It was two days later. Jack and Rose were in bed, and between them was baby Josephine, who was asleep but fussing a little. "She's so perfect," said Rose.
"I know," said Jack, smiling. "Saying 'no' to her is going to be absolutely impossible. She's going to say 'daddy' and my checkbook is going to be out." Jack looked at Rose. "You know what this means, don't you?"
"What?" Rose asked.
"I'm going to start having to make dad jokes now."
Rose giggled. She continued looking down at their perfect baby girl, memorizing each of her features. Josephine was holding her finger in a tight fist. "She's already so strong."
"Just like her mama," said Jack. "So now that your pregnancy is over, what do you think?"
Rose hesitated. "It's one of the most amazing things in the whole world. I know that I was so sick a lot of the time, but being so close to your baby, being able to feel every little movement. It's really amazing. You just know that it's something unbelievably special."
"She really did kick and move around, didn't she"
"Yes, she did," said Rose, placing her free hand on the baby's tummy. "What are we going to call her? What nickname is she going to have?"
"We could let her pick herself?"
"I don't know," said Rose. "It feels silly calling her Josephine until she can pick her own nickname."
"We could pick one for her, and then she can change it if she wants to, I suppose," said Jack.
"Which one do you like?" Rose asked. "Jo? Joey? Jojo? Phine?" Okay, the last one was a joke. But there were still so many options.
"What about Josie?" Jack asked.
Rose smiled. "That's perfect." Rose looked down at the baby, who yawned. "Ooh, big yawn!" She was just so adorable, Rose couldn't take it. She stood up and walked to the bathroom, where there was a full-length mirror.
Jack saw Rose studying herself in the mirror. "What's going on?" he asked.
"I thought I would hate the way I looked after I had the baby, and I thought I would have put on like twenty pounds," said Rose. "But I didn't. Somehow I look the same as before."
Jack smiled. "You look beautiful. And I think you didn't gain any weight because you were sick for most of the time."
"I guess so," said Rose, as she got back in bed and kissed Jack. "I love you both so much."
•••
Baby Josie was a real bundle of joy. She was perfect, and she hardly ever cried… during the day. At night, she woke up a few times and cried a little. For the first few weeks, Jack and Rose slept in the guest room, since it was directly adjacent to the nursery.
She started to cry. Rose slowly sat up and walked into the baby's room. "You just can't let me sleep, can you?" Rose said in a baby voice. She didn't care that she was losing some sleep, it didn't bother her. Besides, she was a mother now. And motherhood was about sacrifices (something that her mother never understood).
Jack joined her in the nursery. "She must be hungry."
"Yeah, she is," said Rose. "You should go back to bed. There's no need for both of us to be up."
"Nonsense," said Jack, "if you're up, I'm up. Besides, I don't want to miss a thing."
"Alright, then," said Rose. She sat down on the rocking chair holding the baby. The baby was busy suckling away, and Rose was falling asleep on the rocking chair.
"It's too bad she doesn't take a bottle. If she did, I could get up and then you could get some sleep."
Rose smiled. "It's okay. I don't mind that she doesn't. In fact, I like it." Rose looked down at Josie. "Besides, being woken up won't be an issue until my maternity leave is over, and then I won't be able to make up the sleep throughout the day."
Jack frowned. "I forgot about that."
"I was planning on asking my boss if I could start working from home. I mean, there's no reason for me to go into the office. I can just do it here."
Jack looked at Rose. "Are you sure that's what you want?"
"I'm sure. I love her too much to leave her home all day. Especially with a stranger. Maybe I'll start working out of the office again when she starts going to school. But until then, I never want to leave her."
Jack was sitting on the floor next to the rocking chair. "Do you think she has any idea who we are or what's going on?"
"Probably not. I'm just the milk machine, and you're just the singing machine," said Rose.
Jack chuckled. "How do you know when she's had enough?"
"She pulls away a little bit and then fusses," said Rose. And immediately, Josie pulled away and whimpered. "Like that."
Jack and Rose wrapped and swaddled her, and finally she was asleep in her crib. They quietly returned to their room and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow.
•••
The next morning, Jack woke up and heard Josie fussing in the next room. Rose was still asleep, so Jack went to check on Josie himself. He picked her up and sat in the rocking chair. He lightly rocked her in his arms, and then leaned her against his bare chest. They both fell asleep this way, and Rose found them about an hour later. She quickly grabbed the camera and took the picture. It was just so adorable. She loved them both so much.
Rose decided she would let them sleep. She went downstairs to cook some breakfast for them. She made some eggs and fruit salad, and of course, coffee for Jack. Finally, Jack came downstairs holding an awake Josie in his arms. "You made breakfast?" Jack asked, pleasantly surprised.
"I did, and there's coffee on the counter," said Rose. "I hate the fact that I can't drink coffee anymore."
"Why can't you drink coffee?" Jack asked.
"It gets in the breastmilk," said Rose. "If I drink it, Josie drinks it six hours later."
"And then we'll really be up at night." Jack kissed Rose's cheek. "Once you finish breastfeeding, you'll be able to drink it again."
"I know," said Rose. "By the way, I called my boss, and she totally understood. So from now on, I'm going to be working from home. That is, once my maternity leave is over."
"That's amazing, sweetheart. I'm so glad."
Rose thought for a second. When was the last time Jack had gone to work? "Jack, what about your work?"
"When we had that scare and you were put on bedrest, I needed to take a sabbatical, and then again for the birth. So someone covers for me whenever I can't work." He could tell Rose was concerned about his job. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I still have my job. But unfortunately, I do need to go back tomorrow. I've just taken off too much time."
"That's really soon!" Rose said, trying to hide her disappointment.
"Hey," said Jack, noticing she was upset, "I'm going to leave here every morning at nine, and be home by five. I told the owner, 'I have a wife and baby now, I need to be home early'."
Rose smiled and gave Jack a loving kiss. She took Josie from him and sniffed. "We're going to need to give her a bath today. 'Cause she's stinky!" Rose said in her baby voice.
•••
Jack and Rose were giving Josie a bath in the kitchen sink, since she was still so tiny. Bathing her was sort of a joke, since Josie hardly had any hair, but it was still such a hassle. They needed to have the right baby-friendly soaps, they needed to make sure the water wasn't too hot or cold, and they needed a soft enough towel to dry her with.
Still, they didn't really mind. They both loved Josie so much that it didn't matter. Jack brought his new sketchbook into the kitchen to draw baby Josie and he also brought a camera. Jack got so many adorable photos and drew a few pictures.
Jack had gone to the ice box to get something to drink. He found some milk that Rose must have picked up a few days before. He took a sip. "Rose, what is this? It tastes odd."
Rose gasped. "Jack, where did you find that?"
"In the ice box. Why, what is it?"
Rose gasped again, "Jack, that's breastmilk!"
"Hmmm," Jack said. "Tastes better than I thought it would." They both laughed hysterically.
"I think we've officially gotten too close," said Rose.
"Not possible."