"So baby will sleep with you? Can I sleep with you too?", asked Jake after they were seated in the living room.
Jack paled a little. That idea had never occurred to him so he had never talked to Sam about it. And she was sleeping now.
"Well, I suppose we can try that, buddy", Jack said. Their bed was pretty big.
"Okay", Jake said with a smile.
"But don't you want to sleep in your own room anymore? Mommy and I will continue to read bedtime stories to you", he said.
Jake looked suspicious.
"You will?", he asked.
"Of course. And you and I will continue to play our games and go to the park play ball", Jack said trying to assure him.
Jake started to put a puzzle together in the coffee table. He finished after just some minutes.
"And baby?", he asked looking at the puzzle.
"Grace? She's too small to play ball. She has to sleep a lot", Jack said.
"Okay", Jake said after a while.
Jack took a deep breath and turned the TV on, on the cartoons channel. Jake shifted his attention immediately to the screen. They spend some more time there until it was time for dinner. Jack gave him his dinner and then went upstairs really fast to check the girls. Sam was breastfeeding again with a sleepy face.
"Hi", he said sitting on the bed.
"Hi, she's hungry again", Sam said yawing.
"Jake asked if he could sleep here with us. Because of the baby", Jack said very fast.
"Oh…what did you said?", she asked.
"That we could try. I didn't know what to say. We never talked about it. I panicked", he confessed.
"I never even thought about that possibility", Sam also admitted. "Well we can try. Then I can put him to bed and nurse Grace while he falls asleep. We can try that", she said.
"Okay so today, everyone sleeps here", he said kissing her.
"Oh fun…", Sam said closing her eyes.
"Don't worry. I'll take care of things", he said getting up of the bed.
He grabbed Grace and after putting her to burp, changed and put her again in the bassinet. Sam was already lying down asleep. He quickly went downstairs where Jake was seated on his chair in the kitchen watching cartoons in Sam's tablet. He wasn't a fan of that but sometimes he had to use it to keep him occupied.
"So are you finished?", he asked looking at the empty plate.
"Yeah", he answered. His eyes glued to the screen.
Jack quickly cleaned the kitchen and grabbed him and the tablet.
"Okay, so ready for bed? We had a pretty busy day…", he asked moving some of his hair from his forehead.
Jake looked at him for some moments.
"Mommy?", he asked.
Jack was already climbing the stairs.
"She's asleep. With Grace. They're pretty tired and need lots of sleep. Do you want to sleep in your room or with them?", he asked entering his room.
"With mommy", Jake said rubbing his eyes.
Jack took the tablet and put it on the dresser. Then he changed his son to his pajamas and gave him a kiss.
"Okay but we have to be really quiet. We can't wake them, Jake. So super quiet. Like the ninjas in the cartoons, okay?", he asked looking at his three-year old.
"Ninja", Jake said smiling.
"Yeah, you're a ninja now", Jack said in a low voice.
"Okay", he said also lowering his voice.
Jack entered his bedroom where Sam and Grace were both asleep. He knew that his daughter would soon wake up but for the time being he had time to put his son on the bed.
"Okay, get in", he said opening the bedsheets.
Jake got inside and moved closer to his mother. Who even asleep sensed his presence and let his body snuggle along hers. Jack took his clothes really fast and also got inside, covering them. His heartbeat was faster than usual but he had a smile on his face. The house was silent and everyone was safe. Jack was a happy man. He closed his eyes and let sleep claim him. Even if it was just for a little while.
After two nights sleeping in his parents bed, Jake decided that he wanted to go back to his bed after all. He hadn't like being wake up by his sister every two hours. Sam had explained that because she was very little she needed to eat lots of times. But she understood that he wanted his own space and respected that.
Sam also make sure to continue to read him a book before he went to sleep. Despite being almost asleep on her feet. But she knew it was important to spend some time alone with Jake so that he knew that their relationship was the same, despite Grace.
And Jack also made sure that he spent enough time with him, taking him to the playground, to his swimming lessons or just playing with him inside the house. And slowly they were also introducing Grace to Jake, having him spend more time around her and letting him participate more in her routines if he wanted. Sometimes he wanted others he just said he was too busy playing.
So time went by and Sam was just marveled by her daughter. Grace didn't really have an actual bedtime. She just nursed and napped in two-hour intervals all day and all evening, and then came upstairs with her around 2130 or 2200 and slept in their room in her baby crib. During the day, when she had the strength, Sam liked to just lay with her in the couch or in the garden and watch her sleep.
When Grace was six-week old, Sam was lying on the couch with her on her chest, just resting. Jack was watching some hockey on TV and Jake was playing with his Legos. As she looked down, Grace opened her eyes and on seeing her mother, she smiled.
"Jack", she whispered in awe, "her first smile".
Jack got up immediately from his chair and looked over his wife's shoulder. As soon as she focused on her father's face, Grace smiled again.
"Hi Grace", he said with a big smile.
They both stay there smiling to their daughter while she played with her fingers. She had recently discovered them and liked to grab Sam's whenever she could. Sam didn't mind at all.
Sam had also started to pumping breast milk so she asked Jack to grab a bottle. That way he could feed her and she could rest a little. He loved those moments.
All was going well at the Carter-O'Neill home when Sam received a call from Lisa for her medical appointment. Although she knew she had to go, she was not thrilled to go back to the Mountain. She had stayed home with Jake almost one year after all. Grace was just more than one month old.
When she arrived the base everyone congratulated her again and asked how Grace was. She had decided to leave her at home with Jack and Jake.
"Present as requested", Sam said entering Lisa's office.
"General, you don't have to sound so happy to see me", Lisa said with a smile.
Sam sat on the chair in front of her desk.
"Well I was home quite happy before your phone call…", Sam said with a hint of a smile.
"I'm sorry. But I've to check you. You should have already had this appointment", Lisa said not looking apologetic at all.
"Fine, let get over with this", Sam said.
Lisa pointed to the infirmary and Sam got up. She lay down in one of the beds.
"Well everything looks good, Sam. You've recovered from the birth perfectly. So you're fine to resume all 'normal' activity". Lisa stressed the word normal and grinned suggestively, leaving Sam no doubt about what her CMO meant.
"Oh…good to know", she said. Blushing a little.
"We're done", Lisa said taking her gloves.
Sam got dressed. She didn't felt quite ready to get intimate with Jack but it was good to know that there was no physical impediment to resume their sexual life.
"Thanks Lisa", she said.
"Welcome, General", she said with a grin.
When she returned home she found Jack and Jake in the floor playing with Grace. She was actually responding to them with gurgles, coos, ahhs and ohhs and even smiles. As she approached the playmat that was on the floor and where her daughter was currently laying, she could see her playing with their hands.
"What have we here?", she asked kneeling on the floor.
Jack had one of her feet in his hand and was blowing raspberries.
"We have a very smiling baby", he said.
"She plays with fingers", Jake said putting one finger next to her hand. Grace quickly grabbed it.
"See mommy?", he asked looking at her mother with a smile.
Sam smiled.
"Yes, she does", she said caressing his hair.
They continued there for some time until Sam decided to pick her daughter.
"Okay, guys you had your fun. Now it's time for the girls to have some alone time", she said cradling her daughter and going to the garden.
Jack winked at Jake who decided to watch some cartoons. Sam went to the garden and sat on one of the chairs.
"So Grace it's time for our baby talk", she said holding her daughter and looking at her.
Sam started to talk with Grace about electrons and atoms while encouraging her to coo and babble. She also continued to make silly faces at her and watched her reactions change. Grace liked to grab her hair and hold on to it and Sam let her. She didn't push, contrary to Jake. She just held on. At two-month, Grace was already a mommy girl.
They had decided to try putting her alone in her room when she turned 3 months and was sleeping longer at nights. The first attempts didn't go well and she went back to their room after a nervous Sam couldn't take her cries any more. So she decided another approach. Sleep training Grace to fall asleep independently in her crib, instead of staying with her until she drifted off. She and Jack started out with a fairly gentle, gradual sleep training method, helping her fall asleep in her bassinet by stroking her forehead and patting her tummy while she sucked on a soother and listened to a white noise machine. After about a week, they moved her to her crib (but kept the white noise and soother) and let her settle on her own—no staying in the room. They did a quick check-in every five minutes (lullaby and a back rub, but no picking up, even if she was crying or fussing).
And Grace started to sleep alone in her crib, with the help of the noise machine. Sometimes she cried for a few minutes as she rolled around and got comfy but it was usually for less than five or ten minutes. And Sam was now more free to focus on her older son and Jack.