Finding Them

The twins slept the night with Mitchell because Dakota didn't want to be anywhere near Daniel or Eddie. He was worried Eddie would hurt them while they slept. Darcy had clung to Dakota and Mitchell and would scream every time he tried to go downstairs. Darcy ended up falling asleep on Mitchell's chest while Hunter was trying to help calm Darcy down but nothing worked. Mitchell realised that when she was scared or uncomfortable, she would call him Kota but if she was happy and relaxed she would call him Mitty. Dakota had laid next to Darcy covering her body with his and gone to sleep after fighting for an hour to stay awake.

When Daniel had gone to check on the twins he saw how red Darcy and Dakota's faces were from the crying. Dakota had let his tears fall after Darcy went to sleep so he didn't upset her. Hunter and Mitchell had assured him that he was safe and that both of them would be there to make sure nothing happened. Daniel had wanted the twins to spend the night with him but didn't want to disturb them and upset them further. He spoke with Hunter and Mitchell quietly about how the twins reacted and decided it was best to call a family meeting for the older boys.

Mitchell placed Darcy and Dakota on his bed and headed down with his father and Hunter to the kitchen. Daniel called his other two sons into the kitchen. When everyone was seated Daniel began. "Right seems all I do is talk about the twins but we will all work it out together. The twins are very sensitive and will take a while to warm up. It's going to be a big adjustment for all of us. Dakota will always protect his sister and try to be strong for her. We all must remember that he is still 3 years old himself. They have never felt safe anywhere so our job is to make them feel safe here. It's going to take time for them to warm up to you. When they do warm up to you, cherish it because they are the sweetest kids ever. Darcy is so innocent and Dakota observes everything. Both of them will share any food they have and we need to respect that. From what we have worked out and been told they were not fed properly" Daniel told his sons. They needed to know everything for their sake and the twin's sake. "Dakota and Darcy both are sensitive and pick up on emotions, Darcy more so" Mitchell added.

Daniel and his sons spent about an hour discussing things including what items they would need to buy for the house to accommodate the twins, care arrangements for the twins if Daniel was required at work and also the grandparents visiting at the end of the week. He made a mental note to call his parents and have the same discussion with them tomorrow as it was a little late now. As everyone was ready to head to bed Daniel heard soft crying and took off upstairs with his sons following close behind. Daniel made it to Mitchell's room to see Darcy sobbing and Dakota trying to quieten her down. Both the twins looked scared and Daniel couldn't work out why.

"Hey, it's ok princess. Tell me what is wrong so I can help" Daniel softly said as not to scare the twins even more. "I sowwy, I sowwy" Darcy sobbed. "Kota did it" Dakota called out standing in front of his sister. Dakota wasn't going to allow them to hurt his sister and would take the blame for Darcy. "It's ok, what happened?" Daniel asked. All the boys were watching on trying to work out what was happening. Daniel walked over to the bed looking to see what had happened and noticed Darcy sitting in a wet patch. "Princess, did you have an accident?" Daniel asked. "Kota do it, hit Kota" Dakota called out. "I sowwy" Darcy cried louder. "Hey it's ok princess, no one will hit either of you" Daniel told her before going to pick her up causing her to flinch back and scream. Dakota jumped up and threw himself over his sister shutting his eyes tightly bracing himself for impact.

Daniel froze, he was shocked at the reaction. "Hey it's ok, no one is going to hurt you" Mitchell calmly spoke up. "Let's have a bath and get you cleaned up and we can clean the bed up" Hunter added. "Not bad?" Darcy asked while still crying. "You are not bad princess, it was an accident and no one will hurt you because of it" Daniel spoke up finely coming out of his shock. "I'll give them a shower" Hunter stated heading towards the twins.

Dakota hadn't moved off his sister waiting for the impact, but it never came. Darcy gently tapped him on the back, she was wet and didn't like it. Hunter put his hand out slowly for Dakota to take which he reluctantly did. He then held the other hand out for Darcy who stood up on the bed "I sowwy" she whispered getting upset again. "It's ok sweetheart. Let's get you cleaned up and Addy and Mitty can clean the bed ok?" Hunter asked her. Darcy nodded and took his hand climbing off the bed. Daniel and Mitchell immediately stripped the bed luckily the mattress protector had saved the mattress from getting wet.

Hunter took Darcy and Dakota into the bathroom with Jamie following behind. "I'm here to help," Jamie told his brother who nodded. "Right, Dakota do you want Jamie or me to help you?" Hunter asked his baby brother. Eddie was standing at the door watching. Dakota pointed to Eddie which shocked everyone. Eddie came over and helped Dakota out of the clothes while Hunter and Jamie asked Darcy who she wanted to help. Darcy chose Hunter to help. Hunter helped her out of the wet clothes and chucked them in the bathtub. Jamie turned the shower on for both the twins and Darcy's eyes sparkled. She never had a shower before. "Kota rain inside" Darcy stated causing Eddie, Hunter and Jamie to laugh at her. Dakota looked at the shower head and then the rest of the room trying to work out how the rain stayed in the one spot. "This is a shower, the water is controlled by the taps here" Jamie explained. Dakota nodded his head and carefully stepped under the shower smiling as the water hit his back. Darcy followed close behind and started giggling as she got under the water. She spun around in the water just like she would do when they were locked outside in the rain.