"Damn those are good!" She exclaimed with a mouthful of fries.
"Hey, watch your mouth. Our daughter can hear you." I nodded to the little bassinet Maggie lay in next to Mia's bed. She smacked my arm. Then she cleared her throat.
"We need to figure out what we are going to do."
"About what?"
"Well, I'll be in Whidbey Island and you are obviously more than welcome there. But that would be hard with the lack of space. Maggie needs her own room too, eventually." she sighed.
"What about my place?"
"Uh, your place is a bachelor pad."
"Yeah, true." I shrugged and realized what she was saying.
"I would like to stay close to my family, so I'm thinking about just trying to find another house in Whidbey Island." She shrugged and stole another fry.
"Uh...we work mostly in Seattle, why wouldn't we go there?"
"Christopher, I don't expect you to live there or to live with me on a permanent –"
"Are you fucking serious?" I looked at her in shock. "Do you think I would spend one day away from you and Maggie if I can help it?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything...it's just we never talked about the after part." She put her head back.
"I know," I said quietly. "I didn't mean to snap at you." I kissed the back of her hand. "I just need you to know that I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." I watched a single tear fall over her cheek. I wiped it away and kissed her. "Thank you." I whispered against her lips.
"No, thank you." She whispered back and then pressed her lips to mine.
Mia fell asleep not too long after we talked. We hadn't resolved anything and she was leaving the hospital in two days. Climbing off the bed, I walked over to the bassinet. Cradling Maggie in my arms, I sat down in a chair with her.
As I sat taking in every curve of her face, the way her mouth puckered when she slept, and how her breathing felt against my arms, I found solace and inspiration. When the idea popped into my head, I kissed my little muse before placing her back in her mobile bed.
It took everything I had in me to leave, but I did it. I kissed Mia's forehead before I headed out the door. There were people to call, arrangements to make, and things to get done.
I made sure I was back before she woke up the next morning, but I told her I had some errands to run in the afternoon. Arriving back before dinner, I spent the rest of the evening with her and Maggie. Gwen wasn't happy, but I completely monopolized my daughter.
The following morning we woke up and prepared for Mia and Maggie’s discharge from the hospital. Mia was antsy to get out of the hospital. She was trying to dress quickly, but couldn't do it without a little help. Watching the pain on Mia's face with each step she took crushed me. I hated she was hurting and I especially hated that I was the cause.
The nurse helped her into a wheelchair after she dressed Maggie in a bright pink Onesie with the picture of a guitar and 'Let's Rock' printed underneath. Then there were the little black and white striped pants and bright pink shoes, all courtesy of Aunt Laney.
When Maggie started to grunt in protest of the shoes, Mia informed her that Aunt Laney had gone through a great deal of trouble to find her the perfect outfit for a rock princess. Maggie grunted again. I bit back a laugh.
Once my little girl was a little rock princess, Mia strapped her into a car seat. I picked up Maggie's seat while Jackson, Kat, Serena, and Elliott grabbed the bags, the flowers, and the gifts. We headed to the awaiting car.
To avoid the reporters and photographers camped out at the hospital exits. We arranged with the hospital to use a private parking floor of the hospital garage typically reserved for doctors only. Mia was relieved Maggie wouldn't be subjected to all of the photogs just yet.
I helped Mia into the car and then helped her strap Maggie in beside her. I climbed in on the opposite side of Maggie. Mia and I stared at Maggie while holding hands during the car ride.
I figured it would take at least an hour before Mia got curious, but she'd been distracted by Maggie and she dosed off for a bit. So it ended up being an hour and a half before she started looking around out the windows and turned to me with a confused expression.
"Christopher?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Yes, dear?" I fought a grin.
"Where are we going?" She looked a little worried.
"It's a surprise." I winked and put my head back on the seat.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
We pulled up to the familiar scenery and my curiosity reached its peak.
"Why are we going here?" He didn't respond. "Christopher?"
"What about surprise don't you understand?" He grabbed my hand lying on the side of Maggie's car seat.
"I already know where we are going. Now I asked why?" I pursed my lips and raised my eyebrow at him.
Sounds of voices yelling for us took my attention away from the conversation.
"Is it a girl or boy?" "What did you name the baby?" Even with the tinted windows, I got nervous and draped a blanket over Maggie's seat.
The driver passed by the photographers quickly through the opening gate. Phillip smiled widely when we pulled up to the house. The car stopped.
"We're here." He smiled and got out of the car before I could say another word.
Christopher opened my door and helped me get out. My abdomen was still sore as all hell and it was clear I needed another painkiller. I swear I was going to track down those baby book authors and pull their teeth out. This shit wasn't in any of the chapters I read. Neither was the grossness of the incision area.
"You okay?" I nodded. I held onto the open door while he got Maggie from the car.
"Christopher...?" I whined. He kissed the side of my head and walked us toward the house. "Are we staying here longer?" I wasn't objecting, but we would need to get the baby stuff sent to this house.
Christopher walked us to the front door and held up a large silver key chain that read HOME. I furrowed my brow.
"Here's your key." He smiled widely.
"My key?" Maybe it was the drugs or the recent childbirth, but I wasn't catching on. "Christopher I –" His lips pressed to mine.
"Welcome home, Mia." He whispered and pulled back.
"You bought the house?" He nodded with excitement though there was a touch of nervousness. "You bought the house." This time I whispered a statement, not a question.
"I bought us the house. Maggie, you, and me, our family, this is our home." His eyes moved to Maggie. The love that filled them made tingling warmth spread through my chest. He was so in love with his daughter.
"Christopher...I don't know what to say." My heart swelled. Wrapping my around him, I pressed my lips to his cheek. I immediately cringed from pain in my abdomen. He wrapped his arm around me to keep me up.
"Easy now," he smiled. "Let's get my girls inside." Leaning my head on his shoulder, he guided us into the house. Our house.
"Oh..." I stopped short just after we entered.
"What, what's wrong?" Holding tighter onto my waist, he looked me over.
"We need to call Serena so she can have the baby stuff brought here and I'll definitely need the bassinet, at least, for tonight. He started to chuckle and nudged me to keep walking. "What's so funny?" We stepped around the corner of the entry.
"Welcome Home!"
Maggie started to fuss. Looking around the room, Laney, Nicholas, Gwen, John, Linda, Amy and Ryan stood in the living room smiling at us. I smiled brightly back.
Maggie's fussing became worse, so Christopher sat her on the table. I took her from the carrier and cradled her. Placing her against my chest, I rubbed her back. Christopher kissed the top of her head.
"Welcome home, princess." He whispered against her head.
Gwen and Linda descended upon us quickly.
"Oh my, she's so tiny, isn't she?" Gwen whispered, running her fingers over one of Maggie's cheeks.
"She's beautiful." Linda said, rubbing Maggie's fuzzy head.
"Just lik
e her mother." Christopher kissed the top of my head.
"I dunno. That's not my hair." He laughed. Grinning, I brushed over the spiked pieces of dark hair on her head.
"Mia," Laney danced up to me. "There's so much to show you, but first you have to see one special room." She was bouncing uncontrollably.
"Calm down, Laney," Christopher chuckled. "We'll get to that."
"I'm just so excited." Laney cheered.
"Should I be worried?" I raised my brow at Christopher.
He rubbed the back of his head.
"Umm...I kind of recruited Laney to help out with Maggie's room." He looked at me through his lashes. My eyes widened, because all I could think of was that Laney had probably created an entire room that looked like someone had puked Barbie pink all over.
"Oh," was all I said.
"Come on, you'll love it." Laney beamed. Grabbing my arm, she started pulling me. "I know you better than you think."
"Easy Laney, she's sore." Chris took Laney's hand from my arm, a scowl on his face.
"Oh crap! I'm sorry." Laney cringed.
"It's okay, let's just take it slow." I smiled small and walked toward the stairs.
At the top of the stairs, Laney stopped in front of the bedroom door next to the master bedroom. I took a deep breath before she opened the door. I gasped entering the room.
"Oh, Laney." I breathed.
"You like it?" I couldn't speak. "If you don't, we can change –"
"Laney, it's gorgeous." I reached my free arm around her and hugged her to my side.
"Really?" A tear started to roll over Laney's cheek.
"Of course," I smiled.
"Great," she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you like it. It's called Guinevere."
What I had assumed about Laney's nursery vision was completely wrong. The walls painted a light cream color and a light sage trim. The floor carpeted in light beige. The crib looked as if it was straight out of the renaissance. A solid headboard and foot board with beautiful moldings at the top and bottom, with a painting of pink roses in the middle. It was an antiqued cream color with the same sage green trim. The bedding was cream, coral, and light copper. Also, a dresser and changing table matched the crib. The canopy over the crib was cream colored and draped beautifully down the four sage green posts. It was perfect. Feminine but not pink. It was perfect for my princess.
"It really is perfect. Thank you." I kissed her cheek.
By the time, we'd gotten downstairs, Kat, Elliott, Jackson, and Serena had arrived. I went into an empty room to feed Maggie before handing her over to Gwen, who'd been twitching to hold her since we got home. Then I excused myself to shower.
Taking off my clothes, I looked into the large mirror. My body had definitely changed. Sighing, I climbed into the shower and let the warm water cascade over me. Reaching for my body wash the familiar surroundings felt good. I let myself process everything that had happened over the past few days. I hadn't even realized I was crying, all the emotions pouring into the steamy water.
"Mia?" Christopher knocked repeatedly. I quickly rinsed off my face, rubbing easy.
"Yeah."
"You okay?" The door closed behind him.
"Yeah, I'm fine." I turned off the water and stuck my hand out, keeping the rest of my body hidden. "Can you hand me a towel?" I heard his movements, but jumped when he pulled the shower door back.
"Why are you hiding?" He grinned.
"Give me the damn towel!" I grabbed for it, but stretched a little too far. A sharp pain tore through my incision area. "Fuck," I growled through clenched teeth.
"Be careful." He wrapped the towel around me. "Seriously, why are you hiding from me?" He helped me out of the shower. I groaned.
"Like it isn't obvious that my body is destroyed," I rolled my eyes.
He huffed and moved in front of me, lifting my chin so I looked into his face.
"Amelia Ryder, you're beautiful."
I snorted.
"You don't believe me?"
"Oh, yeah I believe that my flabby, puffy stomach is so freaking hot, especially with the large incision mark and stitches. Playboy here I come!" I tried to mask my angry insecurities with humor.
"First of all, you just had a baby, my baby. I'm the reason for all of the changes in your body and the fucking incision." He argued. I was about to speak when he placed his hand on my mouth.
"I don't want to hear you talk about this again. I think you're even more beautiful than ever. In fact the moment you place our daughter to your breast I'm jealous of that little angel." He sighed. "I know I can't, that we can't, but do you understand how much I want you? And as for Playboy...that will never be happening if I have any say about it."
I raised an eyebrow at him.
"So, Playboy is out for me?" I grinned.
"Mia..." he used a warning tone. "No one is going to see your body, but me."
"Trust me no one would want to." I snorted.
Walking into the bedroom, I could feel Christopher close behind me. I went into the walk in closet and changed into something comfortable. Chris walked me downstairs to our family.
At the bottom of the steps, I could smell food and my stomach growled. Christopher chuckled from beside me. Walking into the kitchen, I saw containers of Chinese food sitting on the counter. Grabbing a plate, I piled on some steamed vegetables, rice, and a little soy sauce. I knew it wasn't on the Nutritionist's list of approved foods, but damn it one plate wasn't bad.
Christopher appeared with his own plate and sat on the floor between my legs. Looking across the room Elliott was holding Maggie. He sat stiffly like he was afraid he would to hurt her.
"Give her to me. She misses her aunt." Serena reached over and took her from him. Elliott looked happier to sit Serena on his lap while she held Maggie. Ryan climbed up and sat staring at the baby in Serena's arms.
"Mommy, can we have a baby?" Ryan's face was full of curiosity.
"W-what?" Serena stuttered.
"I want a baby." He looked at her excitedly. Elliott coughed loudly and the rest of us started to laugh.
"Uh...Ry, I think we could just play with Maggie for awhile, okay?" Serena smiled at the pouting boy.
"No. I want one at our house!" He plopped down into the couch. Serena rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Good luck with that Elliott!" Jimmy snorted before busting into laughter.
"Is Elliott going to have a baby?" Ryan looked confused but excited. We laughed harder. Elliott's face reddened. Serena tried to change the subject with the idea of swimming.
After a few hours everyone left except for Nicholas and Gwen, they were staying with us for a couple of days. John, Linda, Serena, Elliott, and Ryan left for Whidbey Island together. Laney, Jackson, Jimmy, and Natalia headed to Seattle. It was hard to watch my family leave, hard to see us all going separate ways, but one glance at Christopher cradling our baby and it was easier.
I took Maggie into our room, with Christopher close behind me. I wasn't ready for her to sleep in her own room yet and planned to use the bassinet. Christopher took a shower while I fed Maggie. While Maggie suckled, I placed my head back against the headboard and closed my eyes. Not hearing Christopher come out of the bathroom, I was startled when his body weight cause the bed to shift.
"Sorry." He said apologetically.
I shrugged, careful not to disturb Maggie.
Christopher ran his fingers over Maggie's head and cheek as her suck slowed. Then his fingers trail over my breast and up around my neck. Cupping my neck, he leaned up and kissed me passionately. His tongue entered my mouth, but then he pulled himself away. I smiled at him and cupped his face.
"Christopher, we need to talk." I watched his face turn from joy to worry. A twinge of guilt passed through me. "It's not bad. At least I don't think it is. I just want to talk about what happened in the hospital."
"Mia, I thought I'd lost you and our daughter, or even just one of you. I lost control." He sighed.
"I understand
, but what are you going to do? You know about your issues." I swallowed hard, not wanting to start a fight by choosing the wrong word.
"Doctor J made a convincing argument. I start my sessions more frequently for awhile and perhaps try out some other forms of therapy as well." He shrugged like it wasn't a big deal.
"This is important. I know you're trying, but you act so casual about it sometimes. It's hard for me to think you're really working on this." I furrowed my brow at him. "I need to know, for sure, that you're serious about your therapy or this," I motioned between the three of us, "will never work." Moisture pooled in my eyes.
He cupped my face quickly.
"Nothing is more important to me than you and Maggie. I promise I'm serious about this. I've already gotten my therapy sessions scheduled with Dr. J's assistant. If you want to see my session schedule then I'll gladly show it to you. If that's what it takes to make you feel better, I'll do it. I shook my head.
"No, I believe you. Just please, don't stop going." I pleaded. He kissed me tenderly.
Laying Maggie into her bassinet, I turned and climbed into Christopher's welcoming arms.
* * * * *
Sleeping next to Mia had always put my mind and body at ease. Now, knowing how it felt to think I'd lost them, they were my whole universe. Nothing would ever take them away from me and I would never do anything to lose them.
Maggie started to stir after only a few hours. Sliding out of bed I picked her up; hoping I wouldn't have to wake Mia to feed her. In the morning, we were going to have to find a way I could help with night feedings.
I cradled my miraculous little bundle in my arms and rocked her back and forth. She was still slightly fussy, so I started to sing one of my songs. Thankfully, she was way too young to understand the lyrics, but the slow beat was like a lullaby. It seemed to work, because she fell back to sleep. Not wanting to put her down yet, I savored each small breath she made.
Finally, kissing her head, I put her back down before sliding back into bed next to Mia.
"That was beautiful," Mia murmured, shifting closer to me.
"I thought you were asleep." Her side pressed against mine.
Falling Stars Page 40
