#Chapter 191: Sugar-coat

Alexander I rested back against the headboard and continued to rub the baby’s tiny back in soft circles, trying to calm her down. I wished I could hold Fiona, too; she clearly also needed comfort. But the wailing child had to take priority, and anyway Fiona was insisting that she was fine, despite the obvious pallor of her skin and the heavy sweat that had her black nightgown clinging, sodden, to her trembling body. Even over the baby’s cries, I could hear my wife’s heart pounding in an adrenaline-fueled riot rhythm. BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM. She got up and closed herself into the bathroom. Lexi’s wails began to subside. I took her back into the nursery and checked her diaper. She was dry. It was only Fiona’s mid-sleep outcries that had woken the baby. After a few more minutes, she quieted down. I heard the shower turning on when I returned to our room. I pulled the bedcovers back; the sheets were just a little sweat-damp on Fiona’s side. I separa