Dinner and bathtime with Negan helping was new, but not disagreeable. I laughed as Negan looked scandalized when I told him the tub was too big, the sink too small, and while the shower would be easier, if we all stripped off, the bathtub would be ideal.
"He's not two yet, Negan, he won't even realize that we're all different until later on." I was pulling off his t-shirt that I'd stolen and shucking his boxers, while he stared. "Dada noticing Mama's differences won't help us get Trey ready for bed." That shook him out of his staring and he helped get Trey undressed as the bathtub filled with bubbles and water. I was truly happy that he'd brought all of our bathroom stuff, which I'd found so odd earlier, since Trey could have a REAL bubble bath for the first time.
"Hand him to me," I held out my arms and Negan handed me our squirming naked little guy, and I cradled him to me as I watched him undress. Shaking off the flare of lust at seeing him yank down his sweats, I started bouncing Trey and showing him the bubbles. "Look at this, baby, see these." I scooped up a handful and held them close to him so he could touch them. Watching his face as they popped and covered his hand, hearing him gasp and giggle, made Negan fade for a moment.
"This is his first bubble bath?" His voice was quiet. I looked up and saw his face was a mirror of mine every time I watched Trey have a first time. Nodding up at him, I smiled as he knelt in front of the two of us. "Ready to float in the bubbles, buddy?" Trey's giggle was like music as he scooped his little body up and helped him 'fly'. "Mama can get in first, so she can help Air Trey get comfy, then Dada can join, how's that sound, Boo Bear?" I smiled at him using my nickname for our little guy.
I stepped into the tub, turning off the water before we created a flood with the weight of the three of us, and sat down. Holding up my arms, I giggled as he flew Trey into my hands. "There he is," I offered, slowly settling him onto my lap, letting the bubbles cover him. I laughed harder when he flapped his hands, tossing bubbles all around us. "I think he has the hang of it, Dada, what do you think?" I looked up in time to see Negan stepping into the tub and sitting opposite us. Our eyes met over Trey's flailing hands and listening to his giggles rain over us I felt closer to him than ever before.
We passed Trey back and forth, managing to actually clean him before all the bubbles disappeared. And tiring him out as we played. A huge yawn from his tiny mouth and I shook my head.
"I think Air Trey is ready for landing, Dada." I stood up, stepping out first, so I could take him from Negan and dry him off to get him ready for bed. He handed his tiny body to me carefully, since he was now pretty slippery. "Thanks." I took Trey and lay him on the bare part of the sink counter and dried him carefully as I watched him fight sleep. "Close your eyes," I whispered in a singsong voice, "close your eyes, and drift to sleep. Mama's watching, no need to wink."
I felt Negan's heat against my back. "Singing to him?" Quieter still, as he watched over my shoulder as Trey slowly lost his fight. "Never heard that song, Amara."
I smiled as I diapered and dressed Trey, still humming a little. "I made it up, the words don't really matter, but he likes the tune." Picking him up, I watched while Negan grabbed my impromptu outfit and his sweats from where we'd tossed them. "Now, since we don't have a crib for him-"
"He sleeps with us tonight," I was a little surprised he agreed so easily. We rarely, aside from those moments before all hell broke loose on earth, went a night without being intimate. I realized, as he held Trey so I could dress, that this was an intimacy for us. Holding our little boy, and then having him sleep between us as a family, wasn't that an intimacy of some sort too?
I took Trey back and walked to our bed. Using one hand to tug the sheets and blanket back, I rocked Trey a little when I felt him make the sniffling noise that meant he was making another go at waking up. I hummed as I carefully laid down, him still cradled on my chest, and waited for his Dada to join us. The bed dipped and then Negan's arms were around both of us, and I knew, as I kept being reminded since we reunited, that this was it. Our life. Our family. Together from here on out.
When I woke up, I was alone in bed, the sun was bright through the windows and I might have felt a surge of fear if I hadn't heard them giggling where they were playing at the coffee table. I didn't want them to stop, and I kind of wanted to see how Negan was with Trey without me as a buffer.
"Let's see how tall we can get our tower, buddy." I smiled, knowing that Negan had found the blocks. "Here you go," I could hear the stacking, which made me think that they were using the coffee table for a base. It kept going, until I heard Negan gasp. "I think you made it taller than you, Boo Bear." I heard the loud smack that meant that Negan was giving Trey one of the dramatic silly kisses that would cause him to- and proving me right I heard him break out into intense giggles. "Let's knock it down, wanna play monster with Dada?" And then I heard Negan growling loudly and as I lay still and listened I had to hold back giggles at Trey's own attempts. Like a lion and his cub. And then the tumbling of the blocks falling and more giggles from both of them.
"You two look like you're having fun," I sat up and smiled when they both turned to me. "Don't let me interrupt. I like listening to you two."
Negan swooped up Trey and whispered in his ear. Then, as I tried to cover myself up, they were both flopped onto our bed and growling while "attacking" Mama. I was laughing hard enough to worry that I'd make a mess on our bed. Negan tickled me, showing Trey where I was most sensitive, and I realized that I was outnumbered.
Then the door bounced open and two more bodies joined us on the bed, and I was aided by Eric and Steven, making me laugh as I watched my entire family in one bed, making memories that made the reality outside of the building fade into the background.
