Tom Holland Fatherhood Series

First Time with a Babysitter

Start writing your story

3 months old

Charlie had just started sleeping six hours at night, and you and Tom rejoiced in the fact that you had your sleeping schedule back. Tom was scheduled to head out to film The Devil All The Time coming up in the next month and you were hoping you guys could get back into the swing of things romantically, if you know what i mean, before he headed out to the states.

You walked around the kitchen at 6:30AM, getting your's and Tom's tea ready as you began your morning routine as always. Charlie had woken up at six, which is her usual time and Tom volunteered to get her changed and into a clean outfit while you made some breakfast.

A typical Friday consisted of some tummy time, two naps, and some time at Nan and Pop's house, but Tom had another plan for this Friday night.

He strolled into the living room with your little dark-haired angel in his arms and he set her down into her swing and strapped her in. As she swung back and forth, she cooed at the mobile above her head, making you grin into your mug.

"What do you say we go out to dinner tonight?" Tom asked smoothly, as he took the piping hot tea cup from your hands and leaned back against the counter.

"I still don't feel comfortable bringing the baby into a crowded area when it's this cold," you responded, nonchalantly as you sipped on your own tea.

"No, I mean just us."

"What would we do with the baby?" you asked, confused.

"Harry and Mum agreed to watch her tonight," Tom smirked, looking you up and down playfully. You guys hadn't been intimate since the baby was born. Between exhaustion and your healing private parts, sex was completely off the table until you were comfortable with it, which Tom respected.

"I don't know, we've never left her before," you said, uneasy. You always said you'd never be an over protective parent, but you never knew what it was like to love someone so much and leaving her seemed unimaginable at this point.

Tom tiptoed up behind you as you looked over the counter at Charlie. He wrapped his arms around your waist gently, and placed a sweet kiss on you shoulder.

"If you don't feel comfortable, we don't have to," he replied, but his tone sounded disappointed which you picked up on right away. You wanted to be with Tom, alone, so much and maybe you could stand a couple hours away from the baby for your own sanity as well as Tom's.

"Will they send picture updates every thirty minutes?" you ask hesitantly, leaning you head back so it rested on his shoulder.

"I'll make sure of it," Tom promised, his voice getting higher pitched with excitement and you felt his lips find your cheek as he started to pull away from you.

"Okay, but we can't be out too late. I want to be here to rock her to sleep."

Tom leaned back, kissing the top of your head before pulling out his phone and texting Harry and his mum to tell them that their plan worked. You, however, took your tea to the couch and flipped on Netflix.

You'd discovered that the sounds of New Girl comforted Charlie the most out of all the shows you watched, so you turned on a random episode and went to move her swing near you.

"Do you think you'll be okay with Nan and Uncle Harry tonight?" you asked her, trying to convince yourself to answer your own question. 

She stared blankly at you while she sucked on her stuffed lamb toy that Paddy got her for Valentine's Day.

"Do you think mummy is making too big a deal out of leaving you for a couple hours?"

Her sweet little voice graced your ears as she babbled into the soggy stuffed toy, but you took that as confirmation. You laughed before picking her up out of the swing to get her fed and ready for the rest of the day.

It was about four o'clock when Nikki and Harry arrived at the apartment. You were halfway ready, still with a towel in your hair when Tom answered the door for them. He pulled his mother into a hug and Harry gave him a pat on the back, but when they saw the baby, they made a direct beeline for her.

"Hey peanut!" Nikki exclaimed as she lifted Charlie from her tummy time mat and held her close to her chest. You loved seeing them interact, but you had to go and finish getting ready.

Once your hair was dry and your makeup was on, you and Tom prepared to leave the house. You held your daughter close to your chest and kissed her chubby little cheeks a few times before handing her back to Nikki carefully. Tom held a hand on your lower back as you walked out of the apartment together.

Tom took you to your favorite restaurant, where he took you on your first date since he knew you loved it. You loved that he remembered those kind of things and it helped that you were with him in a familiar space.

You looked across the table at Tom as he rambled on about something cute that Charlie did when you were at the supermarket yesterday. His brown hair was styles to the side,but he kept running his fingers through it and making the curls reappear. You were starting to feel a little more like how you felt before you had the baby, when you and Tom would go out on dates every weekend when he was home. You missed him these past couple months.

You heard Tom's phone ding and he whipped it out so fast, hoping for a picture of Charlie to be on the screen. Sure enough, he faced his phone towards you and there she was, a bottle in her mouth and her perfect little eyes looking up at the camera.

"Okay, now that we know she's alive and well," Tom chuckled, pulling his phone back into his pocket. "Let's get back to our date."

You held up your wine glass and clinked it with Tom's whiskey glass as a confirmation. You tried not to talk about the baby too much so you could just catch up with each other. He told you all about the Devil All the Time and how excited he was for the project, and you knew he missed acting. He'd taking a four month long break for you and the baby, and you were happy he was getting back into something he loves so much.

You and Tom walked out of the restaurant at 6:30PM, hand-in-hand, and instead of leading you to the car, he started walking down the street away from the lot.

"Where are we going?"

"I thought we could walk for a bit," Tom responded, pulling you towards the river that was only a couple blocks away. The walk was filled with conversation that didn't include diapers or spit up, which you didn't realize you needed. Tom talked more than you, but that was okay with you. You loved listening to his voice, no matter what he was saying.

You guys came to a small bridge where there were fairy lights lining the sides.

"This is pretty," you commented, continuing to walk forward, but you soon realized Tom wasn't next to you. You whipped your head to the sides, but he wasn't there either.

"Tom?" you said, turning around as his name left your lips. You saw him bent down on his knee and tying his shoe a few feet back and you sighed.

"Don't do that, you freaked m-" you paused when you realized in the dull glow that he wasn't tying his shoe, but he was holding something else in his hand. You had no clue what to do or say, so you just stood there until he started speaking.

"I know we kind of did this backwards. You're supposed to marry the love of your life and then start a family," Tom paused to run his hands, yet again, through those curls, only this time you realized he'd been doing it out of nervousness. "But I think that, without Charlie, I wouldn't have realized that you're the one I want to have next to me forever. Things happen for a reason and all of those things have led me to you. Will you marry me?"