When Fire Meets Coffee

Chelsea XLVI

The baby is quiet.

She's asleep. Thank god.

She hasn't stopped crying since Jordyn left for work. She cries when we're both not in the same room as her. She cries when I leave as well.

We've been home three days after two days in the hospital. Jordyn started work again this morning, after having reassurance from a psychologist that I haven't developed post-partum depression. It'll be a while before I go back to work. When Link's big enough for a carry swaddle.

But for now, she's my newborn babe, my sleeping newborn babe.

Other than the crying when one of us leaves, she's really good. She doesn't cry at night and she's such a loveable little girl.

She likes to look into our eyes and she'll grab our fingers in her tiny baby hands. It hurts to feed her still, she grip seems to be getting harder every time I feed her.

We've had a few visits in the hospital and at home. She's quite the popular little thing.

Everyone told me how surprised they were. Apparently nobody thought Jordyn was going to find anyone, and that fact is quite sad. She never showed any interest in anyone, and according to her siblings, she was very much depressed.

But now look at her. She's married and has a kid. Everyone likes the happy Jordyn that I get to live with on a daily basis, and it hurts to think that before me, Jordyn wasn't like this.

That's the past though. The present is amazing. And so is this sleeping baby.

She fell asleep in my arms and I'm close to falling asleep as well. I carefully lay down on my back and bring her up on my chest. She loves a good cuddle.

I hear little baby noises and I prepare myself for another crying fit, but instead, she grabs my hair.

"Hey, baby. Don't do that. That'll hurt Mommy." I tell her. I pry her little fingers off of my hair and set her down on the bed beside me.

She turns her head to look at me with those adorable eyes. She's gonna be like her Mama, I can just see it.

"Good morning. Feeling less grumpy?" I ask her.

I get a grunt in response.

"You are just the cutest little thing."

I reach my finger out and boop her nose. I hold her little hand in mine and just admire her.

"I love you, my little Link." I give her a kiss on the cheek and we snuggle for a little while. I start to drift off when a horrid smell wafts through the air.

I have to change her diaper. Fun.

After that's done, I take her back to back to bed and snuggle again. I am determined. This time, I actually do fall asleep.

"She's doing it! She's doing it!" Jordyn exclaims as Link takes her first steps, independently.

She walks from Jordyn to me and I pick her up and cheer for her. She giggles but I just know she has no idea why we're so excited. I kiss her and bounce around with her in my arms. She loves it when I do that. My baby just took her first steps.

"Well done, little Link!" Jordyn says.

"I not little anymore!" she tells her Mama, sternly. "I'm a big girl now." she pouts.

"Yeah, you are. But you will always be our little Link." Jordyn reminds her and tickles her sides. She squirms in my arms as she laughs. I kiss her cheek again.

Suddenly, everything goes white.

I'm not in my living room anymore, and Jordyn and Link aren't right here with me. It's all just white. Endless void of white.

I walk a little bit. As I do, I hear a child giggle and footsteps as they run.

She ran straight into me and falls back.

"Oops. Sorry, miss."

She looks an awful lot like Jordyn.

"It's okay. Are you hurt?" I ask, holding out my hand to help her get up.

"No, I'm okay. Whoah, you're beautiful." she tells me.

"Thank you."

"I'm Jordyn. What's your name?"

"Chelsea."

Baby's crying.

She's still next to me, so that's a relief.

I shake my head pick up Link. She looks for my breast I know that she's hungry. I lift up my top and pull my bra down so I can feed her. She latches on immediately and I sigh at the peacefulness.

I check time and it's three thirty-three.

I hear the front door open followed by her new favourite catch phrase, "Honey! I'm home!"

"In the bedroom, babe!"

She comes through the door and sees Link feeding.

"Aw, somebody hungry?" she says, greeting me with a kiss.

"Yeah just a bit. We woke up like a minute ago."

"I see." she lays down on the bed next to me.

"How was work?"

"Pretty uneventful. We did chores and I did a lot of paper work. All I wanted to do was come come and see my wife and my baby." she tells me.

"Well, you're home now. With your wife and baby."

"Yes. I am. What do you want for dinner?"

"Do one of your British meals." I request.

"Carbonara? Pasta bake? Baked beans on toast? Fish and chips?"

"A pasta bake sounds nice."

"Past bake it is!"

She gets showered and dressed before she disappeared off to the kitchen. Link had finished feeding a while ago, so I'm free to move around. I take her downstairs and sit on the couch with her. I watch TV for a while until dinner was ready.

I put Link in her bouncer and set her next to my chair. I eat with my wife at talk about nothing and everything.

It's the small things I enjoy with her. Eating dinner, going to bed, cooking together, walks in the park with the baby. She makes life so much more enjoyable and fullfilling.

I love Jordyn. She's my world and I'm going to show her that by doing whatever she wants. Link is a prime example of that.