Songbird [H.S]

FORTY-TWO

Alone.

No Harry, no Louis, no Johannah, no Rain. Marley was alone with Josie.

Now that Harry had returned to college full-time to finish his final year, Marley was left alone during the day to look after Josie. It was a bit of a shock to the system at first, especially because she was just starting to get used to the routine that included Harry having an equal amount of responsibility to care for their daughter.

Harry was now in charge of making breakfast, changing Josie and putting the first lot of laundry in the washing machine first thing in the morning before college. When he came home, he often had to go straight to work so he'd give Marley a quick kiss, and cuddle Josie for a few minutes before rushing back out of the house to start his afternoon shift at the diner. He would return around nine when Josie was either being put to bed or already asleep so he insisted on tidying the house, folding laundry and doing anything else he could so Marley could have a rest. It was hard not being able to see his daughter all day but it would only be for a few more months and then college would be over.

Marley had been doing her best to cope. Often Rain would help when she came back from work or Louis would come over in the afternoon with Ben to give her a bit of a break. Most of the time, it was enough. Josie was a clingy baby but she never really got fussy. She was usually fine as long as she was being cuddled.

However, today was completely different. It was almost as if Josie had gone to bed and woken up a completely different baby. A fucking devil child had taken her place.

Josie had been crying all day with barely anything stopping her. She'd occasionally quieten down after a feed or being cuddled but it wouldn't be long until she screamed at the top of her lungs again.

Marley was exhausted, having been woken up very early in the morning by Josie whining to be fed and spending the whole day running around like a madwoman trying to find something that will calm her child's crying. The teenager hadn't had a chance to shower, her hair was a tangled mess and her clothes were dirty. Not to mention the chores around the house that lay neglected and were piling up as the day went on.

Josie's cries were so loud Marley was convinced the entire street could hear them and the teenage girl was at her wit's end. Her head was pounding, and her devil child refused to listen to anything she said. If Harry was here she could guarantee Josie would be a damn angel but of course, when it's the person that gave birth to her, she had to be a nuisance.

"Sunny, baby. Please stop crying." She pleaded, bouncing the screaming child in her arms. It was mid-afternoon and Marley was at a complete loss on what to do to stop her crying. She'd tried absolutely everything she could think of. She made sure she was warm, her nappy was clean and she was being fed. She tried cuddling her and playing with the cuddly bunny toy in an attempt to soothe her but nothing seemed to work for long.

It was starting to worry her that Josie had been crying for so long. Something must be wrong because there was no other way to soothe her cries. Josie's cheeks were flushed from the effort it took to continue wailing and Marley was sure her throat must be sore by now.

"Do you need me to sing to you like Daddy does?" She suggested, more so thinking out loud rather than trying to get a reaction from her daughter.

Normally, when Josie was being fussy, Harry would sing to her quietly while he rocked her gently. Most songs worked to calm the girl down but nothing worked better than 'Songbird' - apparently, Josie shared the same favourite song as Harry, which wasn't really a surprise considering the boy was always playing it while Marley was pregnant. The issue was, only Harry's singing was able to calm the girl which in times like this when he wasn't around, it made it pretty difficult to find a different solution.