Re: Thorsens at home
The arrival of the dogs completed their little family, and for the first time since that awful phonecall, Iris finally felt centered again. Part of her wanted to never leave the bedroom, or even the bed. If she could keep them all there forever, she probably would try. But she knew that wasn't possible. It didn't stop her from collecting whatever moments she could, though.
AJ finished her eating, and there was another shift as Iris straightened out her shirt (one of Manning's, to no one's surprise), burped the baby, and then tucked the her comfortably in the angle of her arm. With the way the four of them were nested together, she could fully relax in Manning's arms while holding the baby and still having TJ near. The rasp of his scruff against her skin was familiar, and just harsh enough to convince her that this was all happening, and that he had returned to them (and that it wasn't all a creation of her broken mind - she hoped). AJ's breathing quickly evened out into the snuffle of sleeping baby, TJ seemed content to be still for the moment, and even the dogs were calm.