They had to be put to bed by hand. No one did that any more. In a world of magic and tech, why would you?

If you were a techie family, there were Cradle Rockers, automatons whose midsection was jointed like the legs of a gliding rocking chair. They could rock a fussy baby tirelessly, soothing them into sleep in soft, pillow-fluffed arms. When baby was finally asleep, the CR’s gliding joints would seamlessly lift, extend, and lower them into the crib with the oiled smoothness of a brand-new forklift, its arms flattening beneath baby as they sink into the softness of their own ergonomic Smart Mattress. SIDS was a thing of the past with a mattress that read each movement of the child and adjusted silently and softly to keep them in the safest position possible.

Or, if you were a magic family, all it took was a simple levitation spell to move baby effortlessly from your arms to their crib. You never had to leave the rocking chair.

But not the Pari twins. Nope. They simply had to be put down to bed by hand. The apple-cheeked infants relished the warmth and shift of human arms, the burr of Mommy’s humming in her chest. They needed the shift in equilibrium as she moved to stand from the rocking chair and the firm tightness of her hold on them. They were comforted by that feeling of weightlessness as they were held out into the air above their cribs, only to be lowered down gently (feet first, then back, and, finally, head). Their final soother was the gentle removal of Mommy’s hands, her fingers brushing them one last time, the lingering sensation of her hand on their heads and her kiss on their chubby cheeks as they drifted off to Dreamland.

In a world of magic and tech, why would you not want to be put to bed by hand?