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They were finally healing, too.
19
Seth
Months.
Long, endless months.
I never thought time could pass by so slowly, but turns out, it could.
I kept myself distracted with school and taking care of Kira. Stephen basically did the same, except he buried himself in work a lot.
We both missed Bailey terribly. Sure, we got visits with her, and sure, she was doing good and progressing, but it wasn’t any easier.
She had even had visits with Kira, but whenever Kira would begin crying for a diaper change or food, Bailey got agitated.
Apparently, crying was a trigger for Bailey. It didn’t make her a bad mom—not at all. We couldn’t help what our triggers were. We would just do what we could to keep Bailey from having to take care of Kira when she was fussy.
I smiled at Bailey as she cooed to Kira, feeding her a bottle. God, she looked so beautiful holding Kira like that. It made my heart clench in my chest every single time.
“I want to suggest something to you two,” Dr. Masley said, directing her attention to me and Stephen. We both ripped our eyes off Bailey and looked at her. “I’ve already spoken to Bailey about this, and she agrees with me. I know you two have an arrangement with Bailey’s parents at the moment for babysitting, but Bailey wants to try to take care of Kira when she is released.”
I frowned. Wouldn’t that be too much for her?
“I want to hire a nanny,” Bailey said softly. I looked over at her. She glanced between me and Stephen before looking down at Kira. “I know I can’t do this by myself when you two aren’t home with me.” She sounded sad about it, but she also sounded a bit confident in the words she spoke. “That’s unrealistic. I can’t handle her crying.” I placed my hand on her thigh, drawing her eyes to me. “I know that doesn’t make me a bad mom,” she drew in a deep breath, “but it sucks. But Iwantto take care of her any way that I can without overwhelming myself.”
“And we will support you,” I told her. “Stephen and I are by your side forever, Bailey.”
She nodded, casting Stephen a small smile. He brushed a kiss to her temple in response. “Can we hire a nanny?”
I looked at Stephen. He nodded. “We’ll start looking this evening,” he told her.
“Good,” Dr. Masley spoke up. “Once a nanny is hired, I will release Bailey. She will still need to attend therapy sessions with me twice a week. I want to closely monitor her progress, but we will iron out all of those details once she’s released.”
Kira cooed, releasing the bottle. I quickly stood and draped a towel over Bailey’s shoulder so she could burp Kira. After, she continued to hold Kira, letting our baby girl fall asleep in her arms. And the image almost had me sinking to my knees in front of her. Bailey looked peaceful and content—fuckinghappy. And that was all I had ever fucking wanted for her.
“I’m proud of you, baby girl,” I told her, meaning that. I was always proud of her. She always found a way to stand back up no matter how hard or far life knocked her down.
“It’s not going to be easy,” she quietly told me.
Stephen ran his hand over her hair. “I know it’s not, baby, but we’re prepared for it all,” he told her. “We’re not giving up on you—ever.”
She turned her head to kiss him before looking at me. Dr. Masley cleared her throat and stood. “Unfortunately, I have another patient to do visitation with.”
Bailey stood and gently handed me Kira. Stephen grasped her face in his hands and kissed her. “Take care, baby girl. I love you, you hear me?”
She nodded, a small smile tilting her lips, though she looked sad to see us leave. “I love you, too,” she whispered.
He took Kira from me and slipped from the room. I crushed Bailey to me in a tight hug. “I’m ready for you to come home, baby. I miss you like fucking crazy.”
“Soon,” she promised. “I just have to be ready first.”
I dropped my forehead to hers. “I know, babe.” And I was so fucking proud of her for making sure she was ready to do this. I drew in a deep breath. “I’ll wait for an eternity. You know that.”
She shook her head, a small smile tilting her sweet lips. “You’re too good for me.”
I laughed softly. “Quite the opposite, baby girl. I’m the worst for you, but for some reason, you love me anyway.”
