Against the Odds

12

Miranda knew life would be different after Mia came, but as she looked down at the red, unhappy face of her newborn daughter, she realized that she really had no clue how hard all of this would be.

"How the hell does everybody else do this?" Miranda cried, using the sleeve of her rumpled t-shirt to wipe at the tears that were flowing down her cheeks. God, she hadn't showered today and she smelled like old milk! What she would give to take a bath and to just lay down and close her eyes for a few minutes...and that led to another sob to burst from her lips, which blended in with Mia's cries as the stress of caring for a newborn hit her all at once as she struggled to soothe her own child.

Two days..she'd been home with the baby on her own for only two freaking days and she was a complete failure! The first week at home with Mia had been tiring, but she and Ben had gotten through it together. Ben held her, bathed her, and changed diapers while he was on leave from work and maybe that was why it hadn't been the hardest thing in the world. But now that he was back at work and pulling a stupid double she couldn't even manage to comfort her own daughter who'd been colicky all afternoon. The crying had been almost non-stop today despite being fed, burped, and changed many, many times.

Miranda had even called the pediatrician, afraid that something was wrong with the baby, and the nurse - who apparently was used to dealing with paranoid new mothers bordering on hysteria - had gone through a list of questions to determine if a trip to their office was really necessary. But nothing seemed off, except for the persistent crying...well, at least to Miranda it was persistent. The sympathetic nurse had offered her an appointment anyway, but Miranda's gut told her that Mia wasn't sick, just unhappy with her mother.

She was a terrible mom! The baby was crying, the dishes and laundry were piled up and she'd been wearing the same pajamas since her husband left. She thought she had it. She knew what each cry meant, at least she thought she did.

"I just don't know what you want, please just tell me!" She begged the one-month-old infant as she bounced Mia in her arms.

Miranda was crying so hard that she didn't even notice Ben was home until he was walking toward the living room with a look of panic on his face at seeing both his wife and daughter weeping uncontrollably.

"Hey...baby?! What's wrong?! I could hear Mia crying outside. " Ben said calmly while trying to assess what was happening.

Miranda only heard the last words out of his mouth and sprang to her feet with the screaming infant in her arms. "Great! That's just great. So now our neighbors hate me too!" she sobbed miserably.

"What Miranda, who hates you?" He questioned, frowning at both his girls.

"Mia. She will not stop crying. I can't get her to stop and I've tried everything. She's been crying since you left, I fed her she cried through that, I burped her, and she cried. I changed her, she cried. I bathed her, and she cried. I suck at this. I am a terrible mother, she hates me."

"Baby you are not a terrible mother and she doesn't hate you. Let me take her." He said as he took the baby from her and cradled her in his arms "Come on, princess. What's the matter, huh?" he asked as he swayed her left and right to which Mia immediately began to quiet down. "That's my girl! You just missed Daddy, is that what it is." Ben cooed as she finally slipped her eyes shut and Miranda's filled with tears once again.

"My point is proven." She cried, wiping her eyes and walking up the stairs.

"Miranda." Ben called after her, but she kept walking and he could hear their room door shut... "damn." He mumbled.

"Did you have to give Mommy a hard time?" He whispered to the sleeping baby.

Putting her down in her bassinet. He took his coat off and then his work shirt. Ben cleaned up the kitchen and the living room before starting dinner. When he finished, he grabbed the baby and walked upstairs.