It was another night spent wishing that Isabelle wasn't cuddling the pillow and Colby couldn't take it anymore. He just wanted to feel his wife's head on his chest and be able to play with her long hair when he couldn't sleep. Even at home, he was coming second to the pillow and he was done. He had half a mind to-
"Hey Colb?" Isabelle spoke softly, spurring him from his thoughts when she turned to face him. As much as he hated that pillow, he couldn't be mad at her face.
"Yeah?"
"Can you make me a grilled cheese?"
"Baby, it's four in the morning." He stated, not wanting to upset her but nowhere close to being in the mood to go downstairs and make her a grilled cheese sandwich.
"With salsa on the side?"
"Salsa with a grilled cheese at four in the morning?" He asked, in disbelief that his wife- the same wife who hated salsa and was trying to watch her weight a week ago- wanted such food at four in the morning.
"I didn't think you'd get like this about it." Isabelle mumbled, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "I'll make my own damn sandwich."
"Isabelle, I-"
"Forget I asked for anything, Colby." She called as she left their bedroom, leaving her dumbstruck husband sitting in bed as he watched her walk away.
She was careful on the stairs like always, taking one step at a time to ensure that she stayed on her feet and didn't fall forward. She'd wanted to have a baby since she had gotten married and wasn't going to chance losing her baby because she liked rushing down the stairs. She heard Colby behind her and sighed, but continued into the kitchen to do what she wanted to do.
"Izzy-"
"It's four in the morning, Colby. Go back to bed."
"No, I'm not, because Tieler was kicking your ass all day and I should've just gotten up to make your grilled cheese when you asked the first time." He argued, carefully lifting her into his arms. She started to protest but stopped when he started going up the stairs. "I'm taking you back up to bed, and you can cuddle with that fucking pillow until I come back with your grilled cheese."
"Why do you sound so angry about it?"
"Because I hate that fucking pillow. It's stealing you away from me, Izzy." Colby complained and she looked up at him in confusion when he set her down on their bed.
"Colby, it's a pillow."
"Yeah, but you're always cuddling with it and not me so I feel kind of slighted, Isabelle." He admitted, looking away from her intense blue eyes. It was the face she made that reminded him of the fact that she was Jon's little sister. They had a few of the same facial expressions and it weirded him out sometimes.
"Colby, I'm going to be as clear as I can be with this one: It's. A. Fucking. Pillow. The little one makes it damn near impossible to sleep with you the way I want to, Colb." She spoke, taking his hand in hers and pulling him onto the bed with her. He could tell that she was seconds away from crying and felt bad because he never wanted to make her feel bad. "You know I love cuddling with my Colby bear, I just can't right now. I really really wish I could. Believe me when I say that "
"I'm so sorry, Izzy. Of course I got this all twisted and made myself a victim of neglect when you weren't even trying to neglect me." He spoke softly, pulling her into his lap so she could cry onto his neck like he knew she wanted. He slowly started rocking them while petting her hair, knowing that helped to calm her down when he fucked up. "No more tears, pretty girl. We're on the same page."
"We are?"
"Of course. I'll figure it out, but I'm sorry about getting all pissy over a pillow. I truly am."
"It's fine, Colby." She whispered, bringing a hand up to stroke his cheek.
"I'm going to go make your grilled cheese, okay?"
"I'm not hungry anymore."
"Really?"
"I dunno, Colb. I'm all out of whack right now. Let's just go to bed, yeah?" She suggested, looking to her husband with hope that he'd just drop it and lay down with her.
"Alright. But if you do get hungry or crave anything, I won't bitch next time." He assured as he scooted up the bed before he gently positioned her with her pillow the way she usually slept. "We'll work out cuddling with this fucker, too."
"God, I love you." She giggled, looking back at her husband in time to receive a loving kiss on the lips.
"I love you, too, pretty girl."
"That pillow is going to be the fucking death of me." Colby complained to the other dads in the room at their Lamaze class. All the women were in the other room doing what he assumed was chick stuff and the guy leading their little dad group nodded in understanding. "I know being jealous of a pillow sounds stupid, but I've been making my wife's comfort my priority since I met her and I don't like not being the thing making her comfortable."
"Doesn't sit well with your pride?" Another dad-to-be asked and Colby nodded. "I feel the same way, man."
"Isabelle doesn't get it. I don't expect her to, but it'd be so much easier if she did."
"Have you talked about it?" The instructor asked and he nodded.
"Recently. But hormones got in the way and she started crying so I just dropped it." He partially lied, not wanting to sound like the ultimate douche for their argument the night before. He was certain that not one of these men would've complained about their partner wanting a grilled cheese at four in the morning.
The rest of the class flew by for Colby. He learned how to change a diaper and properly swaddle a baby, so he felt a little bit better about their incoming little one. Their drive home was quiet and he could tell that something was on her mind. But she kept her head down and hands clasped together in her lap until he reached over and brought one of her hands up to his lips.
"Hey Colb?"
"Yeah, Izzy?"
"You don't feel like I'm neglecting you, right?" She asked quietly and his eyes widened as he stopped at a red light.
"No. I'd never gone so far as to feel neglected. Did somebody tell you that you were neglecting me?"
"No!" Isabelle spoke quickly, not wanting to upset her husband. Colby could get a temper when it came to her and the last thing she wanted was for him to turn the car around so he could talk to some other pregnant woman. She was regretting bringing it up, since she could tell he was upset by the way his jaw was set. She never wanted to upset him. "I was just listening to the other women talk about their partners voicing their neglect and I was wondering if you were feeling like that."
"You spend almost every hour of every day with me, and you're always making sure that I'm happy. You appeal to my needs as well as the needs you and the little one have, and I still get an hour to myself for CrossFit a few times a week. I couldn't possibly ask for anything more, Isabelle."
"You're sure?"
"I'm positive. I'm happy, pretty girl." To further prove his point, he smiled over at her as they drove through the intersection, neither noticing the car that ran the red light coming right towards them. When Isabelle noticed, the larger suburban had already hit their car on Colby's side and time seemed to slow down for her as she watched her husband's body jerk with the impact, pain obvious in his face and that loving smile gone.
"Colby?" Isabelle whispered once all the commotion stopped and her seatbelt unbuckled. She didn't feel the fact that she was bleeding in a couple different places, she didn't feel the pain in her lower back, her concern was Colby. "Colby wake up."