Musically in Love

Bonus Chapter

McKinley's POV

The scream echoed through the house and I covered my ears. Why must she always scream? All I wanted to do was sleep. Was that too much to ask for?

I nudged Tyler with my elbows, desperately trying to wake him up. I wish I had his ability to turn off my hearing at night, that way I wouldn't be woken up like this all the time.

He rolled over, grabbing my arms to stop them from hitting him in the face. From the slight glow of the street lamp outside, I could tell he wasn't happy about being woken up either. Well, tough shit, honey. That's being a parent for you.

He realized what was going on as soon as he noticed my hands covering my ears and the pout on my face. He nodded slowly before leaning over to kiss my forehead and then climbing out of bed.

We've only had little Carrie for a couple weeks now, since the moment she and our surrogate mother were released from the hospital. Already, I was completely exhausted from not getting a full night's sleep since before she was born. Tyler was so lucky he didn't hear her at night. If I didn't wake him up half the time, he would probably get a good night's sleep every night.

Carrie's crying finally settled down and Tyler walked back into our room a minute later. I lifted the blanket up, inviting him back into our warm bed. As grumpy as I was, I still loved him very much. I knew I'd never be able to sleep if he wasn't right there beside me.

I signed the phrase 'thank you' to him, barely visible in the dim light, before cuddling up next to him. He kissed my forehead again, which was the last thing I remember before falling asleep for the fifth time that night. 

***

"McKinley," someone said softly. I didn't respond, not wanting the day to start yet. "McKinley, you gotta wake up."

I grabbed my pillow and pulled it over my head. "No."

The pillow was yanked out of my grasp. And there, standing by the side of the bed, was my husband. Why did I ever marry him? He sleeps through nights and takes away my pillows!

"That's mine!" I exclaimed, reaching for it back. But if I didn't sit up and actually get out of bed, I'd never get it back. So I grabbed his from the other side of the bed. Which he promptly took away from me as well.

"Good morning," he said, way too cheerfully.

I groaned. "For you, maybe. You're lucky I only woke you up once. She was not having it last night. I just wanted to sleep!"

"She is a loud one, isn't she?" Tyler smiled. "I wonder where she got that from?"

I sat up. "Hey, I'll have you know that I was a quiet baby! Loud kid and teenager and... slightly older, more responsible teenager..."

He smirked. "You mean adult?"

I scoffed, sliding out from under the covers. "No! Of course not. Who says I'm adult? I'm only twenty-six. That's sill a teenager, right?" We both knew I was just joking. But seriously, I didn't understand how the time passed so quickly. I guess that happens when you have someone you love by your side.

"Well... your daughter might disagree. I think she'd rather have an adult taking care of her than a teenager."

I wrapped my arms around him. "I suppose you're right. Are you heading to work?"

He nodded. "In about five minutes if you want to take a quick shower. I'll watch Carrie while you do."

My eyes went wide. He's only giving me five minutes to shower peacefully? That's not a peaceful shower! "Five minutes?" I asked. "That's like nothing!"

"You would have had more if you got out of bed sooner," Tyler said with a laugh. Then he leaned over and planted a kiss on my lips. It was just a short one though, before he was guiding me into the bathroom. "Go," he was saying. "Love you."

After my very quick, not-at-all-relaxing shower, I found Tyler in Carrie's room, gently rocking our baby girl in the rocking chair. I smiled at the sight. They were beautiful together.

"You're not allowed to leave," I told Tyler softly, standing in the doorway to the nursery.

He took his gaze off our daughter to look up at me. "Oh? Why not?"

I smiled. "I just want to watch you two all day. You're too precious together."

He stood up, still cradling Carrie in his arms. She was awake, but quiet, for once. He's always been better at keeping her quiet than I ever could.

Seconds later, he was placing our little girl into my arms. "That is also a very precious picture. She looks just like you, McKinley. Absolutely beautiful."

I shook my head slowly, staring down at her little face. "How can you even tell? I mean, yeah, she's beautiful, but she looks nothing like me."

Tyler raised my chin to make me look him in the eye. "She will when she's older. She has those Constanello genes in her blood. Next time, though, we're using my genes. You know, to keep it fair."

He didn't give me a chance to respond before he kissed me. Then he started heading out of the nursery.

I hurried after him. "Next time?" I exclaimed. "What do you mean, next time? If we have another one, you better start sleeping with those hearing aids in!"

He just laughed. "Goodbye, McKinley. I love you. See you later."

I sighed, leaning against the wall as I watched him walk out the front door.

I guess we were lucky that Carrie was born when she was. As a middle school band teacher, I got the summers off and, with the school year having just ended, I got three months to stay home with her while Tyler worked. He was a manager now at a mechanic shop, so he sort of had some freedom to come home and help me out some days too, since he created the schedule, which I was also grateful for. I wouldn't have been able to do this alone. I still have no idea how my mom managed to do it with three of us at the same time.

I looked down at my daughter in my arms. She was staring up at me with those big brown eyes of hers. "Hey cupcake," I said. "What we should do today, huh? We got the whole house to ourselves. Isn't that great?"

House was a relative term. Technically, we lived in an apartment, although it was bigger than the one I shared with Ben in college. For now, this was the perfect size for us. But if we ended up having more kids, like Tyler wanted, I knew for sure we'd need more room. That wasn't going to happen for a while, though. I needed time to catch up on my sleep once Carrie starts sleeping through the night before I can decide to give it up again. If only I knew how little sleep I'd be getting before we decided on having a kid...

No. I wouldn't change my life for anything, even for some extra sleep. I was married to the love of my life. We had a beautiful daughter together, who was going to grow up to rule the world, if she wants to. And if Tyler and I decided to have another kid, he or she would also have everything they could ever want, because our family is full of love.

Carrie started to whimper a bit in my arms, so I gently rocked her. It didn't seem to be working all that much, so I started singing. It didn't matter what the words were, since she wouldn't be able to understand them anyway.

Carrie stopped fussing and even smiled up at me as I kept singing. I think I finally figured out how to calm her down as quickly as Tyler does.