Chapter Twenty-Seven

CHRISTMAS DAY WAS unusual. Instead of waking up and rushing to the tree with the girls, or waking up at her parents’ house, Belle woke on the hard couch at the hospital at about 5:00 a.m. She glanced over at Georgia, who was snoring in her hospital bed. Oliver was asleep. He’d last woken at three. Belle rolled back asleep and gently woke to the sound of Oliver’s cries. She looked at her watch. It was 5:17 a.m. She’d gotten seventeen more minutes of sleep. Oh well, she thought. I’ll take anything I can get for now. She’d forgotten how broken sleep was with a newborn and how exhausting it was, but also how little bits of sleep here or there would help. And, it was only day one, she reminded herself.

“I feel like I’ve barely slept,” Georgia said. “I think I got all of about three hours.”

“It’s really hard, but we’ll get through it together. And it doesn’t feel like it now, in the thick of it, but it gets better.”

“Good. I hope it gets better soon.” Georgia placed Oliver on her breast. “Hopefully tonight.”

“Actually night one is much better than nights two and three.”

“Don’t tell me that.” She shook her head. “I can’t handle it. I’ll run away and join the circus.” She laughed at herself. “Oh wow, listen to me complain. It’s taken me forever to get to this point, and here I am complaining on day two.”

“It’s okay to complain. We’ll both complain. Parenting can be sucky, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want it, don’t appreciate it, or don’t love him.”

“Thanks.” Georgia smiled. “It’s like you understand what’s going on in here.” She gestured to her head.

“No, this is something all mums feel, I think.”

Georgia smiled at Belle again and reached out to hold her hand. “I can’t believe we’re doing this together.”

“Happy Christmas, Georgia,” Belle said.

*

THEY SPENT CHRISTMAS Day at Jo’s house, and Belle’s parents came over. Alex and Anton dropped in briefly, on their way to Anton’s parents’ house for lunch. Nikki and Jason came for afternoon drinks and to meet the baby. Belle was thrilled that Georgia’s family were so welcoming of her friends and family. With both families present, there was no shortage of people queuing to hold Oliver. Belle and Georgia briefly fell asleep on the couch, taking advantage of all the helping hands around them. They were exhausted, but the day was joyful, with plenty of food and good company. The two families seemed to get along well.

Belle always lost track of time on the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, but it was particularly bad, in the newborn daze. Sometime in that week, she was standing in the kitchen, making toast for the girls, when Georgia came in. “Can I please have your autograph?” she said as she thrust papers and a pen under Belle’s nose.

“Autograph? What for?” Belle asked, squinting at the documents.

“Birth certificate paperwork.” Georgia grinned.

“Are you sure?” Although they’d agreed Belle was Oliver’s ‘other mother,’ and they were a couple, Belle had made no assumptions about the legal side of things. That was up to Georgia to work through. She’d assumed, wrongly, obviously, that they’d leave Georgia as a solo mum on Oliver’s birth certificate, and then over time change it if their relationship went well—they were such a new couple, after all. “You don’t want to wait?”

“Belle, you change his nappies; you sit with us in the middle of the night. You bath him, you dress him, and you’re as exhausted as me. You’re his mother, 100 per cent. I love you, and you love me. We’re here, together. What’s the point in waiting?”

Belle kissed Georgia on the forehead. “In that case,” she said as she picked up the pen, and then signed her name under Georgia’s, with a flourish. Before handing back the documents, she noticed Georgia had given Oliver a hyphenated surname. “Oliver Andrews-Reid,” she said out loud. “I like it.”

“Me too,” Georgia said. “It has a real ring to it.”