[Heidi, Nathan, Peter, Monty and Simon]
The minute the door clicked shut behind all of them, Nathan navigated Peter toward the bed. It seemed, however, that it wasn't fast enough for Kat, who proceeded to launch herself off the bed. Realizing that was likely – not through any duck-geared intuition, just experience with over-excited children not knowing their limits and this particular feathered member of the family having no fear either – Nathan was a half-step ahead, pushing Peter to a seated position on the edge of the bed to free his hands to catch the duckling midair. Perhaps it wasn't with the finesse of a ballplayer from his youth, but it served its purposes.
"If you had just waited three more seconds," he said to the duckling, then deposited her in Peter's hands. Pointing to the pillow as a clear silent order to lay down, Nathan squeezed his brother's shoulder, kissed the top of his head and then made his way back to the door to, as best as he could, wrap his arms around Heidi, Simon and Monty in their huddle.