Baby Clifford

Meeting the Boys

Her tiny hands gripped my chest hair and loosened it as she breathed even as she slept. I kissed the top of her small head just as I closed my eyes and fell asleep with her soft and steady breathing on my chest.

I was woken up to Melody being taken off my chest and her little fussing. I opened my eyes to see my band mates gushing over mine and Haylie's daughter. I could see that Ashton was holding her, his eyes filled with awe. "Look who woke up." Calum teased at me, "Nice chest hair, but I think all of us could go without it." He added as I sat up. "Melody likes it. Fell asleep to grabbing it and letting go." I defended and buttoned up my shirt.

I got a good look at their faces and could tell they've been crying by their eyes and Luke's face was still a tint of red. "She's so calm, this can't be Michael's kid." Luke laughed. I nodded, "She gets fussy, but she hasn't bawled yet." I tell them as I stood and looked down at my daughter and put a kiss on her cheek. "Do I get a kiss?" Ash teased and winked. "No, only Melody Anastasia-Lyric Clifford gets kisses." I told him and kissed my daughter again. "You and Haylie picked a really long name for this girl. It'll take her five minutes longer to write and say her full name compared to other kids." He laughed, even though he was serious. "Let alone when she gets in trouble and by the time Michael says her whole name, he'll forget what she did." Calum laughed. Melody got fussy and crying. "Give me her." I told Ash and he handed her over to me. "Hi baby girl. Were your uncles making fun of your name and daddy, hmm?" I swayed and bounced her, trying to do what Jake did. "They're just mean aren't they," I softly said and stroked her cheek. She took a hold of my index finger again before putting it in her mouth.

"I just can't believe she looks like Haylie nothing of you, yet." Ash mentioned. I nodded my head. "I wish Haylie could see her. I mean, Melody can't live her life without a mother to take care of her. I could handle her without a mother, until um you know, puberty. I don't know what I'm going to tell her and let alone how she'll feel. I'll feel-" "Michael, that's not in years and I'm sure that she'll learn from her friends, so don't worry about it. She's only a day old and you're thinking about her going into puberty already." Ashton laughed. I shrugged my shoulders.

"Excuse me," There was the nurse at the door. "I think it's time to give Melody her bottle." She said and started the formula for it. By the time it was done, she handed it over to me. I was clueless, I never babysat a baby before. I was lucky enough to know how to hold one. "It be a good start if you put your finger out of her mouth, then replace it with the bottle," the nurse said. "Thanks, I'm new at this." I said and replaced my finger with the bottle. "Make sure she isn't drinking it too quickly. If you have to, you might have to pat her back over your shoulder, so she can burp." She explained to me simply. She came over and put a small burp cloth on my shoulder. "Just in case. Let me or another nurse if you need a new one" She said with a smile. I nodded and watched how slow my daughter drank her milk. The nurse laughed, "Well that's new. You won't have to worry about her drinking it too quickly then. I'll leave you be now." She left. "Definatly not her father's eating habbits." Luke laughed and the other boys at his humor. I glared at him, but this child was pure Haylie, I swear.

Melody's eyes started to close as the bottle got closer to being empty. "She's something else. isn't she?" Calum softly, humorously spoke. "Yeah, she'll be an adventure alright." I added and kissed the baby's head.
"Can I hold her? " Calum asked, and I nodded my head, handing her over. "Support her head," I mentioned to him. "She's so light," he said astonished. I noticed her eyes open, she started to cry in his arms. "I don't think she likes you Cal. " I said. He tried to calm her down, but Melody wasn't having it. "Come here, baby girl." I softly said and took her in my arms. "Daddy's here. I gotcha, not uncle Calum anymore. " I said as I swayed to get her to calm down again. She made worried hums at first, but went quite after she noticed it was me that was holding her. "I guess I'll be the favorite uncle then." Ashton teased with a winning smiled. "Shut up, Ashton." Calum grumbled.
"Melody, you're never going to hear the end of that. Calum and Ashton will keep arguing about that for the rest of your life." Luke laughed. Then asked, "Michael, can I hold your very long named child?" I nodded and handed her over. She whimpered at the new arms and hands holding her. She was just a shy little baby. "Hi Melody, I'm Uncle Lukey." He leaned down and rubbed his nose against her. She did not like that at all, it was kind of funny when her small hand hit his nose with a small grunt. "Fine, I see how it is. I guess I'm not the favorite." I laughed at my and Haylie's little baby girl trying to hurt her uncle. "Maybe that's the Michael in her, instead of saying shut up, she hits you. She's just a little bully." Calum teased while laughing, all of us were, other than Luke. Melody gurgled and failing her arms in the air. I cooed at her. "You don't want any kisses from uncle Luke, hmm. Just want kisses from Daddy, huh?" I placed a kiss on her cheek and nose. She moved her tongue out of her mouth. "Another feature of Michael, she likes to stick out her little tongue." Ashton stated, almost laughing. "She's a little daddy's girl already," Luke chuckled.

I smiled and took a hold of my favorite little girl. Melody closed her little eyes again. I could tell her fingers wanted to grab something. They kept opening and closing into a fist. I put one of my fingers in her tiny hands. "Tired little girl," Ashton cooed, "I think it would be good if we got going. See ya Michael." He said and the others said their good byes and so did I. "Looks likes it's just you and me again, Melody" I said and got all of the gifts and things she needed before coming home.

"Here we are baby girl, this is our home." I happily spoke before taking her inside the house. "This is the kitchen, where I'll feed you and make food for us." I said before walking into the living room. "This is the living room, where we'll spend most of our time and watch movies or something." I said and walked down the hallway to my bedroom. "This is where your mummy and I made you in the bed. It was a fun and crazy night for the both of us." I laughed, then took her to the bathroom and her room. I changed her diaper before feeding her. I rocked gently in the rocking chair and hummed "21 Guns" by Green Day. Melody's newborn body was just big enough to fit in my two hands, she fussed as she tried to fight off her sleep. "Hey, it's okay. I'm going to go to sleep as soon as you do. Don't you worry. Daddy's gotcha, daddy's here." I gently whispered and kissed her chubby cheek and managed to fall asleep with her on the chair.