Alex slowly pushed himself onto his side and sat up on the edge of the bed. Half the battle was over, now he just needed to stand up. Putting a hand on the nightstand he raised himself to an upright position, wincing as he straightened up. He walked to the bathroom cautiously to relieve himself. On his way back to the bed Diana walked in.
"What are you doing up?" she exclaimed.
"I can get up by myself," replied Alex, sitting down gently on the bed. "It's getting back in that's hard."
"I just wish you'd ask me for help," replied Diana. "There's no reason for you to be so independent."
She helped him lift his legs into bed and pulled the blanket over him. She picked up the heating pad lying at the foot of the bed and handed it to Alex. He laid it on top of his abdomen where his incision was.
"Every time I stand up I feel like my insides are going to fall out," he said with his eyes closed.
"That's incredibly specific," replied Diana. "Why don't you take the pain medicine Larry gave you?"
"The pills make me too sleepy," said Alex. "I'm not going to sleep away my life, not now."
"Speaking of sleep, Junior is finally settled in," said Diana. "I'm hoping for a long stretch tonight."
"Is the baby monitor on?!" he asked, opening his eyes.
"Yes, and even if it wasn't, we'd still hear her," assured Diana, chuckling. "Her bassinette is barely 20 feet away, and her lungs work very well."
"We need to get a new place," said Alex. "I hate having her sleep in the living room."
"It's only temporary," said Diana. "She'll never remember sleeping in the living room."
"True," conceded Alex. "But she deserves a real bedroom."
"And she'll get one," added Diana as she walked toward the bathroom. "But for now it's important that you recover first. Then we can start looking for a more acceptable home. On that note I'm going to take a shower, if you need me, just yell really loud."
"That's a very effective way of communication," replied Alex, chuckling. He immediately regretted laughing, as the act pulled on the staples holding his incision together. He held the heating pad onto his incision.
He heard the shower start and glanced over at the baby monitor to make sure it was on. He was laying there when he heard a cough over the monitor. No crying, no whimpering, just a cough. The shower was still going, and he wasn't going to yell for Diana. As gently as he could, he got back up, tossing the heating pad on the bed behind him. He walked into the living room to the corner where his daughter's bassinette was. She was lying on her back, with her head turned to the left, sleeping peacefully. He stood there for a few minutes counting her breaths. When he was satisfied that she was indeed all right, he turned and walked back into the bedroom. Diana came out of the bathroom, just as he was easing himself down on the side of the bed.
"Up again?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"She coughed," replied Alex. "She coughed and I wanted to make sure she was still breathing.
She laughed in reply and walked over to help him get his legs back into bed. After getting him situated, she shut the light off, and climbed into bed next to him. She curled up on her side next to him, placing her head on his chest as he wrapped an arm around her.
A few hours later they were both awakened by the sound of their newborn daughter's cry. Without saying a word, Diana got up. She brought Junior into Alex, and went to the kitchen to fix her a bottle. As Alex held her on his chest, she calmed down slightly, reducing her screams to whimpers.
"Shhhh, it's all right, you mother is getting you a bottle," he said in a low voice as he rubbed her back. "Just a few minutes, try to be patient."
Diana came back a few minutes later with a bottle in hand, Alex handed Junior to her to so Diana could feed her. Immediately the baby quieted down, and took the bottle. Afterwards, Diana burped her, and handed her back to Alex. Without planning to, the new parents dozed off. A few hours later they were awakened by Junior crying. They realized immediately that they had accidentally fallen asleep with her still in bed with them. Diana looked at the clock and realized she had slept for five hours straight.
"Five hours," she said to Alex. He was groggy and looked confused. "Alex, she slept for five hours. It's nearly morning."
"That's the longest she's ever slept," he replied as Diana got out of bed and left the room to go fix a bottle. He looked down at his fussy daughter. "You slept for so long, that was nice. If you could do that again soon we would appreciate it so much."
Junior's cries steadily became louder until Diana came back with a bottle for her. Alex boosted himself up in bed before taking the bottle and feeding the baby. Normally during her feedings she would doze off, but that morning she stayed awake, looking around, trying to focus on her surroundings.
"She sure is alert this morning," remarked Diana. "Normally she's back to sleep already."
"I know," agreed Alex, moving the baby up on his shoulder to burp her. After a few minutes he got the desired result, and he handed her to Diana. "I need to get up. I'm going to take a shower. Is my towel clean?"
"Yes, I did laundry yesterday," replied Diana as she snuggled their daughter against her.
Alex got up and walked into the bathroom, leaving Diana alone with a fully awake Junior. Diana examined her daughter's small hands, and the long fingers attached to them.
"You really are quite darling," Diana whispered softly. "If you start sleeping like you did last night I may even be inclined to give you a little brother or sister. But only if we're allowed to sleep every once in a while."