A Moment in the Cabin

Family

SIX MONTHS LATER.

I smile at Rose as she pushed Toby's hair back. His thick mop of curls falls into his face, but he has a meltdown when we try to cut it. He has the most focused look on his face I've ever seen as he watches his brother move inside Rose's womb. His chubby hands come down over where a limb pushes up against her bare skin.

"Ka!" Toby shrieks excitedly, patting Rose's stomach.

Rose laughs and nods her head. "You found Luka's hand!" Toby looks pleased and pats Rose's belly again, searching for movement from his brother. I don't think he fully comprehends what's happening, but he loves watching her belly move. I do too, and I love watching the two of them together. I don't think my heart can get any fuller than it is now.

"Toby," Rose says ruffling his hair. He doesn't respond to her and keeps his eyes trained on her belly, but she tilts his head up. "It's bedtime, baby. We're gonna go have a bath," she says, shuffling forward to stand up from her spot, hitching him onto her hip.

"Do you want some help?" I ask getting up. Rose gives me an appreciative look and nods her head.

"Yea, I think I'm going to get in with him, so I'll need help getting in and out."

I chuckled quietly under my breath and went to get a change of pyjamas for Toby before heading into the bathroom. I crouched beside the tub while Rose undresses and play with Toby, pushing the rubber duck to him. This kid has laser focus when he sees something that he wants, so he zones in on the duck right away. Rose comes next to me and I help her in, watching her sink into the water with Toby.

"I can't believe how big he is getting," Rose says.

I hum and pull out the kids shampoo and start washing Toby's hair. Rose keeps him occupied so I can rinse his hair out and then work a little bit of conditioner into the ends of his hair. Without it, there is no running a brush through it.

"He is," I say as he plays with the water. I can see his eyes start to droop and I scoop him out of the water, wrapping him in a towel. Rose leaned forward and turned the hot water tap on, topping up the tub with water and relaxing back. I take Toby into our room and get him dressed before settling him in his crib. Toby goes down quickly and I head back into the bathroom to find Rose half asleep in the tub washing her hair. I get back down and take over for her, massaging her scalp.

"Looking forward to the baby shower this weekend?" I ask, rinsing the suds from her hair. Rose hums and hands me the conditioner. I work it into her hair and let it sit, so I move to sit so I can look at her.

"I am, although I'm a little worried Lissa is going to go overboard. I think she's trying to make up for missing my pregnancy with Toby," Rose says, swirling the water with her fingers. I reach over the edge and rest my hand on her belly in the water, rubbing my thumb over the tight skin. I remember Rose being radiant when she was pregnant with Toby, but now she emits a glow that I've never seen. Pregnancy suits Rose so well, and I love seeing her heavy with my child. She runs her fingers over my hand and gives me a tired smile.

"I can understand that. She feels horrible about what happened," I reply moving my hand to follow the movements under the skin. Rose nods her head and rests it against the back of the tub.

"Alright, I need to rinse this out before I fall asleep," Rose mumbles. I move and rinse her hair out before helping her out of the tub and into the bedroom. Rose plops onto the bed in her towel and lays back but rolls onto her side. I chuckle and grab a shirt and some underwear for her. Rose sits up and gets dressed before crawling back into bed.

"I'll be in bed soon," I say kissing her head, but she's practically asleep already. I head into the living room and clean up the toys, putting away the books and straighten the throw blanket. I knock over one of the large books Rose is always looking at and find that it's not just a book, it's a scrapbook. I pick it up and look at the page it's opened to and think back to the day that we found out we were expecting another baby.