Time after time

First Day of your life

Noah POV

As soon as we moved into our new home, life resumed for Elle and me. We moved all of our furniture into the different rooms. Elle was happy to have her kitchen tools back and a bit of nostalgia made her want to cook Spanish food. We hosted Lee and Rachel at home two weeks after our move with a tapas-style meal. Lee is of course thrilled that her best friend is back home and takes advantage of the fact that Elle is not working to enlist her help with multiple tasks for his upcoming wedding. Damn Lee! Always with the habit of shoveling his responsibilities into someone else's yard. But Elle told me it helps her have something to do before the baby comes.

I went back to work a week after we got back from Barcelona. It felt like a new beginning because I had only spent a week in the office in LA before flying to Barcelona. I had to live with the advances of the receptionist and some female colleagues until I made it clear that I had been married for a few years and that my wife was expecting a baby. Hoping that after that I would be able to have peace.

I was not convinced at first that I liked immigration law. But in talking with colleagues who work in business law, I realized that I like to be invested in causes that are worthwhile. This brings out my 18-year-old self who was often involved in fights to protect the weakest... often being Lee and/or Elle.

My mother and father offered to buy and organize baby Nathan's room. With my mother's advice, Elle chose a room with a sea theme. The walls of the room were painted white except for one ocean blue wall against which we leaned a white wooden crib. A white and blue striped rug was laid on the hardwood floor and a white wooden rocking chair with blue cushions was placed by the window. My mother had me set up a shelf on which she placed starfish ornaments and a miniature sailboat.

As my mother and I put the finishing touches on the room, I felt transported to the beach house. The colors in the room were lulling us into a state of zen.
- I think your little one will be happy here," my mother said as she placed the last cushions in the crib.
- Thank you for doing all this for us, Mom. I know Elle appreciated it very much.
- It was my pleasure! We were deprived of 5 months of this pregnancy so we are trying to make up for lost time and take care of you. How do you feel about having a baby Noah?" she asked me with one of her piercing looks that always made me tell her exactly what she wanted to know, the state of my heart.
- It seems real to me for a moment! " I told her, looking away towards the empty crib for the moment. " This pregnancy took us by surprise but I know that I always wanted to have children with Elle. My only fear is ... not being up to my role as a father. " I told her with a sigh.

My mother came closer and put her hands on my shoulders before saying to me while looking me directly in the eyes:
- There is no exam to pass to become a father, Noah. You will be a wonderful father to the extent that you do these three things: first be yourself, this baby will not need an expert but you! Second, give you the right to make mistakes. Every baby is different and unfortunately they don't come with an instruction manual. You and Lee were very different babies.
- Which one of us was the crybaby?
- Definitely Lee! So there is hope for little Nathan," my mother said laughing. "And finally, choose to team up with his mother. You will have strengths and weaknesses in your parenting. It's wonderful to know that each other can fill in for our weaknesses.
- Thanks Mom!" I said.
- And if you get overwhelmed, call me. I'd be happy to come lend a hand.

By the end of September, we were ready for our little man to arrive. But to Elle's dismay, there was no sign that labor was coming soon. She tried everything she could to hurry up the labor. There were several days when I came home from work to find her bouncing on an exercise ball in the living room. She later took to waiting for me to go for a walk around the neighborhood. But the funniest was the day before my birthday when I found her still sitting on her exercise ball with her electric breast pump in her hands trying to pump milk.
- What are you doing, Elle?" I said as I came back into the house laughing.
- What does it look like, Noah? I'm trying to pump milk. I read a whole article that said it could help me go into labor faster," she said to me with a determined tone.
- Why don't we just wait until it's time!"I said as I approached her in the living room.
- I'm 39 weeks and 6 days, Noah, I can't take it anymore! I want to go into labor!" she said to me with a pout.
- You know patience is a virtue," I said, earning me a roll of the eyes from my wife.