We Didn't Agree To This

Call her

"You would like me to pick you up, wouldn't you? Well, I would love to, baby, but I can't. You want to know why, huh? Hm... You see this big round ball, I call my belly?" Stevie placed her hands on it. "This is exactly why I can't bend over and take you in my arms, Jamie. So, I guess, we're just going to keep talking, while Lindsey wakes up." Stevie spoke to the boy as if he was going to reply, as she sat beside the crib. 

They had Jamie for four days now and Carol was yet to call or come and ask to take her son home. Neither Stevie or Lindsey made an effort to get in contact with her either. If Carol was a loving mother, she would be besides herself by now, but clearly that was not the case. Even though Stevie was unsure of how this was going to work out at first, she couldn't say she didn't like caring for Jamie. He was relatively a calm baby, which made things a lot easier. Lindsey of course, would be the one to tend to his needs during the night, while Stevie tried to care for him during the day. That wasn't very easy, though. She was only weeks from giving birth. But Lindsey wouldn't let her overexert herself.

Maybe they could do it, Stevie wondered to herself, looking at Jamie. They were managing now, but once they had another baby at home? Their baby... Stevie wasn't sure if she could be as loving towards Jamie as she was now, once she had her and Lindsey's child in her arms. But, much like Lindsey, she couldn't give the boy back to Carol now. It had been days and there was no sight of Carol. She was probably relieved not to have Jamie and to Stevie that was something she couldn't understand.

It might have been five minutes or half an hour, Stevie wasn't sure, when she felt Lindsey place his hands on her shoulders, kissing the top of her head. 

"Good morning." 

"Good morning, to you, too." She smiled, putting her hand over his as she looked up at him. 

"You should have woken me up." Lindsey said, sitting down in the rocking chair. 

"It's okay. I don't think he's hungry yet, nor does he need changing. We were just having a little chat."

"Am I interrupting then?" Lindsey raised an eyebrow, a smile crossing his lips at how well Stevie was handling this. 

"No, actually. You're very much needed, because there's no way I could lift him out of that damn crib." 

"Oh, I see." Standing up, Lindsey walked over to the crib and bent over, taking Jamie in his arms, as he then turned around, facing Stevie. "Would you like to hold him?"

"Yes, please." Smiling, she nodded. 

Holding the baby wasn't an easy task. She couldn't cuddle him to her chest, because of her seemingly still growing belly, so she would bend a tiny bit with her arms outstretched and hold the boy on her lap basically.

"Is this okay? Are you comfortable?" Lindsey wanted to make sure, standing close by.

"Yes, I'm just fine." She nodded. "Maybe you should go and make a bottle for him. He'll be whimpering by the time it cools down."

After a moment of silence, which made Stevie look up at Lindsey, he said. "You're going to be a wonderful mother, you know."

"Well, I sure hope so. I don't really know what I'm doing, but it seems to be working so far." Laughing lightly, her eyes drifted back to Jamie, while Lindsey just stared at her in adoration a minute longer, before going downstairs and into the kitchen. Once Lindsey returned, he took over, holding Jamie properly, as he took a seat and gave the baby his breakfast. 

"And you are going to be a wonderful father." Stevie said. 

"I think together we'll manage, don't you?" 

"I'm sure having two newborns won't be easy, but..."

"What?" Lindsey asked, looking up. "Steph, I meant... I was talking about our baby."

"I know, I got that. And I'm saying that if we really wanted to, we could raise them both. It would be like having twins. They would only be weeks apart. Imagine, having a sibling the same age as you. I think that would be pretty cool." Lindsey was a little taken a back, he wasn't expecting her to warm up to the idea and so quickly, too. "Although, we can't be making plans yet. Carol might decide she wants to play a mother again."

Thinking for a moment, Lindsey said. "Maybe we should talk to her. I don't want to fall in love with him more than I am already, then have her take him back." Lindsey said, casting his eyes down at Jamie.

"Honestly, I think the message she's sent us is loud and clear. It's been a few days, Linds, and she hasn't showed up. She hasn't even called. She doesn't care about him. That's sad. Just sad..." Stevie said, shaking her head slightly.

Jamie finished eating and Lindsey placed the bottle on the floor, lifting him upright, making small circles across the baby's back until he burped. He then placed Jamie back in the crib and spoke to Stevie, still looking at the boy. "You have to be sure, Steph. There won't be a way back."

"I realize that. But I have made my mind up already. I'm not going to change it." She assured. "Call her. Let's have this dealt with."