Sage

74

Harry.

Cries.

They never seem to stop. No matter how many times I toss and turn and bury my ear into the pillow, the brittle newborn scream follows me from down the hall and embeds itself into my mind. Deeper and deeper until I finally give in with a frustrated groan that vibrates to my temples and reminds me of the hangover I have due. The room is nippy and dark with shadows when I slowly open my eyes. As if on cue, the skin around my left eye experiences a sharp, stabbing pain that quickly dulls to a throbbing ache up to my eyebrow, and it hurts like hell. When I see the small illuminating clock on the nightstand, the little red neon numbers read 4:12 am.

I carefully close my eyes back and blow out a thick breath. I hadn't gone to sleep till around two am when Rocky III was over and Sage finally fell asleep. How he's awake two hours later is fucking beyond me.

Ellie snores nasally beside me, and I can feel random parts of her warm skin against mine. She sounds peaceful, and as I recall our night, I briefly think about how badly she deserves it. Guilt washes over me and makes my chest tighten at how my actions have affected her the last few days. How badly my jealousy and pride got a hold of me. Although I'm still indifferent toward Gale, I will say her reassurance settled most of my insecurities. And she was right about practically everything else. She always is.

For a moment, Sage's cries become a distant echo, and I find myself sinking back into the comfort of her vanilla scent and the warmth of her body heat that naturally seems to soothe me. No matter how cold it is, she is always warm. Her palms are always soft and her flushed skin always possesses a silky natural heat. I'm drawn into it like a moth to a flame, needing the comfort more than ever as the headache builds and my eye continues to pulsate. I mentally and tiredly apologize to her as I take her in, feeling myself fall back into slumber.

But that lasts a split second.

She begins to stir awake and as badly as I want to ignore the screeching siren in the next room, I know she needs the rest. Making sure she gets it is the last thing I can do.

I climb out of bed, rubbing my fist against my good eye with a slight wince at the pain in my other. My entire body is sore from my rib cage to my calves; the adrenaline and alcohol have worn off and left me victim to each physical consequence of the blurry night before. The moments leading up to my throwing the first blow flash in my mind— Gale, slightly tipsy and unmistakably confused as I accused him of... fuck, it makes me ashamed just to think about it. Part of me hoped he'd drank more than he led on and hopefully remembered nothing of the drunken rant I gave.

"Harry," Ellie groans softly beside me, making me look over my shoulder to see her stirring herself awake, her way of asking me to hurry and deal with our son. The sleepiness in her voice inevitably tugs at a part of my heart that only she has a hold of.

"Yeah— I'm going, baby,"

I reach my hand out to briefly grab hers, the slight touch reassuring that I'm awake before I gently drop it and force myself out of bed. I hear her loud snores just a second later

The floor is cold under my bare feet, sending goosebumps dancing up my arms and shoulders as I slide the hoodie over my hands in an attempt to warm them. When I get to the nursery, I carefully open the door, welcoming myself to the start of an exhausting day. Sage's cries die down into a whimper but he continues to flail and jerk around his little limbs in the confinements of the crib.

"Hey, what's all this fuss, hm? You're going to wake your momma." I hum tiredly, cupping my hand over his diaper to check how wet it was. Of course, it's completely dry. "You hungry?" I offer.