Lifeline || Evan Buckley [2]

chapter twenty three

incoming cyber storm

Buck rubbed his eyes still in a groggy state before using his hand to search and shut off the alarm. A groan escaped from his mouth. When he regained his vision, his eyes darted to the side of the bed. Empty. The least surprising to his recent mornings. He pulled himself off of his bed and went straight to the bathroom to wake himself up a little more. 

He traveled down the hallway to the nursery where Monet stood in her crib with a toothy grin. 

"Hi!" She greeted happily to see her father. 

An immediate smile spread across his face, "Hey, guess you were waiting on me this whole time." He scooped her up into his arms. "Good morning, princess." 

Buck peppered kisses on his daughter's cheeks causing her to shriek. Before he could move to the changing table, Monet whimpered. 

Her arms stretched out towards her crib. "Bun-Bun." 

"Right, right. That's daddy's bad." He pivoted back to the crib to grab the stuffed bunny for her.

Monet kept herself entertained on the changing table with Bun-Bun while Buck changed her diaper. And of course, they exchanged conversation (mostly babbling from Monet). 

"Mommy?"

"She's sleeping. So, we're going to wake her up. You wanna do that with me?" He asked, seeing the corners of her lips lift. 

"Yes! Yes! Wake up mommy!"

Buck picked up the toddler after finishing at the changing table and exited out of the nursery. He gestured Monet to be quiet as they entered the living room where Sasha slept soundly on the couch. 

His body dipped on the cushion of the couch. He let Monet crawl across the couch to reach her mother. She cupped her hands into Sasha's ear, whispering "mommy." 

Watching fondly at the toddler, Buck's eyes wandered at the tv turned off this time. Usually, something would be playing on screen due to his girlfriend knocking out beforehand. 

Squeals from Monet reverted Buck's attention to discover her tiny body wrapped in Sasha's embrace. He chuckled at the sight in front of him. 

"Good morning, my little sweet bean. Mommy loves being awaken by you." Sasha muttered to her daughter, letting her nestle into her. "Did you sleep good last night?" 

Monet nodded in response. 

"What did you dream?"

"Bun-Bun!" 

Sasha gasped, "Another adventure with Bun-Bun!" Her gaze shifted to the stuffed toy that Monet shoved into her face. "Where did you go this time?"

Monet babbled every few words where her mother nodded along to show her understanding even if it didn't make the most sense.