Chapter 3 - A New Life
Miles laid in his tiny bed, sleeping soundly while his father sat down on the chair next to the crib. Gregory often sat there for many hours, not knowing what to do. Questions about fatherhood and the future held him busy as he was there, seeing his son's little chest slowly going up and down. He thought back to everything that happened the last five months.
Gregory was torn between the emotions of deep sadness and happiness. He rejected all cases that he got offered for a few months after Jennifer had died. He had no energy and often found himself listening to Jennifer's and his wedding song.
He had his older sister Monica and her husband. She was his savior and she gave Gregory the chance to cope with the loss of his wife, giving him time to visit Jennifer's grave while she babysat Miles. He missed Jennifer tremendously. He had put her lovely picture, Jennifer with her smiling face, on the cabinet, hoping it would make him feel better. However, not only the picture, but everything in the house reminded him of her. It caused the feeling of sadness to enter his heart countless times each day. But then he knew, Miles was there to give him a smile on his face again.
Not knowing how to feed a baby, let one make his milk, Monica had arranged a special caretaker and she herself would help him explain. She knew a lot, owing to the fact that she had been helping out one of her friends who got a baby the previous year.
Miles was so tiny. Gregory had not seen many babies before and Miles holding only his thumb with all his little fingers was just fascinating. He knew that his lips were constantly formed into a smile when in the presence of his boy.
Now, Gregory had got hold of his fatherhood tasks, treating Miles with the utmost care and giving him all the love he had, as his wife would have wanted so. He had thanked the kind lady of the childcare and his sister for everything that they had done for him. Without them, he had likely not been able to give Miles the best care. Gregory wanted to be a good father, one that his wife could be proud of, a father that did everything to give his son all the happiness in the world. His son was all he had.
Luckily for Gregory, Miles was not a crybaby. He was a calm baby boy, often watching his father walk around with his big grey eyes, as he sat in his baby chair waiting for his milk.
'Here you are, Miles,' his father said and put him on his lap. 'Are you hungry, my boy?' Gregory stroked his son's head and gave him the warm milk from the bottle. Soon, he would give Miles his first bread crumbs. His boy was already growing so fast.
Miles' eyes widened as he drank the milk and Gregory felt this certain warmth in his chest. The two sat there peacefully, while Jennifer's smiling face was looking at them from the cabinet.