And Again

Chapter fifteen

One Monday morning in November, Nicky and Allie were woken up at 6:30 by Nicky's alarm.

"Good morning" Nicky said and kissed her cheek. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't wanna go back to work" Allie sighed. "I mean, I do but I also really don't wanna leave Jenna"

"I know"

"And I keep telling myself that it's not some random daycare with random people, it's your company and your employees, and on top of that, your parents put you in this nursery when you were a baby, right?"

"Yeah" Nicky said. "Actually, the woman who took care of me still works there and she's gonna be taking care of Jenna"

"She'll be fine, right?"

"She'll be great" Nicky said. "What about you? Are you excited to go back to work?"

"I really am" Allie said. "Other than the fact that I'm dreading leaving Jenna, it'll be nice to talk to someone that can talk back and isn't chewing on my hand"

Nicky chuckled. "Gotta love teething, right?"

They laid in bed for a few minutes before Allie got up to shower. Nicky got up and brushed his teeth but just as he was going to get dressed, he heard Jenna crying over the baby monitor. He went into her room and found her standing up in her crib, holding onto the rail. "Good morning, princess" he said as he picked her up and kissed her cheek.

"Ma ma ma ma ma" Jenna babbled. She was now 11 months old and really only said the one word, but she said it a lot. Any time Allie was out of sight, Jenna would say 'mama' over and over until Allie got back. Although Allie was pretty sure that she was using it to refer to Logan too. Jenna had said dada a few times too.

"Mama's in the shower" Nicky said. "We'll let her finish and then she'll feed you, and then we'll get you dressed for your first day of daycare"

"Mama Ma"

"Dada" Nicky said. "Can you say dada?"

"Ma mama ma ma"

Nicky chuckled. "You're doing it on purpose, aren't you?"  He put Jenna down on the rug and sat next to her, and watched her try to play with Clover. She wasn't the most gentle playmate for the dogs and Buddy tended to stay away from her but Clover loved Jenna and even slept in her room most night.

Once Allie was out of the shower, she fed Jenna and while she did, Nicky made breakfast and coffee. They ate breakfast and Allie fed Jenna breakfast so that Nicky could go get dressed.

Once everyone was ready, Allie went to work and Nicky took Jenna with him to work because she would be in the HPG's daycare.

"Hi Maggie" Nicky said as he walked into the daycare, holding Jenna.

"I cannot believe it" Maggie said. "I remember when your parents first walked into this room with you"

"You act as if you didn't know I was bringing her here"

"It's one thing to know it and another to see it" Maggie said. "It's not often I care for the children of the children I once took care of"

Nicky smiled. "Alright, I have to get upstairs. Diapers, wipes, extra clothes, all in the diaper bag. Plus a whole bunch of pacifiers because she likes to throw them on the floor but then she gets mad that she doesn't have it" he put his hand on the small insulated bag that was next to the diaper bag on the desk. "Breastmilk. Needs to be refrigerated. She gets 7 ounces at 9:45, then again at 12:45, and again at 4. She naps from 10 until about 11:30 and from 2:30 to about 4. My wife always nurses her to sleep so if you're having trouble getting her down, you can try giving her a few ounces in a bottle and that might help"