Norma sat with her head in her hands at the kitchen table while her newborn shrieked violently. She was only a month old and colic ridden. With her husbands hefty work schedule and commitment to the town, most of her time was filled with Piper's tears.
Emma and Dylan were sweet enough to get her a swing for their little sister, thinking it would soothe her. She had her latched in as she started to get emotional herself. All she wanted was to sleep. Her body felt older than she'd expected. She had her sons when she was fresh faced and energetic. Now it all felt like so much.
She loved her baby to death. But postpartum was no joke. It was hard to connect when all she did was cry. Her lips let out a small sigh and she took a deep breath in to regain any sign on maternal strength.
Her eyes fell to she and Alex's little creation and though she was screaming and squirming around in the jumper, her mother couldn't help but swell at the black hair and blue eyes. The perfect combination of herself and her husband. Her baby was indeed beautiful. But a handful.
"Hey sweet girl," she cooed with a tired smile. Her hand fell to the baby's stomach as she tried to soothe her.
She gave up on the device and unstrapped her daughter, taking her in her arms to pat her back gently.
Her lips fell to the side of her head as she bounced with her. She prayed the milk she fed her earlier wouldn't be splattered on her robe. Every shoulder of her maternity clothing was coated in a white puddle. She only wore her baggy things as the baby weight made her more self conscious than she had been in years. The leggings and baggy sweaters were comfortable but it certainly didn't beat her cinched waist wardrobe. Now, as she was too tired to even touch the laundry, she sat in the last thing she had that didn't contain her daughters vomit as the trademark.
One of the main reasons she was grateful to her husband was because he was nothing like her ex's. The moment she'd gained an ounce of weight or didn't care to do her hair because newborns were a handful, they'd give her an earful about not being the woman they married. Her sweet number three was so kind to her. And though she was a hormonal mess and never let him off the hook with his hours, she loved him for supporting her in every aspect. She knew he cared for his family. Deeply.
As the baby continued to wail in her ear, these thoughts drifted back into a pool of something far off the grid. She found so much sadness in not being able to calm her new addition down. She felt like a failure with this one.
"Piper please..." she begged as sweetly as she could, well knowing it wasn't a business transaction. It was just so much. There was no one else in the house with her and she felt so helpless.
"Mommy really needs a nap," she sighed, looking to the clock noticing it was already late into the PMs. Her husband should've been home by now.
The lack of sleep over the past 32 hours had been really taunting on her. Most of the hours were broken shambles between Piper screeching or needing to be fed. Her husband was good about diaper changes, always being the one to check her but it didn't make a difference. She still had to feed her. It was frustrating loving someone and appreciating them but also being so angry at them for their effort because of the fucking hormones.
When the front door finally opened and her husband walked into the kitchen, she piped up continuing to rock noisy Piper.
"My two favorite girls," he exclaimed with a grin, shimmying his jacket off and making his way over to them. Before he could embrace his wife, she moved away.
"Alex, can you take her?" she asked as softly as possible over her crying.
"Of course," he agreed, whisking his baby out of her arms gently. He looked down at her sad expression with a pout. "Aw, my little unicorn...why the long face?"
Her earlier shrieking was now replaced with content little gurgles and glossy eyes as her father calmed her down.
Norma watched the way he rocked her and played with her small hand with a jealous gleam taking immediate notice of how Piper stopped crying. She wanted so badly to smile, to observe the way her husband talked to their daughter with such love. Her heart ached to swell at his nickname for their creation coupled with the fact that she was dawned in a precious unicorn onesie that he'd surprised her with at the hospital. A gift shop find of all places.
And yet when her husband took notice of her and tried to move near her to kiss her cheek, she moved away again.
"Alex...stop."
He gave her a confused look, "Is everything okay?"
"No, no. Everything is absolutely not okay. She's been crying from the second you left this morning to now. And the minute you hold her she just...stops. I try everything. I sit with her day and night, rocking her and singing to her..."
She started to well up as her arms crossed, "It's like she doesn't want to warm up to me. I'm her mother for gods sake. And you... you get to leave! You get to take a break-"
"I get to take a break?" he whispered back, not wanting to wake the now dozing off baby. "Norma, I work-"
"Yeah, yeah. Change the record. I know. You work 70 hours a week. You have to protect this town. But what about your family? I haven't slept properly in a week. I don't want you to touch me because I haven't been able to shower or even put on a lick of mascara. I can't do anything because all she does is cry. And then you waltz in and she's fine. It's not fair, Alex."
"I work to provide for the two of you because you're the most important things in my life. I'm not trying to neglect you here. But Norma, you wanted to have a baby-"
"I wanted to have a baby?" she snapped, irritably. Her mood feeling firey and hot.
He nodded, referring to their little romp in Room 1.
"Funny because it seemed like you were ready to cum inside of me anyway. So don't pin this on me because nowhere in my memory was there ever a time when I asked for
this!" She yelled, walking off to the hallway and up the stairs.
Alex sat with his daughter in his arms, looking down to her with a small smile despite the tension. "You were a little gift for us," he whispered to her as if she could understand everything. Slowly, he trailed in his wife's footsteps.
He stopped off in Piper's nursery, observing the little monkeys and butterflies stenciled on her wall. He placed her down in her crib and placed the unicorn blanket beside her as he placed a hand on her stomach.
"Sleep well, my love."
His heart melted as he watched her yawn and snuggle herself in. When he said what he said he meant it. His little family was his whole world. He was still amazed by the prospect of having an extension of his wife. He truly couldn't have been more pleased. But damn, her new mood was hard to adjust to. And he understood her being tired what with his daughters colic. It hadn't been easy for her by no means. He flipped off her light and walked into he and Norma's room.
She sat on the bed crying as he took the spot next to her. His arm went around her shoulder and this time she let him hold her. Her tears grew as he rubbed circles on her back.
"I love that little girl so much, Alex. I didn't mean it," she sobbed, her mind bending with confusion at her own emotions.
"I know, I know..."
She sniffled as he kissed her temple. Her eyes latched onto the moonlight sitting outside the window, illuminated on the lace curtains as she calmed down.
"I wanted to tell you something, actually," he piped up, "I took some time off. About two months. I know colic doesn't go away that fast-"
His wife popped up from position with a small grin, leaning forward to kiss him, "You did?"
Her sweet mutter made him smile tightly, "Yeah. I know it hasn't been easy. I've been trying to find someone to do some stuff for me around the office. Regina's gonna pick up a little more and Officer Wells is gonna take over for now. You deserve to rest, Norma. You just had a baby and your running this business. I know it's not easy, okay? And I love you. I'm here to help. 50/50 on this parenting thing, right?"
She laughed with a passion as she clung to her husband, a feeling of relief washing over her. "You still always make me feel so calm..."
Suddenly she wished the six week trial could end so she could show him how she really felt.
"We do have a little unicorn in the next room, don't we?"
