HAYES GRIER IMAGINES

#59 - Baby's First Bath

hey guys, i know i've been gone for like more than a month, but so much has happened! 

i moved houses, i moved schools and i turned 16 on february 15. so, yeah - a lot is going on :)

We're dressed in our usual attire of tracksuit bottoms and pyjama t-shirts, while sitting on the couch. It's 6:30 in the morning and I'm trying to tweeze my eyebrows.

Hayes is sitting in the corner of the sofa, trying to nurse himself awake with a cup of coffee in hand and constant rub of his eyes and I'm doing the same.

"Should you really be doing that without your glasses?" Hayes asks, turning from the soft playing TV to me, who's cross legged on the couch. My hair in a messy bun and a baggy band t-shirt is tucked into my tracksuit pants.

"Probably not," I shrug, "-but my glasses are with he-who-shall-not-be-named." Hayes nods in understanding, eyes glancing from the baby monitor to his mug.

Alex has been awake all night, and after getting up every hour, we decided to sleep in the nursery with him – the idea of crawling from the warm depth of our bed again too much to bear for me.

The air is tinged with a slight chill, and we're sharing a fluffy blanket. Hayes is taking most of it due to his curled up position and he takes a sip of the coffee.

Hayes nods off, his eyes delicately fluttering closed before my sigh brings him back, making him turn to look at me with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I give up," I drop the tweezers and mirror onto the coffee table before I snuggle closer to him, wrapping the blanket around me as I lays my head on his shoulder.

"I was thinking-" he starts. Hayes rests his head on mine and I let out a hum. He shuffles, wrapping his arm around my shoulders, "-that we should bathe Alex today."

"Well, it has been 2 weeks," I look up at his tired face – all puffy eyes, swollen lips, floppy brown curls, "Maybe it'll make him less of an asshole." 

 Hayes bursts out laughing, dropping his forehead onto mine as I grin, eyes closed with an exhausted but happy giggle.

I'm cradling Alex in my arms as Hayes brings the soap into the kitchen, checking the water in the sink every now and again while I make high pitch noises and boops Alex's nose.

Alex is fully awake, smiling up at me, as I can't help but feel ecstatic at his cute little face, with his big blue eyes and bouncy chocolate hair - the kind you'd see in a Pantene commercial. 

The sound of a camera clicking snaps me out of it, and he's standing near the sink with his phone – smiling lovingly, "Water's ready."

***

Hayes holds Alex steady while I pour cups of warm water on him. Alex is loving it, smiling like a mad man and Hayes is visibly nervous because he's wiggling around.

"Babe,"

"He's fine, Hayes." I try to console, looking up at him from the soapy baby. "He's loving it, unlike you."

"Unlike me?" Hayes quirks, and I smile, nodding, 

"Your mother told me that you used to cry whenever she used to bathe you."

Hayes looks at me weirdly. There's a furrow in his brow, and he turns to me. "Really?"

"Yeah-" I giggle, reaching up to pinch his cheek and he gives me a lopsided smile.

"What are you doing?" He panics, eyes going wide. I smile knowingly up at him, chewing on my bottom lip as I take the camera from the counter. 

"It's fine, hold him like you're holding him – I just want a picture," I smile

And I step away from the counter top, Alex sitting in the water with Hayes propping him up and he's tense, arm muscles prominent.

"Hayes, chill," I laugh, still holding the camera.

Hayes starts rambling on, saying things like, 'how can I be so calm when I'm holding a baby'.

Alex and I look at Hayes as he babbles, and Alex's eyes are wide while he looks wondrously at his father - comically gracing his gaze at me as if to say 'are you seeing this?' before trying to look up at his father again.

Hayes' words are cut off by a sudden splash, and Alex has slapped his body out as much as he can, causing the water to gush over Hayes' pajama bottoms.

He stops, closing his eyes, breathing through his nose and then he smiles at our baby, grinning as his nerves start to slip away; when Alex is longingly staring at his dad, eyes wide and loving and Hayes is chuckling at him, dripping wet while he holds him – that's when I finally snap the picture.

omg do you know that Nash cut ALL of his hair off?