Suddenly

Hannah vs Ayla

Hannah was at a loss.

Poor Ayla had been sobbing for the past hour and now the woman felt like joining her. She had imagined a fun filled day, just her and little Ayla. But they plan had gone south the moment Grace exited the house.

She understood that the little girl didn't know her well. Grace had even mentioned that she didn't stay with anyone besides her and some housekeeper/nanny from the city. The tiny little girl's circle had been small.

Hannah couldn't really blame her for being upset.

She paced back and forth as she bounced the little girl on her hip. Ayla pushed against her, pulled at her hair, and yanked the glasses Hannah had been wearing off her face as she relentlessly sobbed.

Goose had spent the first thirty minutes or so pacing along with them, then the noise became too much for the dog and she went to find peace and quiet in the yard.

"Come on, Ayla, you have a beautiful set of lungs, but Annie is exhausted." Hannah pleaded with the little girl.

How could someone so small make so much noise?

Heaven help if Grace came home to find them in this state! She would never leave the baby with Hannah again. Hannah felt like a failure.

She wracked her brain for ideas on how to calm the little girl. Her diaper was dry, she had eat less than an hour ago. She had only been awake for maybe two and a half hours. Grace mentioned that she had slept really well the night before and nap time was usually around 11. Hannah glanced at the clock, it was only 9:15.

She tried to sing to the little girl, that only made her scream louder.

"Hey, kid, I know my singing isn't the best but you don't have to but such a critic."

Part of her wanted to call Grace to ask what the hell she was supposed to do. But she couldn't. Grace was super stressed as it was. Calling her, potentially during a meeting with an important lawyer, would only cause her to drop everything and race home, thus giving her less time to try and find the right person for her case.

Hannah would just have to figure this out on her own. Surely Ayla would stop crying eventually?

An hour later, Hannah began to doubt she would ever experience the world without the shrill sound of a screaming baby.

Ayla continued to howl, her voice had grown hoarse.

Hannah was convinced the child hated her.

At some point she had essentially completely given up. The two of them now sat on the couch. Ayla still a blubbering mess in her arms, Hannah's face slightly red and her own eyes bloodshot from crying along with the little girl.

"Aylie, honey," she whispered to the little girl, her voice thick with emotion. "Please just stop crying, or tell me how I can fix this! Your mommy is trying so hard to make things better for you and right now she can't be here. I'm all you got."

Ayla's teary eyes raised to meet Hannah's. "Mama?" She whined pathetically. It nearly broke Hannah's heart to hear.

The blonde nodded softly, she tensed at the prospect of the child's tears finally ceasing.

Ayla's cries began to soften, high pitched hiccups began to escape her mouth. Her nose was snotty and her face flushed, Hannah thought she had never seen anything more adorably heartbreaking.

She got it, she really did. Grace was all Ayla knew. She was the one constant in the baby's life. Without Grace, Ayla would be nowhere.

Hannah reached forward and softly brushed a few dark ringlets away from Ayla's forehead, they were slightly wet with sweat due to all the crying.

"You are a pretty cool kid, you know. Loud, but pretty awesome."

A smile broke across the child's face, faultered only by a hiccup, which in turn caused a slight giggle.

Hannah shared the laugh, though hers was felt slightly delirious. She was just happy the shrieking was over.

"You got the hic-a-mups," she teased, eliciting another giggle. "Those are some pretty cute hiccups."

Chubby hands went to brown eyes as Ayla sleepily rubbed her face. All that crying really wore her out. She leaned forward to rest her head on Hannah's chest. It didn't quite feel like her Mom's, but right now she would take it. Maybe she liked 'Annie' after all.

Hannah felt her heart swell at the show of emotion. "Getting sleepy, kid? You should be, I know I am smooth worn out." She asked lightly.

She watched as the child's eyes began to grow heavier and heavier. Each blink last just a few seconds longer than the last, until her brown eyes slid all the way shut. Her chubby thumb made its way toward her mouth, but fell short as her breathing evened out and she entered dreamland.

Hannah let out a long sigh. It was finally over. Now all she needed to do was get the little girl in a safe spot to ride out her nap.

The woman wrapped her arms around the little girl and made a move to stand. A sharp cry from Ayla made her freeze. She looked down, terrified to see big brown eyes looking up and her, thankfully the baby had not awoken.

"Thank God!" Hannah whispered, completely pleased with her tiny victory.

She knew she wasn't going to be getting up any time soon. Goose had meandered back into the room and taken her spot at Hannah's feet. Ayla had herself wrapped around her like a tiny koala. Her head resting on Hannah's chest, her legs and arms loosely hugging her sides. Nope, there would be no moving.

She looked around, finding a small throw blanket on the side of the couch just in her reach. She grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around the two of them. Her head went to rest of the back of the couch.

She was asleep within seconds.