Papi's Girl

In the mind of a four-year-old having to go to bed without a bedtime story and without being tucked in must have felt like punishment. Eric and Calleigh felt so guilty that by the time they had got to Chloe the previous night she was asleep. New baby or not, they both vowed this would not happen again. Calleigh told her husband that she agreed with him, right now if she were Chloe she would like the baby either, especially since he had deprived her of her bedtime story and bit of special time with mom and dad. They had gone through the newborn thing before. One of them could take care of Ethan for thirty minutes while one of them spent time with Chloe. Both would kiss her goodnight and Chloe could chose who she wanted to read her a story, or a few.

"Who do you want to read you your story tonight?" Eric asked his daughter, helping her from the table after dinner.

"Daddy!" She grinned.

Eric smiled back at his daughter. He said, "how about mommy give you your bath early and then daddy can read you a couple of stories?"

"Okay!"

Everybody from the lab was coming over to meet the baby the following evening to meet the baby. The couple knew that Horatio and now Ryan would be doting on Chloe with the knowledge that the child felt neglected. When Ryan had dropped over briefly the second day Ethan were home to bring over a present, he also bought something for Chloe, the DVD The Pirates that don't do anything: A Veggietales Movie. He had watched Veggietales cartoons on t.v. with Chloe the morning he babysat her. Calleigh had found it to be a sweet surprise to see her daughter greet her co-worker with a hug and kiss, the same way she greeted her godfather. Whether they had children or not everyone seemed to realize that Chloe was in serious need of being doted on. When the guests were cooing over the baby Eric had taken advantage of the moment, sat next to his child, pulling her into his lap, blowing a raspberry on her neck.

Chloe giggled.

"Mommy and daddy love you, princesa," Eric whispered to her. "I know it's hard getting used to Ethan. We're very proud of you."

Calleigh joined them on the other side of Chloe. She leaned in and kissed her daughter's cheek.

"How's my little girl?" She said to her softly.

"Will you watch my new movie wit me later, mommy?" Chloe asked.

Chloe was talking about the new movie Ryan had given her.

"I certainly will, sweetheart. I missed you. I'm looking forward to spending time with you."

A dose of affection from her parents did Chloe good. After a few minutes she got off the couch and went to play blocks with her new "uncle" Ryan. She showed him some of the pictures she had colored that day and asked when he was going to babysit her again.

"I don't know, honey," Ryan told her. "You'll have to ask mommy and daddy. I had a lot of fun with you last time."

Overall, Calleigh and Eric were handling the stress of having a preschooler and a newborn well. No doubt they were going to have moments where they became overwhelmed with the stress of the exhaustion because they were now again being woken up several times a night by their son. Both were glad that at least Chloe could sleep in and get the rest she needed. Like any young child she was more prone to misbehave if she were tired. To avoid over-reacting because of stress if Chloe did do something she wasn't supposed to or being too loud, nearly every parent they knew told them to stand back, take a deep breath and count to ten before they did anything. It helped them not scold the girl needlessly. That in turn seemed to help her in adjusting further to her brother's presence in the house.