Daddy's Girl

Spencer collapsed onto the bed. She was so tired she thought she might just fall asleep right there, body half hanging off the bed over the covers. As she drug her head up to the pillow and got under the covers, she glanced at the clock:

2:45

Finally, she thought, some sleep. She scooted back to she felt him. His firm body radiating heat was more effective than counting sheep to her. As soon as her eyes closed she fell asleep.

"Whaaaan!"

The sound jolted her awake instantly. Hadn't she just felt asleep seconds ago? The clock told her otherwise.

"WHAAAAN!"

Why did she even bother with a baby-monitor? This baby had lungs like her mother. Spencer rolled over to face Toby. His even breathe was barely audible, but she could see he was still asleep. Of course he was. She sighed and pushed herself up from the bed then walked down the hallway. As she entered the room she saw Nicole in her crib screaming while swinging her arms like she was in a boxing-match.

She scooped up her daughter and held her in her arms rocking her back-and-forth. :What is it baby? I just fed you an hour ago. "

A little sob was the only reply she got.

After checking her diaper and finding it dry, Spencer began rotating the baby in different positions trying to find one that soothed her. Nicole continued to cry.

"Please go to sleep Nikki! Your mommy needs to sleep. I just want to sleep for an hour," pleaded Spencer.

Not trusting her sleep-deprived body to standup any longer, the young woman walked over to the rocker in the corner of the nursery with the infant. After a few minutes of rocking, the cries softened. Spencer started to hum a soft tune that sounded something like the song that played when Nikki's stuffed bear was squeezed. The newborn screamed and immediately the lullaby stopped.

"I'm sorry, Okay? I won't hum!" She continued to apologize to her daughter but the cries continued. Maybe it was just in her head, but to Spencer they seemed to increase in volume. "How is your daddy sleeping through this?"

As she rocked she glanced around the room. The owl nightlight beside the door gave off just enough light. Just over the white crib Toby constructed was "Nicole" in pale pink letters. It was a nice contrast with the soft brown walls. It was no surprise to Toby months earlier when she refused to paint the walls pink. Her daughter would not "be succumbed to the stereotypes of today's society". The dresser in the corner adjacent to Spencer was crammed full of outfits Hanna and Aria apparently "couldn't resist buying" that Nicole would probably grow out of before she could wear them all. Emily had been much more practical when buying gifts like a diaper bag with 12 compartments and a baby swing with 3 settings along with music, but even she couldn't help buying a few cute onesies. She sighed remembering the girls were coming over tomorrow to see the little girl again. She knew once she handed her over she probably wouldn't get her again until they left. Spencer snapped back into reality when a shriek came from the baby in her arms. How did her little body even make that loud of a sound? Looking down at her daughter she saw she had tiny tears running down her scrunched up face.

Now feelings as sorry for herself as she was for the bay, she stood and waling over to the baby-monitor. This called for reinforcements.

"Toby. Toby!" she said rather loudly into the speaker. After a moment passed she placed the handheld machine as close as possible to Nicole's mouth as possible as she kept wailing. After waiting a minute for her husband to enter the room, she sighed.

"Toby Cavanaugh, get your lazy sleeping butt in here!" she practically screamed into the monitor, feeling like she was going to join her daughter in crying.

From down the hall she heard a huge thunk hit the floor. A few seconds later Toby entered the room rubbing his eyes.

"Take her. Please, take her," said Spencer while handing the infant to its daddy. She looked so tiny, so vulnerable in his strong arms.

"Is she hungry? Did you try-," he was cut off by Spencer.

"Yes Toby! I tried everything. She just won't stop-," she paused as the cries softened into quiet whimpers, "crying."

Slowly the sound quit all together. Nikki stirred in her dad's arms before drifting off to sleep.

"Unbelievable. I've been in here for almost an hour," whispered Spencer in a hushed tone, not daring to talk any louder.

"Well for her first might at home she's doing pretty good, right? She's only been up two times."

Spencer was stunned. Seriously? She talked to him in an angry tone trying to keep her voice down. "No, Toby! No she hasn't! She's been up six times. Six! But you didn't wake up!"

"You could have wakened me Spence. I could have taken a turn." Toby talked in a calm tone trying to calm down his wife and keep Nicole asleep.

"And have us both awake? You know what?" Spencer left the room shaking her head leaving her husband in a confused state. She returned a moment later with his pillow and a blanket in her hands and dumped them on the floor in front of her. "You are sleeping here the rest of the night. There is milk in the fridge and good luck with the diapers!"

She exited the room closing the door behind her. 4 ½ months ago when she found out the gender for her baby, she was excited to say the least. She knew Toby would be wrapped around the little girl's finger, letting her get away with anything and so she worried about always being the bad cop. But in that moment when she closed the door to her bedroom, she was so glad that Nicole was a daddy's girl.