Marvellous days

Chapter 9 -Recovery-

The first days were the hardest.

Carlie slept much, but also awoke every half an hour or so and Carlisle and I or someone else was always around her to watch her, mostly Rose or Bella. I insisted to stay with her at night time and most of the time, Carlisle surrendered and stayed at my side.

Mostly, I slept in the rocking chair directly next to her crib (most of the time in Carlisle’s arms as he was always on my side) or she slept in our room. Carlie still had a high temperature –that’s why she was sleeping so much – but the rattle sound was completely gone after the week and her coughing was nearly disappearing. Her eyes weren’t so glassed anymore and they soon shined brilliantly blue again.

She turned back into the happy baby we all knew and loved.

Today in fact was the first day she didn’t cry so much and was awake for a few hours straight.

She has eaten more than before, so her appetite returned as well. Carlisle and I still took it slow. Carlie wasn’t so happy with the plan to stay in bed; she clearly wanted to be out of her crib. She wailed and cried because of that. Carlisle and I both tried to calm her down and even get her to sleep, but to no avail.

After a few minutes of her crying, Jasper, Emmett and Rose came into her nursery. “What is it, squirt?” Emmett asked with a huge grin and walked over to the crib. I sighed and stepped back. Maybe they could calm her down.

She watched both her uncles with wonder and for a second forgot to cry. Carlisle and I laughed. She turned to us and back to Emmett and Jasper. They both made funny faces. Her face showed that she was debating whether she should cry again or laugh. Laughing won apparently, as she laughed heartily at her uncles.

“That’s the way,” Jasper smiled.

Rose joined his side and smiled lovingly at Carlie. She saw her then and smiled happily at her, too, before she unfortunately had to cough. She didn’t like that much and started to cry. I stepped back to her crib and Carlie immediately grabbed my finger and held it dearly.

Carlisle gave her a bottle with water and she took it eagerly with her other hand and drank; I cooed to her and stroked her little hand. But after that she was once again the happy baby. “Mama,” she said and pulled on my hand.
“Yes, sweetie?” I smiled sweetly, my heart still felt warmer when she called me that. She could now differentiate between ‘mama’ and ‘dada’ and looked at either me or Carlisle while uttering the words.

She tucked on my hand once again and then lifted her arms towards Jasper. She wanted to be in Jasper’s arms. I looked at Carlisle and then at Jasper. “But nothing wild, so take it easy with her,” I said to Jasper with an ordering tone. He nodded with a serious look and then looked at Carlie with a goofy grin.

“Wanna play with uncle Jazz?” he asked her. She giggled babyishly and lifted her arms towards him.

Jasper kept his promise and played lightly with her on his and Alice’s bed. Emmett and Rose brought some of her toys and then sat around to play with her.

Later Alice came also, after returning from the hunting trip with Edward, Bella and Nessie. They played two hours straight and Carlie hadn’t cried once (which was a huge relief for me, as it meant that she was feeling much better).

 Carlisle and I stayed in the door frame watching our kids playing with each other. We laughed with everyone else several times when Carlie made something funny or if she laughed.

I hugged Carlisle and looked up into his eyes. He was watching me as well and smiled. I stroked his face and sighed. “You should hunt, too, Carlisle. You haven’t for two weeks now,” I said worriedly.
“I know,” he sighed.

We stood there a bit longer until I excused myself to see whether Bella and Edward were here or at their cottage.

I walked downstairs, but everything was deserted and I was met with an unusual silence. I sighed once again and walked slowly into the living room. It was once again getting dark outside, again one day passed.

I moved my hair out of my face with an Edward kind of move. I smiled at myself; that was actually a habit I had picked up from him, but rarely did.

I was still stressed and totally exhausted from the weeks full of worries. At least she was getting better and soon she will be totally healthy again, I said to myself. I wasn’t even sure why I was so stressed; exactly that thought should be the reason why I should feel better. But I was strangely tense and worried despite everything.

-All rights belong to Stephenie Meyer-