Chapter 12
Tiny hands grasping along Etan’s back and ribs, trying their best to tickle, dragged him from a dead sleep. He wanted nothing more than to ignore the giggling efforts to wake him after the night he’d passed. A particularly rough pinch jerked him into awareness.
“Over to this side of the bed, hellions,” Alex said, trying to keep his voice low. “Daddy E isn’t ready to wake up yet.”
“Why not?” Gwen said, her high voice much louder. “We gotta be up!”
“Cause he works all night long while you lazy sods lay in bed and snooze. Over here or you can’t go with me today.”
Etan opened his eyes and stretched just as Gwen and Connor thundered around to Alex. The bedroom was still dark, a sliver of early dawn pink visible through the window. He was constantly amazed at how much noise four-
