Though the Monsters

Chapter 45

Daddy Day Care - Bondi Edition

It had been a month since Rowan had been born and that meant that it had been a month since Maggie had gotten any real rest. The old line that the mother sleeps when the baby does was great, when the baby actually decided that she wanted to sleep. Harrison had been apprehensive about going back to work only three weeks after Rowan was born but with Maggie still on maternity leave, he needed to start putting in hours again. It killed him to leave her alone with the baby, especially since Rowan was waking up so often to eat throughout the night. At first he thought that it would work if he took night shifts and just feed Rowan using bottles but Rowan refused to latch on a bottle as long as Maggie was nearby. Maggie had insisted that she was okay having her all day but Harrison could see how hard it was for her.

            Harrison was getting ready to go to work when Maggie came out into the living room rocking Rowan in her arms as the little one screamed. Harrison looked up at his wife who looked worse for wear if he was being honest. She hadn't gotten dressed and he wasn't even sure she'd brushed out her hair before throwing it up in a messy bun. Maggie looked at him and he gave her a soft smile before walking over and taking Rowan into his own arms.

"Hey angel," He hushed, bouncing her gently. "Why are you giving your mama such a hard time huh?"

            Slowly Rowan's cries hushed into whines and then silence as she was lulled to sleep. When she stopped crying Harrison looked to Maggie who had all but collapsed onto the couch. He looked around for a moment before seeing Rowan's swing and gently slipping her into it. Harrison made his way over to the couch and sat next to Maggie, pulling her into his side.

"Hi beautiful." He said, kissing her forehead.

            Maggie snuggled deeper into her husband's side.

"Hi." She said.

            Harrison furrowed his brow and angled his neck so that he could see Maggie's face.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

            Maggie opened her mouth to speak but then closed it again, sighing deeply.

"I'm tired." She admitted.

            Harrison shook his head.

"You're exhausted," He amended for her and Maggie nodded. "You're practically dead on your feet Mags, you can't go on like this."

            Maggie sighed and sat up, turning so that she and Harrison were face to face.

"What do you propose we do?" Maggie shrugged. "Hadlee's already taken enough time off work and away from her own life to help me, Sadie's schedule is insane, and I really don't want to bother the other girls with anything, they've got kids of their own."

            Harrison sighed he'd tried to get Maggie to ask some of the other wives to help out but she didn't want to bother them and when Maggie made up her mind it was impossible to convince her otherwise, a trait that he'd noticed the majority of the women in his life shared. Thoughts ran through his head, if only he could figure out a way to give Maggie some time to herself, to sleep if nothing else. Then it hit him, he knew a place where there were at least a half dozen people who had been dying to see Rowan and she could be there all day.

"What if I took her with me?" Harrison said.

            Maggie was surprised at the idea.

"You want to take her down to Bondi?" She asked.

"Why not? The guys have been practically begging me to bring Rowan down and they're all so good with her. Besides, Hoppo would keep me on tower duty all day if I asked," Harrison could see the hesitation on Maggie's face. He took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. "You're tired Maggie, and I know that you've kind of been on your own the past week and you have no idea how much it kills me to leave every morning."