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Lucy
“Aww, poor little thing, she misses her daddy so much.”
“Yeah,” I sighed at my mom. We were all gathered on the back deck at my parents’ place, waiting for Dante to turn up for Sunday dinner, but he was an hour late. He’d been away for a training program all week and little Sophie wasn’t coping. I could hardly say I blamed her. I felt pretty much the same.
“Did he say how much longer he’ll be?” Dad asked.
Juggling my three-month-old in one arm, I retrieved my phone from my back pocket to see if he’d replied to my text. “Ten more minutes, thank god.”
“You want me to take her for a bit? Maybe some Zia love will help.”
“Please, you’re welcome to try,” I replied, handing Sophie to Stef, hoping that might stop the fussing. It broke my heart to see my baby so upset, especially because she was so happy most of the time. Stef walked up and down the deck, jiggling her a little and humming gently. I thought it might work, but no dice. After the first minute, Sophie started crying again so I took her back, resuming the pacing myself. Nope. Only Daddy would do.
“Here he is!”
I turned at my mom’s words to see my husband step onto the deck and stand there for a moment in the wash of bright summer sunshine, gazing at us, his eyes bright with all the love he felt for us. My heart did that delicious, familiar slow roll in my chest as he moved toward me and my breath caught in my throat. “Hey,” I said softly, raising my lips to his for a kiss, relishing the heat that always curled in my belly when his lips touched mine.
“Hey yourself.” He pulled back, keeping his arm around my waist as he ran his hand gently over Sophie’s head. She settled instantly at his touch and the sound of his voice, just as I knew she would. “And you, my sweet baby girl. What have you been up to?”
I handed her to him, my heart almost bursting when Sophie smiled at him, making an adorable cooing sound. She was a complete daddy’s girl. “Missing you a lot, that’s what.”
“She’s been fussing?”
“Little bit. She had a good feed and a nap, and a new diaper thanks to Stef, so she’s got no reason to fuss, except…” I looked at him significantly.
He held her close, cradling her head in his large hand, gazing at her lovingly. “Well, you can stop that now, little miss Sophie, because here I am.”
She chirped again, her dark eyes on her daddy’s face in rapt adoration.
“Take a seat, if you like, Dante. Lunch is still a little while away.”
“Thanks, Bruce.”
I followed Dante to a bench seat nestled at the edge of the deck, under the dappled shade of a giant elm.
Dante
Isettled our daughter so she was lying in my lap, her tiny feet pressed against my stomach. She loved lying this way the most and I think it was because she could see me more easily than if I cradled her. I cooed at her over and over, not even caring how stupid I looked, because my baby was loving it. Rocking my legs from side to side, delighting in the feel of her chubby hands wrapped around my thumbs, I almost reeled from the rush of feeling that hit me. So. Much. Love. I’d had no idea how much love it was possible to feel for one tiny person, but I felt it, every single day. And to think I’d almost been too stupid and full of my own bullshit to give myself this beautiful gift.
“There, that’s better, isn’t it?” Lucy sang, running the tip of her finger down Sophie’s cheek, which made my baby girl smile and gurgle back. “It’s funny to see you in baby form,” Lucy said, the smile in her voice obvious.
“Oh, I don’t know about that.”
“Please. She’s your carbon copy.”
“She’ll thank you for your hair genes when she’s older,” Stef said, coming to sit with us on the bench seat nestled at the edge of the deck, flicking her long blue hair over her shoulder. She let out a sigh. “I miss her so much whenever I leave. These quick visits just aren’t doing it for me, especially because she doesn’t remember me between them.”
“Well, there’s a simple solution to that.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. Move back.”
I waited for the instant refusal from Stef, but to my surprise, it never came. Reaching out, she ran her hand gently over Sophie’s head. “Maybe.”
I felt a flare of surprise. “You serious?”
Stef shrugged. “Maybe. Dunno. It would mean the band relocating, or I’d have to start over and join a new one. That would be weird. I mean, I could do it, it’s not impossible, it would just feel…strange, you know?”
