By ten in the morning, Brooklyn and I were officially released from the hospital and sat in the backseat of the car as Nick headed towards home. I studied her little head as it fell gently against her shoulder. Her mouth was slightly open, her bottom lip quivered in her sleep.
We hadn’t gotten off to a good start. It had taken Nick a half hour to figure out how to get the car seat buckled in and me another twenty minutes of shifting her around before I was convinced she wasn’t going to fly out if Nick braked. I knew we were well on our way to becoming overprotective nutcases.
A huge bunch of pink balloons danced happily outside as Nick pulled up to the house. A wide banner stretched across the front door, proudly announcing ‘It’s a Girl!’
“I have a feeling we already have visitors,” Nick said warily.
We hadn’t even unloaded the car seat when my mom, Angel, and Leslie bounded down the steps.
“Welcome home!” Leslie said happily.
“Thanks,” I said with a smile. Nick carefully hoisted the car seat out of the back. Our group headed inside.
The inside had more pink balloons scattered around. The kitchen was loaded down with food.
“Howie and Leigh dropped off some amazing smelling enchiladas,” my mom said. “Angel and I made a couple things for you guys too.”
“You guys rock,” I said. Nick walked in and placed the car seat on the counter. Brooklyn was still sleeping.
Nick and I were hanging out with Leslie, Angel, and mom. We were all watching Brooklyn sleep when the doorbell sounded.
At the sound of the loud chime, Brooklyn’s entire face crumpled. A loud wail erupted.
“I’ll get it!” Angel said, running down the hallway. I unclipped Brooklyn from the car seat and scooped her up. After a few seconds her cries subsided.
I was pretty certain half of Tampa Bay had just walked through the door. In reality, it was just a gaggle of Nick’s cousins. Since they hadn’t been able to make it to the hospital, they thought they’d pay us a visit at home.
After a half hour I excused myself to feed Brooklyn. Nick was right at my heels.
“I’m not missing Brooklyn’s grand entrance to her nursery,” he said.
“You just want to see my boobs,” I teased in a whisper. Nick laughed.
“Don’t judge me,” he said, placing a hand on his chest and pouting.
I walked into the nursery and sank down into the rocker. Nick rooted around the changing table and handed me a burping cloth. While he did that I heard the doorbell ring again.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Nick said as he knelt down by the chair.
The doorbell rang two more times before Brooklyn finished eating, got a diaper change, and was put into another outfit. By the time we made it to the living room it looked like we were having a frat party.
“I didn’t think I even knew this many people,” Nick said. He glanced towards the stairs.
“Don’t you dare think about making a run for it,” I said with a yawn.
We spent the next two hours showing off Brooklyn. A part of me couldn’t help but think about germs. She was two days old and had already been in contact with more people than I saw in a month.
Finally everyone left but mom and Angel. Even though it was only three o’clock in the afternoon, we ate dinner. I almost fell asleep in a plate full of enchiladas.
“Do you want me to stay the night?” mom asked. I shook my head.
“No, it’s okay.”
She looked doubtful.
“Really,” I said with a smile. “It’s okay.”
With all of the people we had seen in the last two days, Nick and I hadn’t had any time to just be a family of three.
After doing dishes for me, mom and Angel left around five. Nick leaned against the door and locked up. He even flipped the dead bolt.
“Quiet,” he said, his head resting against the wood.
“I know,” I said.
The silence lasted exactly sixty seconds. An unmistakable hungry cry filled the house.
We looked at each other.
“Go get some sleep,” I said softly.
As Nick headed to the bedroom, I headed to the nursery with Brooklyn in my arms. As her cries subsided, I sat and just enjoyed the absolute silence. The last rays of light created prisms of light throughout the room.
“You’ve had a busy day Brooklyn,” I said softly as I rocked. Her cheeks went in and out as she sucked. “Daddy and I haven’t even gotten to hold you much today.”
She didn’t seem too concerned; she opened and closed her fingers as she took all of her energy in getting her supply of milk. Her eyes fluttered closed as she finished.
I burped her gently and just stared down at her little face. She did have my nose, but everything else was Nick through and through. I had a feeling that she would even have his unusual color of blue eyes.
I was exhausted, sore, and completely elated. When anyone had asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I had always said I wanted to be a mom. My second choice was a teacher, but my first choice had always been to be a mom. In kindergarten I played house and always went straight to the baby doll. I didn’t care about doing dishes or making food. Playing house meant I could rock the baby. There had been a time not too long ago when I didn’t think that it would ever be a reality. And now I was staring at reality in all of God’s perfection.
I slowly got up and walked into the bedroom Nick and I shared. I gently lay Brooklyn in a bassinet at the foot of the bed and crawled in next to Nick. He was already softly snoring.
I knew that we weren’t always going to do everything right. Maybe Nick and I hadn’t changed many diapers before or gotten up every three hours at all hours of the day and night to take care of a crying infant. But everything was going to be just fine. We were a team.
We were a family.
Now all that was left was for me to officially become Mrs. Nickolas Carter.
Book Three – Voodoo and Vows
Coming soon after the completion of the Coaster spin-off novella Nowhere to Go
featuring Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson.
