Chapter 212
Alex and Ryan weren't sure they had ever needed each other quite so much. They had expected that between them they would be able to manage their two children. It quickly became apparent that looking after Asher wasn't a one person job. Since their first few nights at home he hadn't slept for more than three hours at a time, demanding small feeds and constant attention, it was exhausting. Alex would feed the infant then hand him off to his father who would hold and rock him until he fell asleep. The moment he lost human contact he would wake and fuss, but loud noises or excessive movemenent also woke him up. It was impossible to do anything productive while holding him but he was never awake unless he was crying.
"This isn't normal, something must be wrong" Alex said frustratedly as Ryan handed over Asher
"I've tried everything. He has a fresh diaper and I've been rocking him, I tried wrapping him like you showed me... I even tried the pacifier he isn't supposed to have. I mean it worked for Phoebe why won't he take it?." He admitted, just as frustrated as she was.
"Well he's not hungry" Alex shrugged, holding Asher tightly so that he stopped writhing. His small mouth latched, gave three decent sucks then pushed away to scream again. The brief moment of silence completely infuriating to both adults. "Not hungry" She concluded with a sigh.
"I'm sorry for waking you" He apologised. Neither of them had gotten much sleep but she had definitely had less.
"I wasn't asleep" She said with a small sad smile, it just wasn't possible with Asher's screaming although she wasn;t going to admit that out loud to her husband. She loved their baby despite his screaming and while they are trying to figure out why he is acting out tonight.
"What do we do?" He asked, trying not to let the failure and hopelessness he felt show.
"I honestly don't know" Alex answered, shaking her head in defeat."We'll figure it out, there has to be something" He decided determinedly
"I'm sorry for waking you. I'll take him downstairs, you just try to get some sleep" He reasoned.
"No stay, we give it a shot together" She proposed, patting his empty side of the bed.
"You sure?" He questioned, letting her know that he wasn't going to hold it against her.
"Yeah" She nodded. "Buddy you need to sleep, please" Alex reasoned with the baby while Ryan grabbed a blanket before joining them in the bed. She swaddled the baby and lay him down between them , his screams quieted, becoming pathetic whimpers every few second. It wasn't much but it was better than he'd been in hours so they allowed a moment to stop and smile, thanking each other with their eyes. "Sshh, we've got you" Alex soothed, rubbing circles on his stomach while pressing a kiss to his forehead. Asher gave a massive yawn, hiccuped for a few moments then finally closed his eyes. They looked at each other and relaxed as best they could without moving, afraid to set him off again. Even just a few hours sleep would do wonders for both of them.
"Ugh" Ryan groaned as he gained consciousness, reaching up to rub his sore neck
."Ssh" Alex hissed, placing a hand on his chest. He looked over and smiled, Asher was still sleeping, now nestled between his mother's breasts, both topless but covered by his blue blanket.
"Sorry" He whispered, moving slowly and purposefully until he could kiss his wife. He couldn't help but feel bad, Asher had moved which meant that at some point she had woken up and he had slept through the process of getting him back to sleep while his wife had to stay up and tend to him. "Shower and food" he whispered, waiting for her nod of agreement before sliding silently out of the bed. With a hand on Asher's back Alex was able to get back to sleep, missing her husband's return from the bathroom. Following days of sleep deprivation Ryan felt sure he could run a marathon after five uninterrupted hours of sleep.
"You look like hell" Caleb commented when Ryan entered the lounge room, his smile didn't hide the bags under his eyes or his vaguely grey appearance. Still surprised by how his best friend managed to get into the house because Ryan was certain he locked the doors.
."Thanks" Ryan beamed. "What happened to your eye?" He questioned, the young man had a slight black eye.
"My son's foot" Caleb answered. Ryan pictured CJ performing a complex series of martial arts maneuvers.
"Okay..." He nodded slowly..
"Is the little guy okay?" He asked, concerned knowing how difficult it is to get a newborn into a routine during the first few months.
."Yeah we think so, he's sleeping now" Ryan provided.
"Sorry, I know you're both doing your best and that's why I'm going to help you out today. If you let me Shelby and I can take Phoebe out for the day." Caleb suggested hopefully. He'd come home after work to find Phoebe playing with a handful of colourful party straws, one further up her nose than he'd thought humanly possible, both parents occupied by Asher just a few feet away, completely oblivious.
"I'm really sorry about that" Ryan apologised, though he knew it was Phoebe he should be talking to.
"It's fine, you had your hands full" Caleb shrugged,
"We've been neglecting Phoebe..." Ryan said sadly, after eating and spending time with Phoebe had been sacrificed in order to look after Asher. It wasn't safe and it couldn't continue.
"You can't do everything" Caleb answered, surprisingly wise and helpful at times like these.
"Asher will settle down and we'll get into a better routine soon" Ryan assured hopefully. There were plenty of people with two or more children so a balance had to be achievable, they just had to find it.
"There are more of us than them!" Caleb laughed.
" Drive safely, make sure she wears her jacket and be home in time for dinner" Ryan listed as instructions for his best friend and Caleb laughed nodding his head.
"Too easy dad, too easy. " Caleb nodded before providing a list of his own. "Beer's in the fridge, get some sleep, make sure Alex does too and don't be too hard on yourselves. And if you get stuck you can call us to come help out."
""Thanks kid" Ryan added before heading to the kitchen to eat a bowl of cereal for breakfast.
"Dada, Unkie and me go park" Phoebe sang as she marched through the dining room, taking her water bottle through to the kitchen the way Caleb had asked her to. The kind of names his daughter came up with for people in her life stunned him, because somehow he couldn't help but think that Unkie might be her shorter version of Uncle.
"Come here for a sec Pheebs" Ryan requested, watching through the doorway as she stood on tiptoes and pushed the water bottle onto the bench, waiting for Caleb to come and fill it.
"Dada?" Phoebe asked as she approached, afraid she was in trouble. She laughed and smiled when he lifted her up onto his lap.
"I love you and I'm sorry we've been so busy with Asher." He apologised, hugging her tightly though it didn't come close to compensating her for the time and attention she'd missed out on.
"He baby" Phoebe shrugged, as if she understood that her little brother needed their parents more.
"Asher will start sleeping properly soon, until then you have to stop putting straws up your nose" He requested.
"I said sowy" Phoebe complained, her attitude on display as she frowned and crossed her arms.
"That's okay then, good girl."
Ryan stayed downstairs until Caleb or Unkie as his daughter called him now, and Phoebe left for the park then headed up to check on Alex and Asher.
"I thought you'd be asleep" He whispered when he found Alex awake, focused on her phone until she heard him speak.
"I'm tired but I just couldn't get back to sleep so I've been doing some research" She explained, keeping her voice low to avoid waking the sleeping baby
"And?" He asked, sitting on the edge of the bed beside her.
"I found a sling that might help" She answered, turning the phone to show him a photo.
"What's wrong with the baby carrier we have?" He questioned, it was much sturdier than the sling and he didn't see a difference in their function
"I got him to sleep in twenty minutes just by taking my shirt off, he likes the skin contact" Alex provided.
"Okay..."
" The sling and a shirt with buttons means I can keep him skin to skin and still move around" She elaborated, just because it made sense in her head didn't necessarily mean it was the answer to all their problem
"Where do we buy it?" He asked eagerly
."We order it online" She replied
" I just feel bad that we haven't spent much time with Phoebe " She told him as Asher started to move.
"I talked to her and she's fine" He assured, while it might only have been brief the conversation with their firstborn had been quite comforting.
"Good" Alex agreed, wishing she had had the chance to talk to Phoebe herself. It was probably for the better that they got to buy the sling and test it out before she tried to manage both her kids at once.
"Hi baby" She greeted as Asher opened his eyes, blinking twice before his tongue started to move in a preemptive sucking motion that told his mother he was hungry. She was essentially alreaady in position so there was minimal hassle in getting him fed. Ryan burped and played with him while Alex showered and dressed. Not that they were going anywhere but spent the rest of the day in bed and do some online shopping.
"Oh wow" She commented as she scrolled through the website. There were dozens of sizes, shapes and styles, each coming in different colours and designs, it was going to take her a few minutes to decide.
."Got one?" He questioned though he didn't need an answer,
"Not that one" He decided, purely on price, he didn't trust that the cheapest piece of fabric would keep his little boy safe.
"Okay, it's that one but what colour?" She questioned having decided on a style.
"Something neutral" He suggested, feeling particularly helpful to have contributed at all.
"Not mushroom or moose" She eliminated based on their labels. "How about this one?"
"Grey?" He questioned.
"Yeah, that's neutral" She smiled.
"Sure, but I like the orange too" He added, loving the vibrant shade.
"But that would limit the colours I can wear" She reasoned as she selected the grey one.
"Anything else we need?" He asked, deciding not to bring up the fact that it really didn't matter what she wore.
"We don't need a toy caterpillar" She laughed, looking at the cart when they were about to finailize their order and close the website.
"Phoebe will love it, it goes with that book. Which by the way is the best way to get her to eat, she won't become a butterfly unless she eats her veggies" He explained, proud to have devised the strategy by himself.
"She's going to be disappointed when she works out that she's not going to grow wings" Alex warned, not keen on misleading Phoebe.
"Well hopefully we're a few years off that. You said you wanted to buy a pram, should we have a look while we're on the cite?" He asked, changing the subject before she told him he couldn't have the caterpillar.
"I guess, but we're not buying one today" She now, making sure he understood.
"Why not?" He questioned, not seeing the point in looking if they weren't going to buy one.
"I haven't read any reviews online" She explained, the sensible one of the pair.
"We'll be doing hands on research. It has to be lightweight, maneuverable, fold easily, have the biggest size range possible so it lasts...oh and it has to come in a nice colour!" He listed proudly.
"You sound like you know what you're doing?" She said questioningly, not sure when or how he had become such an expert."
."Okay. Practical, definitely not European and not too expensive" She added to his list of criteria
."There are like a hundred choices here." He noticed and wasn't sure what to select and handed the phone back to his wife, maybe today wasn't the day to add a pram to their online shopping list as well.
Asher cried for almost an hour in the early afternoon but even that was a massive improyement on the previous day. By the time Caleb and Phoebe returned, with Shelby and CJ it was almost dinner time. Caleb and Phoebe showed off Asher while Shelby and CJ joined the rest in playing with Asher after she changed CJ's diaper.
"Oh we got food. I hope pizza is fine." Shelby said knowing that her friend was in n condition to cook and that food would probably be the least thing on their minds right now.
"Thank you." Alex mouthed.
"Don't mention it. How are you doing? You look tired" She changed the subject, accepting gratitude had never been something he did well.
"We're getting there, today was a good day" She answered with a smile.
"Good. We'll get out of your way so you can get the them off to sleep" Shelby finished, reaching across to rub Asher's back momentarily.
"Thanks for coming, and bringing food. And taking Phoebe. I feel so guilty for neglecting her this past few days." She added as they started to move back to the lounge room. Caleb was being shown the stickers Phoebe had put on her blocks while holding a conversation with Ryan.
"Goodnight" He called generally as he pulled on his coat.
"Night" She called after him, grinning until the door closed behind the two. Turning around she saw Ryan lifting Phoebe into the air, swinging her up over his shoulder so he could carry her upstairs. "Phoebe, would you be able to help me with something?" She asked. Ryan put Phoebe down and nodded to his wife before heading up the stairs taking Asher from his mother.
"I help you Mama" Phoebe agreed enthusiastically, the jobs her mother gave her were always fun
."You don't even know what it is yet" Alex laughed, sitting so she was at Phoebe's eye height.
"What help Mama?" Phoebe questioned.
"Can you help me give your brother a bath?" She asked with a smile.
"Yes" Phoebe nodded eagerly, happy to help her mother and spend time with her brother at the same time. Alex knew it would mean she wasn't in bed on time but it didn't really seem to matter if they were spending time doing something as a family
."Okay, let's go help Dada get everything ready" She said, pressing a kiss to Phoebe's head before standing up and taking her hand.
"Okay" Phoebe agreed, leading the way up the stairs.
"We need to choose some pyjamas for Asher to wear after, and a diaper" Alex explained as they entered the bedroom, moving towards Asher's drawers.
"That one" Phoebe decided after looking at all the choices she had been given, choosing a blue fleece, long sleeved sleeping bag with small white guitars printed on it.
"That one?" She questioned, wanting to correct Phoebe's word choice.
Phoebe using the shelf of the change table as a step in order to reach the stack of diapers.
"Thank you" She smiled, accepting the diaper. Next Phoebe chose a hooded towel and then they were ready to join Ryan in the main bathroom. The baby bath sat on the large bench space beside the basin, already filled with warm water. Phoebe stood on one side of the bath, with her father behind her to make sure she didn't fall, and Alex lay Asher down on the other side, ignoring his cries of protest as he undressed him. After lowering him into the water Phoebe was able to help by wetting the wash cloth and placing it on his chest. Asher quickly decided he liked the water kicking his legs and slashing as he cooed. "He likes that" Ryan commented when Phoebe squeezed the cloth over Asher's chest.
"I like baf too. I big sister" Phoebe declared proudly.
"Yeah" Ryan encouraged with a grin, these were the small moments that he would always remember.
"Mama bubbles?" Phoebe asked, they were the only thing that might make the activity more fun.
"When he's a bit bigger he can have bubbles" Alex explained, there were a lot of things Asher would be doing when he got bigger. In the mean time it was nice to have a small baby to cuddle
."Mama me like helping Ashie" Phoebe decided as they dried and dressed him before putting him in his crib while it was Phoebe's turn. Asher surprised them all, waking for a feed when Alex and Ryan returned to their room after putting Phoebe to bed then sleeping until two in the morning without a noise.
Thank you for reading guys!
Lovies-S. Here is an updated chapter with fhe corrections. Advice123 I'm sorry if the errors and gender inconsistency put you off Asher is a boy. I just feel like I need to defend myself in this that whenever I write I like to post it asap because i dont want you guys to wait too long for the next chapter update - i'll try being more careful and edit first before i update in the future. Hope you understand.
