Patch's POV
Three Months Later
I felt Nora's foot in the middle of my back a moment too late as she pushed me off the bed to get up with Noel. I caught myself, my face only an inch away from the ground, and all I could do was chuckle at her as I stood up. We'd both learned the difference between Noel's different cries. The one we could both hear over the baby monitor at the moment was what Nora had dubbed, "The Daddy Cry." It usually meant she wanted to be rocked for about fifteen minutes before falling back asleep. Her cry cut short when she heard me open the door and turned to soft whimpering.
"Hey Princess," I whispered as I picked her up. We had chosen a dark blue swinger for her nursery and I reclined back in it, her head resting in the middle of my chest, and I closed my eyes to wait out her need to be awake. From going to the days when I barely slept, I slept most nights now, especially with the uneven sleeping schedule. She'd received my dark eyes as well as my hair; the only feature of Nora's she possessed was the nose. It wasn't long before I felt her fall back into deep breathing and I moved slowly back to her crib. I kissed her forehead before setting her down. She twisted more comfortably on her back and I pulled her blanket up to the middle of her torso.
I just stood there a while, looking at my precious little girl, and I smiled. I never thought to ask for a baby and I couldn't imagine going back to the days without her, just like the day I'd met my Angel, and I couldn't remember the day before seeing her. My life was perfect, down to every single moment. Noel yawned, rolled over on her stomach, and curled her fist around the corner of her blanket. Nora and I had gone back and forth on names two months before she was due to be born. Nora wanted to name her after her mother and I advocated for the fact that she really would be like a late Christmas present and for everything that Christmas represented, Noel would be perfect. I'd managed to compromise for Blythe as her middle name, though I thought Anne would've been better.
"Good night Princess," I whispered before leaving the room and going back to my own bed. Nora moved closer in my arms when I wrapped them around her from behind. It didn't take long for me to fall back asleep much like the rest of the house.
Nora's POV
Noel's 1st Birthday
"Hey cutie pie!" My mom cooed as Patch opened the door for her and Noel walked as fast as her little legs would carry her to see her Gran B, my mom's preferred "grandma name," said in one word. Noel had been walking for three and a half months now, clearly planning on being an over achiever because she already had fifteen obvious words. Unfortunately, "daddy" had been her first word, and Patch always smirked at me when she said it, but I didn't take it personally. My mom walked in with Noel on her hip as Patch followed behind.
"Hi sweetie," She hugged me before sitting with Noel who had been busy pushing buttons on one of her self-narrated books while Patch held her before my mother's arrival.
"Book," Noel pronounced the word thoroughly, clearly showing off. Her hair was about an inch longer than her shoulders, it grew fast, and I didn't plan on cutting it. I'd pinned a portion of her back to make a little bump and I loved how adorable it looked on her.
"Daddy!" She cheered, holding up her arms as Patch passed by, and I avoided looking at him because I could sense the smirk forming on his face. My mom laughed as she willingly passed Noel off to her father. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and pushed her forehead against his cheek. He kissed it and leaned against the counter as he held her.
"Mommy!" She said with the same enthusiastic tone and I leaned forward so she could kiss my cheek before grinning proudly at Patch. Daddy's girl didn't even begin to cover it.
"Down," She commanded and he chuckled as he set her down on the shiny wood floor. She grinned challengingly up at him and poked him before running around the island of the kitchen, giggling wildly. It was one of their favorite games to play while I made dinner every night. He grinned as he chased her, my mom smiled before Patch caught Noel, and she squealed with delight before he put her down for her to resume running.
"Okay, dinner is ready," I announced, currently, chicken Alfredo fettuccini was the food that prevailed over all other foods in Noel's world. Patch grabbed her for the final time to swing her into her highchair. She was complacent enough to let him buckle her in before I set her own plate in front of her. We'd determined that she was ambidextrous, so she had two forks on either side of her plate. I placed some fruit salad on the corner of her plate, some green beans with bacon bits, and her sippy cup filled with milk.
"I swear she gets bigger and bigger every time I see her," My mom said that every time she saw Noel. Every Sunday we went to IHOP for brunch, therefore she saw Noel on a weekly basis, and fell in love with her more and more each time.
"Help," She offered her fork to Patch when a small noodle continued to escape. He stabbed it and offered her back the utensil. She smiled and took it back. I loved her bright personality; she was always smiling, and always finding something to do.
"I can't believe she's one year old today. It seemed like only yesterday that she was born," I told my mom as we all finally started to make adult conversation rather than cooing over everything that Noel did.
"I didn't even try to stay up for the New Year, is that bad?" My mom asked with a smile. It was hard to think of her as getting older when our little family would remain ageless.
"We put Noel down for bed and stayed up," I said with a normal, unbiased voice. My mom missed the heated look that Patch gave me from across the table and I felt a hot blush color my cheeks.
"Ni' night," Noel told us, picking up on the word bed as I said it.
"Yes, you go ni' night after bath and story time," I told her and she smiled her almost full set of teeth smile at me. Only a couple of more molars remained in the back and she tended to teeth in the morning, so I planned any errands in the afternoon when she was easier to manage after the medicine had kicked in.
"Daddy an' Mommy ni' night?" Noel asked, ditching the forks all together to eat her green beans by hand.
"Yes, we go ni' night too," I told her before turning my attention back to my mom as she informed me about some changes at work that were driving her up the wall. About thirty minutes later, I brought out Noel's cake, just a normal vanilla with purple and pink frosting with a number one candle on the top. Realizing she was the center of attention while we sang, her eyes lit up as she watched us, and then she giggled after blowing out the candle. I only gave her a small piece, which my mom documented every bite that Noel took, and it wasn't long before we were all done eating. I left Patch to clean up Noel because they made a game out of it, making it fun for her and easy for him.
"Up mommy," She said as she walked over to me after Patch set her on the floor. A small, reserved smile curled his lips up as he gazed at the both us as I set Noel on my hip.
"Presents!" My mom reminded and we made our way to the living room. Noel played with my hair as I walked, but quickly forgot about anything except for the shiny, platinum pink wrapping paper that covered a large box in the living room. Patch made the first rip to show her how to do it and then leaned back as we all laughed and cheered at her attempts. It didn't take her long to realize what little progress she made before she looked up at Patch with her big puppy eyes when she was about to pout.
"Help daddy," She asked and my mom and I quickly awed at her pathetic tone. He chuckled and sat on the ground in front of the couch. Which ever section Noel chose to focus on, he would allow her to tear a couple of inches, and then would make a big rip which she would always ecstatically laugh at before moving to another piece. Finally, the white box was uncovered, and Patch pulled the top off before pulling out each of the gifts inside.
"Mom, you shouldn't have," A baby doll, a stroller meant for the baby doll, a big pieced doctor play set, three new outfits, and a ridiculously adorable pink pea coat with white frills on the edges. She was about to respond when Noel let out a huge yawn.
"Daddy's going to go run your bath Princess," He told her as he kissed her head before proceeding up the stairs.
"She's my grandbaby, of course I'm going to spoil her," Noel was trying her best to figure out exactly what the doctor's kit was, but the exhaustion in her eyes was becoming more and more evident.
"Up mommy," She pulled at my jeans and I picked her up as she curled into me, laying her head on my shoulder, and relaxed all of her muscles.
"I better go before I fall asleep,"
"You know you're welcome to spend the night," I told her. Her house was only thirty minutes away from our own, but I didn't want her driving if she didn't absolutely have to.
"I have work tomorrow," She reminded me before kissing my cheek and hugging me.
"Noel, can you give Gran B a kiss and hug?" If it was possible to set the weight of the world on a one year old's shoulders, apparently I'd done it, because I felt her huff as she pushed up to look at her grandma. She gave a quick squeeze around her neck and an even quicker kiss on the cheek before hiding her face against my neck.
"What a tired baby, I'll talk to you later. I love you dear," My mom said as she walked out the door.
"I love you too," I called as she made her way down the path. Patch had just finished arranging Noel's bath toys when I came in with her. She played with her ducky a little bit, but other than that was clearly showing signs of being burnt out on her day. Noel's towel was a wrap around with a hood that had a stitched on crown and on the back said nothing other than, Princess, in white, curling letters. I changed her into her pajamas. She reached for Patch as we all sat in the love seat next to her small book shelf and she sat comfortably in the crook of his arm as I chose one of her favorite books, Skippy Jon Jones. Her eyes were already half way closed on the second page, but I continued to read to the end, and she was asleep.
I'd watched Patch be a ferocious fighter, murder in his eyes, and revenge in every thought. Yet he handled Noel so gently and endearingly that you would have never guessed that this was the same man. I wrapped my arms around his chest, his arm wrapped around my shoulders, and we both just watched Noel for a moment or two in her crib before making our way to our own bedroom.
"She's one," He practically groaned as he sat down on the edge of the bed, the thought seeming to weigh down on him all of a sudden, and I smiled as I made my way over to him.
"Time flies, doesn't it?"
AN: Two chapters in one day because I might possibly not be posting one tomorrow because I will be super busy. I hope you enjoyed it and please feel free to review. I know it's slow, but things will pick up the next chapter, I promise.
