Baby Blues

[JULIE BRADY]

Julie whimpered and shoved her face in the pillow. Maybe that would make the world fall away for a few more hours of sleep. Another cry from the other room dashed that fantasy and she slowly exhaled into the Egyptian cotton sheets. “I’ll get him,” she mumbled softly, hoping her stirring roommate could hear her. A strong arm pulling her back to a hard chest stopped her from rolling out. It drew a smile from her face, looking over her shoulder to the handsome man nuzzling his nose into her shoulder blade. Remy obviously wanted nothing more than to ignore the squalling too. Maybe it would stop if she just gave it another couple seconds…Nope. It only got louder. She lightly patted Remy’s hand on her still soft stomach. All that baby weight hadn’t quite come off yet. She still had another ten or fifteen pounds.

“He’s only going to get louder. He’s as insistent on having me as you are.” A heavy sigh against her skin told her he was reluctantly going to surrender her. Slipping away from him, she turned back only to lean down and plant a kiss on her lover’s scruffy cheek. The sun was just peeking through their windows and the clock read 8 AM. At least she’d managed another five hours of sleep. She shuffled down the hallway to the source of the racket next door. Even after six months of being in their new apartment, she still bumped into the doorjamb every time she stepped into the baby blue room. The accents were in a pale yellow, a quaint woodland animal theme lending decoration to the well-sized room. It fit all of the dark wood furniture needed to keep her and Remy’s newest edition comfortable and well taken care of.

At five months, Julie was still amazed every time she looked at the tiny little creature now squirming unhappily in his crib. Remington Alexander Graham II had a thick head of coal black hair, his piercing blue eyes startling with their long black lashes. Right now those beautiful eyes were swimming in frustrated tears while his face flushed angrily as he cried. Alex was as demanding as his father, if not more so. As soon as his eyes fixed on his mother’s smiling face, he stopped waving his tiny fists to poke his pouting lip out, sucking in tiny, hiccupping breaths. “What is wrong, little man? Why so much screaming?” She asked, but she knew the answer. She could already smell it.

Reaching into the crib, Julie gently lifted her son from the tiny mattress and rested his sweet smelling, warm head against her cheek. She shushed softly, bouncing him gently as she danced her way over to the changing table. “What are we going to do with that stinky butt?” she asked in a playful, cooing voice. As she bounced rhythmically to Hooked On A Feeling playing in her own head, Alex slowly changed from crying to whimpering. Soon it was obvious he was trying to figure out if he wanted to laugh or not. When she finally laid him back, she did so with a soft, “Weeeee!” And as she grinned down at her beautiful boy, she could see the dimples in his cheeks winking at her from his own smile. It wasn’t going to last long if she wasn’t quick! Working on automatic, she set her nimble hands to stripping off the bottom half of her baby’s onesie and the dirty diaper underneath. As she tossed the last dirty wipe into the garbage can beside the changing table, she heard shuffling in the hallway behind her. Fastening the fresh diaper on Alex’s hips, she looked over her shoulder at a disheveled, half naked Remy. The sleep still hanging on his face always reminded Julie of a little boy and she couldn’t help the smile that spread on her mouth. One day Alex would look like that in the morning. She just hoped that day wouldn’t come too soon. “Uh-oh, Alex.” Snapping the last buttons of his onesie, she scooped her boy into her arms, resting him against her chest and shoulder as he perched on her arm. “You woke up your daddy. Let’s hope your good looks can convince him to let you stay.” Leaning down to his soft, plump cheek, she blew a raspberry that made the baby grab her hair and grin before emitting a happy laugh. She grinned at him before looking at Remy with a twinkle in her eye. “What do you think? Can we keep him?” Her cheek rested on top of her little man’s head, hoping her attempt at being cute would improve on her love’s mood.

[REMY GRAHAM]

Sleepy brows creased before he could even wake. His subconscious heard the little beast roaring from the other room, a soft growl of annoyance rumbling in the back of his sleepy throat. The bed was warm and his dreams had been sweet, the soft scent of Julie filling him. He'd come to love waking beside her, and he didn't regret his proposal yet. That was a good thing. He was certain by this point he would be a miserable sack of human flesh, but it was quite the opposite. He enjoyed playing house with a fiance and child, the term enjoy being used loosely of course. He missed his old ways of staying out late, drinking too much and calling up female escorts to take care of his needs, but he did find it a lot easier t come home to the beautiful Julie Brady who was, usually, willing to at least comply with letting him do what he needed. She was tired these days, and rightfully so. He was tired too, and he wasn't even the one getting up at night to care for their little critter.

"I’ll get him,” The words woke him some and he instantly knew what was going on, but he made no move to get out of bed himself. In fact he reached and arm over his soon to be wife to keep her there longer, groaning sleepily in protest against her shoulder. He was too tired to plead, too tired to fight too hard to keep her there. Alex grew louder and he grunted his annoyance as the woman beside him patted his hand, reminding him that his offspring demanded her as much as he did. It was hard to compete with something that small, needy and cute.. With a heavy sigh he let her go, his arm holding on as long as he could until there was nothing left but the warm place where she'd just been, his arm stretched over it and getting colder by the second. He didn't want to get up. It was too early..

Remy laid there a long time, desperately trying to fall back asleep, but not being able to. He could hear the baby making noises, hear his wife to be cooing gently to him to calm him down, and the combination was distracting at best. He grumbled in the bed and finally dragged himself from beneath the covers, a sleepy mess of a man with his hair in strange places, his flannel pants hanging low on his hips. He yawned as he stumbled out of the room down the hall to his son's, stopping in the doorway and leaning on it, a sour look on his face to match the sour breath in his mouth.

“Uh-oh, Alex. You woke up your daddy. Let’s hope your good looks can convince him to let you stay.” His brows furrowed as he eyed the happy creature, too happy considering the time of day it was. He wouldn't be that alert for at least a few hours. Probably not until the evening.. He grunted his answer and another bear like yawn swept over his face as he willed himself to wake more completely. Stupid baby was too cute for his own good. “What do you think? Can we keep him?” He made a soft growling noise, moving into the room and eyeing up the beast who woke him from his slumber. "The jury's still out." He replied, his voice scratchy and raw from lack of use over the last seven hours. He reached for the baby, taking him from Julie's arms and holding him to his side, turning his head to come eye to eye with the boy who had inherited his mother's lighter blue eyes. The kid could be a model. "You keep waking me like this I'm not going to get a car for you when you're sixteen. You might not care now but believe me, you will." He reminded, planting his dry lips on the baby's forehead before turning to Julie and doing the same to her, lingering a moment. "I need coffee." He grumbled against her head, his chin as scratchy as his voice.