𝓛𝓮𝓸𝓷 𝓚𝓮𝓷𝓷𝓮𝓭𝔂| ɪᴍᴀɢɪɴᴇꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ 4

Baby's Vaccinations

The day I've been dreading has finally arrived. I woke up early this morning to prepare myself, but no matter how many calming teas or cuddles with my baby I have none of it seems to settle that gnawing fear I have. Leon's tried comforting me, giving me words of encouragement and reasoning, but I can tell he's not overly excited about this day either. 

We step into the doctors office, the sterile scent of disinfectant assaults my senses, I'm already panicking as Leon carries our baby close to his chest, cooing to try and wake her from her nap. I quietly talk to the receptionist, giving her a few details before we're asked to sit down. We choose a cosy spot in the corner to wait, but I can't stay still. My knee bounces as Leon throws me a sympathetic look, his lips thin as he gives me a small smile, but it only makes me feel worse. I look over to our daughter who's beginning to stir in his arms, her vibrant blue eyes open and straight away seek to find me. Tears well up in my eyes as I reach out a finger and let her hold me, squeezing tight as she coos and looks around. 

"I hate this." I mumble to Leon. He leans over, pressing a delicate kiss to the side of my head as he nods and tries to comfort me once more. 

"I know, but it's for the best, a few small vaccinations are worth it to prevent her getting ill." He replies. I nod, knowing that, but the thought of her cries and being in pain has me wanting to grab her and run. It's the best decision, and really will help her fight off illnesses in the future, but that doesn't help that it's going to hurt her. I glance down once more, watching her chubby cheeks as she makes those cute noises. I smile for her, taking a deep breath to calm down and be here for her. "It'll be okay," Leon murmurs, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, "we're here together, you don't have to come in if it's too hard."

I shake my head, "I've got to be there for her." I say, and with that I steel my spine and put our daughter first. All too soon we're called into the room by a kind looking nurse. She closes the door behind us and pats my arm as if to soothe my nerves, already I know she's a good nurse and I can trust her. She tells us the procedure and explains some information about the effects. We'd already signed the documents and given her consent before so now it's just a case of D/N getting her vaccinations. The nurse instructs Leon to set her down on the plush bed, holding her as still as he can whilst the nurse grabs the things she'll need. I watch with eagle eyes, feeling sick when I see the needles. 

"Will she be okay?" I worriedly ask her. The nurse nods as Leon tickles our baby. 

"Absolutely, I promise it'll be over quick. She might cry and feel a little sore, but after a few hours she'll be back to her normal self. Just give her some pain relief once you're home and lots of snuggles." The nurse says.  "I bet you're parents shower you in love, don't they." The nurse softly coos to our baby. D/N giggles, dribbling as she wriggles. I gulp, taking her other side as Leon's eyes meet mine. He reaches out wordlessly, taking my hand so we're all connected. The nurse begins to massage our baby's arm, tickling and making her laugh before getting the wipe and cleaning the area, with one last reassuring smile to me, she grabs the first jab and quickly injects D/N. Immediately D/N's giggles turn to screams and cries, piercing the air and tugging at my heartstrings. My eyes fill with tears as I stroke her head, shushing and coaxing that it'll be okay. The nurse prepares the second vaccination and follows the same procedure. It feels like hours of torture until she's done, praising our daughter and I for getting through it. 

Leon swallows, looking a little shaken but in better shape than I. "You good?" He asks me as I wipe my cheeks and nod. "She's strong, just like her mommy, you both did so well." He softly says, buttoning up our daughter's onesie as I breathe and control myself. The nurse hands me a lollipop, making me smile as I take it and thank her. After a few more titbits of information we're free to go. I clutch my baby to my chest as Leon's hand guides us out of the office and towards the car. I never stop looking at my precious daughter, kissing her red cheeks and calming her down. Surprisingly she stops crying pretty quick and goes back to sleep on the way home. 

I finally relax once we're in the house. I get myself a sugary drink as Leon snuggles with our baby, who's woke up again and cries once more. "Shh, it's alright little warrior, you're okay now and you took 'em like a champ." He coos to her. I laugh, feeling less tense and more tired. Leon settles on the sofa as I make our baby a bottle then grab the pain relief just in case. Leon offers her to me, so I take her and cradle her to my chest as I feed her, watching her little eyes as she stares at me, her tiny hand grabs the bottle, then once she's done I sit her up and burp her as Leon puts on the TV. After I give her some pain relief, then she falls asleep again so I tuck her into her crib, making sure she's alright before I go back to the living room.  

"Why don't we order takeout for dinner, I think you deserve a treat for dealing with all this, I know it's hard but at least now she'll be safer." Leon softly says, pulling me to him as I cuddle into his body. I nod, yawning as I melt into his arms. His fingers run through my hair as I let myself drift to sleep. When I wake up Leon's gently shaking me, peppering kisses over my face. I sit up from his lap, rubbing my eyes as I look at the time. 

"Everything okay?" I ask. Leon nods, standing up. 

"Yeah, I just figured we should have dinner before it gets too late. Sound good?"

I nod, smiling as I get up and go to check on our daughter, who's awake and ready to play as she shakes her favourite toy around. I huff a laugh, scooping her up as Leon calls for the food. "I guess I didn't need to be worried after all, you're such a tough little girl." I kiss her, giggling as she gurgles and smiles at me.