Beyond the Family Ties

Part 7

Before Becky knew it, a year had passed by. The sweltering hot summer gave way to a mild autumn, the trees revealing fiery colours they'd kept hidden all year, the occasional shower sweeping in with puffy white clouds, and Laurel's first birthday. It was surprising how quickly time had passed when looking back on things, and at her daughter's first birthday party, it was even more startling.

She'd spent all morning cleaning the place and making finger sandwiches and a fresh fruit salad, a full spread of foods suitable for a small gathering of friends, and everyone had gathered at her and Freen's apartment a little after noon with wrapped gifts for Laurel. Freen had worked a night shift, and hadn't made it home until nine in the morning, catching a few hours of sleep before everyone started to arrive, but she was bright eyed and bubbly as she held a giggling little girl in her lap.

She'd recently started dating a guy called Kenny, a Vietnamese-American astrologist, and he quietly sat beside her, warily eyeing both her and the baby as Freen cooed over her. This was the first time Freen had brought him home, knowing how Becky felt about having strangers in their apartment, although she'd assured Freen it was fine, and Becky was sympathetic towards him as everyone loudly laughed and chatted together in comfortable ease. It hadn't been that long ago that she'd found herself as the odd one out, sticking to the fringes of the circle of friends, and she fetched him a drink and perched beside him on the sofa. Listening to Freen babble to her daughter, while James started telling a story about one of the patients they picked up in the early hours that morning. Apparently he'd been a raving drunk, until they'd pulled up outside of the hospital and he'd hopped out, running off after hitching a free ride to his nearby apartment.

"Mama," Laurel cried out, catching Becky's attention. The little girl had a fistful of Freen's hair and her cheeks were dimpled as she smiled, flashing a few of the teeth that had come through already.

"You want to go to your mama?" Freen asked, smiling as she wrinkled her nose.

"No!"

She let out a quiet gasp, giving the baby a surprised look, "what do you mean no?"

"Uh-oh."

Laughing as Laurel regurgitated any word that she could pronounce, Freen leant in and blew a raspberry against the squealing girl's cheek, making her laugh even more, and she looked up, meeting Becky's soft gaze and gave her a wide smile. "Come on, Ducky, time to go to mommy."

Passing her across Kenny, who leant back slightly, a mild look of panic on his face as he carefully helped pass Laurel along, Becky took her in her arms and ran a hand over her daughter's unruly dark hair. It curled slightly down over her ears, and Becky tried to brush it flat, fixing it in place with the clip with a little pink bow on it. Sam brought over a slice of cake to her, kneeling down in front of her and babbling some nonsense, ticking her in the stomach as she handed off one of the slices of cake to Becky. Keeping one arm around her daughter's waist, Becky let her friend spoon feed her some of the sponge cake, much to the baby's delight.

"Mm," Laurel hummed, opening her mouth wide for some more as soon as she finished her mouthful, while everyone laughed at her enthusiastic eating.

"A girl after my own heart," Freen quipped, digging into her own slice that Angel handed off to her, cracking a smile as she watched everyone fuss over the baby.

As the months had slipped by, Becky had grown more lax with certain things. She was still as protective as ever over her daughter, but she was no longer stubbornly insistent on doing everything herself. A little over a month ago, she'd finished her degree, and although she hadn't wanted to fly out to New Haven to go to the graduation ceremony at Yale, she'd given into Freen's pleading to let them celebrate. It had been just the two of them, with Angel volunteering to babysit, with the help of Sam. They'd gone to an Italian restaurant, the nice kind that Freen couldn't really afford, but she'd insisted on paying anyway, and they'd caught a movie. It had been a nice break - the first proper break she'd had since she'd become a mom - and she hadn't realised how good it would feel to do something normal . She loved her daughter more than anything, but she'd almost forgotten what it felt like to not be worrying about feeding times, whether she needed changing, or if Laurel was going to perform when she got tired in the middle of their outing.