For the first half hour, Christina Lynn was content to show Sherry her toys. She dragged them into the living room and proudly demonstrated how each one worked. Sherry oohed and ahhed at all the appropriate moments. When the toddler had finished, Sherry helped her return the toys to the chest that Luke had made for his daughter.

Having grown tired of her game, Christina Lynn lay down on the floor and started to fuss. “Mama!” she demanded as if suddenly realizing that her mother wasn’t there.

“Mommy and Daddy have gone out to eat,” Sherry explained patiently. Thinking Christina Lynn might be hungry, she heated her dinner and set the little girl in her high chair. But apparently Christina Lynn wasn’t hungry, because the meal landed on the floor in record time.

“Mama!” Christina yelled, banging her little fists on the high-chair tray.

“Mommy’s out with Daddy, sweetheart.”

Christina Lynn’s lower lip started to wobble.

“Don’t cry, honey,” Sherry pleaded but to no avail. Within seconds Christina Lynn was screaming.

Sherry lifted her from the high chair and carried her into the living room. She sat in the rocker trying to soothe her, but Christina Lynn only wept louder.

Inevitably her crying woke Philip. With Christina Lynn clinging to her leg, Sherry took the whimpering infant from his bassinet and changed his diaper. Holding him against her shoulder, she gently patted his back, hoping to urge him back to sleep.

That, however, proved difficult, especially with Christina Lynn still at full throttle. The little girl was wrapped around Sherry’s leg and both she and Philip were wailing loudly enough to bring the house down. Sherry was in despair, trying to soothe both children to no avail.

That was how Cody found her.

She didn’t hear him come in, so she was surprised to discover him standing in the hallway outside the children’s bedroom, grinning hugely.

“Hi,” he said. “Luke told me you were sitting with the kids tonight. Looks like you could use a little help.”

“Christina Lynn,” Sherry said gratefully. “Look—Uncle Cody’s here.”

Cody moved into the room and dislodged the toddler from Sherry’s leg, lifting her into his arms. Christina Lynn hid her face in his shoulder and continued her tearful performance.

“What’s wrong with Philip?” Cody asked over the din.

“I think he might be hungry. If you’ll keep Christina Lynn occupied, I’ll go heat his bottle.”

They met in the living room, Sherry carrying the baby and the bottle. Cody was down on the floor, attempting to interest the toddler in a five-piece wood puzzle, but the little girl wanted none of it.

Philip apparently felt the same way about the bottle. “He’s used to his mother nursing him,” Sherry said. “Besides, I don’t think he’s all that hungry, after all. If he was, he’d accept the bottle quickly enough.”

She returned it to the kitchen and sat down in the chair with Philip, rocking him until his cries abated. Christina Lynn’s wails turned to soft sobs as she buried her face in the sofa cushions.