It had been a week since they first brought Emilia home, and about a wee4k since Dirk had last slept through the night. At first it was him waking up every few hours to check on her, make sure she didn't turn or get her face pressed against the bed. Then the crying started. She would just cry and cry, not stopping until she had a bottle in her mouth or until they finally got her back to sleep. It wasn't just during the night though, she would cry at everything.
Dirk was getting really worried about the crying, were they doing something wrong? Were they messing up? Did he hurt her when he picked her up? What if she already doesn't like him? What if she's sick? She must be sick! Why did he let her get sick? He ran to the phone and dialed the hospitals number, not knowing what else to do while Jake was out to the store.
"Hello, this is St. Kathrin's Hospital for the ill, my name is Janice how may I help you today?" Dirk cringed at the overly cheerful voice of the woman on the phone, can't she tell that if someone is calling the hospital that something is wrong and he doesn't want the cheeriness?
"Hi, my name is Dirk Strider and I'm calling because I think my baby is sick. She won't stop crying. I don't know what to do." He could hear the panic in his voice, he lost his cool and would never forgive himself for it but that didn't matter right now. He needed to find a way to get his little girl better and make everything perfect for her and Jake. Nothing less then perfect would do.
"Sir, how often is she crying?" Dirk sighed at the question. How stupid can she be? Can she not hear Emilia crying as they speak?
"Everyday, at least 5 hours at a time. I don't know what to do." He nearly shouts, walking over to Emilia and rocking her gently in her basinet.
"Mr. Strider, is she being breast feed? Baby's who are not breast feed have a higher chance of having infantile colic. If it is colic that means there is nothing wrong with your child, and it is very common." She got the tone of someone scolding her child, as if he is stupid for not knowing.
"No, Jake and I are not able to breast feed, and that is partially do the our lack of breast. Sorry for not growing a pair when we adopted our child." He snapped at her. He knew it was stupid and that he shouldn't have, but he doesn't know what to do anymore. He sighs, "I'll take her to the doctors." and hung up without another word.
He notices something is off, it is silent, to silent. Hadn't the baby been crying not just a minute ago? Dirk looks down in the basinet and see's Emilia just laying there, gurgling as if she has never cried a day in her life. A small smile spreading across the infants face. "What's so funny that you stopped crying?" He picks up the little girl and places her carefully on his should as Jake has shown him many times.
"You know you scared Daddy a lot. He didn't know if he did something wrong or if you were hurt, but every thing is okay now." He smiles and takes off his glasses, tossing them onto the couch. "Once Papa gets home, we can make some dinner and maybe watch one of his silly movies. You don't understand them yet, but you will one day. You'll like the colors and noises, maybe you'll end up just like your Papa and watch them every day."
Jake had come home while Dirk was still on the phone. He had heard the emotion in his voice, the worry. He couldn't bring himself to interrupt the moment, it was to rare to see Dirk like this.
He smiles to himself as he listens to his lover as he rants to the woman, and then after as he talks to their child. Their baby, their little girl, she is all theirs and always will be. Jake can't get over how perfect everything is. He has the love of his life with him, and a child that they both love. Who cares if she cries, who cares if they don't sleep. Everything is perfect and he wished this moment would never end.
Jake walks into the living room where Dirk was walking back and forth talking to Emilia and knocks gently on the wall to let him know that he's there. He walks over and looks down at the infant. "She's sleeping, we should put her to bed. Maybe we can get some sleep ourselves." Dirk nods in agreement and walks into the small little nursery that they have set up for her.
The walls are a deep blue with stars painted on the ceiling to mimic the night sky. A white crib pushed against the wall with a moon painted above it. It had been Jake's idea, to make her feel like she was having an adventure in the night, before she can even crawl. Dirk gently laid her down, smiling when she stays asleep.
Dirk grabs Jake and leads him to their own room, not even bothering to change before he crawls into bed. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" Dirk grins and pulls Jake next to him.
"I was thinking the exact same thing," Jake smirks and crawls next to Dirk, kissing him deeply before he lays down. They both share a couple of lazy kisses before they're fast asleep. The best nights sleep they had in a long time.
After a few hours of uninterrupted sleep they both wake up to a sharp cry. Dirk groans and rolls out of bed, shuffling to the nursery to comfort Emilia as Jake curled back up waiting for Dirk to join him again. He closes his eyes and smiles at the sound of crying and Dirk trying to calm her. Everything was absolutely perfect.