Another Life

34

in case you missed it at the very end of the last chapter, this one covers little moments over a very long period of time of about 3 1/2 months to keep things moving forward. there's a bit at the top of each jump to tell you how old alfie is 👍

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ten weeks old

The screeching sound of crying makes me wake up quickly and in the corner of my eye I can see Jay bolt up in bed at the noise as well. With a quick look over my shoulder I see the time, 2:54 am, and I slowly roll onto my back to see Alfie squirming in the bassinet beside the bed. I can't get up though, Jay beating me to it, mumbling something about how I had gotten up with him last so it was his turn.

Jay picks Alfie up from the bassinet, crossing off the options in his head of what would be bothering the infant now and quickly his hand lies above the problem. "He needs a change." He mumbles tiredly.

I lie back down again. "Okay, it's definitely your turn." I tell him. He nods and then disappears out of the bedroom, going across the hall into Alfie's nursery to change his diaper.

My eyes close the moment the crying dies down as Jay leaves the room but there's still a staticky version of the noise I could hear right beside me and that's when I notice the monitor is on. We had set it up earlier and I thought I had turned the screen off, but clearly not. The picture was still wonky, the camera had only been chucked up so we could get a look at what the view would be - there was still another three, four months until Alfie would sleep in there, we weren't in a rush to fix the position. And I was too tired to reach up and switch it off, so I let it stay on and open my eyes back up again to watch the screen.

There's quiet mumbles from Jay through the monitor as he speaks to Alfie whilst changing him, the cries and grunts still there over the top because the worst thing in the world to Alfie right now was having his diaper changed.

When Jay had finished that task he picks him up from the changing table and rocks him gently before moving across the room and sitting in the glider. The room wasn't exactly huge so I could just about make out the chair in the top corner of the screen and could see Jay put his legs up and lay Alfie on top of them.

The cries soften almost immediately and that's when I can really hear Jay and what he was saying. "Yeah, you're okay, bud. You're fine."

A smirk upturns my lips and I sit up on the mattress a little, continuing to listen to Jay through the monitor along with the quiet noises Alfie was making.

Jay moves his legs side to side, rocking the infant as Alfie wrapped his hand around Jay's thumb. "A dirty diaper is nothing compared to what you're gonna do one day, it's just gonna be a tiny little speck on a door you're gonna pass through, yes it is. You're gonna rule the world and yeah you don't know about that yet but everyone will bow down at your name. All hail our lord and ruler, Alfie William Halstead!" He says and I chuckle at the extra enthusiasm he added in his words.

He was so right though and it might be the sleep deprivation talking but Alfie is so going to rule the world when he gets older, joined side-by-side with Macie. Those two would take over the world without a glance backwards and they'd be dang good at it.

The monitor then goes quiet for a long enough moment and I end up falling back to sleep quickly in the silence of the room.

************

twelve weeks old

The day Alfie turned three-months-old we had an appointment for his shots and his monthly check-up. And because Jay was dead-set in the fact he didn't have a thing with needles he insisted on coming too. We dropped Macie off with Adam and Kim and went to the clinic, and as we approached the door to go inside I could see Jay's hands begin to shake subtly. It only got worse when we got into the actual room so I took the car seat from his hands and tilted my head toward the door.