Closer

146.

Eddy woke up from Elise's cries around nine the following morning, finding Brett curled up in the duvet next to him, shivering slightly. He did look to be asleep, though, so Eddy decided to go make sure Elise was alright and make them some breakfast.

"Did you keep baba up late last night, huh?" Eddy asked their daughter quietly as he picked her up from her crib. She calmed down slightly as he held her against his chest. "Let's get you some breakfast and then some breakfast for me and baba and by then Uncle Ray will be here to pick you up."

He brought her to the kitchen and started out by mixing formula for Elise, thinking he'd make sure she was fed first. Maybe he'd fry some pancakes for them afterwards? Pancakes sounded really good right now.

"There we go," Eddy mumbled, moving to sit on the couch to feed Elise. She became quiet omce the bottle was in view and he chuckled at the realization. "You food wreck."

He listened to the content sounds she made while being fed and looked down at her blue eyes looking back up at him. A smile formed on his lips.

"God, you're beautiful," he whispered as she finished her bottle. He had barely moved her to get her burped when he heard the door bell. He furrowed his brows and brought Elise with him, cloth hanging over his shoulder to avoid any spillage if she decided to get herself burped before he could do anything about it.

"Hey!" Ray grinned as he opened the door. "Sorry, I couldn't wait. I'm too excited."

Eddy moved to the side to let Ray inside.
"Alright, but be quiet. Brett's sleeping still," he mumbled, and a moment later the white liquid spilled out of Elise's mouth and halfway being soaked up by the cloth and halfway dripping to the floor by the entrance. Eddy sighed.

"Thank you, Elise, I love cleaning the floor," he chuckled, wiping her mouth with a corner of the cloth when she was done. Ray was quick to run off to get another cloth to wipe it up with.

"I'll get it," Ray smiled, squatting down and wiping up the spillage. "It's not so easy to keep food down when you're tiny."

Elise made a noise, likely not related to what Ray had said, and Eddy chuckled.
"You tell him baby, you're actually so much bigger than you used to. Almost four centimeters longer than when you were born, actually."

"So much? Daym," Ray said with a grin as he stood up again. "Gonna catch up on baba soon, then, at this rate."

Eddy chuckled, brushing Elise's dark hair from her forehead.
"She's got short genes, so I suspect she's gonna slow down before reaching baba," he smiled at her. "Gonna be my little girl forever."

"Little princess forever. Sounds perfect," Ray grinned. "You want breakfast? I can cook some? Or I can take Elise so you can cook some?"

Eddy looked down at Elise with a sigh.
"You can take her if you want. Thank you, Ray, for babysitting. She wouldn't sleep last night, so I think both of us need the sleep."

"Of course! I love the little bug, and I'm more than happy to babysit shen I'm here," Ray said as Eddy handed him Elise. He gave her a wide smile and she smiled back. "I hope you don't feel like I'm pushing too much, I just can't help myself."

"Nah, not really. You're great with her," Eddy said before going to the kitchen to start breakfast. Ray sat down at the kitchen table with Elise. "Wish I wasn't tired all the time, so I could be as good."

"You're joking, I could never do what you do!" Ray chuckled, looking down at Elise. "Uncle Ray is good, but he can never replace daddy. Uncle Ray would perish if he had to look after her every day."

Eddy sighed and grabbed some pancake mix from the drawer.
"I guess. I just wish I could be... As attentive as you, to make her smile like that. I feel bad for not being able to do that all the time."

"Now, I haven't been here all the time, but I think you're doing a good job. I think she's lucky to have you as her dad," Ray said, standing up to place a hand on his shoulder. "Honestly, Eddy. I really mean that."

"Thanks, Ray," Eddy mumbled. "I still want to do better, though."

"That's a sign of being a good parent. Good job," Ray smiled, and Elise made a sound as well. Eddy couldn't help but smile. Maybe he wasn't too bad after all of both Brett and Ray thought so?