Downtime
Ed
"and don't forget Ed, her feed is already made up, it in the refrigerator. She goes down after her feed, but will be up again three hours later. And don't forget to check her breathing as she sleeps" Sophie looks at Ed as she frets over Izzy.
"I know the drill Soph, we went through this with Clark." He looks at her gently but firmly and their eyes meet a communication borne through years together and parenting one child passes between them.
"I know," Sophie replies, gently nodding her head before her attention is once more drawn to her little girl. "Take care of daddy, little one. He likes to make like his tough, but we know better." Sophie kisses Izzy on the forehead and gently rubs her cheek before kissing her husband. She turns, looks over her shoulder and begins the descent down the stairs.
"I am tough, just remind your future boyfriends of that Izzy and everything will be ok." He begins to move into the bright sunny room they decorated for Izzy's nursery.
"Fireflies, Ed!" Sophies voice comes echoing up the stairs, just as the door opens. "See you tonight Take care of her!" And with that the door closes firmly.
"Fireflies," Ed laughs as the memory of the night before their wedding washes over him again as he smiles at his daughter. "Fireflies indeed. They saved your daddy's rear. Your mother is indecisive!" He laughs again, they both know the truth in this room.
He sits in the nursing chair and looks at Izzy. He looks at her face, her eyes wandering around the world, taking it all in, before once again focusing on her daddy. Out on the streets he is tough, understanding and a listener. He moves through the world, meeting people on their very worst day. He lived through his worst one the day that she was born. But he always knew that he had the team behind him. Even as he lay on the cold Tarmac of a Toronto highway.
"I'm lucky Izzy," He says after a while, he sits in the nursing chair and puts his socked feet up on the footstool. "I have a family, I have your mother, and Clark and now I have you." She raises one of her hands up and he puts out his little finger for her to grasp.
"Here the big tough street cop, member of the SRU, the sniper, here it all fades away Izzy. I'm your daddy. I'm the one you can come to when you think you mother's going to be angry. I am the one that will -one day when you are exceedingly old - walk you down the aisle. I am here to chase away the monster at the end of your bed, give you cuddles and listen as you read the worst plot synopsis of the worst romantic films ever – and I will watch them with you. Just don't tell Wordy that. I razzed him too much about doing it with his little girls!" He laughs gently as he watches his little girl chomp on his knuckle.
Here he is gentle and soft and she has him wrapped around her little fingers already. She gurgles and he murmurs sweet nothings to her all the while the look of love is written plainly across his face. He thinks of the world outside, of the mistakes he made raising Clark. He regrets how he wasn't there for him, or let him know how much he meant to him.
"You are my angel. You are my balance," and perhaps he thinks, but isn't quite ready to admit, she is the salvation he never knew he needed. Izzy begins to drift off, safely nestled in her daddy's arms, something he would never give up for all the world.
"Your mother gave me a second chance, in so many ways when you were born. I want to be here for everything, Cutie. I am just so grateful." His voice dips as she begins to slumber, afe in her father's arms. It's moments like these though that make his work out there in the field so worthwhile. An air of contentment settles over him and he smiles at his daughter once more, and she rewards him with a gassy smile from deep in her slumber back. He wouldn't have it any other way.