Hope Out the Window

Ty and Alaïabug

I carried Alaïa to my bedroom and took off my soaked shirt. I was freezing. I went to the bathtub and ran some warm water, but not too hot. "You wanna take a bath with dad?" Alaïa just smiled up at me. I pulled some clothes out for both of us and put them on the bed, then put us both in the bath. She laid on my chest in the warm water. "There you go sweetie." I held her close to me as we warmed up in the water. My phone sat on the counter and I heard it ring a few times. I switched which arm I held Alaïa with and grabbed it.

"Ty?" Jenna's voice was sent through the phone.

"Hey love. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I was just calling to let you know that we are staying with Jordan after the party to help clean up so we will be home late. If it keeps raining this bad though, Jordan said we could spend the night, but I'll text you what we decide on."

"Alright. Sounds good." I could here the music playing on her side of the call. "How's the party?"

"It's really nice. I wish you were here though."

"I wish I was too, love. I will see you tonight or in the morning though."

"Okay." I could tell she was smiling, "I love you Ty."

"I love you too."

"Talk to you later."

"Bye." I hung up the phone and sat it on the floor beside me. I stayed with Alaïa in the bath for awhile longer then got out and wrapped her in a towel, then wrapped my towel around my hips. "Let's get you in something cozy." I carried the swaddled baby into the bed room and laid her on the bed. After dressing both of us I fixed her evening bottled and fed her on the couch.

"Hello?" I picked up my phone when Jenna called.

"Hey Ty. So the rain is still coming down hard and it's suppose to turn to snow soon, we are just staying at Jordan's after we clean up tonight. But we will be home as soon as we can be in the morning."

"Okay, love. Have fun."

"Are you sure you're okay? I can leave now and Debby and Josh can stay to clean up."

"No, I'm really good. We are doing just fine."

"Alright. I love you."

"I love you too. Bye." I set my phone back on the table and finished feeding Alaïa. She ended up falling asleep so I took her back to our bedroom and laid her in her small bed. I flipped on the baby monitor and left the room.

I went to the studio and grabbed my laptop before returning to the living room. I opened it up and found the file called 'Trench'  I clicked the file and began listening to the album. I laid my head back on the couch and listened as the songs played through.

I found things I could've changed, things that I could've made sound better. I listened through it until I head Alaïa start fussing on the baby monitor. That's odd. She doesn't usually wake up until four or five. I looked at the clock.

4:35

Well that makes sense. I made her bottle then went and picked up the screaming baby. "Hey princess." I walked her back to the living room and started her on her bottle, "There you go." She happily ate and played with the ring on my finger. "Oh and happy new year my little angel." I kissed her forehead.

Once she finished eating, I turned on the tv and watched Friends while she spoke gibberish to herself. Eventually she fell back asleep and I moved her back to the bedroom. I stopped in the kitchen before I sat back down and got a glass of water. Jenna would be so proud.

I returned to watching friends for awhile then picked up my phone when it buzzed.

Jenna: "Hey sweet. We are on our way home."

What the heck? What time is it? I glanced at the numbers at the top of my screen.

6:45

They were all early birds, that's for sure.

Ty: "Alright love, see you in a bit."

I sat my phone back down. It felt like barely anytime passed when I heard the door unlock and my three best friends walked in. "Hey." Jenna ran over and sat beside me.

"Hey." I smiled at her. "Hey guys." I turned to Debby and Josh.

"Hey." They nodded and took a seat on the couch across from Jenna and I.

"What are you doing up so early?" Jenna asked.

"Oh I don't know-" She places get hand under my chin and turned my head towards hers.

"What are you doing up so early?" She asked again.

"I just couldn't sleep is all." I turned my head away from her.

"So you didn't sleep at all?" Debby asked, already knowing the answer.

I didn't say a word. "Dude you've got to sleep." Josh said.

"I know, I know, I will."

"You've barley slept recently." Jenna sighed.

"I'm fine though."

"You know that not sleeping does not help your mental health." Josh added.

"Obviously not. I'm really okay though."

"If I stopped sleeping would you let me get away with the 'I'm really okay' act." Josh started.

"No but-"

"Then what makes you think we will accept that with you?" Jenna cut me off.

"Fair point. I really just let the time get away from me though. There's nothing wrong."

"Promise?" Jenna grabbed my hand.

"Yes, love."

"Then I believe you." She smiled a little.

"Thank you."

"Who wants breakfast?" Debby asked.

"Me." The rest of us all said and raised our hands.

"Alright," she laughed, "I'm going to run to the little cafe downtown, do you want me to pick you all up something from there or from somewhere else? Or we could all go together and just eat there?"

"I am exhausted and would rather stay here, but if the rest of you want to go, that's fine." Jenna said.

"Nah, we can all just hang here and you can bring it back." Josh smiled at Debby.

"Alright sounds good. Text me what you all want." Debby shook her phone before heading towards the door.

"Hey Debs," I spoke up, "I'll go with you. Let me change clothes and stuff real quick."

"Okay. Hey, if you tell me what you want, I'll go ahead and call in out order while you get ready." I told her what I wanted then continued to leave to get ready. I snuck into our room, careful not to wake up Alaïa, and changed clothes, and brushed my teeth. I threw on a baseball hat so that I didn't have to fix my hair.

"Let's go." The three people stopped talking as soon as I entered the room.

"Let's." Debby stood up and followed me to the door.
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- peteywentzy