Promise Me Forever

CHAPTER 14

Cara

My heavy eyelids open to reveal the most beautiful sight of Aidan, looking dotingly down on our baby girl that he has cuddled against his bare chest, sound asleep. He glances up and looks pleasantly surprised when he sees I'm awake. His eyes go back down to Daisy as he carefully rises from the recliner and makes his way over to me. I scooch over, making room for him to sit next to me. I rest my head on his shoulder, and reach over to gently tickle Daisy's cheek with my fingertip.

In awe, I just quietly take her in. Everything was so chaotic when she was born, talk about stimuli overload. With no one else in the room and with her peacefully sleeping, everything has slowed down enough that I can really pay attention to every little detail.

We have a baby now.

We're a family.

I'm a mommy.

And Aidan is a daddy.

All these simple thoughts cycle through my head, each one giving me a moment to absorb its meaning.

"I can't believe how long she's been sleeping." I muse out loud. "I wasn't expecting it with how she was screaming her lungs out last night." We both chuckle. Maybe she was just pissed that we woke her up to come out.

"She's such a good little baby." I marvel out loud in a soft voice as I stroke my fingers down the black hair at the back of her head. After a moment I feel Aidan's eyes on me and I tilt my head to look up at him. "What?" I ask.

'Nothing... you look the way you did the first time we saw the ultrasound. I fell in love with you both that day."

I don't have words. I just stare in wonder at him and hope that he can see in my eyes how much I love him too, before leaning up to kiss him while he holds our daughter.

About a half hour later, there's a knock on the door before Jake walks through with Ella in tow, who's face crumples with emotion when she takes in the three of us.

A little while later, as Ella sits next to me on the bed cradling my baby, I ask: "When are you going to join me? We have to have kids close in age so they can grow up together."

She raises an eyebrow and smirks as she looks back down at the baby.

"All in good time." is the lame-ass response I get from her. She shrugs and looks up. "I don't know. We've talked about it a little here and there. He's said he wants me all to himself a while longer, and I kind of feel the same way."

"I'm not so sure about that."

"Why?"

"Because of the way he's looking at you holding my baby." I point out with a head nod over to where Jake sits with Aidan a few feet away. He's shamelessly staring at Ella with stars in his eyes. He gives her a wink that sends a glow to her cheeks and she immediately looks back down at Daisy like she's trying to convince me it's from the baby. Yeah... it won't be long.
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For the first three days, everything is okay. Better than okay.

There are hard parts, of course. I have to figure out nursing, and it doesn't come naturally to either Daisy or me. A lactation consultant comes in, and after an hour of arranging and rearranging Zara's little face against my big swollen boob, we finally achieve a "latch" that she approves of. When she nurses, I study the curve of her face with wonder.

When we take her home from the hospital, she cries in the car seat, and exhausted, I weep a little, too, not sure if she's okay or hurting, or if she'll ever be able to ride in the car without crying.