My Triplets

Ch. 39

Three Months Later

It’s taken a while, but I think Storm has finally become comfortable around me.

We tried a few different methods to make her feel safest, but after talking with a psychiatrist and a therapist, we adopted three new emotional support dogs. They have each become attached to one of the triplets and are trained to provide comfort and then alert the nearest trusted human if something is wrong. By trusted I mean the dogs were introduced to the human by their triplet.

Thanks to Rocky, a golden doodle, Storm now feels a lot safer being around me and the new house. I’ve had to switch them to online school, but thankfully G’s kids still come to visit every weekend, so they have social interactions. I'm hoping to put them back in sports soon, but they aren't quite ready for that.

Killian came to me one night in tears from a nightmare, that's when I finally learned everything that happened while they were gone. He’s been especially clingy since then, but I don’t mind it.

In fact I love having extra time with any of the triplets.

His new emotional support dog is called Silver. She’s a husky and is the calmest of the bunch. When we had our conversation about what happened she was laying on his lap and slowly licking his palm gently.

River has opened up a lot more since he started talking with his therapist. G has even started training him personally so he feels safer. His dog is named Marvel, she’s a german shepherd and he’s trained her to protect in cases of danger.

He actually tried to convince the others to train theirs to protect as well but they refused. It’s so cute to see him trying to train her.

Sometimes the kids get afraid and over react if I move too harshly or if I get angry about work and yell over the phone.

Maggie’s actually moved in with us to help cope with all the new changes. She sold her restaurant and is staying here permanently.

“DAD!” Storm screams out in excitement as I return to the house from a meeting.

The new house is much larger so we can fit Maggie, the dogs, the triplets and my office. Honestly it’s basically a mansion.

“There’s my Sunshine. Phew, it was so dark while I was gone. I just need a big hug from my personal Sunshine.” I tease her as I pick her up to swing around.

Her little giggle brightens my whole day, “Oh Dad, stop teasing me.”

“NEVER!” I yell tossing her in the air once more. “You are my sunshine, sunshine! I love you honey.”

“I love you too Dad,” Storm replies as she snuggles into my chest hugging me tightly.

Aww, my baby!

Suddenly a sound like a herd of elephants comes from the stairs as the boys stomp in the middle of an argument and their dogs are sniffing around trying to calm them.

“It’s mine! Give it back!” Killian demands.

River just pulls whatever’s in their hands towards himself, “No! You weren’t using it so I’m using it!”

“But it’s mine!” Killian whined. He tries to yank it back to himself but Rocky jumps into his way separating the two boys. The picture frame flies back as River’s arm drops to his side.

Storm just glares at her brother’s from my arms. She doesn’t like that they’re fighting and distracting me from giving her all of my attention.

“Boys come here.” I speak up. Putting Storm on the floor once more, I turn to my troublesome sons. “Someone want to tell me what all that fighting was about a minute ago?” I guess my voice went a little too dark because both dogs went in between me and them, but I try not to make it obvious that I noticed.

They don’t like it when I suddenly start acting like they’re weak or something is wrong, so I avoid it. If I see a negative reaction I just make small adjustments until they’re comfortable again.

“Dad, he stole my photo!” Killian complains like the child he is.

River glares at him with annoyance, “I just wanted to borrow it.” River tries to hide the photo behind his back, but I still get a glance.

It’s the one with Violet and the triplets at their last Christmas healthy together. She’s standing behind them dressed in a simple red dress that matches Storm’s, while the boys are wearing suits with red ties around their neck.

Killian has kept that photo in his room to stare at since the moment they moved in with me. I don’t understand why River is trying to take it, but with Killian’s attachment to his past right now the picture is extremely important. River should know that already. 

River’s cheeks puff up angrily, “I was going to draw it so I could give it to Mom for Mother’s Day.”

“Little hero, did you explain that to him before taking the photo?” I am sincerely confused by their reactions. Usually River is more concerned about everyone else’s feelings before his own and Killian knows that he’d give it back.

A small look of dejection falls on River’s face, “No, I wanted to surprise everyone.”

I take a small step closer to River gauging his reaction and the reaction of Marvel as I bend my knees, sinking down closer to his height. “That’s ok, little hero. How about we make a copy of it for you to draw so Killian can have his picture back.” I reason.

“Ok. Can you help me?” River looks at me with pleading puppy dog eyes. Even Marvel whines and begs for me to help her owner.

One child taken care of now, I turn to Killian. “Is that ok with you monkey?”

A small pout is still on his lips, but he doesn’t protest. “Only if you’re very very careful dad. And I’m coming with you.”

His small hand grabs hold of my wrist and leads me slowly towards the small office I have set up for the kids to do school in. River trots behind us looking almost dejected that his plan isn’t a surprise anymore, but he also looks happy that he can still draw the photo.

Once we printed a copy for River, I handed the photograph back to Killian who carefully took it from my arms and placed it in the frame before going back to his room.

River darted off the moment I handed him the copy, so now I’m all alone in their classroom.

Well it’s definitely a long way to go before we're all fully healed, but the point is that we're together and aren't going through it alone