Hey There Delilah

Chapter 1

*Luke's P.O.V.*
I groan and roll onto my side as the cries continue to pierce my ears. I squint across the room to see the stove clock, the green glow of the numbers settling into my line of vision. 3:32am. Better than last night.

"Alright, baby girl. What's going on this time?"

The cries only seem to get louder as I rub the sleep from my eyes, sitting up on my twin sized bed while trying to adjust to the darkness. I stand up from the bed, making my way over to her crib. While walking I trip over my guitar case, only causing the cries to get impossibly louder.

"I'm coming, I'm coming."

When I get to her crib I reach for the lamp, turning it on to see her big blue eyes staring up at me filled to the brim with tears. I reach in and pull her out and into my arms, holding and rocking her against my chest.

"Shh, little one. Don't wanna wake up the Cliffords again, now do we?" I continue rocking her until her cries die down long enough for her to speak.

"Daddy, Pengy lost!" She wails. I furrow my eyebrows and look into the crib. The stuffed penguin had been shoved in between two of the paint-chipped bars.

"Shh, shh, Pengy's not lost baby. He's right here, see?" I pull the toy out from between the bars to show her. She makes grabby hands toward it, and I give it to her, silencing her cries completely.

"Pengy," she mumbles, clutching the stuffie in her hands while nuzzling her head into my neck. I kiss the top of her head, glancing at the clock again. 4:02am.

"He missed you so much, pumpkin. Let's go back to sleep now, hmm?"

I kiss her head one more time before moving to put her back in her crib. Immediately her bottom lip trembles as she lets out a loud "No, daddy!"

"What's wrong, princess?" She points towards my bed, looking at me with pleading eyes. I let out a little laugh. "Okay, you'll sleep with daddy for the rest of the night. How does that sound?"

I walk us to the bed, pulling back the blankets and pushing it up against the wall to make sure she doesn't fall. I climb into bed, placing her between me and the wall. I turn my body so that I'm facing her.

"There we go, beautiful. Give daddy a goodnight kiss," I whisper. She puckers her lips and makes grabby hands towards my face. I smile, giving her a big kiss on the lips.

"Sleepy-time now. Goodnight, Delilah. Daddy loves you."

***

The next time I wake up it's because a pair of tiny hands are grabbing my nose.

"Up, Daddy. Up!" Delilah squeals into my ears.

"Shh, no yelling sweetie."

"Up, Daddy," she whispers. I groan and look over at the clock. 6:17am. Neither of us had gotten a good amount of sleep, but I had to get a move on if I was going to get my spot this morning.

"Let's get you ready to go over to the Cliffords, okay?" I stand up from the bed, lifting her up with me. We sidestep the guitar case this time, kneeling down on the floor.

I lay her down on her back and reach behind me to the cabinet that has all her stuff in it. I pull out a diaper and wipes and begin to change her diaper. She turns towards the guitar case right by her head.

"Guitah!" She says. We had been working on trying to get her to say guitar for a few weeks now. Once we get this one down, we'll start working on "good morning."

"That's right, baby girl. That's daddy's guitar case." I finish changing her diaper, rolling up the dirty one and throwing it in the trash can next to the sink. I reach back into the cabinet, pulling out the least dirtiest onesie I could find. If today was a good day, I'd have enough to take our clothes down to the laundromat a few blocks from here.