"But it's my day off!" she sniffed. "I'm going to Lita's, and we're going to go bowling with some friends, then go to an Escape Room and dinner and…" All of that sounded like fun as she was saying it, but it also sounded very tiring.
Adam, who was sitting next to her, felt his heart contract at how tired and sad she sounded. This was not how they wanted her to feel at all. He couldn't help himself—he pulled her onto his lap, brushing her sleep mussed hair out of her eyes when she was securely in his arms. "We've been wearing you out, hmm, Laur?"
Ryan murmured under his breath, "Jesus, we've only been doing this for less than two weeks, and we're nearly killing her with it!"
Jace gave him a sour look. "Hardly, but that's obviously something that needs to be adjusted. This is not an exact science, especially in the beginning, and we're going to have to tweak things so that they work for us—so that they work for her."
He took her hand from where he sat at the head of the table, and Ryan came around to sit next to where Adam was holding her and took her other one in his.
"So, as I remember, you once told me that you need nine hours of sleep a night, right, love?"
Laurie nodded her head against where it rested on Adam's shoulder.
"Okay, then, since you need to be up at seven to be at work at nine, your bedtime is ten on nights before you go to work."
"Agreed," the brothers said.
"Bedtime?" That was more than enough to rouse her. "Ten? "
"Ten."
"I don't need a bedtime. I'm not a child."
She was crying again—or still, none of them were really sure, although, to their credit, they wanted to be—and Jace took her from Adam to hold her cradled tightly to him as he spoke in a very soft, soothing tone. "No, you are not a child. You are every bit a woman. But you're also a woman whom all of us have committed to taking care of, and it doesn't seem that we've done a very good job of it at all. This should not have gone on for this long. We should have noticed that you were this tired and implemented some changes immediately. I'm very sorry that we let it get to this point, honey."
"I'm sorry, too," the others agreed heartily.
"So we're going to do what we need to do to make this right for you. And that's a bedtime that we will all make sure that you adhere to." He lifted his head to get a silent confirmation from his brothers, neither of whom hesitated to give it.
It was Adam who spoke then. "I think you should spend today sleeping as much as possible, Laur. In fact, I think you should take the whole weekend. We'll make up my next day another time. Your health and wellbeing are much more important."
"But Lita!" she sniffled.
"We'll call Lita for you. She'll understand." Ryan knew Lita better than the others, and they liked each other. "We'll set up a whole other weekend with her—as soon as she has the time—for you, where you go and stay with her and everything, like you used to do."
He did exactly that, while she continued to sob softly in Jace's arms.
They could all hear Ryan's end of the conversation, but Lita had been just as concerned as they were about her, apparently.
"Well, we're dumb men. Next time, let us know, please. We've changed her schedule, and she's going to be getting the sleep she's been missing, I promise."
When he'd said goodbye to her, Laurie turned and offered her arms to him. Ryan picked her up and began to walk down the hallway with her to put her back to bed.
"No, please! Can I stay with you guys in the den? I'll sleep, but I want to be near you all, please."
Ryan melted at that, and so did the others.
"So much for being strict with her," Jace mumbled under his breath, entirely without rancor. He liked having her near him, too.
At first, she slept on them, but there were things they all needed to do about the house, so they made a makeshift bed for her on the big sectional couch, and they each kept a weather eye on her as they went about their business.
It was another instance of them taking complete and utter care of her. She was waited on hand and foot, and