Growing with J.A.C.I.E. (All Time Low Fanfiction | Jack Barakat)

Epilogue

The first time we moved Eliza from our bedroom to her nursery for her bedtime, she was five months old. As a preparation, we'd been letting her take her naps during the day there as well. It was a slow but welcome transition. I'd noticed that both our and Eliza's sleep had been getting worse when we all shared the same bedroom. Her grunts and noises would wake us up, and our movements could wake her up.

Although it was our choice, it didn't make it much easier to say goodnight to her that first night. Especially for Jack.

We slowly snuck out of the nursery after Eliza fell asleep. Jack lingered behind before we could shut the door. He looked back at the crib as if unsure about leaving her behind. I could see the mix of emotions on his face. The room was dimly lit, a soft glow coming from the nightlight. Eliza looked peaceful, oblivious to the significance of the moment.

I placed a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder. "She'll be just fine, Jack. We're just a room away if she needs us."

He nodded, his eyes still fixed on Eliza's slumbering form. With a final lingering gaze, he stepped out of the nursery and we finally closed the door behind us. In the hallway, Jack let out a sigh, and looked down at the baby monitor in his hand.

"We're sure this thing works, right?" he asked.

"Yes," I attempted to reassure him and pressed the button to turn on the screen. On it, we could see Eliza still sleeping in the same position, unaware we had left. "It's been working for days now. It won't suddenly fail at night."

He took in a deep breath, accepting this new reality. "And it's my turn to check up on her tonight."

Technically, it was my turn, but Jack needed this so he wouldn't be tossing and turning all night. So, I gave him a confirming nod and led him away from the nursery door and towards the couch in the living room.

"Promise me you'll wake me if she cries and I don't wake up?" he continued to worry, not wanting his little girl to suffer in any way.

"Of course," I assured, "but I'm sure we'd hear her even without the baby monitor."

"Okay." He placed the monitor down firmly on the coffee table and took a seat on the couch.

We ended up quietly watching a movie before we went to bed as well. The baby monitor kept its prominent place on the coffee table, but Eliza continued to sleep soundly. We'd occasionally turn on the screen to see how she was doing. But all that happened was her shifting her arms a little or moving her head to look towards the other side.

Still, despite knowing that she was doing just fine, Jack couldn't help but peek into the nursery just as we were about to go to bed. He carefully opened the door and craned his neck to be able to take a look at Eliza without making a sound by walking in. Once he was sure that she was okay, he tiptoed away again and joined me in the silence of our bedroom.

The first night was the hardest, but both Jack and Eliza went through it swimmingly.

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We had kept my pregnancy, Eliza's birth, and Eliza's first few months a secret from social media. Of course, we could never be sure just how successful that secrecy had been, but there had never been a point where our comments on Instagram were flooded with questions. Unlike with our marriage. Then again, that one was an easy one to figure out with both of us appearing with rings one day as well as that article of somebody finding our licence. Eliza, though, had been just ours for six months with no prying eyes.

But it was starting to become a bit hard keeping her hidden. We would never post her all over social media, but we wanted to be able to bring her to shows and post pictures without somebody taking the opportunity from us to make our announcement. So, on the day of our fifth wedding anniversary, we decided it was time. Eliza had been the best and biggest thing to happen to us that year, so it was only fitting.