Chapter 39

Rafe slowly turned into the driveway. The car ride made Gabe sleep, but Katrina was wide-awake. She hopped out of the car and ran up to the front step. She waited impatiently as her parents took Gabe and all of his things out of the car.

Her mother finally started to make her way to the porch, but she seemed to be taking her time.

"Come on, Mommy! Hurry up!" Katrina finally said. People are inside waiting for you!"

"Katrina!" Rafe shot his daughter a look of disapproval. "You weren't supposed to tell!"

Katrina clasped her hands over her mouth, realizing what she had done. "Oopsie." Katrina looked up at her mother regretfully. "Sorry, Mommy."

"Don't worry, sweetie. I'll pretend I'm surprised."

Katrina smiled. She liked that idea.

Rafe, his hands full of bags, both Alison's and Gabe's, walked up the steps to the porch and managed to unlock the door with one hand. "Ladies first," he said, letting Katrina and Alison walk in.

Katrina had been right. There was a party.

"Welcome home!" Lucy said with a smile, walking over to get a glimpse of the baby.

"Look at the banner, Mommy! Christina and I made it!" Katrina pointed excitedly to the banner above the fireplace. "It says 'It's a Boy!'"

Alison gave Katrina a smile. "I love it, baby!"

Everyone gathered around to see the baby. Just a small group was there. Lucy, the girls, Livvie, Jack, and Jamal. Katrina had begged her father to invite practically the whole town but Rafe told her just a few people would suffice. After all, Gabe was sleeping anyway. He didn't even notice all of the people oohing and ahhing and otherwise, making a fuss over him.

But of course, being a newborn, he didn't sleep for too long. He announced to everyone that he was hungry with his loud cries the moment he woke up. And shortly after that, he cried again. Only this time, it was cry number two.

"I think someone needs a diaper change," Lucy said as she started to give him back to his mother.

"Oh no, don't hand him to me. Give him to Rafe. He's the one on diaper duty."

"Since when am I on 'diaper duty'?" Rafe asked.

"Since last Christmas when you promised me, that's when."

"What?"

"Don't you remember? You promised me that you would change every single diaper for two weeks."

"Yeah, Daddy!" Katrina piped up. "You have to change all the poopy diapers!"

"Remember now?" Alison asked, laughter in her eyes.

"Yes, I remember," he replied, remembering now the promise he had made. He had hoped Alison would forget about that but apparently, she had a better memory than he did.

Lucy grinned. "Well, have at it, cousin!" she laughed, handing the baby over to Rafe instead.

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The party was winding down, with the exception of Jack and Livvie, who had hung around to help clean up.

"Alison, where do you want all of this?" Livvie asked, holding up a few baby gifts and things from the hospital.

"Could you put them up in the nursery?"

"Sure."

Alison looked down at Gabe, sleeping once again in his carrier.

"He's a cute kid, Alison."

"Thanks. I thought he'd never get here. Do you want to hold him?"

"No, that's okay. I held him earlier." Jack yawned, laying his head back on the couch.

"You look tired, Jack."

"I am. I didn't get much sleep last night. Kept having these crazy nightmares."

"What about?"

"I was flipping through the channels last night, and I started watching this weird show about the world of insects. Never watch a show about bugs before you go to bed."

Alison laughed.

"So anyway, it was pretty interesting for a while, but then they started talking about the mating habits of the praying mantis. Did you know that after mating, the female praying mantis sometimes kills the male by biting his head off? And sometimes she eats him completely! Supposedly it gives her extra protein so her offspring will be healthy and strong."

Alison had to laugh. She had a pretty good idea where this was going.

"All night, I kept dreaming I was in bed with a praying mantis."

Alison laughed harder. "Oh, Jack! It can't be that bad!"

"Oh, but it is that bad. Every time I had that dream, it scared the crap out of me and Livvie would start shaking me awake and yelling, 'Jack, be quiet! You're going to wake up Charlotte!' I kept thinking she was about to bite my head off."

"Well look, she's not going to be this way forever. You just have to understand that her hormones are kind of crazy right now, and she's pregnant so she has every right to get upset and complain. Trust me, I've been there."

"Well I'm counting down the months, that's for sure."

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At the hospital, Alison had the nurses to help her with the baby. And at home, she had Rafe. It was easy to forget how much babies cried during the night when you hadn't had one in the house for five years.

"I'll get him," Rafe whispered, kissing a half-asleep Alison.

"If he's hungry again, just bring him here."

Moments later, Alison heard the sound of Rafe's voice on the baby monitor. Gabe's crying soon subsided as Rafe picked him up. Alison couldn't help but smile. She was so blessed to have a husband who was such a good daddy.

"There's Mommy," Rafe said softly, walking into the bedroom with a shaking Gabe. Was he cold? Was he hungry? Could he not sleep? Whatever it was, he was miserable. But the moment he was placed into his mother's arms, he calmed him down.

Alison laughed softly. "He's knows he's about to be fed."

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Alison had forgotten how much work a baby was. Of course, this time around, it was a bit easier. It certainly wasn't as hard as the first time around. But nonetheless, it was still a lot of work.

She couldn't decide what needed to be done next. The baby needed to be fed every two hours, the housework was starting to pile up, and how many clothes was Gabe going to go through in one day? It was exhausting!

"Alison, you looked exhausted. You need to rest," Rafe told her.

"But the living room is a mess and I haven't even started on getting a snack ready for Katrina and she'll be home from school soon. And the baby is finally asleep, and I can't get any of that done when he's awake…."

"Sit down, Alison. Just rest for a while."

The moment Alison touched the couch, she was almost asleep. "But I have so much to do…"

"It can wait. You need to sleep. You've been up every two hours with the baby. He's sleeping now and so should you."

Alison was usually better at getting her way, but in this case, she was too tired to argue. She closed her eyes, letting sleep overtake her.

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Alison stretched and yawned as she opened her eyes. She looked up, seeing Rafe walk around the living room, picking up things around the house.

Rafe, hearing Alison move, looked over and noticed she was awake.

"You're cleaning?" she asked him.

"Yeah." Rafe went over to the couch to sit beside her. "And I put away all the laundry and even did the dishes."

Alison grinned widely. "Aww. Rafe. You're the best."

"You don't have to do everything by yourself. Just let someone take care of you once in a while, alright?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Angel." Rafe leaned forward, kissing her softly.

"Is he still sleeping?"

Rafe looked over to the carrier where baby Gabe was still in a peaceful slumber. "Yeah, but not for too much longer, I'm sure."

Alison looked at her watch, realizing how much time had passed.

"That sounds like the school bus. I better go get Katrina." Rafe rose from the couch and walked out the front door.

Alison smiled at the baby, reaching out to touch him gently. His hands and fingers were so tiny. It was hard to imagine having hands that small. His skin was baby soft, and he smelled so good, like a combination of baby powder and something else. They should definitely bottle up that scent, she thought. It would make a fortune.

"Be real quiet. Your brother is sleeping," she heard Rafe say as he and Katrina walked in.

Katrina ran over to her mother and threw her bookbag on the couch. "Hi, Mommy!" she whispered.

"Hi, sweetie." Alison hugged her daughter and gave her cheek a kiss. "Did you have a good day at school?"

"Yeah. I showed everybody Gabe's picture and Miss D said he was the cutest baby in the whole wide world!"

Alison laughed.

Katrina moved over to where Gabe was, seeing his arm twitch. She touched him very gently. "Why does he sleep so much, Mommy?"

"Because babies need a lot of sleep so they can grow."

"Oh."

"But I think he's about to wake up."

Gabe began to move a little more, and right on cue, his eyes slowly opened.

"Hi, Gabe!" Katrina whispered to him, then giving the baby a kiss on his cheek.

"Princess, there's milk and cookies on the table if you're hungry."

"Okay." Katrina hopped off the couch and ran to the kitchen.

Rafe reached forward, taking Gabe out of his seat. "Have a good nap, buddy?"

Alison moved closer to Rafe, holding on to his arm and resting her head on his shoulder. She looked down at Gabe's sweet little baby face. "Mommy had a good nap too," she said with a smile.