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Getting to my feet, I hurried away. “I’ll be right back,” I shouted, running out of the bathroom.
I came back a few minutes later with a stack of newspapers.
Irene’s expression turned disappointed at once. “I don’t want to read a newspaper,” she said in a small voice. “They don’t have any nice pictures like my storybooks.”
I chuckled and started shuffling the newspaper sheets. “It’s not for reading,” I said. “I’m going to make you some paper boats with them.”
“Paper boats?”
I gave a nod. “You’ll see. My mom taught me how to make them when I was about your age. Let’s see if I can make one now.”
I folded the sheet of paper into triangles, turning it quickly into a boat. Patting the object into shape, I gently dropped it in the water.
Both Irene and I watched the paper boat bob along the small ripples.
Irene thrashed at the water, making more ripples. The boat floated toward the other side of the tub.
“Make me some more, please,” she requested at once.
Irene giggled and played with the boats I made her. It was amazing how something so simple could cheer her into forgetting the bad memories of the day.
When the tub was full of floating paper boats, I took the hand shower and started washing her hair.
The water washed away the remnants of dried blood on the side of her forehead, revealing a small but deep cut. While Irene stayed distracted, I put a small band-aid over the wound.
I heard voices through the slightly parted door of the bathroom. It sounded like Noah and Caleb were back. With all the worry about not knowing what to buy, they took a surprisingly short time to return with all their purchases.
“I think they’re back,” I told Irene. “How about I get some clothes for you and then we can go see them?”
“Yes. I want to be pretty when I see them.”
Chuckling, I stepped away and walked out of the bathroom.
To my surprise, I found Corey in the room, pawing through one of the many shopping bags that littered my bed.
“What’s all this stuff?” Corey muttered, bringing out a pretty pink dress.
“You know nothing,” said Caleb and snatched the dress from him.
“What’s going on?” Corey asked, turning his confused gaze on me.
“We’ll explain but right now, I’d like you to meet my guest.” I took the dress from Caleb and smiled. “This is so pretty.”
“Noah picked it up,” he said with a sheepish grin. “I went to the supermarket to pick up hotdogs and ice cream. I bought our baby loads of snacks and sweets too.”
Our baby?The word sent a thrill of warmth shooting through me.
“I hope the dress fits,” Noah said with a worried look that made me want to kiss him.
“It’ll fit,” I said, taking another look at the dress. “I’ll go get her. She thinks you’re both like princes.”
“Who is she?” Corey asked, his eyes wide. “And what about me? Don’t I get to play a prince too?”
Noah and Caleb turned grim gazes on their brother. It looked like Caleb told Noah the truth about Irene already.
“Save it for now,” I said. “Just be your charming selves, okay?”
“Sure,” said Caleb. “Has she been behaving?”
