*Eleanor*
Six kids was fine. It was busy, but it was fine. Seven kids… seven kids feels like twenty-eight kids. The twins run through the longhouse, fighting each other with their wooden swords. They knock Ingrid over, who then knocks Ivar over, and they both start crying. And with that, now Ulf is awake and crying, too.
I go to the bed and lift him into my arms before sitting down on the bed and crying, too. I can smell dinner burning but can’t bring myself to deal with it.
“Everything alright?” I hear Anders say as the door opens to a barrage of cries.
The twins are long gone and have left a trail of crying people in their wake. I hear Anders moving about the house and trying to calm the children. He comes into the back bedroom and is about to say something, but his face fa
