Still Loving You (Synyster Gates Series: Book 4)

Beyond Repair

I was going to post this tonight, but I finished early so here you go :) 

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Brian used to be an insomniac--by choice. He could tell crazy stories about how he'd purposely lose sleep to lay groupies, or snort a few lines. Despite his lack of sleep in his younger days, once he woke, he felt fresh, rejuvenated and energized. He was naive and believed that's how his life would be forever. But once he became a parent, things took a dramatic change. He was no longer staying up by choice, but by force. 

It seemed only 21 months prior to Noah's arrival, Brian was a professional and knew the in's and out's of tending to a newborn. Then again, 21 months ago, it was only Sophia he had to worry about. Now, he had to give his attention to Noah and attempt to put him down to sleep, while making sure Sophia stood asleep with the irksome cries created by her own brother. He had forgot how hard it was to take care of a fussy newborn--the crying, the feeding, the endless amount of diapers tossed into the bin--and quickly regretted his decision of calling dibs on night-duties. It completely wore him out before his day began, but he somehow believed he'd be able to manage, even if it meant running on two hours of sleep.

Jackie woke fifteen past nine in the morning, prepared herself for the day that awaited her and headed downstairs to see what her daughter and estranged husband were doing. It was the first time in a very long time the house was extremely quiet, and her instincts told her something was up. She carefully descended down the stairs, step-by-step, as her walls were still mildly sore from giving birth. Reaching the bottom step, her eyes caught a clear view of the mischief and knew why the house was dead-silent. Her hand continued to hold on tightly to the mahogany turn out of the staircase and released it once both of her feet were flat on the ground. 

A smile gently tugged at the corner of her lips, seeing Brian hunched over their table in a rather uncomfortable position, sleeping peacefully, while Sophia enjoyed her homemade pumpkin pancakes--one of Brian's specialties. The twenty-one month old begged for her father's attention by grabbing a blueberry from the purple bowl set to the side and throwing it at Brian, in hopes of waking him up. With no luck, Sophia would take another piece of the pancake and shove it into her mouth, before picking up a blueberry and tossing it to Brian once more. 

"Sophia, please eat your food. It's not nice to throw it at people. Specially your daddy. He's sleeping," Jackie said in a gentle tone, as she shuffled her way to the dining table; her voice echoing against the dining room walls. It pained her to discipline her daughter at such a young age, even more so as she banned herself from using the word 'don't'. It was a mutual decision she and Brian agreed on; using a positive form of discipline would help Sophia learn behavior that was appropriate. 

Jackie was quick to notice the blueberry juice droplets on Brian's iPhone screen, and stretched her lip in regret. She knew as soon as he would awake, he'd be fuming with anger, just as he had many times before. She shook her head, slightly disappointed that he still had not bought a screen protector for his beloved phone. Taking the device from under his hand and lifting it off the glossy surface of the table, Brian raised his head and looked around in a daze. Despite the circumstances between the two, Jackie still found Brian incredibly adorable upon his awakening, and she found herself using a soft tone to greet him. "Hi... Are you okay?" She asked, setting his phone back on the surface, taking notice in his drooping eyelids and his lethargic body language.

"Yeah," he responded with a mumble, "I didn't mop, I left the bucket in the sink," he proceeded to inform Jackie, who cocked her head back with furrowed brows. 

She released a chuckle, realizing Brian's babble was coming from a dream he was having at that moment. "Brian, wake up!" She loudly said, giving his shoulder a rough shake. His response was to open his eyes wide, before looking at his surroundings. "You're dreaming."