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Grace
As soon as we arrived at Adrian's house, he handed Arthur to Noah and explained to him that everything he needs is in the nursery and kitchen. Adrian then told us he was going to sleep and paced into the house.
We both looked at each other worried, knowing that this level of tired is in our future.
Arthur started crying but Noah and I weren't sure what to do for a moment.
"Remember what all the books said. It can't be that hard." That sounded like famous last words.
"Okay, so maybe he's hungry." Noah looked at me and handed the crying Arthur to me. I stared at him. He was the one crying but I had an equally pained expression. Noah went to warm up some milk in the kitchen. I shifted from one foot to the other to rock him which calmed him down.
Noah came back, he grinned when he saw me. He rolled up the sleeves of his white shirt and kicked off his shoes. I did the same with my shoes since my feet were killing me. My feet were so sore, they were also swollen, and it was no fun. Noah grabbed a towel and the warmed milk and started feeding him. I sat down, rubbing my pained shoulders.
"I'm sorry. I know you're tired." I shook my head.
"Not as tired as Adrian must be." Noah sat down and continued feeding Arthur, he looked like a natural born father which made my heart swell with love. I, on the other hand, was too afraid that I might drop him. After the feeding burped him, letting him rest on the towel on his shoulder. He looked at me through sleepy eyes, moving his mouth up and down that let a gurgling escape.
He was almost asleep after that but there was a foul odour emanating from his behind that had us gasping for air. I pinched my nose in disgust. We knew that could only be a dirty diaper, but we were sorely in denial.
"Oh my god, what is that smell? Can a baby even produce that smell?" Noah laughed and nodded.
"Yeah, they certainly can."
"Someone is stinky, stinky, stinky." Noah made faced which caused a toothless smile from sleepy Arthur.
"I'll go change him" I said. I slowly took Arthur and walked to the nursery. I was dreading the pungent smell with every step to the nursery. I have a bad past with the floor, and I trip over my own feet a lot these days, so I held onto him tightly and made sure to tread up the steps carefully. I let out a breath of relieve when I set him down on the changing table.
I followed the diaper changing steps from the books that I could remember and thankfully the smell quickly subsided.
However, before I threw away the diaper, I swear I almost puked. It certainly has a smell that wasn't doing anything for my ever-looming nausea. I had to buck up since this was going to become one of my hobbies soon enough.
I walked back to Noah; Arthur fell asleep on my shoulder, so I set him down in his play crib in the living room. I thought he'd cry more –Adrian said that he couldn't sleep because Arthur wouldn't sleep but he seemed very tired to me. Maybe he was tired out from all the crying, so we were only seeing the best of his sleeping pattern.
I sat down beside Noah on the leather couch while he had his feet up on the table. He pulled me to him, "You certainly passed the baby test. With flying colours. As a bonus I got the baby spit up instead of you." He chuckled.
"I'm still afraid of falling with a baby. I absolutely hate being clumsy and this bump is not helping at all." I rested my head on his lap, looking at his mismatched socks.
You can be sure that a man in a tailored suit, that looks like James Bond will surely wear some multi-coloured cartoon decorated socks. I smiled as I turned around, trying to get comfortable. This belly doesn't give me space to turn but having my bean safe inside is the best feeling ever.
A few days ago we went to visit my father. He was ecstatic to see my baby bump and feel the baby kick. Adam wasn't there since he started working again, but he came to check on my father during lunch, so I surprised him. He was happy to see me, so happy he even did a whole check-up on me since he was practicing again.
That's my protective brother for you.
Now that I think about it, Adrian and Adam still haven't met. I should send him over here to help with Arthur and check-up on Adrian and Abby since they both looked exhausted.
I finally got comfortable with my head on Noah’s lap and my feet on the armrest of the couch. I drifted off to sleep while Noah softly caressed my hair.
I was woken up by Noah shifting and standing up, it caused my head to land with a thud on the couch.
"Oh shit, sorry my darling and bean." He murmured, I wasn't quite awake; I sat up and looked around. Noah was busy feeding Arthur again, “Get some sleep, I've got this. I can't have you and our bean exhausted." I shifted around and grabbed a throw pillow to try to get some sleep. Bean was kicking again so that wasn't going to be an option. I sat up and rubbed the bump that formed where bean kicked.
This time Arthur was wide awake.
After feeding him, Noah checked his diaper and placed him in the crib and put on the mobile. He was very happy just staring up at it and flailing his arms around.
"Are you hungry?" Did he just ask a seven-month pregnant woman if she's hungry? The answer is always yes.
"Mm I am."
"I think it's time to raid Adrian’s fridge. he wouldn't mind since we are after all taking care of his baby while he sleeps. I think I'll make breakfast." I followed Noah to the kitchen. It was about three in the morning. My exhaustion was becoming evident.
"Are you and bean still okay? I'm sorry I volunteered us but he seemed desperate and one day we'll need his help."
"It's okay; it's nice to get a preview of our future. Arthur isn't crying as much as I thought he would." I stated as I sat down at the table and Noah started making something. I still wasn't fully awake, “I thought it was colic, but he rarely cries when we're around."
"He just needs a calm environment. Adrian always must do something for his new job and Abby has to do this alone. It’s always a rush. I think he feels their stress, hell even I feel their stress." Noah quipped.
Noah handed me a plate of eggs and toast that I quickly engulfed. After breakfast, Noah and I played with Arthur. He was smiling a lot making the most adorable cooing sounds. I couldn’t wait to meet our bean.
It was around six when Abby came down and saw us. She looked confused. “Hi? What are you two doing here?" She probably didn't know Adrian invited us to help.
"Adrian asked for a bit of help. It was a rough night. He had a breastmilk meltdown and needed his sleep. Don't worry we're happy to help."
"You've been here the whole night? Adrian was on night duty." She frowned. Adrian was probably going to get the lecture of his life for having us look after Arthur, but I could see she was quite relieved.
We decided to head home. I fell asleep in the car on the way back.
I felt myself being lifted out of the car and up the stairs. I didn't miss Noah saying, 'oh good lord you're heavy'. He partly tripped over a table and finally made it to our bed. He cuddled up behind me and placed my support pillow under my bump. My previous dread was now completely soothed. I have this amazing man, strange but amazing and a very busy baby on the way. One that we know we'll be able to take care of.