A long lane at night

2.10. BIRTHDAY Part 1

** JACK **

ALICE STAYED UP ALL NIGHT BECAUSE OF SOME nasty cramps and I had already tried everything I could: I made the room as dark as possible, I rubbed her belly, I carried her and gently walked with her around the room. That was the time Nate entered the bedroom with a warm bottle. The light from the landing was enough to cast warmly into the room, dimmer than a lamp, but still enough to see.

'Barefoot with nothing on but a pair of my favourite sweatpants while calming our baby down,' he whispered as he got closer to us, 'if I hadn't fallen in love with you until now, this has definitely done the trick.'

I gave an exasperated snort and mouthed to him to get closer to me. When he did, I crunched down a bit and met his lips. Nate is a clever boy, he always knows when I want a kiss, and he shortens our height difference by already getting on his tiptoes. When he placed his feet back on the floor, he kept a hand on my shoulder and the other one started to gently rub Alice's back.

'Can I try something before the bottle?' He asked and, because he knows far too well how I feel about giving Alice to other people when she's not feeling well, he was quick to add, 'Keep her with you, I just want to see if two warm bodies work better than a body and a bottle.'

My smile was the only answer he needed.

Nate firstly pressed the warm bottle against the skin of his chest for a few seconds and then placed it inside one of the zillion thermal bags we have around the house; this one was already open by the nightstand on my side of the bed. I lowered Alice from my chest to my belly, so when Nate hugged her from behind, she was well placed between her two dads.

I gently squeezed Nate against me, making some comfortable pressure on Alice, and Nate started humming a lullaby. The vibration from his chest, combined with the pressure and heat coming from both ends, and also the presence of her both fathers being there for her, finally started to work its magic and, very slowly, she stopped crying.

I will never regret having that conversation with Nate six months ago about his also becoming Alice's dad since we would raise her together. I know Nate inside and out to be certain the question wouldn't freak him out and, this way, Alice will grow up always having two dads instead of one. In my own case, I know I did the right thing.

Nate and I kept Alice in our family embrace for a long time. The two grown-ups would slowly rock their bodies to dissipate any discomfort, but the real concern in our minds was to have Alice peacefully sleep. Oh, and the super comfortable carpet we had under our feet was of great help to us as well.

After we placed baby Alice down on her cot, tightly surrounded by her pillows, Nate turned on the lamp on his side of the bed and I closed the bedroom door. You do learn the little tricks as you go: Alice hates light that is too close to her and, unless she's feeling unwell like she was tonight, she's also not the biggest fan of total darkness. We all learned the lesson, and dim lamps across the room were the answer.

Now that Alice was growing up a bit, we had decided her cot didn't need to be attached to our bed anymore. It was still at a close distance, but we finally had our bed only to ourselves. Nate waited for me to lie down first and he came to lie by my side. Actually, it's not exactly by my side. He thinks I don't see his sneaky ways, but those are my favourite parts of Nate.

I used to be a gym rat and I'm pretty tall myself, which makes me a big guy, whereas Nate can be called, if you're in a good mood, average-height, and has a plain figure, which makes him super light for me. During the first weeks of Alice, Nate would use the excuse to watch her sleep to lie down practically on top of my chest. I really enjoyed having him like that. I would gently run my hand through his nape, the back of his head, his ear and, more often than not, Nate was the first one of us three to fall asleep. Six months in, he doesn't even pretend anymore. It has become our little night ritual and I love it.