𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐀𝐕𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐍.

𝐒𝐈𝐗𝐓𝐘 𝐎𝐍𝐄.

⌖ PARENTHOOD | O61. ‹ ⚜ ›
❝ i didn't wanna bother you. you've been stressed too. i thought i could handle it... ❞

— APRIL SECOND
2:15 A.M. ᐟ

Iris clutched Asiah to her chest, her arms aching from holding him so tightly, but his cries only grew louder—more shrill & frantic. His body arched in her arms, fists balled, face red & scrunched with distress. He let out deep, gasping sobs that felt like they echoed inside her ribcage.

He was almost always peaceful. A calm baby, just cooed & snuggled, who rarely made a fuss. But right now he wouldn't stop for some reason. His little voice was raw, & nothing Iris did made a difference. She changed his diaper, fed him, burped him, checked his temperature, etc. She tried everything she knew how to do, but nothing soothed him & Jasiah wasn't home yet to help.

She pressed her lips to his temple. "It's okay." She whispered again & again, though the words were beginning to crumble in her mouth. "It's okay baby." Her voice trembled from her throat, because she wasn't sure it was okay.

Her chest tightened as her own tears spilled silently, trailing down her cheeks. She blinked hard, trying to focus through the blur, but it was no use. This sudden, inconsolable crying made her feel useless, like she was failing at the one thing she felt like she was supposed to know how to do. Be a mother. She felt waves of helplessness crash over her. She wasn't sure how to comfort him anymore than she already was or how to fix whatever was hurting him. He couldn't speak & he couldn't tell her what was wrong.

"Please..." She whispered, rocking faster now, not because it helped him, but because she needed to do something. Her words fell like glass in the dark. "Please, baby. I'm right here. Why are you crying? I'm right here."

But she wasn't sure who she was talking to anymore—him, or herself.

Jasiah stepped in the house through the basement door, talking to himself in a quiet tone. "I'm tired, seem like this shit don't get easier man." While the low rumble of the garage door closing behind him drowned out almost instantly by the sound of Asiah's piercing cries echoing down the hallway. The moment he heard it, his entire body tensed. It wasn't the cry—it was high pitched & strained.

His first thought—something wrong with Iris. She would've been on him in seconds, already holding him. But the cries kept going & Jasiah's heart kicked hard in his chest, a sudden burst of adrenaline making his vision narrow as he dropped his keys on the table without looking & shot up the stairs while he pulled his gun from his hip. His mind raced, latching onto every terrible possibility—She faint? She fell asleep too hard? Is she hurt?—while a deeper, more dangerous fear clawed its way up his spine: Is somebody in the house? I miss a nigga? Somebody got Iris?

Just before his hand touched the doorknob, he heard her voice. It sounded so frayed & worn, breaking under frustration & helplessness.

When he finally stepped inside, his expression softened as he tucked his gun back by his hip.