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Casey slips a nightgown on Everly from the pile of clean clothes that we haven’t folded yet, then picks her up and carries her toward her room. I watch them with a smile, then head into the kitchen to prepare Jasper’s bottles for the night. I’m not sure why Casey never does the same thing as me – preparing two or three and heating them up when he wakes up in the middle of the night – but at least I’m making it easier on myself.
I tried doing it for her one night to help her, and she ended up scolding me for messing up her mojo or whatever she called it. That was the last time I tried to change her flow. I know better than to keep going when it comes to her.
After the bottles are made, and I lean against the counter, I note the silence throughout the house and make my way toward Everly’s room. My heart nearly bursts from my chest at the sight in front of me – Everly has her arms wrapped around Casey’s waist, eyes closed, and her breathing deep, while Casey’s chin is resting on our daughter’s head with a few tiny snores escaping. I keep Jasper in the crook of my arm as I inch closer to the two of them, and grab the twin sized blanket from Everly’s bed.
Casey stirs, but her eyes never open when I drape the blanket over them. I smile, then quietly make my way out of the room and head toward ours. I’m sure Casey will wake up in the middle of the night and come into bed. I’m not going to risk waking her up and her being up the rest of the night. She deserves her sleep.
***
The bed dips beside me and I briefly open my eyes to find Casey climbing into bed with me. I wait until she’s situated under the blankets before pulling her against me and kissing the side of her neck. “Hi, baby, did she wake up when you put her back into bed?”
Casey sighs and shakes her head. “Not even a stir, that girl could sleep through anything.”
I chuckle. She’s not wrong. Everly has always found the weirdest places to sleep, and it always took someone shaking the shit out of her to get her up. It’s only gotten worse as she gets older. I can’t imagine what it will be like once she starts preschool in the fall.
Just like clockwork, as soon as I tighten my hold around Casey’s waist, the monitor on my nightstand rustles with Jasper’s movements, and his cries echo into the room. I press a soft kiss to Casey’s temple before lifting from the bed and heading to his room, smiling at him as I lean over the crib. “You couldn’t have given me five more minutes, little man?”
He whimpers at my question, which I take as a no, and then I lead us into the kitchen for a bottle.
Although this is how our nights are most of the time, I wouldn’t trade this life for anything. I get to wake up to the woman I love every morning and watch her become a mother. Nothing could ever beat being able to grow old together, watching as our children have their own kids, and so on.
Jasper sighs contentedly as I put the bottle in his mouth and lounge back on the couch.
Being a father was never something I thought of, but I didn’t realize what I was missing until I got closer to Casey. She made me believe in something I didn’t, and I’m head over heels in love with her. She deserves the world and more for everything she’s had to go through for us to have this family.
I’ll never take her love and kindness for granted or let our kids do so.
“Baby?” Casey says from the hallway while rubbing at her eyes. “You coming back to bed?”
I glance down at Jasper and nod. “I’ll be back in once I put him down in the crib, go lay back down, baby.”
Jasper doesn’t stir when I place him on the mattress, then I head back into our room, where Casey is taking up most of the bed as she snores softly. I chuckle and shake my head. The woman wanted me to come back to bed but couldn’t bother waiting for me.
She instinctively moves over when I sit at the edge of the mattress and pushes closer to me once I lay down, her head falling perfectly on my chest.
This is everything I could’ve dreamed of and more.
The End
