hand, now sitting down on the couch.

"Go get in the bed mama. I got 'em." He nodded towards their bedroom, seeing how red her eyes were.

"I'm fine. Go eat." She covered her mouth as she coincidentally yawned, making Kentrell shake his head at her.

"Go get in the bed Ayanna. I'm serious." His gaze locked on hers because he wasn't playing, and she stared at him for a few moments, before nodding.

"Thank you baby. I just need a little nap." She wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, and he kissed her face in response.

"You ain't gotta thank me. I love you."

"I love you more." She softly kissed his lips, and ended up leaving out of the nursery a few seconds later.

The relief that she felt walking out was unlike any other. Even if she only slept for ten minutes, that was more than enough for her.

She entered their bedroom at the same time that Dayvon walked out of the bathroom, his dreads pulled back into a ponytail, which put his chiseled jawline on display. She also noticed that the bed had been made up with the fresh set she'd just washed, making her smile.

"Wassup pretty," His arms slid around her waist in a hug, and she held around his neck, letting him kiss her face. It made her happy to know they still called her pretty, even when she looked half-dead.

"Hey papa. It's breakfast in the kitchen if you're hungry." She told him, pulling away after letting the hug linger for awhile.

"Thank you. What you finna do? Where yo' clothes at?" He peeked in her robe, and she smiled, rolling her eyes.

"I'm about to try and take a nap. Why, do you need something?" She asked, low-key hoping he didn't. She wanted to get in the bed, as soon as possible.

"Nah. You good ma. Gon' head." He nodded towards the bed, and she kissed him once more, before going to do as told.

She removed her robe, then climbed underneath the fresh thick cover she'd previously washed, her body basically melting on the soft, silk sheets. The sleep number mattress literally felt like heaven.

Grabbing the bed remote, she softened the middle area of the bed, and turned on the cooling setting while yawning once again. As tired as she was, she could honestly smell her future sleep.

Dayvon headed out of the bedroom after making sure she was comfortable, going towards the nursery where he figured Kentrell and the twins would be.

"Wassup baby." He kissed Kentrell's lips, taking Kemani out of his arms.

"Wassam. Nana in the bed?" Kentrell asked after kissing him back, and Von nodded in response, sitting down on the couch.

"Ion know when the last time she been sleep. You seen her eyes? It been a few days, at least." Kentrell spoke again, sitting down on the side of him.

"Deadass?" Von's eyebrows deeply furrowed in concern, upset with himself that he hadn't realized sooner.

"Yeah. I just came outta' the kitchen-everything clean. I seen fresh clothes in my drawer when I got out the shower a few minutes ago, and it's a bunch of food in the cabinets now. She got all that shit handled while we was sleep." Kentrell shook his head, also upset. He wished he could've helped.

"I know her ass dog tired. Damn. We gotta do better." Von stated, slowly rubbing his hand down his face. Neither of the two wanted Dream to feel like she was doing this alone. They hadn't even realized how much she was doing all by herself.

Before Kentrell could even respond, Avayah began to whine, which turned into cries not even five seconds later. Caught by surprise, he kind of just stared at her for a minute, before standing up to grab her pacifier.

"Be quiet baby. You gone wake yo' mama up." He rocked her in his arms, putting her pacifier in her mouth. That didn't stop her cried though, and soon enough, Kemani joined in with dramatic screams of his own.

Kentrell and Dayvon tried everything to get them to quiet down-putting on their cartoons, tried to give them a bottle, took their clothes off in case they were hot, did skin to skin, but nothing seemed to work. Their cries just grew louder with each second that passed.

The worst thing about parenting was that it didn't come with a handbook. Neither of them thought to take classes for it either, because how hard could it have been? But oh boy, how they had underestimated parent life. It was harder than hard, it was ruthless, actually.

Both of their heads picked up when the nursery door opened, and their stood Dream, her robe back on her body, and exhaustion was written all across her expression. It had barely been five minutes since she'd gotten in the bed, and she was already up again.

"I'm sorry ma." Von told her as she grabbed both babies from them, and she did a small hand gesture to wave it off, walking to sit on the floor in the corner of the room.

Her tears from this morning returned, and she let them fall freely instead of trying to hide them from both of her baby father's the way that she normally did. She didn't even have the energy to wipe the tears away.

The cries from the twins slowly begin to soothe, and Dream came to the realization that she probably wouldn't be getting any sleep, any time soon.

"I'm fine. Don't touch me please." She sniffed, stopping Kentrell in his tracks when he reached to hug her. She felt bad about it, but she didn't want to be bothered right now.

"Aight baby. My fault." He reached behind him to pull at one of his dreads, keeping his eyes on her. He didn't blame her for not wanting him to touch her, and wished there was something he could do to help.

Not only had she been working so hard as a mother and a girlfriend with no breaks, but she never even got to celebrate her birthday either. She ended up spending it in the hospital because her children were so clingy that they had to arrive on her birthday.

Honestly, Dream forgot she even turned 23. It seemed to pass on like any other day, except she got hospital food for breakfast and was taught by her midwife how to breastfeed. Other than that, it was the same ole' same old.

"Tell us what to do Nana. You need something?" Dayvon asked her after a few moments, trying to find a way for them to help her.

"No. I'm fine." She mumbled, sniffing once more as she stared down at both of her kids, who seemed to become drowsy just by being in her presence. Spoiled at its finest.

Kentrell and Von just stood nearby, watching as she effortlessly put the babies to sleep, the room gradually growing quiet as she did so. When she laid them down in the crib, she finally wiped her face dry, attempting to get herself together.

Turning out the lights and turning the baby monitor on, the three parents left out of the nursery, hoping the babies would remain asleep for a little while.

"You not gon' get back in the bed, Dream?" Kentrell asked her, seeing her heading downstairs towards the kitchen.

"What's the point? I'll just be back up again in a few minutes anyway." She muttered, but both of them still heard her.

"We ah' take them for a car ride if they do so the crying won't wake you up. Just go get in the bed ma." Von told her, him and Kentrell following her downstairs.

"Why would you take them on a car ride? Did you even think about that before you said it? They're too young to leave the house, Dayvon. And it's a hundred degrees outside. Please be logical." She grabbed the box of fruity pebbles from on top of the refrigerator, even though she'd literally cooked a five star breakfast less than an hour ago.

"I was tryna h-,"

"I know, but it's not working. I'm fine, I don't need any help." She cut him off before he could finish, pouring herself a bowl of cereal.

"Dream you can't just be running off no sleep like this. You gone fuck aroun' and pass out. You need some sleep." Kentrell followed her body with his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed with concern.

"What do you want me to do, Kentrell? Every time I try to go to sleep, somebody needs something. You don't have to tell me what I need. Neither of you do. I'm fine." She said again, feeling herself becoming agitated.

"And even if I do end up going to sleep, then what? What happens when the babies are up again? Y'all will just come and wake me up as always, because it seems like y'all don't know how to do basic shit as bullshit-ass fathers." She continued, and by the time she realized what she'd said, the kitchen had already went silent.

"Oh my god, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I'm so sorry." She dropped her spoon, covering her face as more tears fell at the realization of her outburst. That had came out all wrong.

Neither Kentrell nor Von could even respond to being called 'bullshit-ass fathers', but wouldn't deny that it had hurt their feelings. While their attempts hadn't been as successful as Dream's, they still tried their hardest to be good parents. It was new to all of them-way too new to be putting bad terms on one another when it came to parenting.

Dream watched as Kentrell headed back upstairs, still pulling at his dread as he attempted to calm himself down. He didn't want to become upset with her because he knew that she hadn't meant what she'd said.

Figuring that the only thing that was best for Dream right now was to be given some personal space, Von went back upstairs as well, neither of them saying anything before they left.

"Oh my god." She sniffed, laying her head on the table as her right leg bounced at a high speed, irritated with herself.

She honestly didn't mean that. They were great fathers, and she couldn't ask for better partners throughout this process of adapting to parenthood. Her emotions had gotten the best of her, and she spoke out of anger and accidentally said something she hadn't meant.

Dream stood up from the table moments later, also following suit and went back upstairs so that she could apologize for her harsh words. She shouldn't have taken her frustrations out on them.

When she made it to the bedroom, she saw that both of them laid facing away from one another, on their phones and most likely submerged in their own thoughts.

"Y'all aren't bad fathers. That's not what I meant, I promise. I just want a little more help when it comes to the babies. It seems like I'm doing it by myself and I hate that. I haven't slept in so long, so I'm not thinking straight and ended up speaking out of anger. I'm so sorry." She apologized, trying to dry her tears from her face.

"We be trying Nana. Every time we try to help and we don't do it fast enough, you just take the babies from us and do it by yourself. You gotta let us help you out or this 'speaking out of anger' gon' turn into a regular thing." Kentrell spoke, his attention still on his phone.

"Okay. I'm sorry. Y'all are great fathers and I really didn't mean that, I swear. I'm sorry." She apologized again, genuinely upset with herself for her outburst.

"Come here." Von held the cover up, and she sniffed, climbing in the bed with them after taking her robe off for the second time.

"Go to sleep baby." He rubbed her back, and she nodded her head, letting Kentrell dry her face for her. She was so in love with them and all that they did for her and the babies. She couldn't believe she'd discredited them the way that she had.

Poor Dream. They stressing my baby out 😭