Muffled cries could be heard from down the hall. Karen frowned in her slumber, her eyebrows knit together as the sound pierced through her dreams. An immediate pout formed on her lips and she stirred, reaching a hand out behind her to smack her best friend.
"Jack," she mumbled sleepily. A grunt was her response and she shoved harder. "Its your turn."
"What?" he yawned and began to rouse from his sleep. "What's my turn?" Another muffled wail was heard and he sighed, glancing at the clock. It was 5 am on the dot. "Like clockwork." He swung his legs out of the bed and stretched as he stood. He shuffled his feet into his slippers and stepped down from the bed platform, heading towards the door. "You better be up by the time I'm back."
"Fuck off."
He snorted and exited the bedroom, strolling down the hall where the sounds of his daughter's cries were coming from. He walked into the pink and green room and leaned down over the crib to lift the fussy girl into his arms. "Are we hungry?" he cooed at her as she sniffled and rustled about in his grip. "Let's change your diaper first so mommy doesn't yell at daddy like she did for two straight hours yesterday, huh? Does that sound like a plan?"
Vivienne stared up at her father in wonderment, her eyes watery and her face blotchy from crying. Jack kissed her forehead and carried her over to the changing table, making quick work of changing her wet diaper. He bounced and made silly faces the whole way back to Karen's bedroom, and then sighed when he saw she was still sound asleep in the bed. "Mommy's a bad girl," he whispered to the baby in his arms to which she cooed at him happily. He leaned down and began placing tiny kisses all over Karen's face and she grumbled at him. "Mama, someone here is very hungry and you're the only one that can feed her," he sang into her ear.
Karen groaned and peeped her eyes open to come face to face with her daughter being held up by her daddy. "Daddy is an ass, V."
Jack gasped dramatically while the baby smiled at her mother. Karen sat up and propped herself against the pillows. She took her arms out of her nightgown and pushed the material down so it fell around waist. Jack handed Vivienne to her and Karen adjusted the baby in her arms, holding her to her chest. Despite the early morning hours and the slight pinch from her daughter latching on to her nipple, Karen smiled as she breast fed the little girl. Jack climbed back into the bed next to her and watched their daughter slowly go back to sleep while feeding. He caressed her light brown hair, amazed by her and her mother.
"I can't believe how big she's gotten already," he commented, his gaze fixated on the three month old.
"Me neither, Poodle," Karen sighed. She looked over at Jack and puckered her lips, waiting for her morning kiss.
Jack grinned and pecked Karen's mouth lightly. "Shall I go wake Rosie for some breakfast?"
Karen thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Let's just lie here for a while. Let Rosie sleep in."
Jack held a hand to his chest and feigned surprise. "Motherhood has softened you, Mrs. Walker!"
Karen rolled her eyes, wishing she could smack him, but she didn't want to disturb Vivienne. "Shut up," she admonished. "I'm not Mrs. Walker anymore. And I'm not soft, jackass."
Jack was about to retort, but stopped when Karen moved the baby so she could burp her. He couldn't help but smile while watching his best friend act so maternal. It seemed to have come so easily to her, despite her many years of despising kids. He watched as Vivienne spit up a bit when she burped and Karen quickly cleaned the mess up with the burp cloth lying on the nightstand beside the bed. "Amazing."
Karen looked at him with a confused frown. "What?"
Jack realized he spoke his thoughts aloud and blushed. "Sorry," he mumbled. "Its just... you're an amazing mother, Karebear. I'm in constant awe of you every day."
Karen beamed up at him and laid a sleeping Vivienne on her bare chest. Keeping one hand on the baby's back, she used the other to reach up and caress Jack's face lovingly. "I can't take all the credit, honey," she told him. "You are already a great father to Elliott, but watching you with V has shown me how much more incredible you are, as a man and as a daddy."
Jack kissed her, showing his appreciation for her kinds words, and Karen responded the second their lips connected. After parting, they snuggled up together, Jack giggling childishly as he helped Karen cover herself back up. Tired from the early arousal, they fell back asleep within minutes.
And that's how Rosario found them an hour later when she didn't see Vivienne in her crib. She smiled warmly at the sight of Jack and Karen snuggled together in bed with their daughter. Jack had his hand on Vivienne's back, his fingers laced together with Karen's. She ran to her room and grabbed her camera, quickly taking a snapshot of the adorable little family. She thought it would go perfect with the one framed on the bedside table of Jack and Karen in Grace's office while she was still pregnant.