Chapter 167 A Distraction

Chapter 167 A Distraction


Brianna’s POV

I should have known better. The nursery had looked perfect exactly five minutes ago. Every blanket had been folded, every stuffed animal had found a place on the shelves, and the rocking chair sat beside the window where the morning sunlight poured across the polished wooden floor. After what felt like a hundred tiny decisions, I had finally stepped back and smiled.
It looked exactly the way I’d imagined it. For the first time since we started putting everything together, I stopped trying to decide where something belonged and simply admired the room. Soft colors filled every corner, sunlight poured through the tall windows, and the crib stood proudly against the wall, waiting for the little one who would soon call it home.
I rested a hand against my stomach without even thinking about it. “Our baby is going to love this room,” I whispered. The tiny kick that answered made me smile.
“I knew they agreed,” Trixie said from across the room. She had been straightening a stack of folded blankets before pausing to watch me. The smile on her face made it obvious she was just as excited as I was.
Elara finished adjusting one of the shelves before stepping back to inspect it. Her attention shifted around the nursery, making sure everything was secure. She always noticed the practical things the rest of us overlooked. “I think we finally have everything where it belongs,” she said with a satisfied nod.
I laughed quietly. “I’m not making any promises.”
Neither of them looked surprised by that answer. After spending the better part of the morning changing my mind about curtains, furniture, rugs, and decorations, I doubted anyone expected me to leave the room without moving something one last time.
Then I heard little feet racing down the hallway. I turned just as Atlas and Cassian appeared in the doorway, each carrying one squirming toddler while the other two had apparently decided they were perfectly capable of walking on their own.
That confidence lasted all of three seconds. The moment their feet crossed into the nursery, they scattered in four completely different directions.
“Oh, no,” Elara muttered, already knowing exactly what was about to happen.
Arabella toddled into the nursery first, gasping as though she’d discovered the greatest treasure in the kingdom. Her eyes landed on a pale blue blanket draped across the rocking chair, and she hurried toward it with both hands reaching.
“My blanket,” she declared proudly.
She wrapped herself in it before I even had time to laugh. Behind her, Xavier spotted the same blanket and frowned. He planted his feet, stretched out one tiny hand, and stared at it with complete determination. The blanket slipped right out of Arabella’s hands. It floated through the air. Straight toward Xavier.
For one second, nobody moved. Arabella looked down at her suddenly empty hands, blinked twice, and drew in a deep breath. The scream echoed through the nursery.
“Oh, no,” I muttered, already crossing the room.
Xavier burst into delighted laughter as the blanket landed at his feet. He scooped it up with both hands, hugging it to his chest as though he’d won the greatest battle of his life.
I knelt beside him and smiled. “I think your sister was using that.”
He looked up at me with bright, innocent eyes. Then the blanket slid behind his back without him touching it. I reached for it. It slid farther away.
Atlas covered his mouth, clearly trying not to laugh while Cassian leaned against the doorframe, making no real effort to hide the grin spreading across his face.
“He’s making you work for it,” Atlas finally admitted.
“I’ve noticed.” I reached again. The blanket floated just out of reach.
Xavier giggled so hard he nearly fell backward. Arabella had stopped crying now that she realized everyone else seemed to think this was a game. She marched over, planted her hands on her hips, and announced something only she fully understood before trying to grab the blanket herself.
It immediately drifted into the air again. Trixie laughed so hard she had to sit down in the rocking chair. “I don’t think we’ve ever had a blanket declare its own winner.”
Elara folded her arms, watching the scene unfold with an amused shake of her head. “I don’t think the blanket has much choice.”
Finally, Atlas scooped Xavier into his arms. The instant his concentration broke, the blanket fluttered gently to the floor. Arabella snatched it up with a triumphant grin and hugged it against her chest before hurrying away as fast as her little legs would carry her.
Unfortunately, that only lasted a few seconds. While everyone had been watching Xavier and Arabella, Dominic had wandered over to the toy basket sitting beside the crib. He dug both hands inside until he found a wooden wolf, holding it above his head as though he’d uncovered buried treasure.
His excited squeal immediately caught everyone’s attention. Before anyone could reach him, three more toys lifted out of the basket. They floated lazily around him. Dominic clapped his hands together, completely delighted with himself.
“Well,” Cassian said with a quiet chuckle, “that’s new.”
I hurried over before the floating toys could drift into one another. The moment I picked one up, another slowly rose into the air behind me. The nursery erupted into laughter again.
Across the room, another one of the quads had discovered the mobile hanging above the crib. Tiny fingers pointed toward the colorful stars, and a heartbeat later they began spinning faster and faster without anyone touching them. The little faces watching them lit up with excitement.
Trixie didn’t even try to stop smiling. “I remember when Atlas and Cassian kept us guessing every day,” she said, her eyes following the children around the room. “Now look at them.”
I glanced toward them. They weren’t warriors chasing enemies today. They were fathers chasing toddlers.
Atlas had just rescued a stuffed rabbit from underneath a chair while Cassian was trying to convince Dominic that climbing into the crib headfirst probably wasn’t the best idea. Neither of them looked frustrated. If anything, they looked happier than I’d ever seen them.
I looked around the nursery. Blankets no longer rested where I had carefully folded them. The toy basket had been completely emptied. One pillow somehow ended up beneath the rocking chair, and I honestly had no idea how that had happened. The room I’d worked so hard to make perfect had lasted less than five minutes. I expected that realization to bother me. Instead… I found myself laughing.
Maybe perfection had never been the point. Maybe a nursery wasn’t supposed to stay neat. Maybe it was supposed to be filled with laughter, tiny footprints, and children whose imaginations and powers were far bigger than the room itself.
I rested both hands over my stomach again. Another gentle kick answered almost immediately. Looking around at the happy chaos surrounding me, I smiled to myself.
If our little one turned out anything like the four toddlers currently turning the nursery upside down, Ryder and I were going to have our hands full. Strangely enough… I couldn’t wait.