Page 126 of Stage Dive: Short Stories & Novellas
“For now.”Lena nodded.“Try not to lower the volume around him too much or he’ll never go to sleep unless everything is perfectly silent.And you don’t want that.He needs to adapt to your lifestyle a little.Learn to handle the outside world.”
“That’s true,” said Anne.“I hope you don’t mind us shoving advice at you.”
“Have at it.I need all the help I can get.”I rested my head on the back of the sofa.Because the nursery was now the place in the apartment to be.
It had a three-seater sofa in a charcoal material along with a super comfortable rocking chair.The walls were decorated with a vintage-style pale blue sky and fluffy white clouds.And the white antique-looking metal crib was just dreamy.If only my boy would sleep for longer than an hour and a half at a time.That would be amazing.We’d been home for a week now, and life with our pride and joy was not getting any easier.We sort of had a routine, but not really.Not that we didn’t have it better than some people.Not that we weren’t blessed just by us all being healthy.It was, however, still damn hard.
You’d think that the difficulty of it all would have been less of a surprise to me since I’d watched so many of our friends go through it.But no.Guess it was one of those things I had to experience to understand.Parenthood was no joke.
“You guys did such an amazing job with this room,” I said, for not the first time.
“That was mostly Anne.”Lena smiled.“She’s got the mad decorating and organizing skills.”
“It was fun.”Anne smiled back at her.“Any luck with the baby names?”
“Nothing seems to quite fit him.”I frowned.“We were thinking about Cash and Angus and Reed.But we can’t decide on one.We even tried calling him Malcolm.He yawned at us, then he spit up some milk.”
“Harsh, but fair,” said Lena.
“If it’s not right…” Anne just shrugged.“Something will come to you.There’s no rush.”
I snorted.“With the way we’re going, he’ll be applying to college as Baby Ferris.”
Lena laughed.The baby flinched but stayed asleep.Thank God.
“All of these things people spend their pregnancy thinking about,” said Anne.“You didn’t get any of that time.Extend yourself some grace, Ev.”
“I still feel bad for not knowing,” I confessed.“I’ll probably always feel bad about that.”
“You’re not the only person it’s happened to.I did some research.One woman I read about had no bump, was still on contraceptives, and fit into all of her clothes the whole way through.”
“And you didn’t even look pregnant,” said Lena.“I saw you every few days or so the month before you had him.There was no big belly or anything to give it away.Your breasts were bodacious, but hey, they always are.”
“You notice my breasts?”I asked.
She gave me a wink.“You know it, girl.You rock my world.”
I laughed quietly.But the doubt and anxiety still remained, dammit.
Anne grabbed my hand.“I repeat, extend yourself some grace, Evelyn.”
“None of us are perfect,” said Lena.“And being a mom is damn hard.”
“That’s a really good point.”Anne rubbed her thumb over my knuckles.“Think about it, Ev.Being hard on yourself, especially right now, is unfair.There’s no way you’d tolerate that kind of behavior from anyone else.Dealing with a newborn is incredibly difficult.And on top of that, you just gave birth.”
“They did tell me it usually takes up to a year to physically and emotionally recover from that,” I said.
Anne gave me a gentle smile.“There you go.If you’re not going to listen to us, then listen to the people with medical degrees.”
I nodded, giving her fingers a squeeze.“Thank you for putting up with my whining.”
Lena grinned.“Anytime.”
Anne was giving the baby a bath when I woke up hours later.Marvelous hours full of much-needed sleep.Thank fuck for friends and found family.The city lights shone bright outside, and my head was clearer, my body lighter and energized.“Hey there.I haven’t felt this good in ages.Thank you again for staying.”
“You needed the sleep.You’re looking a lot better.”She lifted the baby out of the little bath set up on the dining room table and wrapped him in a waiting towel.“And I’m happy to help.Tommy doesn’t slow down long enough for lots of cuddles these days.He’s all go all the time like his father.”
“I bet.”
