“I forgot to send them in to get printed. I only did it about a week ago,” he revealed. I rolled my eyes but chuckled.
“I wondered why we still hadn’t come in. That sounds great. Let’s do it now,”
I glanced at his computer screen and saw that he was searching for kid’s drum kits. I rolled my eyes and chuckled.
“She can barely hold a stick,” I teased, and he grinned excitedly.
“I know. I just want to have them here for when she’s ready. She’s gonna be a natural.”
“Her and Jimmy are going to be amazing.”
“I can’t wait. All of our kids following in our footsteps. It’s every parent’s dream.”
I smiled, but my mood kind of sank. Would Lola get anything from me?
“She cried every time you left the room today,” he mentioned, closing the laptop. Oddly enough, that perked me up some.
“Really?” He nodded.
“Yep. Definitely a momma’s girl. She was not happy when you left. I tried everything but the only time she really calmed down was when she napped, ate, or you came back.”
I hadn’t even noticed. Guilt over being jealous of their bond washed over me. I pushed those thoughts away and smiled.
“Come on, let’s get the photos up.” I climbed out of bed and extended my hand and he took it, following me out of the room and to the nursery.
I glanced over at the crib, thankful that Lola was a heavy sleeper.
Mark went to work putting them on the walls. We had a dozen pictures hung in less than ten minutes. I held the last one in my hands and had him set it right above her crib.
Only when the last photo was hung did she finally begin to fuss. I glanced at the clock and saw it was about time for a bottle. I went down to the kitchen and when I returned, I found Mark rocking her slowly, trying to keep her calm.
He handed her to me and I took her to the chair to eat. He sat by my feet and waited quietly for her to finish her late night meal. She fussed a little after her burp, but eventually she went back to sleep. Mark wanted to stay in her room for a bit just to make sure she was down for the count.
He was so different, now that he was a father.He was still the adorably hot goof I had married, but now- now he was a protector. His goals were less band oriented and more family geared. He still wanted to tour and make music, but now he wanted to make sure we could join him whenever possible and that we had proper security when he was gone.
I hadn’t decided if I was going to bring Lola to any shows this tour, but we’d definitely catch him post show for dinner or a night at a hotel. I would miss him just as much as he missed us.
He sat in the rocking chair and patted his thigh. I came and joined him, snuggling close.
“It’s kind of amazing, isn’t it?”
I turned my head to look at him. He had a soft smile on his face.
“What’s that?”
“I was a dumb kid with friends who were just as dumb as me. We had no money, no education, just a dream. Of course, we all wanted to get big, but to actually make it happen,” he whistled ever so softly.
“If we didn’t make it as musicians, or if I didn’t have great friends, we wouldn’t have her,” he said looking at the crib.
“That’s a lot of if’s,” I said, running my hands through his hair.
“I’d like to think I’d still have you though,” he grinned, kissing me.
“I was never interested in any of those if’s and you still got me.”
His face darkened for a moment, and I realized what I said. How he took it.
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
