This is the only step that I know how to make right now.
Because everything between us changed the moment we became a family.
20
ISLA
Sleep is a glorious thing.
If only I could enjoy a nice deep slumber. Lately, I cannot, which is why I drowsily wake up at to the sound of someone quietly clicking their tongue.
My eyes dart to the baby nest in the middle of the bed to find it empty, which causes me to shoot up in a panic, but then I ease at the sight. One that I’ve become accustomed to the last week since we came home.
Vaughn is bouncing Nora in his arms while he stands near the window, greeting the day. He offers her his pinky as he makes little noises. His lack of shirt isn’t helping the situation.
The view warms my heart.
Vaughn must sense that I’m up, as he doesn’t take his eyes off our daughter but acknowledges that I’m here. “Your mommy should go back to sleep.”
I laugh. “Very unlikely.” The heavy fullness with a twinge of pain across my chest informs me that something has to give. “Mommy either needs to pump or go straight to the source. Someone may be hungry soon.”
It causes Vaughn to glance in my direction. “Again? Didn’t you feed her like a gazillion times during the night?”
Sliding out from under the covers, I grab my robe lying on the end of the bed. “That’s kind of how babies work. At first, they need a lot of milk.”
A humorous smirk hits his lips. “True. She is also a strong one, this one.”
“You sound like she’s going to be some future queen of a kingdom.”
He chuckles. “Nah, she’ll just be keeping us on our toes as soon as puberty hits.”
I walk to them, admiring how this is a strange yet relaxed feeling. We share a bed, all three of us, as if it was the only way to be.
I’m happy Vaughn gets his moments with Nora, especially as he has a lot of work. Having a baby in the off-season should be a hockey player’s dream, but a general manager? Hell no, it’s full-on preparing for the season ahead.
My hand falls onto Vaughn’s arm as we look down at our daughter. “She’s already getting bigger.” Still her baby clothes drown her a little, and we have to roll up her sleeves.
“Everything is a blur. Fast is an understatement,” he notes.
We haven’t discussed even once our events prior to Nora entering the world. How could we? We’re occupied with a new baby.
“I’m going to head to the training arena soon, but I’ll be home early because my brother is going to stop by to meet his niece,” Vaughn informs me.
It grabs my attention, as I haven’t met his brother yet. I guess it’s not a big deal considering he is Nora’s uncle. No different than Briggs, except meeting Vaughn’s brother feels a bit more confronting and serious maybe. I want to make a good impression.
“Sounds good. I’m going to see Hadley this morning, and maybe I’ll stop at the general store for some things later.” Our local general store is anything but, it’s a gourmet supermarket.
“Sure, just take it easy.” He hands me Nora. I’m fairly confident that she has his eyes.
Nora is making little faces that tell me she’s hungry. “I’m just going to head downstairs to feed her.” As much as I don’t mind Vaughn watching me, it still causes my lips to curl into an awkward smile. It’s a sort of intimacy in a different strange way.
“Okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”
A few minutes later, I’m sitting on the couch with Nora at my chest and my eyes taking in the morning light streaming in through the big windows. I’m chewing on some fruit since I always wake up hungry.
Random sounds in the kitchen tell me that Vaughn is about to leave and probably grabbing his protein shake for the road.
We have a routine that we easily fell into. I’m grateful for that. If he was still angry at me for not telling him about my pregnancy or insistent that everything goes his way, then I would have been walking on eggshells.
