Tom sat at a local bar with the guys at each of his sides, shooting back a few drinks. T=It was a tradition to catch up when everyone was in town at the same time. That meant they usually met about once a month to catch up. "I swear," Tom started as he ordered another drink. "That baby has us well trained like fucking dogs."

"How old is he now?" Martin asked, motioning for a refill as well.

"Three weeks since yesterday," he replied in between two sips to empty his glass. "Annie's probably sitting in a chair, rocking CJ to sleep."

"Don't you have a new puppy too?" Ben asked.

"Moose? He's been pretty good since all this started. He thinks of CJ as his now. He's always next to him. Hell, he doesn't even sleep in our bed anymore. He sleeps under the bassinet."

"You two have a routine yet?" Chris asked.

"Hell yes. We take turns taking care of him—except for the nursing bit. That's gonna change though when I head to Canada for Crimson Peak."

"You'll miss him. I know I missed Indie when we were filming Avengers."

"You never quit talking about her," Tom chortled as he took the drink from the bartender. "Ah, I'll be the same way."

"Has he had his first check-up yet?" Ben asked as he bit into a corn nut.

Tom nodded. "He's developing perfectly. Couldn't have asked for a healthier baby," he flashed a smile. "He smiled for the first time last night while I was getting him ready for bed!"

"Man," Martin snickered. "You're losing your touch. I'm gonna have to revoke your man card."

"Wank off man," Tom snickered before checking his phone. "I gotta get going."

"Scared of Anima?"

"Piss off," Tom said grinning. "Of course I am."

Tom drove home in silence until his stomach started growling. He was supposed to cook dinner tonight too. He swore under his breath and sped home as quickly as he could. When he got home, he saw CJ in his bouncy chair hanging from the door frame. Moose came to the door, received his pat to the head and went back to pawing at the baby's toes. Anima was wearing a pair of his boxers and a sheer purple camisole. She was cutting potatoes at the counter next to the stove. Beautiful. Simply beautiful.

"I thought I was supposed to cook."

"You were out having fun. I'm not completely useless, you know. I can still cook."

Tom smiled and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her torso. "I know that, love," he said, kissing her neck and cheek. "Thank you. How's CJ?"

"He's been good. Been watching mommy work on the potatoes and chicken for dinner and waiting for daddy to come home so he can play. Haven't we, CJ?"

CJ wiggled happily and made a screeching sound, ignoring them as he watched Moose at his feet.

Tom tickled his son's tummy before pulling him out of the chair and taking him to the living room. He put out his washed baby blanket and laid him on it on his belly. The three week old kicked out and grunted as Tom wiggled toys in front of him. Every once in a while, his little arms would push up to stare at Tom, and then he'd plop back down. Moose came trotting in moments later before laying next to the baby and licking at his fingers.

"Have a good drink with the boys?"

"We always do. We talked about CJ, weather, how work is going and career plans."

"Oh?"

"I was thinking about something."

"Yes?"

"How about you and CJ come with me to Canada? It could be a nice family vacation. I'd enjoy getting to see you two at the end of each day."

Anima paused. "What about my work?"

Tom paused. "Won't you still be on maternity leave?"

"I might go back early," she said, but then she sighed. "Or I might not go back at all."

"What?" Tom asked. "Why?"

"Well...now that CJ's here, I want to spend all the time I can with him. I want to be with him during all the fundamentals. I'd start back when he started...middle school maybe?"

"It's something worth discussing I guess."

"There's something else," she said, putting the chicken in the oven and laying on CJ's other side. "He's going to outgrow the bassinet. We'll have move him to the crib soon. We don't have enough space in our bedroom for a crib. If we moved him into the living room, it'll just take up space we don't really have."

Inhaling a deep breath, Tom crossed his left leg over his right and began to think. "When will he be too big?"

"Around three months. Basically, when he begins to sit up and move around," she said as she averted her eyes as she let CJ suck on her washed pinkie.

"Something the matter?"

"I need to nurse him and get him ready for bed. Will you finish dinner?"

"Sure, love."

Before he knew it, she was gone to their bedroom. Tom drained the potatoes of the water and checked the chicken. He was worried that Anima had become so silent and withdrawn. Usually, Anima nursed right there at the table in front of him, but she never hid away before. Covering the potatoes, he walked over to the bedroom and slowly opened the door to see tears running down her cheeks. "Annie, love? You okay?"

Unable to wipe her face dry, Anima inhaled a deep breath and finally shook her head. "No, I'm not."

Tom immediately walked to the bed and wrapped an arm around her, careful not to disturb the baby.

"What if I ruined his life? What if there's something wrong with him because I didn't know I was pregnant?"

Sighing and placing his hands on her shoulders, Tom leaned down to look into her eyes. "Darling, you're having postpartum depression."

"How do you know?" she whimpered angrily.

"I looked it up," he said as he kissed her forehead and stroked CJ's hair. "See what you're doing now? You're nursing our son in a way every mother should do. You are a good mother."

"If I'm such a good mother, how could I have not known I was carrying him?"

"It's not your fault you didn't know. I'm going to finish dinner, give your therapist a call and you can put CJ to bed so we can have dinner. Okay?"

She nodded and broke the latch between her and CJ.

Anima sat at the table just as Tom placed a plate down for her with perfectly cooked chicken and mashed potatoes topped with cheese and chives. "Thanks, Tom," she flashed a small smile and waited until he sat down with his plate before eating.

Startled awake from the sound of CJ crying loudly around ten, Tom slowly got up and reached into the crib. "What's the matter, sport?"

Everything was worse as Moose howled along with the baby. The neighbors wouldn't be happy about this. Tom gently kicked Moose with his toe. CJ's fists were clenched tightly and his knees were held close to his chest. He was shaking with each massive wail. This was something he hadn't seen before. Holding him close to his chest, he placed his hand on Anima's shoulder and gently woke her. "Annie? Have you seen this before?"

Anima sat up and took him from Tom's arms, checking him over. Removing his onesie, she noticed his belly was distended. She rubbed his belly gently, and he started to cry even louder. "Looks like colic. We're going to be up for a while. There's gas trapped in his body, and it's uncomfortable. There are ways to calm him or soothe the pain, but it may not work," Anima looked up at him, exhausted, and got up to head into the living room.

"What can we do to calm him?"

"We can bounce him, pump his feet or we can continue to hold him and offer comfort and show him we're not going to ignore his crying," she said as she sat in the rocking chair by the window and patted his back as he continued to cry. Moose crawled up into her lap too. "I fed him only an hour ago, he feels dry and doesn't smell like he needs a change, so it has to be colic."

Closing his eyes and applying pressure to his temples, Tom walked into the kitchen and made them both some tea. They couldn't afford to lose it. "This should help if you start feeling stressed," he whispered near her ear, noticing her forehead was starting to show familiar stress lines.

An hour into their son's crying, Anima passed him off to Tom to give her ears and arms a break. He began to bounce and talk to CJ in hopes it would calm or distract him. Nothing seemed to calm the baby. Holding him close to his chest and shushing him, Tom cradled his crying, tearful son until tears came to his own eyes. He didn't know what to do. He was exhausted, and he just wanted to sooth their son's pain. "I don't know what do to."

"Take some deep breaths, Tom, and keep rocking him."

Anima put together the baby swing while Tom continued to pace with CJ. When she was done, they placed the crying infant in the swing and began to swing him. Fifteen minutes later, their son finally calmed down. Sitting down and resting her head on Tom's shoulder, she wondered when she would get a chance to grab some sleep. Five minutes later, CJ began to whimper again and she sat straight up.

"I didn't pinch him, I swear," Tom said as he looked in her direction.

"No, no. It's okay," she said, laying CJ on her lap. She took hold of his legs and moved them in a peddling motion. The more she did it, the more he began to calm down. Eventually, CJ had been reduced to sniffling and wrinkling his face with pain. It took nearly four hours to get him back to sleep. Colic lasted nearly four months.