Notes: Thanks, as always, to Mari and Sammy for their FABULOUS feedback and support, any time of the day or night.
Readers and REAL McRollers – Thank you for your amazing support during the holiday marathon. Here we go with another year in the REAL World!
Hope you enjoy!
Anything But Routine (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
Angie and Catherine were on the floor playing when Steve got home just before dinner.
"Hey, Daddy's home," Catherine announced enthusiastically as Cammie reached him for a greeting.
"Here I am," he responded happily, giving Cammie an affectionate rub and smiling over at his wife and daughter.
Angie, on her tummy, bobbed up and down excitedly at his arrival. "Baah aah!" she babbled. Moving one hand over in his direction, she used her arms to pivot herself to face him more fully.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, his face splitting into a wide smile. "That's new."
"It was," Catherine agreed, her face mirroring his. "You wanted to see Daddy better, didn't you, baby girl?"
Steve joined them on the floor. "Look at you. That's our big girl." He motioned to Catherine. "Can you turn back to Mommy?"
"Over here, honey," Catherine said, shaking a cylindrical rattle to get her attention.
Angie turned her head toward the noise and reached an arm out, but didn't pivot back.
"Try over there," Catherine said, handing Steve the rattle.
He shook it on Angie's other side and she used her hands and arms to turn her body toward it. Catherine took the rattle back and Angie followed, completing her stationary circle.
"There you go, honey," Catherine said as Angie grabbed it, her torso dropping toward the mat from the exertion even as she brought the rattle toward her mouth.
"Buh," she grunted.
"That was so great, Angie," Steve said. "You're gonna be crawling before we know it." He grinned. "But first we gotta work on clockwise circles so you can turn both ways."
After the third time Angie pushed a spoonful of orange baby food back out of her mouth with her tongue, Steve sat back with a sigh.
"Okay, kid, what's going on? You're wearing more than you've eaten." He collected what remained on her chin with the spoon. "You like carrots."
"Not tonight, apparently," Catherine said, rejoining them at the table and offering him another small bowl with a few spoonfuls of pureed peas.
"Apparently," Steve echoed wryly. He nodded to her. "Why don't you give it a try?"
She smiled and sat down. "Okay, Angie, how about peas instead?"
Angie slapped the high chair tray happily. However, when Catherine put a spoonful by her mouth, she ate it and promptly spit it back out.
Steve let out a little chuckle. "Well, it's not just me and carrots, then."
Catherine tried one more time, but when Angie again pushed the food out with her tongue, she put the spoon down. "Okay, I guess you're not feeling the solid foods tonight, huh, baby girl?"
"Did Esther say anything about lunch?" Steve asked.
"Said she ate great. Couple teaspoons of applesauce and squash." Catherine shrugged. "As long as she has her bottle before bed she'll be okay. She's acting normally otherwise so I think she's feeling fine."
He nodded, picking up both abandoned bowls of baby food. As he stood, he leaned over and kissed Angie on the head. "Just being stubborn tonight, huh?"
"Ahh bah!" she replied.
He smiled. "That's what I thought."
After Steve and Catherine finished their own dinners and the three had played a bit more, it was time for Angie's bath. While Catherine got post-bath things ready in the nursery, Steve placed Angie in her baby bath tub filled with warm water inside the larger tub. Because Angie enjoyed the water so much, they didn't need a lot of bath toys. She was perfectly content swishing her hands through the water and, especially, smacking the surface to cause little splashes which always made her laugh.
After a few minutes of play, Steve soaped up a washcloth with head-to-toe baby wash and started to clean her arms.
Angie grunted in protest, her happy demeanor disappearing in place of a frown.
"I know, I know, you'd rather just play, but bathtime is also for getting clean and we've gotta do that before the water gets cold," he said, swiftly and, after six months, expertly washing her arms, torso, legs, and back. He saved her head and face for last, knowing that usually caused more than a grunt of protest, and he was right. She cried out and squirmed as he washed her neck and face. "I know, but we gotta do it." He quickly swiped behind her ears and gently over her eyes, then did her hair. "There, all done." He set her back against the bath seat gently and splashed a little at the water to indicate the cleaning part of the bath was done.
Angie immediately imitated him, all smiles again. He let her splash for another minute then gathered her up in a dry towel and brought her to the nursery.
Catherine smiled. "Did you have a good bath?" she asked as Steve lay Angie on the changing table and used the towel to finish drying her off.
"Yeah, if only that annoying washing didn't get in the way of my fun," Steve answered for Angie with a grin.
Catherine grinned back, reaching over and tickling Angie's tummy. "Uh huh, I heard you in there."
Angie giggled, kicking happily.
Once he'd dried her completely, Steve put a new diaper on her and rubbed her down with baby lotion. The fact that she loved the post-bath massages had convinced them that it was mostly the interruption of her water fun that caused her complaints during her baths.
After putting special lotion on a couple of extra dry spots, he ran a brush over her hair and prepared to put her in the sleeper Catherine had laid out.
"Bunnies tonight?" he asked, holding up the bunny covered sleeper in front of Angie. "Your cousin Joanie picked these out because they look a little like her stuffed bunny."
"Comfort Bun," Catherine said.
Angie smiled. "Ah buuh!"
"That's right, Bun," Steve said and dressed her in the sleeper. He lifted her gently and kissed her head. He settled in the rocking chair and took the bottle Catherine held out to him. When he put it to Angie's lips, she immediately began drinking.
"Yeah, I bet you were a little hungry, huh?" he asked. He smiled when she put one of her hands up against the side of the bottle, her fingers spreading against the surface. He glanced at Catherine. "She'll be holding it on her own soon."
Catherine smiled. "Probably."
"I'll miss this," he admitted.
"Oh, I think she'll like being in Daddy's arms, even if she can hold her own bottle."
He smiled gratefully at her words and looked back down at Angie who was nestled so contently as she ate.
Once she'd finished and they read a couple books, Steve stood and walked over to the crib. He ran a gentle hand up and down her back and kissed her head. "Good night, Angie," he murmured against her hair.
Beside him, Catherine placed her own hand on the back of Angie's head and leaned over to give her own kiss. "Sweet dreams, baby girl."
Steve secured Angie in her sleep sack and whispered a final, "Good night." He and Catherine remained at the cribside for a moment, Angie's drowsy eyes on them, before slowly stepping back and turning out the light to let her settle herself to sleep.
Once they were out of the room with Cammie, Steve leaned over and kissed Catherine gently. "Thank you," he said quietly. It hadn't gone unnoticed that Catherine often let him do much of the bedtime routine during the week, knowing how much he needed that time with Angie.
She smiled, understanding exactly what he was thanking her for and why.
"We're lucky she likes this routine as much as we do," she said.
He thought back to the first time they'd put Angie in the nursery for the night.
Steve woke a little after 0100, and a quick check revealed all was still. Catherine was asleep beside him and Cammie on her bed in the corner. He glanced at the baby monitor and no unusual sounds came from there either. He lay still, but didn't close his eyes to go back to sleep right away.
After a moment, he rose as quietly as he could and walked over to the door of their bedroom, unsurprised when Cammie, alerted by his movements, followed just as quietly. He gave her a reassuring rub on the head and closed the door behind them. He went to the nursery door and opened it slowly. There was enough light from the moon that he could see Angie was fast asleep in her crib, just as he'd thought.
He wasn't surprised. She'd proven to be a good sleeper, and he knew they were fortunate that was the case. While he and Catherine had both often functioned on little to no sleep, he was glad when they didn't have to. He also knew he should return to bed as he didn't want to risk waking the sleeping baby, but he couldn't resist staying a few minutes.
He sat soundlessly in the rocking chair where he could see her in her crib, flashing a quick smile when Cammie sat right beside him, keeping watch as always. He put a gentle hand on her head and they sat in the comfortable silence.
A few minutes later Catherine appeared in the doorway. He glanced at her, apologizing with a look for waking her up. She shook her head, a small smile conveying there was no need.
She stepped closer to the crib, her expression growing even softer as she looked down at their sleeping daughter. As if sensing both her parents were in the room, Angie turned her head in their direction, but didn't wake.
Steve came to stand beside Catherine, finding her hand between them. She squeezed gently, and looked at him, silently asking if he was ready to go back to bed. He nodded, and with a final look at Angie, they headed back out of the room with Cammie.
Once back in their room, Steve and Catherine wordlessly curled up together against the headboard.
Steve's eyes were drawn to the bassinet where Angie had slept up until this point.
"I know it's strange," he said. "How many years have I slept fine in this room before Angie was born, but … I don't know, it's different."
"It is. I feel it, too."
"We've got the monitor, but I just needed to see for myself she was fine."
"We're lucky she seems to sleep fine no matter where she is, but maybe we're the ones who are not quite ready."
He gave her a little smile at that. "Maybe." Exhaling slowly, he said, "I don't want to wake her up moving her, but maybe tomorrow night …" He let his voice trail off, glancing back at the bassinet and smiling when her arm tightened around his waist.
Back in the present, he agreed with Catherine. "We are lucky," he said, pulling her closer and wrapping his arms around her, sighing contentedly. "But you know what?" he said, looking at the nursery door over the top of her head. "I think the fact that we get to do this every night with her … is anything but routine."
Hope you enjoyed!
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