Author's Note: Hello everyone. I apologize for neglecting our princess Leah Rose. I did something I shouldn't have by starting another story and left my baby girl hanging. Sorry, Leah! :) This chapter is fluffy and isn't that long, but I felt like I ended it in a good place. I have another update coming soon because I really do owe you guys two. I appreciate your patience and your interest. I really appreciate the people that love my fluff filled updates. I put that other stuff in my other stories. I feel like Leah Rose is too previous to taint this story with smut. I can't apologize for that. This is Danny and Lacey's story of becoming parents, but Leah Rose is the star of this story.
I hope you enjoy this latest update. Reviews are hugs!
Lacey quickly walked into the nursery to tend to her screaming bundle of joy. Lacey wondered what Leah was crying for since she already fed and changed her. Leah stopped crying as soon as she was in her mother's arms. Lacey was happy and relieved that she was able to comfort her daughter quickly and painlessly. Lacey just sat in the rocking chair and held Leah close to her chest. Even though Lacey was beyond tired, she cherished those moments where she was just holding her baby. It still seemed unreal to her that she and Danny had a real live baby. A perfect little person that they made.
Throughout her whole pregnancy, Lacey wondered exactly what her baby would look like. She had this perfect little image in her mind of a beautiful little baby that looked like a combination of her and Danny's features. She hoped she would have her dimples and her smile. She definitely wanted her to have Danny's hair. She wondered if she would have her complexion or Danny's, or one somewhere in the middle or even lighter than Danny. Truthfully, she wanted a little princess that looked just like her so that people would call them 'twins'. But now that Leah was actually there in her arms, she assessed that she was more beautiful than the baby she pictured in her mind. She looked like Danny with dimples and her lips. Lacey always thought of Danny as handsome, good-looking, and even sexy, but Leah was an extension of that. She was absolutely gorgeous. She had more hair than Lacey had ever seen on a baby. It was dark and wavy and she had so much that Lacey thought she could probably put it into a ponytail.
Lacey just sat in the rocking chair with her feet propped up on the ottoman and rocked Leah back to sleep. Lacey even dozed off herself. Danny came into the room and watched his wife and daughter asleep in the rocking chair. He went and carefully tried to take Leah from Lacey's arms without waking both of them, but Lacey stirred and woke up. Even though she was asleep, she still had a firm hold of Leah in her arms. She tightened her hold but opened her eyes when she felt Danny take the baby from her arms. She just smiled as she watched him place her in the middle of the crib.
"I didn't mean to doze off. I'm so tired though." Lacey admits as she stands to get out of the chair. She walks over to stand next to Danny as they both admire their beautiful baby.
Danny slipped his arm around Lacey and pulled her close to him. "Look at how perfect she is. Even when she's hollering and waking us up out of our sleep, she's perfect." Danny says.
"Yes, she is perfect. I still can't believe she's ours though. I wonder when this will stop feeling like a dream." Lacey says as she tugs on Danny to pull him back into their bedroom.
They walk over and nearly collapse into their huge bed. "I don't think this will ever stop feeling like a dream, Lace. A year ago Leah didn't even exist, now she does. It still seems unreal that we made a baby." Danny says as he pulls Lacey closer to him in their bed and silently prays that at least Lacey can get some rest. He was more tired than he had ever been in his life, but the lack of sleep seemed worth it to him. There wasn't a better reason for him to miss sleep. True he had no idea that Leah would come home and totally change and run their lives. Danny waited for a response from Lacey and he looked over and saw that she had fallen asleep again. He lightly chuckled to himself and kissed her on the cheek as he tried to doze off too. They both got their small wish to sleep because Danny woke up while Lacey was still asleep. He heard faint cries from Leah on the baby monitor and walked into the nursery. He found Leah kicking and warming up to start wailing. He intervened before she had a chance to wake Lacey up. Danny picked her up and his heart swelled at picking up his daughter. It was the best feeling in the world holding her in his arms and looking into her beautiful face. He kissed her on her cheek and she seemed to calm down. "Good morning Leah. Is Daddy's girl hungry?" Danny asks as he takes her over to the changing table. He checked her and saw that she was indeed wet so he changed her diaper. He had a few mishaps the first few times he did it at the hospital and when they first brought her home. Then he somehow got the hang of it and became good at it.
Danny got a bottle from the small fridge and put it into the bottle warmer. They decided to put the fridge in there so that they wouldn't have to run downstairs to the kitchen if she got hungry at night. Danny sat in the chair and fed his bundle of pride and joy. Danny really couldn't explain how he felt to actually be holding a baby that he had a hand in making. He also couldn't explain how he felt when he looked at her and saw how much she looked like him, though he honestly thought she looked like Lacey. When Lacey was pregnant with her, he naturally thought that she would look just like Lacey because he was naïve in thinking that since they were having a girl, she would look like Lacey. Since he thought Lacey was so beautiful, he wanted his daughter to look just like her. But she came into the world looking mostly like him. He got a kick out of that, though he really thought Leah was much better looking than he is. Of course he's a man and has masculine features, but Leah was pretty much the feminine version of him with dimples and fuller lips like her mother. Danny knew she was just 2 days old, but he knew that Leah would undoubtedly be gorgeous when she got older and that scared him. He decided to put that out of his mind and just enjoy her being a newborn. He had her whole life to worry about protecting her. He would do that anyway and he kind of took comfort in the fact that many people feared him because of what they thought he was. He knew that no one would be crazy enough to mess with the daughter of Danny Desai.
He also worried about Leah being his daughter. He didn't want her to get teased or bullied at school by kids that thought her father was a murderer. People pretty much put his past in the past and never mentioned it purposely or mistakenly. He was a grown man now with a wife and daughter. Though the people that mattered most knew that he didn't kill Tara and that Vikram did and forced him to take the blame. They also knew about that tragic accident on that cliff where Vikram died. The rest of the world didn't know that and he hoped that it wouldn't hurt his baby girl. He could handle what people said about him, though people didn't say anything nowadays. But Leah might not be able to handle it. He stopped thinking of the future and focused on the present and feeding his heart that was now outside of his chest.
Lacey and Danny were really taking being new parents in stride. They both seemed to be naturals when it came to caring for their baby, especially Lacey. She was a natural-born 'Mommy' since giving birth. After going through that, Lacey felt like she could do anything in the world. She wasn't in any pain, except going to the bathroom felt like a chore to her. She hoped that would soon pass because that's the only part about giving birth that she hated and regretted. Her stomach had went down dramatically, though she still looked like she was about 5 months pregnant. She was happy to be able to sleep on her stomach again. Her doctor still had her taking her prenatal vitamins because her body went through a lot giving birth. She felt fine though. She actually felt like a new woman. And for some strange reason, her being horny and extremely turned on by Danny seemed to increase. He just became sexier to her since he became a father. The downside was she had just had a baby days ago and wasn't able to have sex. Her doctor had her on pelvic rest and she was back to being on her cycle. She missed the not having a period, PMS, and cramps part about being pregnant though the birth control she was on had her only having a period sporadically. Which is why she didn't think she was pregnant. She was back on it even though she wasn't having sex yet. But when she and Danny rekindled that, she didn't want to get pregnant again so soon after Leah. She wanted to enjoy her little girl and completely focus on her.
Two days later, Lacey was sitting up in bed looking through birth announcements online. Danny was beside her with Leah sleeping peacefully on his chest. Lacey had already took so many pictures that she needed to buy another memory card for her camera. She had to capture that moment. Leah laying on Danny's chest caused her heart to ache with pride, happiness, and joy. Lacey had already mentally decided that she would want to have another child in the future, despite telling Danny that he wouldn't get her pregnant again. She wanted Leah to have a sibling like she did. But that was years down the road. She intended to focus on and devote herself to her little princess. She smiled thinking of how much she loved her little angel.
She was looking through the announcements and found one that she thought would be adorable. It was an announcement in the shape of a pink rose that was secured with a ribbon. Lacey got a little excited just thinking of getting those. But she wanted the perfect picture to go with it. She decided she would get Leah her first photo shoot. She could barely contain herself when she looked over at Danny.
"I found the perfect one Danny." Lacey says as she turns her laptop towards him to show him the perfect keepsake to announce the birth of their baby.
Danny looked at it and instantly smiled. "That is the perfect one. I'm starting to love that her middle name is Rose even more than I did before." Danny says honestly as he rubs her a little.
"I know. Me too. But I want her to have her picture taken for these. What do you think? Am I going overboard?" Lacey asks as she looks at the two people she loves more than anything.
"No, I don't think you're going overboard. We're announcing the birth of our daughter. We can never go overboard with anything concerning her. But do you think we should take her out to get her picture taken this soon?" Danny asks in concern.
Lacey frowns a little. "I never thought about that. Maybe I can find one that will come here." Lacey says as she goes back to her laptop and checks to see if there is one that comes to the house. She found a photographer that does and the pictures she has of the babies she has photographed are adorable. Lacey even picked a rose themed photo shoot. She couldn't wait to see Leah have her picture taken. They were already waiting on her first pictures from the hospital, but those were for family only. The birth announcements she would give to everyone. She felt like sharing her and Danny's joy with the world. "I found one, Danny. I set up an appointment for them to come tomorrow. I was figuring they could do it in the formal living room since we never use it. What do you think?" Lacey asks.
"I think that's perfect. We'll have that done before Thanksgiving. Are you really sure you want to have it here?" Danny asks as he looks over at Lacey.
"Yes. It's just us and the family. We don't really have to worry about entertaining and one of us can leave and tend to her if we need to. We probably don't even have to worry about that with our moms and Clara being here. They might ignore us all together." Lacey says in a slightly joking tone.
"Yeah, you're right. Are you up to cooking though? How do you feel?" Danny wonders in concern.
"Yeah, I'll cook something. My mom and Clara are handling the most of the grunt work. I feel great though. I'm more tired than I thought I ever could be, but it's worth it. I have no reason to complain." Lacey says as she reaches over to stroke Leah's cheek with her finger. She gets a little nostalgic. "I miss her." Lacey says sadly.
Danny looks up at her with a worried expression on his face. "What do you mean, Lace? Are you ok?" Danny asks as he focuses his attention on his wife.
"I just miss feeling her kick and move around inside of me. I'm glad she's here and we're able to see and hold her, but I miss that." Lacey says as she thinks back to how it felt to feel her kick and move inside around her.
"I get what you mean, I guess. I have no idea what you felt, but I miss rubbing your belly and feeling her kick and move. I get it. Do you still feel like you don't want me to get you pregnant again?" Danny asks almost nervously.
Lacey smiles and starts to laugh. "No, I don't feel that way any more. I don't want her to be alone. You know how much I love my sister. She'll need a partner to help her out when we get on her nerves or something. And she'll have a playmate. Hopefully we won't ever fight like my parents did. But having Clara around made it bearable." Lacey replies.
"We're not going to fight like your parents did. We're happy and still in love. Neither one of us is living a lie. But I do want her to have a sibling. I didn't have one and I don't want her to feel that loneliness." Danny counters as he leans up to kiss Leah's forehead.
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean. I know she'll have friends but the bond I have with Clara I don't share with any of my friends. Other than you. You're my best friend but so is Clara." Lacey admits truthfully.
"Yeah, you're my best friend too." Danny says sincerely and Lacey leans over to kiss him on the lips.
The next day, the photographer and her crew came to take pictures of Leah. They brought in so many props and equipment that it literally took over their living room. Lacey was too excited and she hoped that Leah would cooperate, but decided to let it go and to let the photographer handle it. Lacey had a beautiful white headband with a rose attached that she put on Leah. Lacey got tears in her eyes when they put her in the bed of roses prop. She even removed her headband and put a rose behind Leah's ear.
The photographer then added Danny and Lacey to the pictures. She took some of Danny and Lacey embracing each other in a hug with Leah in the middle, some with Danny and Lacey holding her with their fingers linked together. She took some of Lacey and Leah by themselves and with Danny and Leah alone. Lacey got a kick out of the one of Danny and Leah where she had a grip on his hair. She wept at the image of tiny Leah in the palm of Danny's huge hands. And then Lacey couldn't contain her laughter when Leah peed while she was in Danny's hand. He also found it funny when it rolled down his arm.
"Thanks, Leah." Danny says in a jovial tone as he brought her close to him and kissed her on her nose. The photographer got a shot of that. Leah actually smiled and showed the dimple she inherited from her mother on that one.