Run, Girl (If You Can)

Kaleb, back in the living room, heard his sister's cries and rushed back in to check on her. "Vi, what's wrong?"

"Mommy's going to die and Auntie Alice won't let me see her!" Violet shrieked.

Whoa, nobody said anything about dying? How did the kid immediately jump to that conclusion?! Alice couldn't help but wonder how Keeley managed to parent this girl. She was something else. Violet was normally so well-behaved too.

Crocodile tears filled Kaleb's eyes. "Mommy's going to die? What about the baby in her tummy?"

"Daddy and the baby are going to die too," Violet predicted pessimistically. "We're going to be orphans and have to go live at Grandpa's house!"

"I don't want to live at Grandpa's house; he can't have cats!" Kaleb wailed.

They both rolled around on the floor banging their little fists on the ground as they cried and the only adult in the house couldn't do anything but watch in abject horror.

Alice rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Everyone told her that toddlers were the hardest age until kids became teenagers. Why was it that these two were ten times worse than Lila ever was?

"Hey guys, your mom isn't going to die! She did get into an accident and got hurt but she's going to be fine when she wakes up—"

"She's not awake? She's going to sleep forever and ever like Snow White if the prince didn't kiss her?" Violet demanded, stopping her tantrum for a moment.

Alice immediately backtracked. "No, sweetie, she's just asleep because she got hurt and needs to rest so she can feel better. Kind of like how Lila needs to take a nap so she can have energy to play after lunch."

Violet completely ignored this. "Do you think Daddy is enough of a prince to wake her up?" she asked her twin worriedly.

Kaleb wiped at his tears and shrugged. "I dunno. I heard Uncle Aiden talking about how he's in charge of an empire. So I guess he would be an emperor. Is that the same as a prince?"

"No, emperors are higher up than princes. Do you think it will still work?"

"I don't know! Do we need to find another prince somewhere?" he asked with a frown. "Daddy wouldn't like that. He says kisses are only for people who love each other."

Alice was tempted to cry tears of frustration at the direction their wild idea had gone but it was better than them both screaming on the floor. It wasn't like they could go find some random stranger to kiss their mother awake so this was fine. She would let their imaginations go and hopefully they would forget about this whole thing.

Was Lila going to be like this? She really didn't have any experience with children before the twins were born and even then it was limited until she had her own baby. When things like this happened she wondered if she was cut out to be a parent at all.

How did Aaron do it? His parents had been even more cold and detached than hers were and he was an excellent father. She may have to ask him for advice one of these days.

The twins finally turned their focus back to her. "Auntie Alice, you have to take us to go find a prince to wake Mommy up," Kaleb said matter-of-factly.

"I'm sorry; I need to stay here in case your dad wants to come pick you up. He doesn't have his phone and wouldn't know where to find us if we weren't at home."

This immediately launched another tantrum from both of them. That was it! She couldn't take it anymore. Jennica spent more time with these two; she had to know how to deal with them.

Alice whipped out her phone and sent a desperate text message. Lila was angry Kaleb hadn't come back to play with her and now she was crying too. Five more minutes of this and she would completely lose her mind. She needed help ASAP.

'Jennica, are you done at the dentist? The twins are freaking out and I could really use your help about now. Keeley got into a car wreck and had to get a C-section. She got hurt but other than that she and the baby are fine. No matter how much I tell them she's okay, the twins are convinced she's either going to die or is in an enchanted sleep like Snow White and needs a prince to kiss her'

'KEELEY WHAT' came in less than a minute later, followed with 'I'll be right over'.

Less than 30 minutes later, right as Alice was at her breaking point, Jennica blessedly knocked on the door and the twins launched themselves at her legs.

 "Auntie Jen, Auntie Alice is mean and won't help us go save our mommy."

Alice shot her a look that clearly indicated 'see what I've had to deal with?' and Jennica smiled at her sympathetically before directing her attention to the kids. She gently stroked both of their hair.

"Hey guys. Your mom is the toughest lady I know. She doesn't need a prince to wake her up; she'll wake up all by herself. Why don't we go to the park right now? As soon as your daddy calls me I'll take you right to the hospital."

The twins exchanged a glance. "Is Noah coming to the park too?"

"Yep, he's still at the dentist but as soon as we pick him up he'll come to the park with us. Okay?"

Jennica set down Logan's car seat and helped the twins gather their toys before ushering them out the door. Thankfully they were visitors in her car often enough that Keeley had given her spare booster seats to keep in the trunk so they didn't always have to lug them back and forth.

She winked at Alice, who gaped at her in baffled awe, as she shut the door behind her. Jennica had years of practice under her belt from visiting Benny and Cameron's small herd of nieces and nephews. By the time she had Noah she felt like a seasoned veteran.