Good Morning, Loves!

So glad you all loved the first glimpse at this budding family. Turns out Bella can be yanked under control, at least when it came to naming her child (mostly). Another little time jump today!

Chapter Fifty-Five: Bella

October 2, 2023

Cambridge, England

It's a day I've been simultaneously looking forward to and dreading.

Today, Edward goes back to school, meaning I'm home totally alone with Spawn.

Just her and me.

Alone.

All day.

We can do this.

She's just over five months old, and more like me every day, much to Edward's exasperation.

We get up early to see Edward off, but as soon as he's gone, I take a deep breath and turn to my daughter.

"Okay, Spawn," I say, looking her in the eyes. "It's just you and me today. Don't be a dick."

She gurgles, her chubby little hand reaching for my hair to yank it.

"Ow," I grunt, tugging my hair out of her grasp. "Stop that."

I swear she laughs at me.

"Okay," I sigh, turning to the messy as hell living room. "We should clean up for daddy." I look around the room then look at my daughter. "What do you think? I'll get the laundry if you do the dishes?"

She gurgles again and I nod.

"Well no, your delicate baby skin wouldn't get chapped doing the dishes. Don't you remember that cream we bought you? That's some quality shit."

I reach out to set a play mat on the ground in the living room. I have to kick a few things out of the way to make sure it's stable. "Now, I know you're a big fan of the rolling," I say, eyeing Spawn as I shift her in my arms. "But do you think you can chill here for a minute?"

I set her on her back, and she gives me a gummy smile I know means mischief. I huff.

"Stay," I command. "And I'll make sure to eat a dessert for you later. You like cookie-flavored milk, right?"

She lets out a little squeal that makes me smile. I make sure she's safe before standing and starting to gather the shit around the living room.

I glance over at her a few times a minute, but she's happily playing with the soft mobile that comes with the mat.

"Man, you are a sucker for the shiny," I say, shaking my head. "That's well and good, but it takes more than that to be a gold digger." I scoop up a pile of burping cloths and toss them into a growing pile of laundry. "Don't worry. I'll get you trained up by the time you need to find a sugar daddy."

I finish gathering up the laundry, then return to Spawn on her play mat. She's started to roll away, and I bend down, scooping her up. "Do you need to do jail time?" I ask, sitting on the sofa. She grabs my hair again. "I see you've been slacking on your chores. Did you even try to do the dishes?"

She's got a lot of drool on her chin, and I reach up to wipe it away. "I guess licking them clean would count," I concede. "But you still need some jail time."

I reach for the playpen we have set up in the living room, setting her in there. She immediately starts rolling, but stops when she meets the mesh wall.

"Don't worry, this stint won't be long. I'm thinking about twenty to thirty minutes? Maybe time off for good behavior."

I roll her toward the kitchen so I can keep an eye on her while I do the dishes. She's pretty self content, which helps give me time to clean up most of the mess in the apartment. When it comes time to make my bed though, she starts fussing.

"All right, all right," I sigh, scooping her out of the playpen. "I could do with a snack break too." I sigh. "Let me go find cookies so I can deliver on some promises tonight."

I carry her to the kitchen, grabbing a pack of chocolate chip cookies. I head back out to the living room, curling up on the sofa and pulling a boob out. She latches on like a little leach immediately.

While she's busy nursing, I reach for my own cookie.

"You know," I muse, shoving a cookie in my mouth. "Daddy said this stuff is pretty good," I say, motioning toward my boob. "Of course, he doesn't get that much opportunity to try it since you don't sleep." I shoot her a glare, and she gives me the most innocent look I can imagine. "Are you broken? Should we not have gotten the extended battery pack infant upgrade at the hospital?"

I shove another cookie into my mouth. "At some point, I am going to need to bone daddy for longer than five minutes," I say, reaching for another cookie. "I'm not saying I'm ready for it now or anything, but you want a sibling, right?"

It's something I haven't even said to Edward yet. I'm definitely not ready for any more responsibility, but the idea of Spawn having a younger brother to teach to prank? Yeah, that's not such a bad thought at all.

I sigh, leaning back against the sofa as Spawn starts to slow down. I gaze down at her, our eyes meeting. She's got my eyes; both in color and in sense of humor. I don't know what it is, but looking at her, seeing myself in her, it hits differently. I know I'm in for a world of shit one day when she becomes the level of terror that I'm at currently, but I also sort of can't wait for it.

Life is never going to be boring again.