Blue

Chapter 18

~*~ Present ~*~

The soft chimes of her phone woke Beyoncé up in the early hours of the morning, and as she stretched her body, she felt the emptiness of the sheets beside her. She wasn't bothered. She knew where he was.
She stood up from their bed and adorned herself in a robe. The pain from giving birth had almost completely resolved, but she still had to get used to the changes in her body, so she moved slowly.
She stopped in the doorway of her nursery, and she smiled as she gazed on at her husband holding their five week old daughter. He was so absorbed in her, he didn't even notice his wife.
"Did you sleep at all?" She asked him.
He looked in her direction, then back at their daughter, and he shrugged. "Yeah, I got a few hours."

Beyoncé stepped closer to them. "I have to feed her." She held out her arms.
He smiled. "No fair." He hated giving up his daughter, even to her own mother. They were both very jealous over their daughter. They hardly ever put her down, and they almost never let anyone else ever hold her.
"You've been holding her for two hours. It's my turn." She said with a smile. After kissing her cheek, he gently placed their little girl into her arms, and Beyoncé's heart soared as she felt the weight of her baby against her chest. She never knew it, but she longed to feel the weight of a baby against her for so many years.

They didn't have a traditional rocking chair in Blue's nursery. Instead, they had a white loveseat, so the two of them could sit together while she nursed. Shawn stared at his wife and daughter as if nothing else in the world existed. Everything they had been through over the years was worth it, if it meant him being there with them in that moment. He laid his head against her shoulder and kissed her collar bone. "I'm so in love with you." He whispered.
She smiled. "We love you too."

~*~*~*~

Later that morning, as they were getting ready for the day, Beyoncé noticed that her ring was missing. She took it off just before Blue was born, but now her swelling had subsided, and she was able to wear it again. If only she could find it.
"What are you doing?" Shawn asked when he entered the bathroom and saw his wife frantically searching through all the drawers and cabinets.
"Have you seen my ring?"
He frowned and shook his head. "No, I haven't."
"I could have sworn I put it up here when I took it off." She let out a frustrated huff.
"I'm sure it will turn up. But we have to go, we're going to be late."

They were on their way to another therapy session, their first since Blue's birth, and they brought her with them. They still weren't ready to let someone else babysit.
"Congratulations on your little one," Dr. Woods greeted them. "I'm so happy for the two of you."
"Thank you," Beyoncé smiled as she held her baby girl in her arms. "She hasn't been here that long, but I still can't imagine our life without her."
"How are you guys coping with being new parents?"
"Well, it certainly has given us less time to argue." Shawn laughed. "The only thing we fight about is who gets to hold her. Obviously, Beyoncé won today."
She smirked in his direction.
"And Beyoncé, how do you feel?"

To say everything was perfect would be a lie. Things were definitely better, but they were far from perfect. "Shawn is right, we do argue less. I'm more in love with him now than I've ever been, but a part of me is worried that I'm only more in love with him because of her. What if that wears off?"
Dr. Woods smiled. "A few months ago, I told you two that you were basically living as if you were divorced, and you still managed to push through that and continue to fight for your marriage. I think you can use this love you feel for him now in the future. When you two are going through another rough patch, because believe me they will come, just think about this time. Think about how much you love each other right now, and try to harness that love."

Beyoncé nodded. "It also makes me think about Candice."
Dr. Woods frowned. "How so?"
Beyoncé shrugged. "If I feel this way about Shawn now, I know she felt the same way about him when Corey was born. I mean, I always knew she was in love with him, but not like this."
"Do you think you can be okay with that?" Dr. Woods asked.
She thought about her question, and after a while, she gave an honest answer. "I can tolerate it. But I'll never be okay with it. And I'm sorry, but after everything we've been through, you have to let me have that." She directed the end of her response to Shawn.
He smiled. "Yeah, I understand."

"But, you know what," Beyoncé smiled and continued to speak. "At the end of the day, I don't care. I don't care about the past, I don't care about how she feels about him, I don't care about any argument we've ever had. All I care about is right now. I'm so thankful for this little girl, I don't care what I had to go through to get her. I'd do everything all over again if I get her in the end."

~*~*~*~

After their session, they grabbed a pizza to go, and went back home. Beyonce was somewhat back to work. Since she worked from home, it wasn't too hard for her to go back, but she did have a lot less time on her hands. As she worked, she ate her lunch and breastfed at the same time. Shawn gazed on and let out a laugh.
"What's funny?" She asked.
He shook his head. "You're a living food chain."
She smiled and shook her head.
"Did you mean it when you said you don't care about all the stuff in the past?" He asked.
She shrugged. "I'm just looking at the big picture. I mean, I care, but it doesn't matter to me as much as she does."

He nodded. "I'm actually glad you feel that way, because I wanted to ask you if you want to start over."
"Start over?" She frowned.
Shawn reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. When he opened it, Beyoncé recognized her ring, but it was different. There were two stones now, where there had previously been one. The second stone was a pretty blue shade.
"I know I messed up the first time, but if you give me another chance, I won't break our vows again."
Beyoncé smiled through her tears.
"So...?" He smiled. "Will you marry me again?"
She rolled her eyes, but kept her smile. "Of course I will."

~*~ Fin ~*~

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AN: I'm entertaining the thought of a sequel. If you want one, you gotta give me some ideas though. Hope y'all enjoyed 😘🤗