No Regrets

Chapter Thirty-Four - The Waves of the Heart

DOMINICK'S POV - ONE WEEK LATER

   "Baby sunscreen, regular sunscreen, towels, hat, sunglasses, fan, and a cooler full of water. Not to mention everything in the trunk of your car. I think we've got everything." I say reviewing the items at the door. Mom has been in court all-morning, Dad and Katie are having a day-out, and I've been home all week with Mollie.

   I've been getting my school assignments sent to the house so I can be home with Mollie. The doctor recommended Mollie be watched by someone around the clock. The temporary stay-at-home dad thing has proven to be more exhausting than I thought. The fact that I feed Mollie three meals a day, give her a bath, do my schoolwork, and get some chores done, is a huge accomplishment for me.

   This morning was the first time in four days I got the chance to take a shower. A nice-warm long shower. What was my secret? I called in help. Help that came in the form of Tyde. Last night, Mollie wouldn't let me set her down, and she wouldn't let my focus be on anything except her. I tried bouncing her on my knee while working on homework, she cried. I tried distracting her with a toy, she kept throwing it down.

   Then in the middle of all this, Tyde calls to talk. I might have made a few comments expressing how overwhelmed I felt. Next thing I knew, Tyde said she'd come by in the morning to help me de-stress.

  I'm not completely de-stressed, but I was able to get some homework done and clean up. Tyde dressed Mollie for the day, fed her, changed her, and played with her downstairs. I'd check in every now and then, basically every ten minutes, and find that everything was good. Mollie was happy and Tyde is pretty great with her.

   Around lunchtime, I realized how much I'd gotten done and that I was getting stir-crazy. I asked Tyde if she'd like to join Mollie and I on an outing.

"I'd like that a lot. Thanks for asking" she said with a smile.

   We quickly decided on the beach. Mollie's never been, and the beach is always fun. I put Mollie down for her nap around one. We spent Mollie's nap-time packing for the beach. In total, we have a car-trunk full of beach stuff, a cooler, and three bags. I wanted to make sure Mollie would have everything she'd need. Tyde and I then put Mollie's car seat in her car. Trying to get a car-seat installed in a car is one of the hardest tasks in the parenting-world.

   Mollie woke up from her nap around three. I got her changed into a swimming-diaper and an outfit she could get messy in.

"Mollie is ready to go." Tyde says picking up two of the bags.

"Okay, let's get this stuff in your car and then we can go." I say picking up the other bag and the cooler. "Onward, to the beach." I say as we head out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

   Sand, heat, and babies usually don't mix well. Keyword "usually", for some odd reason Mollie not only tolerates it, she loves it. She laughs as she kicks the sand. She is a huge smiley-sweaty mess right now.

   Tyde is sitting with Mollie under the umbrella. They're building a sand... Lump. I take a few pictures, which makes Tyde cover her face with a bucket. "Stop! No paparazzi!" Tyde says teasingly.

   We both laugh, and Mollie joins in laughing. Not sure if she thinks Tyde looks funny, or if she's laughing just because she's a ball of laughter. Tyde laughs and takes the bucket off of her head. "Are you laughing at me?" she asks Mollie.

   I laugh and take a few more photos. Tyde rolls her eyes, "Give me the camera, let me take some photos of Mollie and you." she says. She holds out of her hand and I give her the camera. I lift Mollie off of Tyde's lap.