Thanks for all the great reviews on the last chapter...I hope this one is a bit better :) I promise this arc of the story isn't going to be all sunshine and rainbows, so just bear with it if you're bored. Enjoy and don't forget to review!
"So, let me get this straight," Ned looked over at Pete and Allie as they sat in their living room, surrounded by glasses of champagne and wrapping paper. It was Poppy's first official day at home and luckily, she had spend most of the time sleeping, occasionally fidgeting in her bassinette and blindly seeking out Allie's fingers which she would then grab onto and fall back to sleep.
"You 'ad girl," Ned winced. "Which means all our gifts are useless,"
Casting a glance at the mini football set for the garden, the various football themed toys, not to mention the baby West Ham shirt with 'Dunham' on the back of it, Allie fought the urge to laugh.
"Not useless," she shook her head. "Girls can play football, too y'know."
"Like fuck they can," Swill frowned. "Are you forgetting that day you came to the park with us?" he smirked at the blonde. "You spend 'alf the day on your arse in the mud,"
"Hey, I held my own, alright?" Allie pointed at him. "It was just…wet that day,"
"You're lucky you're fit," Swill shrugged. "That's all I'm sayin',"
"Are you sure it's a girl?" Ned asked, frowning when the whole room groaned. "What? I'm just asking."
"If it is a boy, then he is seriously deformed," Allie shook her head. "Sorry,"
Pete watched as she stifled another yawn, her green eyes lacking in their usual glow as she peered into the basket and smiled at their daughter.
"Oi," he whispered, rubbing her knee. "Babe, will you please just go to sleep for a bit?"
"Pete, I'm fine," she smiled. "I'll just go to bed early tonight,"
"Yeah?" he raised an eyebrow. "And what if she starts testing the sound barrier at 4am like she did last night?"
Biting her lip, she knew he was right; Poppy's sleep patterns were pretty random at the moment and as a result neither Allie nor Pete had actually had a full nights sleep since she was born.
"Yeah, go on love," Dave winked at her. "We'll keep an eye on 'er."
"What if she gets hungry?" Allie asked nervously. "None of you are exactly…equip to deal with that,"
"I dunno," Bovver raised an eyebrow. "Swill's got a pretty impressive pair of tits,"
"Ok, that is seriously going to haunt my dreams," Allie laughed, pointing at him.
"Come on," Pete stood up and held out his hand to her. "I'm not letting this drop,"
Sighing in defeat, she smiled and grabbed hold of his hand, laughing when he used the leverage to pick her up, walking them through the living room towards the guest room where he had stayed when his leg was broken after the fight.
It seemed like years ago now, even though it was only a few months; casting a lightening fast glance down to his knee which had chosen that moment to start aching, he wondered if he would ever be able to just forget it.
Dropping Allie down onto the bed, he leant over her, kissing her slowly.
"I don't want to see you for at least three hours, alright?" he mumbled as he swept his tongue over her lips.
"Hmmm," Allie nodded. "Ok,"
Pulling back from her, Pete shook his head in disbelief when he saw that she was already struggling to keep her eyes open. Covering her with the blanket, he kissed her lips once more before strolling back out of the room and across the large foyer to the living room where the boys were peering warily into the crib.
"Mate, I ain't being funny, but it's proper givin' me the eye," Swill nudged Bovver. "Look at 'er. It's like she knows I put that bet on with you that they'd pop out a boy,"
"Yeah, that reminds me," Pete called out, making them jump slightly. "I owe you a fiver,"
He hadn't been in the least disappointed when Poppy was born but for whatever reason, a part of him had assumed that he and Allie were having a boy; his logic had been that in both their families, Allie was the only girl so if those statistics stayed with them, then chances were that their own first born would be a boy.
"Is Allie asleep?" Matt asked him, shoving his hands into his pockets.
"Yeah," Pete rubbed the back of his head. "Thank fuck. I don't think she's actually slept since she gave birth,"
There was a loud gurgle from the crib and Swill backed away quickly.
"Oh fuck, what's it doing now?" he asked, his eyes wide.
Pete flinched when his daughter's loud, shrill cry filled the large room and he shot a grateful look at Matt when he ran over and closed the door so that the noise wouldn't wake Allie.
"Quickly, pick it up," Ike nodded to Bovver.
"What?" he frowned. "No fucking way, you pick it up. What if I drop it or something?"
"Pete," Dave nodded towards the crib. "Maybe you should get in there, mate,"
"Yeah," Pete nodded. "Right, I'm the Dad, so I should…"
He didn't move though, instead he stood there, listening to the baby's almost deafening cry and trying to work out what he had to do.
"Pete," Dave spoke louder. "Mate, seriously, I think she needs a hug or something…"
"Baby's don't need fucking hugs," Swill shook his head. "What'd they need hugs for?"
"Its all part of the parent bonding, innit?" Ned sniffed. "At least she don't smell…I'm well not up for any of that changing nappies bollocks."
Forcing himself to move, Pete picked up the tiny bundle and stared down at her nervously.
"Uh…alright?" he asked, wincing when she screeched again. "Right, ok, you're pissed off, I get it but I need you to do me a huge favour and not wake your mummy up, yeah?"
Poppy continued to squirm but quietened down a little, waving her tiny arms around in an attempt to grab onto something. Holding her carefully, Pete gave held out his hand and honestly felt his heart stop when she grabbed hold of his little finger, squeezing it with impressive strength.
"Ay, ay," Pete grinned. "I did it…I stopped her cr-…"
He was cut short when she screamed again, louder than last time, her tiny face turning near purple as she wriggled against him.
"What's wrong with it?" Swill cried.
"I dunno, do I?" Pete snapped. "I've only 'ad this thing for a day and it don't exactly come with an instruction manual."
"Walk her," Matt called over the noise.
"Oi," Ned frowned. "I know she's loud, but you can't go calling a baby names like that,"
"Jesus, I said walk her not wanker," Matt rolled his eyes and then turned back to Pete. "It's what Shannon does with Ben when he cries,"
"Where am I supposed to take her?" Pete shot back, his head was starting to hurt.
"Mate, look at where you live now," Bovver scoffed gesturing to the huge garden outside. "Take her out there,"
"Right," Pete grabbed the soft cotton blanket Lara had gotten them and wrapped it around Poppy to keep her warm. The weather was pretty nice still but the last thing he wanted was for her to get ill. "Anything's worth a shot at this point," he walked towards the large Victorian bay windows and then glanced over his shoulder at the lads. "What're you lot gonna do?"
"I dunno," Ned shrugged. "Play FIFA?"
"Cheeky cunts," Pete muttered under his breath, stepping out into the warm afternoon sun and closing the door behind him. Cradling Poppy gently, he walked over the large patio area past the pool and out onto the green, following the wooded perimeter of the large garden. Pete sighed after a few minutes when he found she was still crying and gave up, sitting down in the gazebo that he and Allie had made pretty good use of months back one rainy afternoon after they'd fought over Shannon. Perching down on the steps, he placed Poppy on his lap and stared down at her helplessly.
"I'm gonna level with you," he shook his head. "I'm don't know what the fuck I'm doin' right now so if you could give me a clue as to what the hell it is you want…" he trailed off when she sobbed again. "Right, that ain't 'appening, is it?"
Leaning back against the side of the gazebo, Pete met his daughter's eyes warily and shook his head.
"I'm knew at this n' all y'know," he shrugged. "I used to think that I was good with kids but you're proving me wrong, sweetheart,"
Poppy gurgled and kicked his stomach, staring up at the sky with glazed eyes.
"Fighting me already?" Pete laughed. "Well there's a good sign. Plus, you like shouting as well apparently," he rolled his eyes. "Trust you to turn out like your mum," he smirked. "I know that screaming is kinda in your job description but if you could just go easy on 'er for a while," he picked up one of her hands and shook it gently. "She's put up with a fair amount of shit from you for the past nine months so the least you can do is maybe try and throw a smile 'er way every now and then, yeah?"
Poppy gurgled something, her breathing evening out as she finally stopped crying and clutched his finger contentedly.
"I'll take that as a yes," Pete smiled down at her, running his finger along her cheek. "Swill ain't the only one who's scared of you y'know," he snorted. "Personally, I'm fucking petrified,"
He stared down at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Don't look at me like that," he shook his head. "The fact you weigh less than my head don't mean you ain't scary. I'm responsible for you, do you have any idea how badly that thought makes me piss my pants?"
Placing one hand under her head so that she was sat up slightly, Pete stared down at her and smiled.
"Funny thing is…I don't know what scares me more," he rolled his eyes. "The fact that I have to look after you or the fact that aside from Allie, I don't think I've ever loved anything this much in my life," he laughed. "And look at you; all you do is puke, shit, cry and eat and yet I love you more than anything else in the world."
He glared at her for a moment as she murmured something and wriggled about on his knee.
"Don't you go tellin' anyone about this," he tapped her nose. "I might not be the Major any more but if that lot find out I've gone soft, I'll never here the fucking end of it. Steve didn't anyway…see your uncle Steve," Pete leant down and lowered his voice. "Poor bastard, I ripped the shit outta him when he had Ben. I kept thinking, fucking 'ell, its only a baby, people 'ave 'em every day, y'know, what's so great about 'em?"
She kicked again and he laughed.
"But you…" he shook his head. "I don't know about you; if you're anything like your mum then I'm fucked ain't I? By the way," he whispered. "Don't tell 'er I swear in front of you and please don't 'ave fuck as your first word, I've seen my brother go through a divorce and it ain't as much fun as that McBeal bird makes it look,"
She started crying again and Pete banged his head against the wooden panel behind them.
"Fuck me," he sighed. "You don't 'alf like the sound of your own voice, do ya? Wait, 'old on…what if…" pulling her up, he bounced her gently on his lap like he saw Allie do with her the other night when she was crying. Apparently Allie had her own special way of doing it though because all it was doing now was making the baby scream louder.
"Right, balls to that then, eh?" he lay her back down and took hold of her hand again. "Lets try…uh…" he blinked and then took a deep breath. "I'm West Ham till I die, I'm West Ham till I die, I know I am, I'm sure I am…"
He stared down at his daughter in amazement when she stopped crying, instead opening her bright blue eyes and staring up at him in wonder.
"Fuckin' 'ell," Pete laughed. "Either I've gone deaf or you've shut up," he winked and carried on singing. "I'm forever blowing bubbles…pretty bubbles in the air…"
She stared making noises he hadn't heard before and he grinned; Holy shit it was working. He was being a Dad and he wasn't shit at it.
"So you're a Hammers fan at heart, eh?" he grinned down at her. "Sweetheart, the lads are gonna love you,"
She grabbed his finger again and he smiled down at her, bending his head and brushing his lips over her forehead. One of her chubby little hands reached out and touched his face and Pete Dunham felt his heart stop.
"Oh fuck," he whispered, looking down at her. It was like seeing her for the first time again; the last few days had been so manic, she was either crying or sleeping and although he'd never admit it, a part of him had wanted a boy. Pete knew it was pathetic but after what he'd gone through with his own father, he had wanted a son to find out what that relationship was supposed to be like.
And then Poppy had come along and even though he loved with her all his heart, Pete had realised that that dream was gone for the time being. But now, staring down into her huge blue eyes, feeling her delicate little fingers brushing the two day old stubble on his face, he felt his throat tighten, trying to work out if it was actually physical possible to love the little girl in front of him as much as he did.
"Yeah," he whispered. "I really am fucked, ain't I?"
She wriggled and hit his nose, making his lips tug up into a smile.
"So, what's your policy on fashion?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow. "See, your mum is gonna 'ave you running about in Prada shit before you know it so I'm thinking, we go see if that West Ham shirt fits…"
Picking her up, he stood and winced as his knee protested at the sharp movement; holding Poppy closer, he started back to the house, smiling when she snuggled up under his chin.
"Another thing," he told her. "Swill genuinely is shit scared of ya, so I'll make you a deal," he held her up and met her eyes. "If you puke on 'im, cry when he holds you, whatever you go with…if you fuck him up, I'll buy you a car as soon as you're 17," he narrowed his eyes at the baby. "Howzat?"
Poppy stared at him blankly, a line of dribble making its way down her chin as she kicked her legs, obviously wanting to get back to the warmth of his chest.
"I'm taking that as a yes," he told her, hugging her again. "See?" he smirked, reaching for the door handle. "I knew 'aving you around would be a laugh,"
"Is she watching?"
Allie slyly looked around Pete to where Poppy was sat in her pram, staring at them intently even though they had put the TV on to distract her.
"Like a hawk," she laughed, facing her husband again and tugging on his tie. "You're screwed."
The three weeks Pete had booked off of work to be with Poppy and Allie had flown by a lot quicker than either of them had expected and even though they were both secretly dreading it, here he was about to head into work again for the first time in almost a month. He'd been pleased to know that the headmistress had taken his advice and allowed Benjamin to cover most of his classes as the last sub teacher they had given him when he had been in hospital earlier in the year had fucked up all his lesson plans. Not that he entirely trusted Benjamin either, knowing the craft bastard he'd get the boys to all wear Chelsea scarves when Pete walked in.
"Maybe it's a sign I should stay home for another day," he shrugged, dropping his bag on the floor again.
"Uh-uh," Allie shook her head. "I know you've been looking forward to this and besides," she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. "You've got to go sometime,"
"Yeah, but I can think of lots of reasons for why I should stay," he grinned, locking his arms around her waist and pulling her body flush against his.
"Oh really," she rolled her eyes.
"Well, you need help looking after Poppy," Pete sucked her bottom lip into his mouth. "And then, when she's sleeping…you'll need something to do,"
Her laughter was cut off when he kissed her fully, his tongue demanding entrance to her mouth while his hands rubbed her hips teasingly, making her moan.
"Oh my God, go to work," she groaned, shoving him away from her neck. "I hate it when you do that,"
Truth be told, so did Pete; as much as he loved his daughter, she had her mothers timing which meant she was as awkward as hell. And every time he and Allie got remotely close to physical contact, Poppy would inevitably choose that moment to start screaming the house down.
Reaching for his bag again, he looked up at the blue eyed girl and winced, realising that she was still staring at him. Despite being just under a month old, Poppy Dunham wasn't nearly as clueless as she looked, so much so that she had developed the interesting habit of howling like a banshee every time either Pete or Allie left the room. Which meant going to work this morning was going to be fun.
"So I'm thinking I just run for it," he lowered his voice as though scared that the baby would hear him.
"Ok, you know you're not Flash Gordon, right?" Allie laughed. "If you run, she'll still see you go,"
"Yeah, well, since when is being fast ever been a good thing?" he grinned wickedly at her and she giggled.
"Stop it," she shoved his chest. "You're not the only one who needs a good…" she blushed slightly, her hands unconsciously fumbling with the buttons on his shirt. "Ugh, sod off, will you?" she groaned, making him laugh.
"Ok," he kissed her shoulder as he walked around her, stopping in front of the pram and bending down to talk to the baby. "You 'eard 'er, she wants me gone," he picked up his daughters chubby hand and kissed it. "But just remember I'm back in like 8 hours, so try and lay off the screaming, yeah?"
Poppy dribbled and brought the bunny rabbit toy she was holding up to her mouth, chewing messily on its ear.
"Good girl," he kissed her head and stood up again, taking slow steps towards the door. "I'll call you at lunch, make sure you're alright," Pete winked, kissing Allie once more before walking quickly out into the foyer.
In his 24 and a half years on this earth, Pete Dunham had broken too many bones to count, he'd been in a month long coma and been punched enough times to incur three nose breaking incidents. But he could honestly say that none of that hurt nearly as much as having to walk out of his front door with his daughter crying after him.
He could hear Allie talking to her, trying to calm her down but it only seemed to make it worse, so he did the only thing he could do: he ran as fast as he could out to his car and tried to block it out as best he could.
Hearing the front door shut, Allie sighed and continued rocking Poppy gently.
"Shhhh," she whispered, cradling the back of the baby's head. "Its ok, sweetie, daddy will be back in…" she looked at the clock. "8 and a half hours," she smiled. "See, not long, right?"
Poppy's response was to simply scream even louder, kicking her legs so hard that one of her socks came off.
"Just sing the damn song," Lara groaned, padding into the kitchen and reaching for the box of coco pops that Pete had left out.
"She's fine," Allie shot back. "She doesn't like it that much anyway,"
"Allie," Lara shook her head, leaning on the counter. "I love Popsicle more than anyone ok, but that child is the anti-Christ when it cries, so just sing the damn song!"
"Oh my God, fine!" Allie sighed, taking a deep breath and clearing her throat, mumbling it under her breath.
"If I can't hear you then neither can she," Lara informed her smugly, laughing at the evil look she received.
"Fine," Allie muttered. "I'm forever blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air…"
Instantly, the baby in her arms stopped screaming, staring up at her mother with wide blue eyes, the tears running down her little face and saturating the pale pink dungarees she was wearing.
"Fortune's always hiding, I've looked everywhere…I'm forever blowing bubbles…pretty bubbles in the air," Allie held the baby up and smiled at her. "There's my girl,"
"You die a little inside every time you have to sing that to her, don't you?" Lara asked.
"Oh yeah," Allie smiled, placing the baby back in her pram. "There is nothing left of my heart,"
Lara laughed, almost spitting out her mouthful of cereal and winked at the blonde who then slid into the seat next to her. The first two weeks of parenthood had been pretty rough on Pete and Allie, they'd taken it in their stride but for the first time since Poppy was born, they had begun to realise that they really were only 24 and that wasn't as old as it felt. Suddenly they'd had this little thing to look after and Lara was the first to admit that Allie had looked like shit for a good week.
But now, seeing her in full on motherhood mode, seeing the way she would so effortlessly play with Poppy with the old Allie twinkle back in her eyes, her skin was glowing and she looked stunning. It was like for the first time in months, her best friend was truly happy.
"So," Lara pushed her empty bowl away and tapped a finger nail on the marble counter top. "You know how I'm the world's most amazing friend?"
"Yeah," Allie laughed. "I guess you have your moments,"
"See now despite that down right bitchy comment," she winked. "Here's my proposition: I along with a few choice people-…"
"So my brother, basically," Allie raised an eyebrow.
"And Swill, Ned, Matt and Dave," she added quickly. "Were thinking we could maybe kidnap Popsicle here for the day and give you a chance to relax,"
"I love you," Allie leant over and kissed her forehead. "You're amazing, but no,"
"What?" Lara frowned. "Did you not jus hear the offer I made you?"
"Lara, Poppy's a month old ok? I can't just leave her on her own for a day,"
"On her own?" Lara repeated. "Hello! Did you not hear the awesome tag team I would have with me to entertain her?"
"I just can't," Allie shook her head. "I can't leave her…maybe, maybe in like another two months or something…"
"Oh dear God," Lara groaned, dropping her head into her hands. "Allie-Cat, do not become that woman, please?"
"What?" the blonde frowned. "What woman?"
"The woman who freaks out over her kid 24/7, y'know, the same woman who's still breast feeding when the kid leaves for University," she raised her eyebrows.
"I am not that bad," Allie laughed. "I just…"
"You just need to get…" she shot a look at the baby and jumped up, walking over to the pram and gently covering her ears. "Allie, you need to get laid,"
"Lara," she laughed. "I'm fine on that front, ok, believe me,"
"Liar," Lara shot back, coming to stand beside her again.
"Fine don't believe me," she shrugged.
"Liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, liar, li-…"
"Fucking hell, alright!" Allie snapped. "Enough,"
"A-ha!" Lara cried happily. "See I knew it; no sex equals stress equals pissy Allie!"
"I'm sorry, ok?" she grabbed her friends hand.
"Hey, don't apologise to me," Lara raised her eyebrows. "I had sex last night,"
"Eeeeew, Lara…seriously," Allie grimaced. "You're talking about my brother,"
"Hey, I'm not going into detail…yet," she wiggled her eyebrows wickedly. "So what'd you say, huh? Me, the boys and Popcorn here all have a nice little picnic somewhere…and before you start, I'll bring the nappy bag and that rabbit she uses to snack on in between meals and at least a litre of Allie milk to keep her happy,"
Nudging her friend, Lara went back and crouched by the pram, picking Poppy up and hugging her.
"Now, you tell mummy that Aunt Lara is more then capable of playing supervisor for a day," she bounced her gently, the baby blew a bubbled and held the rabbit toy out to Allie, gurgling something unintelligible. "See, that was a yes,"
"Lara…you don't have to do this," Allie shook her head. "Pete and I are fine, ok? It's not like we're at some crisis point…"
"I know," she put Poppy back down and kissed one of her feet. "But you both deserve it, if nothing else. I know that as gorgeous as this thing is, she's a lot of hard work so just…take the help when you can get it, ok?"
Smiling broadly, Allie hopped off of her stool and hugged Lara tightly, pressing a big kiss against her cheek.
"I love you," she told her.
"Yeah, you and everyone else in the universe," Lara sighed dramatically, winking and playfully slapping Allie's behind as she grabbed her orange juice off of the counter and started walking back into the hall.
"Although I don't think Jack will feel the same if I show up late to another meeting," she rolled her eyes. "He's been in such a shitty mood ever since you went on maternity leave…you were always his bloody favourite," she pouted.
Allie grinned and stuck her tongue out mockingly, laughing when Lara made the loser sign on her forehead before skipping upstairs.
"Right little lady," Allie smiled, picking up Poppy and holding her up high. "You're all changed and fed, so what'd you say to some quality duck feeding action down the park?"
The baby gurgled and wiggled her toes, drooling happily as she took in her surroundings from the new height.
"Yeah," Allie nuzzled her tummy, making her squeal happily. "And then we can hit the shops, get some food and you can watch mummy destroy daddy's dinner, because we all know that mummy can't cook, don't we?"
The doorbell rang and Allie frowned, watching as Poppy kicked nervously, her eyes darting about the room, trying to work out where the noise had come from.
"Who's that at 9.30 in the morning, huh?" she wondered, cradling her daughter against her chest and walking into the hall. "It could be the post man, or it could be crazy Grandpa again, forgetting for the millionth time that he has a key,"
She rolled her eyes, reaching out and pulling the door open, the early morning sunshine pouring in and illuminating the foyer. Blinking the sun out of her eyes, Allie stared at her guest in astonishment, pulled out of her reverie only when Poppy yelped something and tugged on her hair.
"What are you…" Allie trailed off, shaking her head.
"I know it's early, I'm sorry, I should have called," Shannon Dunham took a deep breath and smiled faintly at her. "I don't suppose there's a chance I could come in, is there?"
So I realised I missed the wicked bitch of Boston...go figure. :) Want to find out what happens next...? Then review my pretties, REVIEW!!