Another Life

28

The following morning started earlier than we expected it to when at one Alfie woke up to be fed. He ate and then went back sleep, only to wake up thirty minutes later because he needed a change, then he slept for another hour before getting cold so he cried. The whole night carried on like that, the only difference was the alternating hot or cold to wake him up the third time, and before we knew it we had the nurse knocking on the door asking us if we were up to another set of visitors at just gone eleven.

Jay and I nodded quickly, knowing it was Kevin and Macie, and I just managed to finish getting Alfie wrapped up in his blanket again when the door slowly opened. Mae stayed close to Kev's feet, walking in hesitantly, until she got through the door. She spotted Jay sat in the chair and the nervous look on her face was instantly gone and replaced with a smile and she detached herself from Kevin's leg and ran into Jay's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck tightly, calling his name loudly as she ran across the room.

"I miss you." Macie says as she eventually pulls her head away from the crook of Jay's neck.

Jay gives her an agreeing smile. "I missed you, too, Mace, and so did mommy." He said, making a point toward me.

Macie glances over to me quickly and then looks back to Jay for a beat before realizing I was sat on the bed. She freed herself from Jay's arms and tried climbing up on the bed, only to have Jay pull her away and help her up instead. "You need to be calm Mae, look mommy has your baby brother so no jumping about okay?"

Mae nods and then Jay pops her down on the mattress beside me and as soon as she makes contact to the bed it's as if a wave of calm comes over her. She scoots back against the pillow and leans into my side, reaching her arm up and gently strokes the tip of Alfie's hat and just like that my heart melted away another time  - I had lost count of how many times it had happened in the last eighteen hours since he was born but it had happened a lot.

It felt like just a week ago we had sat Macie down on the couch (well, sort of) and told her about the baby, about how she would soon be a big sister, but in reality it was half a year ago. And six months later here we were, Macie meeting her brother for the first time and all the built-up anxiety about how she would react - it's one thing to be told there would soon be a baby joining the family, it's a complete other thing to actually see the baby - flew out the window as I watched her lean down and put a kiss to Alfie's forehead.

The sound of a phone shutter going off makes me look up from the sight and I see Jay fiddling around with the side of his phone. He's mumbling a curse under his breath as he puts his phone back on silent and I call him out for it, knowing Macie's hearing was probably better than mine and she was repeating everything and he quickly apologizes before taking another picture of Mae fussing Alfie.

Jay smirks over the phone. "I just need the evidence that they like each other now so I can use it against them both in ten years when they won't stop fighting with each other."

I hold back the chuckle, not wanting to move too much because Alfie had just gone back to sleep after the longer night all of us had had. Macie continues to stroke the top of the hat for another beat before she looks up to me with puppy dog eyes.

"I hold baby?" She asks, tilting her head to one side.

Jay puts his phone down and helps me move Alfie into Mae's arms, Kevin offering to take the pictures this time and he's already pulling his phone out and stepping closer to the bed before we check if he could. I put Alfie into her outstretched arms and Jay makes sure his head isn't tipped back as Macie laughs nervously. I reassure her she's doing great and then Kevin could be heard.

"Say...what's his name?" He asks, a playful hint on his face as he knew exactly what he was doing.

Jay doesn't even look up as he quickly shakes his head. "Nice try, Kev, but you have to wait until everyone else gets here." He replies, keeping his gaze focused on making sure Macie was still holding on to him correctly.