Stars Align

Done With What?

Dani~

Christian walks into our room as I fed Brie in our bed. He tosses me one of her onesies. Our parents left today. We're on our own now. We are their babies but she is ours and we have to figure this out on our own. "Do you mind if I shower right now?"

"No, go ahead. She's not done yet. But I also need to shower."

He comes over and kisses me, "Okay, I'll be quick."

I don't feel human. I haven't showered in four days. She's a week old. We're tired. But we're adjusting.

I burp her quickly before putting her into the onesie. "You're so freaking cute, oh my god." I just love her so much. I set her in her bassinet as I pull out some clothes for after my shower and get my pump ready for the night.

As I wait for Christian to get out, I scroll through social media for the first time in what feels like forever. I notice Christian's post. We finally made it public knowledge that she's here and healthy today.

/christianyelich: Brielle Indie Yelich made her debut on January 9th, 2027 at 12:12 am, weighing in at 7 lbs, 4 oz, and 22 inches long. She is perfect and healthy and already so loved. Her momma delivered her with no epidural and was all smiles the entire time. Dani, you are incredible. I'm not sure I have many words for you because you made it look so easy. Thank you for being our daughter's home for the past ten months. We love you and are so lucky to have you.

I look through the pictures that he posted. It's much different than what he would normally post. It's raw and exposes the true emotion of us both when she was finally here.

Christian opens the bathroom door and heads into our closet. I set my clothes in the bathroom. I hear her cry a bit and I pick her up once I go back out there.

As soon as I pick her up, she stops fussing. "You're okay. I got you."

She looks up at me and coos. Christian comes out of the closet as I bounce her around gently. "Your post was sweet," I tell him.

He smiles, "Yeah?"

"Yeah, it was."

He puts his arm around me, "Go shower."

I put her in his arms and watch him head toward the bed to lay down with her. I go into the bathroom and let the water run. I might stand in here for as long as I can.

God, pregnancy and postpartum do a number on your body. I don't look pregnant anymore. My stomach is relatively flat considering she's only a week old. It's a bit loose but I don't care. I was her home for ten months. That's the best thing I've ever done.

I take my hair down from the bun it has been in for the last two days. I step into the shower and stand there for a while. It's peaceful. It's relaxing.

"I thought I was going to have to come get you out," Christian says as I walk out of the bathroom and into the closet. It took at least 40 minutes but I may have taken longer.

I toss the towel into the basket and take down my hair from the towel. I stand at the foot of the bed as I dry the ends of my hair, "I think I stood there for ten minutes doing absolutely nothing and then I was definitely dozing off."

I really didn't think I was that tired. But when you're alone and someone else has your number one priority, you realize how tired you are.

"Do you need anything from downstairs?"

"No, I've got what I need."

"Okay."

I head downstairs and fill a few bottles with milk before putting them in bags to be stored in the freezer. I grab a couple of granola bars for myself so I have them when I need to wake up in the middle of the night to feed her.