Back to You

Mia

Today is the day that we finally get to bring Isabelle home, not that this is going to be our home much longer. The delivery will all the things we ordered has arrived and the girls are here to help Jake and Alex put everything together and set up the room while Ethan and I are at the hospital. We have fitted the car seat into Ethan's car ready for bring her back.

After the doctors have done a few tests, we were told she was ready to go. Ethan had purchased a cute little pink onsie that she is now in to wear home. Ethan places her in the car seat and buckets her up before we walk out of the hospital one final time. He clips the car seat into the car and I climb in the back seat next to her. Ethan gives me a look but I don't care, I'm sitting in the back with her.

Making our way up to the apartment, I find myself constantly looking down at her in my arms. She is still so tiny, she wasn't due for another 3 weeks. When we enter all our friends are sitting on the couch, they haven't seen her since she was born and never got to hold her. Sienna is the first to ask for a cuddle. I carefully hand her over to Ella and then take a seat next to Ethan. We talk for a while and everybody has a hold but she starts to get fussy and I know she is due for a feed. I grab a burping towel placing it on my shoulder and a muslin wrap to cover up because I'm not to keen on Alex and Jake seeing my boobs plus I know Ethan does not want that to happen either. Once I'm all set, Ethan places her in my arms and helps cover her and me before I start to feed her. I'm starting to get use to this breast feeding and Isabelle also is getting better. Once she has finished, I burp her and make my way upstairs with Ethan right behind, to put her in the cot. I still haven't seen the room that has been set up. When I open the door, I am in awe, it's just how I imaged it would be. Sienna and Raya must has also picked up a few things I didn't know about because I notice a bunny mobile hanging above the cot and a cute lavender teddy sitting in the rocking chair.

Once she was settled, I place a kiss on her forehead and grab the monitor so I can hear her if she stirs. We sit around with our friends and catch up and everything that has happened over the past few weeks and order takeout for dinner. Alex decided that he was going to stay with Sienna tonight and Jake was going to crash at Raya's saying they were going to give us some space, but I really think they don't want to be woken by a screaming baby throughout the night.

We make our way upstairs and get ready for bed. I climb in and make sure that I have the monitor on so I know I will wake up to her. Snuggling into Ethan with his arm wrapped around me feels like home. This is where I belong. I was just drifting off to sleep when the sound of a screaming Isabelle pulled me awake straight away. This is my life now and I wouldn't have it any other way.

***

It has been a week now since we have had Isabelle at home, and we are slowly getting into a routine. Ethan has been helping me out at night but I have started insisting that he tries to get as much sleep as possible since he is now training with the Bruins. Today we are going to have a look at a few houses. All of them are in the same neighborhood as Alex and Sienna. I have had a look online and although they are all really nice, they just don't seem to fit Ethan and I, I'm hoping that will change when we see them in person.

Making sure we have the nappy bag packed with everything we will need for Izzy, we make the 20 minute drive to the first house. When we pull up, I can already tell this is not for us. It is a mansion, we don't need this but I think because Ethan has told the agent there is no price limit she is just trying to sell the most expensive mansions. Walking through it feels so stark and sterile and she can tell straight away we aren't impressed. The same happens at the next two houses as well. I try to give her some feedback to see if she can come up with another option.

"We just need a family home, nothing to flash or big, good yard, possibly a pool, maybe 4 or 5 bedrooms and it needs to feel like a home" I hope I am getting across the right vibe we are after. After about 5 minutes and a few phone calls, she comes over to us and tell us that she thinks she has found the perfect home and its only a 2 minute drive from where we are now. We put Izzy back in the car and head towards the next house.

As soon as we pull into the drive, I can tell this is more to our liking. It's a beautiful single story ranch house with a fully fenced yard and a gate at the front, which I like for safety. Walking into the open foyer, the house feels loved. There are 2 living areas, 5 bedrooms, a beautiful family kitchen and the bonus of a pool outside with a great entertaining area and lots of grass.

I turn to Ethan with a smile on my face. He can already tell I love the house; I just hope he feels the same. "So, can you see us living here with Izzy and her brothers?" he asks. I ignore the comment about Izzy having brothers as he keeps telling me we are going to have our own hockey team one day. I know he is joking as we aren't even sure if I'm able to have more children. I just nod with a smile a mile wide because I can definitely see us living here. "This is our home" and he leans in and places a soft kiss on my lips. "I love you Mia"

"I love you too"