I sat on the stairs with Maya and asked Chloe to help me bring the younger girls into the room.

Then I realized how easily those words could become a job she had never chosen.

“Just for a minute,” I said.

“I’ll handle bedtime.”

She nodded, still staring toward the door.

That first evening was clumsy.

One triplet would not change into pajamas.

Another wanted Elena to do her hair.