Michelle held her baby boy against her chest, bouncing him a little as she picked up a few scattered things around the kitchen and living room. "All right, here we go, Anthony," she spoke more to herself than the three-month-old as she got ready to settle down on the couch.
She loved being able to call him by his name now. When she and Tony had first brought him home from the hospital, they couldn't stop smiling every time they spoke his name in actual reference to him rather than Michelle's protruded stomach. They were always looking for reasons to do so, and the excitement had hardly worn off even three months later. He was their son, their Anthony. The sound of his name on their lips gave her butterflies. (Especially because it was also Tony's.)
He wriggled against her as she moved to the couch. He hadn't slept much the night before and he'd been a bit irritable the whole morning. Michelle just hoped he wasn't getting sick. She sat down with his little body still pulled close against hers, and he began squirming and fussing even more.
"What's wrong, baby?" she asked into his soft head as she pressed her lips against it gently. "Tony," she got her husband's attention from where he stood across the room, "could you hand me his socks?"
"Yeah." Tony tossed Michelle the tiniest pair of white baby socks from the laundry basket near him.
"Thanks." Michelle slipped each miniature sock on her little one's matching miniature feet as she held him in a sitting position on her lap. He was fussing more and more until he suddenly burst out a high-pitched scream as Michelle slipped on his last sock.
She sucked in a sarcastic breath and lifted Anthony against her chest again as he continued to cry painfully loudly. "Aww, honey, what's wrong?" She spoke to her child tenderly. "What's the matter, baby?"'
Her son's wails continued on and she bounced him up and down a little again in a futile effort to calm him. She had just been thinking that he hadn't had any really bad crying episodes up until then and now she hated herself for thinking too soon.
She started getting worried when it only got worse after her attempts at giving him his pacifier, checking his diaper, and feeding him all failed. Tony joined her in the living room again where she sat with concerned lines displayed across his forehead. "What's wrong with him? Is he okay?"
"I don't know," Michelle answered, exasperated. "He won't stop crying. I've tried everything, I checked his diaper, tried to feed him and burp him... I even tried putting him down to sleep. Nothing's working."
She tried speaking softly to the baby again as her cheek rubbed against his. "It's okay, son. Mommy's right here. Shhhh." She continued to bounce Anthony lightly, but became flustered as the wretched sounds still pierced her ears after over twenty minutes. She was getting frustrated as the shrieks and cries numbed her eardrums; but, at the same time, she felt terrible not being able to soothe her son, also fearing she was doing something wrong. Directing a government agency catching terrorists, running point on risky operations, taking down someone in the field, those things she could practically do in her sleep. But somehow handling a crying baby wasn't so easy and was just as stress-inducing. "I don't know what to do, Tony."
"Here, let me take him." Tony took the child from her. Sometimes he would be comforted easily with his dad and the natural warmth he dispersed. However, even Tony couldn't calm the baby this time, and his cries grew stronger and more labored. "Anth, what's goin' on, buddy?" He bounced him a little, and still it didn't get any better.
Michelle and Tony both sighed heavily, and her heart ached for the now red-faced little one exhausting his little lungs. She took him back as Tony tried sticking a pacifier in his mouth. Anthony sucked on it for a moment before spitting it out and releasing another scream.
Michelle grunted and exhaled hard for the umpteenth time. "What is wrong? I don't know what to do with you, sweetheart," she said in vain before turning to Tony and shaking her head, forehead creased and brows furrowed in near distress. "He must be upset about something. I don't have a clue what about, though. What should we do?"
"It's okay, sweetheart, you're doing fine," Tony encouraged, probably sensing she was feeling insecure about her inability to make the crying stop. "Maybe he's not feeling well. Should we take his temperature? Where's the baby thermometer thing we got?"
"It's in our bathroom," she answered as Tony immediately began moving toward said room. "I'll go check his diaper again."
As she made her way to the back of the house, still bouncing her son against her chest and gently smoothing her fingers over the back of his warm head, she absentmindedly began singing a song she'd had in her head from hearing on a TV commercial earlier. Without warning, Anthony's cries began to wane. Michelle stopped in his room and cocked her head back to look at him. She stopped singing. "Hey, sweetheart, there you g—"
His crying started again, cutting her off mid-sentence.
She scrunched her forehead and twisted her lips. "Anthony..."
More crying.
Was it the singing? Was that what he wanted? Her heart started tangibly pounding against his, and she began singing to him again. He started to catch his breath and the cries subsided as she cradled him and went on. "You like that? You like that, sweetheart?"
As she sang, Anthony began cooing. He sniffed, and the tears on his cheeks gradually dried up. Michelle smiled and kissed away the last of them, holding him upright against her body again. "There ya go, Anthony. Mommy's got you. See?"
Tony appeared in the doorway as Anthony's tiny lips curled upward for the first time in hours. "He stopped? How'd you do it?"
"I, uh... I sang to him. I started singing and he finally calmed down."
She smiled into her child's brown eyes, and rubbed her nose against his. "Hey, baby," she cooed. "I love you, beautiful boy."
Tony grinned proudly—and partially in awe—and kissed the side of Michelle's head. "That's... You're so good, Michelle."
She blushed and looked up at her husband who was smiling at her affectionately, but quickly turned back to her son when he stirred, noticing his mom was stealing attention away from him. "It was sort of an accident," she shrugged as she continued to play with Anthony.
"So our son likes your singing, huh?"
"I guess so."
"That means you'll be doing it more often then... Yeah?" Tony raised his eyebrows at Michelle and smirked, prompting her lips to twist sheepishly. He had always mentioned that he loved it when she sang, but she didn't do it often at all. She didn't answer and stuck Anthony's pacifier back in his mouth, brushing past Tony to leave the room.
As soon as they were out of the room, Anthony was on the verge of tears again. Michelle's face turned sour, lines coming back across her forehead, and Tony almost didn't suppress the smile trying to make its way onto his face as he met them. He kissed Michelle's cheek. "I'm thinking you will."