Chapter 1 - The Laugh Behind the Door.
The nursery door struck the wall hard enough to shake the watercolor rabbits hanging in the hallway.
Daniel Carter stood barefoot in the doorway, his dark shirt open at the throat and his anger sharpened by exhaustion.
"Pack your bags. You're fired."
Elise Navarro froze between the two white cribs with yellow rubber gloves raised like ridiculous puppets.
Maisie and Rosie cried behind her, their tiny hands wrapped around the rails as if the room itself were moving.
Daniel pointed toward the hall.
"My daughters have not slept properly in weeks, and I find you playing games at two in the morning."
Elise slowly pulled one side of the black headphones away from her ear.
"Sir, wait."
"No."
His voice was low, which somehow made it colder.
"You can collect your things before sunrise."
Elise looked at the twins instead of defending herself.
Maisie hiccupped through her tears.
Rosie rubbed one wet cheek against the crib rail.
Elise lowered her right glove.
Maisie's eyes followed it.
The glove rose again and turned toward the left glove as if offended.
Maisie's crying stopped.
Rosie became quiet a heartbeat later.
Daniel's hand dropped from the doorframe.
Elise made one yellow puppet bow dramatically.
The other puppet appeared to reject the bow.
Maisie laughed.
Rosie stared at her sister, then exploded into breathless giggles.
Daniel went completely still.
The sound did not belong in the apartment anymore.
Not since Rebecca.
For a moment he saw his wife standing barefoot in their old kitchen with a spatula tucked beneath her nose.
Rebecca had made terrible jokes and worse breakfasts.
She had also known exactly how to make the twins light up.
The memory struck so quickly that Daniel almost resented Elise for causing it.
Elise slid the headphones down around her neck.
"They were not crying because of me."
Daniel looked at her.
"They were asking me to stay."
He glanced at the digital clock on the dresser.
2:03 A.M.
Beside it sat the tall stuffed giraffe Rebecca had once called judgmental.
Daniel had left every object in the nursery exactly where Rebecca had placed it.
He had convinced himself that keeping the room unchanged meant keeping his daughters safe.
Now two yellow gloves were doing more for them than all his careful rules.
"Do it again," he said.
Elise blinked.
Daniel picked up a pink teddy bear from the rug.
He raised it stiffly.
Elise lifted the gloves.
One puppet pointed at the bear.
"And who invited him?"
Daniel looked at the twins.
Both girls were waiting.
He made the bear nod.
"I am with the bananas."
The twins burst into laughter so hard that Rosie fell backward onto her mattress.
Elise stared at Daniel in surprise.
Something in his chest cracked open.
Then Rosie coughed.
Elise moved instantly.
She leaned over the crib, supported Rosie's back, and murmured until the baby's breathing settled.
Daniel noticed she had called Rosie by name without checking the headband.
Most people still confused the twins.
Even his brother Cole had once written their names on his palms before visiting.
Elise peeled off one yellow glove.
"You do not have to pack," Daniel said.
She stopped.
The sentence sounded weak the moment it left him.
Elise looked down at the glove in her hand.
"I was going to leave anyway."
Daniel's expression hardened again.
"What?"
She met his eyes.
"Not because you fired me."
A small pause stretched between them.
"Because your daughters need someone in this apartment who is allowed to tell you when you are wrong."
Daniel stared at her.
The babies had stopped laughing.
The room became painfully quiet.
Elise reached into the pocket of her robe and removed a folded piece of paper.
"Your wife asked me to keep this until you were ready."
Daniel's face changed.
"What did you just say?"
Elise held the paper between two fingers.
May you like
"Rebecca left it for you."
And suddenly being fired was no longer the most dangerous thing in the room.
