Solitude || Evan Buckley [1]

chapter thirty three

some good days and bad days

A soft groan escaped at the loud wailing that had erupted in the bedroom down the hall. Sasha's eyes shut for a moment before rubbing them slightly opened. She garnered the maternal strength to pull the comforter off her body and untangle herself to attend to the infant. Her feet barely touched the floor when a pair of arms squeezed her.

"I got her." Buck murmured, using little strength to get her to lay back down.

Sasha faced her body to him and brought a hand to caress his face. "Are you sure? You just finished a 24-hour shift today."

Buck grabbed onto her hand, grazing it. "I have the day off tomorrow while you don't. Go back to sleep." He kissed the palm of her hand before leaving the bed. Sasha rolled over and pulled the comforter over with ease.

Inside the nursery, an eight-month-old baby's legs wobbled as she clutched onto the support of the crib's railing to stand. She began shrieking upon the sight of her stuffed bunny that had fallen to the floor. She became frustrated with her tiny hand unable to grasp for it. 

Her father stumbled into the room while rubbing his eyes open. He spotted her to follow the lost toy. "Someone is having a rough night. Did you have a nightmare and drop Miss Bunny?"

Monet only cried louder, "Mama!"

"Mama is sleeping but Dada is here to the rescue." Buck picked up Monet and then the bunny to return into her arms.

Reuniting with the stuffed toy, the eight-month-old rested her head on his shoulder and whimpered.

"Everything is fine, princess. Dada is right here and will stay until you go back to sleep." He bounced her, his hand soothing her by making circles around her back.

An exhausted sigh slipped out of his mouth when he sunk in comfortably into the rocking chair. He adjusted Monet from his shoulder to lay on his lap. The tiny night light in the room glowed enough for Buck to see his daughter's teary-eyed face. Every time he had to get out of bed when she wakes up during the night, he enjoys rocking her back to sleep. Watching her grow and being fixated on the mixture of features where he could place who she looks alike the most astounded him these following months.

Monet's lips quivered as she sniffled and held on tight to her bunny. She stared up at her father who cradled her face and continued to hush her.

"Just you and me. We're all right." He cooed. "Nightmares are scary, I get it. I used to have a lot of nightmares when I was a kid. Thankfully, I had your auntie Maddie at the time. And lucky for you, you have me and your mama." He tugged a tired grin with his thumb touching her temple.

In a matter of time, Monet snoozed off to the sound of Buck's voice and the comfort of her stuffed bunny back in her possession. Buck gently placed his daughter back into the crib then tip toed out of the nursery which brought him some relief. His feet shuffled into bed where Sasha's soft snores were heard.