The AK Chronicles

Making it Through

When we last left Anna and Rory, the 2 year old toddler was sick. Now the tables have turned in this story that serves as a flashback. We give you one year old Rory, who makes things interesting for an under the weather Anna. In collaboration with tablehollars47 (Instagram).

Anna woke up in Vancouver with nearly no memory of arriving. Her mind swam in circles as she struggled to open her eyes. Her forehead was a little warm and her nose was congested. But the only thing keeping her in high spirits was her daughter, 14 month old Rory.

Neither mother nor daughter had had a very goodnight the previous night. They had been up until well past 2am. With the exception of Rory's birth, nothing good ever happened after 2am in Anna's mind. As the older brunette checked her phone on the bedside table, the time read: 8:15am. Normally, Rory would have been up by 7. But due to last night's monstrous meltdown and the fact that she could probably sense her mother's illness, Anna figured she would let Rory sleep a bit more.

Rory woke up at approximately 9am that day. Her whimpers coming through on the baby monitor in Anna's hand. Upon returning to the bedroom; her hand barely on the door as she opened it, Anna was greeted by an eager looking Rory; bright eyes and wide smile. The baby's subtle chocolate brown curls stood in every direction from tossing and turning in bed.

"Good morning, sunshine" Anna said, monotonous due to congestion.

Rory smiled a wide 6 teeth smile in response; bouncing up and down in the Pack n' Play that she and Alex had brought. A small smile crept across the young mother's face as she prepare to free the baby of her square prison.

"Do you think mama sounds funny? If only your energy was as contagious as my cold, baby girl" Anna sighed as she balanced Rory on her hip, then proceeded to make her way to the kitchen.

Despite the fact that Anna wasn't really all that hungry herself, she knew that Rory still needed to be fed. Not particularly feeling up to cooking, Anna looked into the fridge of her momentary home and gathered the simplest ingredients at her disposal; which were: vanilla yogurt, bananas and blueberries.

Even though it hurt at times, Anna laughed while she watched Rory feeding herself. The baby still got more food on her face than in her mouth. Thank god for bibs, Anna thought. Occasionally, Rory would hold the spoon out and give it to Anna, but the actress encouraged her daughter to eat it herself.

"Nanas" Rory said as she picked up a slide of banana and crushed it between her hands.

Anna shook her head in disbelief; thinking that she was hallucinating. Did she just learn my name? The actress wondered. However, she knew deep down that was not the case.

"It's good, isn't it?" Anna asked, feigning excitement for her daughter's sake as she continued to watch the baby as she ate.

Rory nodded in response, as her chubby little hand went for a slice of banana. "Uh oh!" The baby exclaimed, her eyes widening in shock as she looked down and noticed that she had knocked her spoon off the tray.

"It's okay, munchkin. I'll get it" Anna responded as she bent over to wash the spoon.
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Once breakfast was over and done with, Anna suggested that Rory take another nap. But to that suggestion, the toddler vigorous shook her head.

"Night night" Anna joked every so often, faking sleep on the couch.

"No!" Rory wailed lightly tapping her mother's face before she resumed running around like Peter Pan on a sugar high.

It was at times like this that Anna wished Alex had come with them to Vancouver. He would have had the energy to keep up with Rory's crazy antics. Eventually the younger brunette settled for playing doctor. Taking mental notes from the pediatrician and Doc McStuffins, Rory used whatever she could find in the house to check her mother's heartbeat, give her fake shots and hard plastic toy bandaids.

The baby looked at her mother with expectant wide eyes; silently wondering if she had made the older brunette feel better.

"Thank you, tiny doctor. I'm going to feel better in no time" Anna said before blowing her nose into a fresh Kleenex.

~XX~

Having faked sleep so many times throughout the day to amuse Rory, Anna failed to realize how tired she actually made herself. Later on in the afternoon, when she was certain Rory was occupied by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Anna figured there was no harm in closing her eyes for the briefest of seconds. The actress then fell into a dreamless sleep, accompanied by the all too familiar medley of sounds that were Mickey Mouse's high pitched voice and Rory's infectious laugh.

Ten minutes later, Anna felt her heart burst as she was greeted by a great thud and clapping teeth; Rory's agonizing cries of pain shortly followed.

"Rory!" Anna exclaimed as she immediately rose from the couch; making this moment, the fastest she had ever moved all day.

The baby lay flat on the cold, tiled floor; a distraught look on her tomato red face. Anna then knelt on the floor and scooped the baby into her arms; much like when Rory was only a newborn. The baby's head rested firmly on her mother's chest, a strong hold on the sleeve of Anna's favorite grey hoodie; refusing to let go.

"Ohhh.. shhhh... you're going to be okay, baby girl. I promise" Anna said, her knees bounced as she did her best to rock back and forth. Her hand traveled through the baby's head, searching for that inevitable bump.

Rory on the other hand, in so much distress that she began choking on her own tears. Anna breathed a sigh of relief when she saw nothing more than a small bruise forming on the side of her daughter's forehead; which, had eventually returned to its natural peaches and cream complexion as she sniffled the last of her tears. Releasing one perspiring hand off of Anna's arm, Rory placed it on her head where the bruise was. Her bottom lip quivered as she thought to cry out more.

"Oh no, baby. You don't want to touch that. But it's okay, just one little owie. You're okay" Anna said; trying to think of another way to distract her daughter from the pain.

The rain outside seemed to have a calming effect on Rory as she gulped down the refreshing taste of coconut water.

Another smile found its way across the actresses face as she retrieved her phone from the pocket of her sweatpants and unlocked it to open Snapchat. Immediately after selecting their favorite- the puppy filter and turning the camera to face her, Anna began filming.

"I'm sick... and it won't stop raining. My nose is super red so I appreciate this little, doggy nose" Anna said, pointing at the filter.

She then angled her phone to face Rory in her lap. Her head of subtle chocolate brown curls still rested against Anna's chest. "And my poor baby had a bit of an accident... Rory, who's that?" Anna asked, attempting to engage her daughter; still curled up in her arms.

"Woof" Rory responded in a barely audible whisper as she took notice of the dog filter on her face.

"That's right, you are so smart" Anna replied, placing a gentle kiss on the crown of Rory's head.

~XX~

As they tried different filters, Anna realized she was having more fun than Rory was. As she looked at the toddler sprawled across her body on the couch, fast asleep and having dropped her cup of water,  she thought this was a moment too precious not to capture. Rory had not fallen asleep on her like this since the day she was born.

"Real quick, look at this. I'm gonna try not to wake her up. She hasn't fallen asleep on me like this in forever. My baby's growing up, you guys" Anna whispered, her bottom lip extended in a pout.