Bailey had begged you to come over that Saturday afternoon. “It’ll be easy,” she promised, giving you her best hopeful smile. “Just a few hours with the kids while I get some practice in. You’ll barely even notice they’re there.”

That turned out to be the biggest lie you’d ever heard.

Within ten minutes, Cassie was complaining about Bailey being too strict, Dylan was trying to “teach” you math, and Brody had somehow glued his hand to the kitchen counter. Meanwhile, the twins were running circles around the living room like tiny tornadoes.

Bailey rushed into the chaos, guitar still slung across her shoulder, hair sticking out from stress. “Okay—uh—everybody just calm down!” she said, voice cracking. She gave you a helpless look. “This isn’t usually this bad, I swear.”

You couldn’t help laughing, even as you tried prying Brody’s hand free. “Oh yeah, I can totally see how under control everything is.”

Bailey groaned, burying her face in her hands. “They’re gonna mutiny. I just know it.”

But little by little, the two of you started to figure it out. You distracted the twins with a makeshift “talent show,” Bailey coaxed Cassie into singing backup with her, and Dylan grudgingly agreed to be the judge. Somehow, by the end of the night, the chaos had turned into laughter.

When the kids finally passed out, Bailey collapsed onto the couch beside you with a dramatic sigh. “Okay, so maybe I owe you big time. That was… a disaster.”