Disclaimer: I do not own the Total Drama series or anything else copyrighted.
Unpacking while watching a seven-month-old baby was really hard.
Duncan and Courtney had seen it on television before. It was hard to move with a baby. True, most of the ones they had seen were multiple babies and were over a year old, but still - babies are babies, and babies have to always be watched. Annie usually didn't mind being carried around the house while they slowly moved around their things, it seemed like. Of course, there were moments where she wanted to sit down and have her parents amuse her. They didn't mind doing that, though.
Even though it had been happening since birth, Annie was continuously surprising them. She was now "creeping" along the floor, meaning she was dragging herself along by using her knees and elbows to drag herself everywhere. She could stand up very well and, while she could stand up well on her own, decided to hold onto furniture for extra support.
During that day, they were baby-proofing their kitchen. They had other parts of the house baby-proofed, and were stumped when thinking about why they didn't baby-proof the room earlier. Since Isabelle was much older than Annie, they invited Bridgette and Isabelle over to help testing the cabinets and such. At that moment, Courtney was sitting on the kitchen floor, Annie standing in front of her. Both were watching Duncan, who was also sitting on the floor, screwing on the necessities for the baby-proofing of the cabinets.
"I'm going to laugh if Isabelle is able to pull that thing right open," Courtney told her husband.
Duncan rolled his eyes, shutting the cabinet door and patting it. "So will I, but I think I did the trick." He smiled at his daughter and asked, "You wanna try it out?"
"She won't be able to pull it," Courtney muttered, watching Duncan pick up their daughter and place her in front of the cabinet.
"See?" he asked his daughter, ignoring Courtney. He pulled open the cabinet and said, "Just like this."
Annie just stared up at him, blinking her eyes.
Duncan smiled, amused. He grabbed her hand and tried to make her wrap it around the handle, but she instantly began to whine. He immediately stopped, letting out a sigh. He smirked at his wife and said, "You're right."
Courtney also smirked. "I know."
Suddenly, a knock at the door was heard. As Courtney began to stand up, Annie held up her arms, signaling to be held. Courtney cautiously stared at Annie before looking at Duncan. She wanted to pick up her daughter and carry her everywhere, but separation was a good thing, especially in the house. Duncan mouthed to her, 'Keep her here'. Courtney nodded and smiled gently at her daughter. "I'll be right back, okay? There's someone at the door." She sighed as she turned around and walked out of the room, instantly hearing her daughter's protests. She could faintly hear Duncan talking to her as she approached the front door.
"Hey!" she said, smiling at her best friend as she opened the door.
"Your house is so nice!" Bridgette exclaimed, smiling as she walked inside. "Wow... Oh, my God. You two are so lucky." She sent an apologetic glance to her friend as she said, "Sorry we couldn't visit sooner."
Courtney shrugged, continuing to smile. "It's okay. You were visiting family." She smiled at Isabelle and said, "You've grown up so much since I last saw you!"
Isabelle smiled happily at Courtney and said, "Hi!"
"Aww," Courtney gushed, smiling at Bridgette.
"Being a Mommy has changed you," Bridgette said, smiling fondly at her friend.
Courtney shrugged, still smiling. "I know."
"Where's Duncan?"
"Consoling our daughter," Courtney said, sighing. "She hates it when I leave the room."
"I bet," Bridgette said, smiling sympathetically. "Isabelle sometimes still gets a little bit moody when I leave the room, but otherwise she's fine... Yep, I said your name." Bridgette kissed her daughter's forehead before setting her down.
"I'd keep a close eye on her," Courtney explained. "Our house isn't completely baby-proofed yet."
"You have the stairs and plugs covered, right? And most things away from the edges of the counter-tops?" When Courtney nodded, Bridgette said, "Then she should be fine. I'll keep an extra eye on her, though."
"Mama!" Isabelle exclaimed, standing next to the kitchen door and pointing towards the room.
As Courtney and Bridgette stepped closer, they could hear Duncan said, "Well, look, there's Isabelle... You remember her... And it's Aunt Bridgette... And Mama!"
"MAMA!" Annie instantly exclaimed.
Courtney frowned at her daughter's appearance. Her chest was heaving up and down from being so upset. Her wide eyes were still scared and fearful. She had tear-stains on her cheeks, a few tears lingering next to her quivering mouth. She smiled at her daughter and walked over to her. She bent down and hugged her daughter, bringing her close to her. "See, Annie?" she softly asked. "I told you I would be right back, and here I am..." She looked up at Duncan and quietly said, "Thank you."
Duncan shrugged, smiling at her. "No problem," he quietly said. He looked up at Bridgette and said, "What's up, Malibu?"
"Nothing much, Courtney's husband." When both Duncan and Courtney stared at her curiously, she said, "I still can't think of a nickname for you. And I'm not about to steal any of the one's Courtney has used."
"My Ma calls me 'delinquent'," he explained, shrugging.
"I still feel like that's Courtney's thing," Bridgette explained, also shrugging. "So... You need my daughter to test out some things?"
"I saw it on TV once, and I figured Isabelle is the same age, so she'd be perfect in helping out," Duncan explained.
Bridgette nodded, slowly sitting on the ground. "Hey, Isabelle?" When her daughter trotted over to her, she asked, "Will you help Uncle Duncan?"
Isabelle eagerly nodded. "Yes!"
"Alrighty," Duncan said, grinning as Isabelle walked over to him. "So, Isabelle..." He opened the cabinet before shutting it. "Will you do the same thing I just did?"
Courtney continued holding her daughter. The way Annie presented herself when she walked into the room made her heart melt. Leaving the room really was different than going to work in the morning. In the morning, Annie didn't see Courtney leave. There were no tearful good-bye's. Plus, she had said (or rather screamed) her first word - "mama". Maybe she had uttered it while she was out of the room, and that's why Duncan didn't say anything. She didn't fully comprehend that her daughter said that until moments later. She lowered her head and gave her daughter a kiss. "Everything's okay," she softly said.
What surprised her was that Annie leaned forward and proceeded to return the kiss. Of course, this kiss was very sloppy and was open-mouthed, but still. She was doing two new things in one day!
"Why, thank you!" Courtney said, smiling happily.
"That was so cute!" Bridgette said.
"What?" Duncan asked, looking up.
"She just gave me a kiss," Courtney said, smiling.
Duncan grinned, reaching forward and patting his daughter's back. "Baby says 'mama' and gives Mama a kiss. Well, then."
Courtney apologetically smiled at her husband. "Sorry, sweetie."
Duncan shrugged, still grinning. "It's cool."
"Your baby is growing up!" Bridgette happily said, smiling. "How sweet... Baby's first words and kisses..."
Isabelle just angrily stood there. She had tried to open the cabinet door, and couldn't. While that upset her for a second, something else upset her even more. No one was paying attention to her! As she looked around, she saw that everyone was focusing on Annie. She stomped over to the other baby and slapped her back.
Bridgette gasped, immediately standing up and walking over to her daughter. "No!" she firmly said, picking up her daughter and walking out of the room. "You do not hit people!"
Courtney and Duncan sat there, shocked. Annie had jumped upon the attack and immediately began crying. Of course, Courtney was consoling her daughter, but she was still shocked. Isabelle just hit Annie! "Oh, my God," she muttered.
Duncan sighed, shaking his head. "Well, at least she didn't get the door open."
"Duncan!" she snapped, sighing as her daughter began wailing more.
He sighed. Him and Courtney often joked around with each other, seemingly sounding angry and serious. Because of their tone of voice, Annie would start to cry, thinking they were serious. Of course, this time, Courtney was a bit serious, so that set off their daughter even more. Duncan had to catch himself before sarcastically replying back.
"I don't know what to say, babe," he said, shrugging. "I'm shocked. I don't know why she did that!"
"She's jealous," Bridgette explained, walking back into the room.
"Where's Isabelle?" Courtney asked.
"Timeout in the living room," Bridgette explained.
"Why was she jealous?" Duncan asked.
"From the questions I asked and the few babbles I think I understand... I think she was upset we were all looking at Annie instead of watching her try to open the cabinet."
"See?" Courtney softly questioned, quietly talking to her daughter. "Isabelle didn't mean to hurt you..."
"I'm sorry," Bridgette quietly told Annie, bending down.
As she tried to get closer to the baby, Annie began to whine more. "Mama," she whimpered.
Courtney frowned at Bridgette, who was sympathetically smiling at her friend. Courtney said, "I'm sorry."
"No, no." Bridgette shook her head. "Don't apologize. She's just scared. It's not like I haven't seen or held her before."
"My Ma would go crazy if she-" Duncan pointed at Annie. "-tried to do that. She'd get so upset and start questioning Annie..." Duncan explained, chuckling slightly.
"My Mom..." Courtney had to think about that for a moment before responding, "She would certainly get confused. And then she wouldn't do anything. She would probably just sit there and watch me."
Bridgette shrugged. "Better to sit back than to interfere. My parents are all over Isabelle when they see her. She used to hate that, and they wouldn't know how to handle the whole thing. Now that she's a bit older, she's more used to it." She sighed when a "Mama?" was heard from the other room. "I'll be right back."
Courtney peeked down and found that her daughter was fast asleep! She laughed, picking up her daughter slightly and holding her against her chest. "She's asleep," she softly said.
Duncan chuckled, shocked and amused. "She fell asleep standing up?"
"Pretty much," Courtney said, kissing the top of her daughter's head. "I'm going to put her down for a while."
Duncan nodded. "It's about time for her nap, anyway."
"So your anniversary is next week..."
Courtney blinked a couple of times after Bridgette made that statement. "Mmhmm," she muttered, remembering that only her and Duncan knew the actual truth of their anniversary now being in May.
"You two have been together for eight years," Bridgette said.
"So have you and Geoff," Courtney pointed out, smiling softly at her friend.
Bridgette nodded, now also smiling softly. "That is true. But, what are you two going to do?"
Courtney shrugged. "I don't know. We haven't really talked too much about it."
"You know, I could watch Annie for you that day."
Courtney smiled at her friend. "Thanks, Bridge. That means a lot." It didn't mean quite as much as she was making it out to be, but honestly, it was nice to see her friend offering to watch her baby when she herself had a toddler to also look after.
Bridgette shrugged. "It's no problem." She sighed before saying, "I'm sorry about Isabelle earlier."
Courtney shook her head. Isabelle threw a bit of a fit for a while before taking her own nap. She softly said, "It's okay."
"It's not, though." Bridgette sighed before continuing, "Geoff and I want to have more kids. But Isabelle's entering her terrible stage-"
"I thought it was just 'terrible two's'?" Courtney questioned.
Bridgette shook her head. "It starts as early as one."
Courtney sighed. "That really sucks."
"It does." Bridgette nodded in agreement. "We really don't want to have another child during this stage. It's easy focusing on her. It's easy to look after one child... Well, for the most part. It's like with Annie earlier - she was so upset and didn't tell us how she felt, so she just lashed out. I really wish she hadn't hit Annie." She sighed, shaking her head. She muttered, "Poor Annie..."
Courtney nodded. "Annie will be fine. It's the first time that something like that has happened to her, that's why she was so upset."
"Katie hasn't accidentally hit her?" Bridgette asked.
Courtney shook her head. "Not at all. Katie used to try and get very close to Annie, and she understood quickly that the baby was something she just couldn't get near. Now Katie's allowed to sit next to Annie, but she still keeps her distance at times."
"Does Annie ever accidentally hit Katie, or pull her fur or something like that?"
"She's done it a few times. It shocked Katie at first, but Annie pulling her fur doesn't bother her anyone. Katie's barks also don't affect Annie anymore. Annie usually just laughs and pats Katie if she can."
"Wow." Bridgette nodded impressively. "That's really awesome, Court. I'm sure you and Duncan are happy Katie and Annie get along."
Courtney laughed, nodding. "That we are. I mean... Katie has always been an incredibly good dog. She's always been able to pick up new things really easily. And she's just so friendly..."
"God, you're so lucky to have this place," Bridgette murmured, peering around the room.
Courtney shrugged, softly saying, "I guess..."
"You don't like it?"
"I love it. It's beautiful and it's grandiose and... It's for a family."
"But...?"
Courtney shrugged once more. "For the longest time, it was just Duncan and I in an apartment. We were fine, the two of us. We loved it. It's just... It's so surreal, now that it's him, Katie, Annie, and myself in a house. Not that I don't like it, because, well... I love it. I love Katie. I love Annie, and I love watching her grow up. It's also so strange, because we never expected this. But, I would never give any of this up. Not for any amount of money or... or anything, really."
"Does Duncan feel the same way?"
Courtney nodded, another smile forming on her face. "Definitely. He's so good with Annie. He's a natural, really. It's so much fun to watch them together. I... I think he's always wanted children. When we got married, he said he had thought about it from time to time, but figured it just wasn't the right time..."
"This was after you found out you were pregnant, right?"
Courtney blinked. She internally sighed, fully realizing the predicament she was in. She and Duncan had that discussion sometime in April or May, and while she was actually pregnant then, she didn't know about it yet. The thought hadn't even crossed her mind by that point. She nodded, smiling softly. "Yeah."
"It's been quite the busy year, huh?"
Courtney nodding, smiling. She was even happier on the inside, for Bridgette didn't suspect anything. "It really has been. Getting married, having a baby, working..."
"Look, there's Mama and Auntie Bridgette..."
Courtney couldn't help but smile at her husband. She craned her head and watched Duncan enter their house, Annie in her front baby carrier, Katie trotting in front of them. Courtney said, "Hey there."
"Hey," Duncan drawled out, winking at his wife, causing her to giggle and roll her eyes. He unhooked Katie from her leash before proceeding to walk over to the couch. He sat down next to his wife, leaning back. "Good walk," he muttered.
"Geoff doesn't like wearing baby carriers," Bridgette said. "He'll either push Isabelle around, or he'll carry her."
"I don't care what people say." Duncan shrugged. "Strangely enough, I like wearing this thing. It's a bit easier than carrying her around..." He looked down and smiled at his daughter. "Yep, you chubby baby..."
"Hi Mama..."
Bridgette turned and smiled at her daughter. "Hey, sweetie," she softly said, continuing to smile at her tired daughter. "Are you ready to go home?"
"Oh, you two are going?" Courtney softly questioned.
Bridgette nodded. "Yeah. Geoff is getting off soon, and we were going to go out to dinner as a family tonight..."
"Well, thank you for coming over." Courtney leaned forward and hugged her best friend.
"Thank you for inviting us," Bridgette said, returning the hug. She then let go out of her friend and stood up. She picked up daughter, asking, "Are you ready?"
Courtney and Duncan watched Bridgette and her daughter walk out of their house. Duncan sighed, leaning over and resting his head on Courtney's shoulder. "I'm tired," he muttered.
"You've been working a lot." Courtney smiled at her husband and patted his leg. "Plus, you took the dog for a walk and brought Annie. Both are very, very curious."
Duncan chuckled, nodding. "I never told you why I like to carry Annie like this, have I?"
She slowly shook her head, resting her head on top of his. "I don't think so."
"Oh, I definitely haven't. You'll remember this answer. Well..." He chuckled. "This is gonna seem strange, but I... It kinda helps me realize what you went through when you were pregnant. Granted, she was all right here-" He patted his stomach. "-meaning no legs or arms or heads were hanging out... But you get the drift."
Courtney giggled, kissing the top of his head. "You also aren't having any cravings or any weird body functions or the usual pregnancy symptoms..."
"You avoided a lot of those, yourself."
"Good point."
"It feels weird. I have to really concentrate on walking or else I stagger a bit..."
"Maybe you shouldn't walk the dog while carrying Annie like that..."
"You did that your entire pregnancy."
"I walked the dog until I was six months along!"
"Mama..."
Courtney sighed, instantly regretting raising her voice. "Mommy's sorry, baby," she softly said, reaching over and running her hand over Annie's head. "Mommy didn't mean to yell at Daddy."
Annie tiredly smiled at Courtney before emitting a big, cute yawn. She placed her head back down on Duncan's chest, slowly shutting her eyes.
"We are so lucky," Duncan murmured, softly patting his daughter's back.
Courtney nodded. "I agree."
"She didn't have colic, thank goodness," he said. "She hasn't had any developmental problems, with the exception of her just catching up to a proper weight."
"She was premature, though," she pointed out.
He nodded. "I know. I'm just saying... We're lucky to have a healthy and happy baby girl. That's all."
Courtney nodded, kissing the side of his head. "I hope her terrible two's aren't... extremely terrible."
Duncan sighed, nodding. "You and me both."
A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! Keep 'em coming! I'll try to have one more chapter up by Monday, because I'll be on vacation for a week starting then. I just need to figure out what I'll be writing next! Haha. I hope you enjoyed this!