Taking care of a baby wasn't as bad as Eddie thought it would be. He watched what Loren was doing as she fed and changed the baby. Loren was surprised at how good his was doing, taking care of the baby. A few times as she went to make his bottle, she would find herself watching Eddie in awe calmly rocking the baby. Baby Ryan didn't cry too much, but when he did Loren would walk around the room with him singing a song Nora sung to her as a baby. The day seemed to go on forever. Loren and Eddie were beat. As 12:30A.M. came they finally put the baby to sleep, and hit the sheets. A goodnights sleep was the only thing on Eddie and Lorens mind. Eddie laid the baby down then got in bed with Loren. Eddie pulled Loren in close to him then soon fell asleep. It was about 4:30 in the morning and Loren was wrapped in Eddies arms, sleeping peacefully when the baby started to cry. Eddie was out cold, leaving Loren to get up and feed the baby. As she walked in the front room with the baby to feed him, her phone started ringing. It was Jake.
"Hello?" Loren said in a sleepy voice. "Hey Lo, umm I know it's late, but I was wondering how my little guy is doing. He usually wakes up around 3 or 4 your time." Loren knew that Jake would be worried about Ryan seeing that it was his first night away from his mom and dad. Loren did her best to assure Jake she had everything under control. "He's doing fine Jake, he just woke up and I'm feeding him now." Loren said as she sat on the sofa. "He can be a little fussy, he's not giving you guys a hard time is he, because we can come back." A persistent Jake said. "Of course not Jake! We like having him here, and plus you could use a vacation." Loren wasn't going to let Jake miss out on a good time. He needed a break, and Loren was happy to help. "I just miss him you know." Jake finally admitted. Loren couldn't help but picture Jake , this once tough as nails man who you couldn't get a bit of emotion out of, a now soft and loveable teddy bear when it came to baby Ryan. She loved how much Jake showed his affection for the baby, whereas Chloe rarely showed any type of emotion toward him. "Jake I'm sure he misses you too, but you need to get back to your vacation and try to have some fun." Jake soon agreed and finally got off the phone with Loren, but not before he made her say goodnight for him.
Loren realized that after she fed the baby, he was not going to go back to sleep. She wasn't tired anymore so she decided she would just stay up with him. Loren found that it was so cute when he started to laugh he would make little spit bubbles causing her to laugh as well. They had to have been up for about two hours, because the room was getting a bit brighter. Loren noticed that the sun was starting to rise, so she tip toed into her and Eddies room to go on the patio. When step outside she sat in one the chairs that were placed out there, sitting the baby in her lap. Taking in the beautiful sun rise, Loren started think back on why she loved them so much.
Loren was a child who had to grow up a little faster than most. When she was four, her dad up and left her and her mom to fend for themselves. Loren watched her mom cry herself to sleep more nights then she should have. When she would hear her mom crying, she would crawl into bed with her and tell her everything would be ok. When Nora would see that the sun was starting to rise, she would leave a sleeping Loren in bed and watch as the sky would start to light up. One morning Loren woke and saw that her mother was no longer in bed with her, so she searched until she saw that she was outside in a daze. Loren didn't understand why she would do this, but would only find her crying mom sitting on the swing in their backward just watching the sun rise. Years had passed and every once in a while she would still find her mom doing so. When Loren was about six or seven, and caught her mom doing this she finally asked her what this was all about. Loren step outside and joined her mother, sitting in the empty swing. "Mom, why do you look out to the sky like that?" Nora getting up and starting to push the swing Loren was sitting in as she stared to explain why you did this. "When I was a little girl, about your age, my mom use to tell me that when your upset and can't find a reason to smile; look up at the sky." Nora saw the confused look on Loren's little face so she further explained. "When you get older, sometimes you're going to find it hard to be happy when things get ruff. Instead of moping around and feeling sorry for yourself, always remember that a new day is coming. No matter what problems may come your way, or how much pain you may feel; don't let that feeling take over your whole life. Cry a few tears, go to sleep, and wake up seeing that it is a new day and you have a fresh start like nothing ever happened."
As Loren got older and things started to get ruff she would remember what her mom said. When she was 10 and upset that she was the only kid in her class that wasn't going to attend the Father/Daughter breakfast brunch at her school, she found her way outside crying a few tears and remembering that things would get better. When she was 13 and realized her mom didn't go out in the morning as much, she would sneak out and ride her bike up to a spot on a hill that she had found, and just to watch the sunrise. Realizing how peaceful it was up there she just started to write as well, and write getting all her feelings out seemed to help and be a way a coping with how she was feeling. From that moment on, when she would feel down or depressed, she would go up to her spot and just think about the words her mother shared with her at such a young age.
Loren looked up at looked out into the sky as she found herself telling this story to the baby. "You have absolutely no idea what I'm talking about, but one day Auntie Lo will tell you this story again." Loren looked down and realized that the baby had fallen asleep. A small smile crossed Loren's face as she walked back into the room to lay the baby down. When Loren got back in the bed she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. "How long have you been up?" Eddie asked as he stared to sit up, waking up from his sleep. "Since about 4:30." Loren said as she snuggled up into his chest closing her eyes, not fighting her sleep. Before he could ask her what she was doing up that early, he saw that she was starting to fall back asleep.
Eddie had been up for about thirty minutes, and heard the story that Loren was telling the baby. He knew that Lorens dad had left her and her mom when Loren was four, but he never understood why a man would leave his family and not look back. He always looked at Nora as a strong woman who endured a lot, but he knew for a fact that she didn't know how her words of encouragement had stuck with Loren all this time. Loren was who she was today because of how Nora had raised her. The women that he loved had a void in her life where her father should have been. He made a vow to himself that he would never let Loren feel that pain again. As he watched Loren fall into a deep sleep, he scooted down in the bed making sure she would be more comfortable. He wrapped his arms tighter around Loren and started to fall back asleep.