I see it in your Eyes (you'll be alright)

Chapter 9

The end of summer vacation and Ella's first day of first grade came all too soon, and Jennie found herself sitting on the edge of her sleeping daughter's bed early in the morning of the first day back at school. She blamed her hormones for the silent tears currently running down her face as she took in the sight of Ella sprawled out on the bed laying on her stomach, head turned to the side as she snored lightly, but she knew in the back of her mind that she would be just as emotional if she weren't pregnant.

It was a weird moment, she felt overwhelmingly proud of her little girl. She had come so far already and she was turning into a beautiful, intelligent, kindhearted little human being, but she also felt an aching sadness in her gut that made her feel extremely guilty. Ella was growing up too fast, it felt like only yesterday Jennie would be up at all hours of the night nursing a screaming baby and wishing for the days where she would be able to sleep through the night once again, but now she found herself longing for those moments. Sometimes the days were extremely long and Ella tested the last tiny little ounce of patience that she had left in her entire being, but in the grand scheme of things, the time was moving all too quickly and Jennie couldn't believe how much everything had changed. She recalled something that Jisoo had said to her while she was pregnant, she hadn't really heard it until this moment. The days feel like years, and the years feel like days.

After taking a few moments to gather her thoughts and wipe her face dry with the sleeves of her shirt, Ella stood up from the bottom of the bed and made her way up to where Ella was laying, gently running a hand along her back as she softly spoke her name.

"Hey baby, it's time to get up, you're gonna be late for school." she whispered quietly, smiling as Ella's face popped up from the pillow and scrunched her eyes up to look at her. "There you are, morning babe."

Jennie set out Ella's clothes before leaving her alone to get herself dressed for the day, she had taken the morning off from work so that she could be there with Lisa to drop her off and she was extremely thankful for extra hour that she got in bed that morning.

"You holding up okay?" Lisa asked with a knowing smile as Jennie stepped into the kitchen.

"It's just so overwhelming." Jennie admitted as she climbed up into one of the stools at the island. "She's growing up so fast, and now we have another one on the way and I feel like I'm losing my baby in a way, I know it sounds silly but-"

"It doesn't sound silly at all." Lisa assured her immediately. "Things like this make you reminisce, it's part of being human. Part of me still feels like I only just noticed the cute little kid with the angry, stressed out mom showing up at the door of my classroom a few years ago, and the other part can't really remember a life without you guys in it, nor to I ever want to."

"Mommy is the baby making you cry again?" Ella asked as she appeared in the kitchen, sounding completely exasperated as she made her way over to Jennie and eyed her curiously as she waited for an answer.

"One of my babies is." Jennie laughed as she quickly wiped away the tears on her face before helping Ella climb up into the stool next to her. "I just can't believe how quickly that you're growing up, I'm happy crying though, I promise." Jennie caressed her face gently before standing up and clapping her hands together. "Okay, enough of the tears, let's get your hair done so that we can be out of here soon. We can't be late for your first day of first grade."

They moved around the kitchen in a well perfected dance, the three of them were used to the hectic school mornings and it didn't take long for them to fall back into the routine after having a few months off over summer break. Lisa got the three of their lunches ready and packed away whilst Jennie braided Ella's hair and made sure that she had eaten enough breakfast. They weren't in too much of a rush but Jennie really didn't want to be late for Ella's first day so they did everything as quickly as they could, and before long the three of them were buckled up in the car and on their way to the school.