Dear Future Mrs. Puth

chapter eighteen- they never end

*Charlie's pov*

Today, Brooklyn is three days old. Oh my Jesus, she's so fucking adorable. She is laying on the bed between me and Meghan, smiling up at us. Meghan kisses her forehead and snatches her off the bed. I follow them into the nursery, where Meghan is changing her diaper.
"Hey, wanna help me give Brooklyn her first bath" she asks and picks Brooklyn up, kissing her stomach.
"Absoloutly" I say.
"Good. But first take the diapers out" she smirks and grabs the plastic tub from under the bathroom sink. I sigh and take the bag out of the can. I run outside and toss it, looking at the four other full bags of diapers, they never end! This child is a pooping machine, simple as that. I go back inside and replace the bag, while Meghan fills up the tub with lukewarm water in the kitchen sink. Brooklyn is in her swing that Meghan moved to the kitchen to keep an eye on her.
"Bring forth the child" she says. I shake my head and bring Brooklyn to Meghan, laughing slightly. She tosses her diaper aside and sets her on the mesh that is suspended about an inch above the water. She starts by rubbing the baby soap on her and then rinsing it off. Then she puts a drop of the Johnson's baby shampoo on her hair. She rinses it off and swishes her caramel brown hair to the side. I hand her the yellow ducky towel and Meghan wraps her in it, setting the duck face on her head. She takes a picture of Brooklyn for what I can only assume is instagram. She takes Brooklyn into the nursery and I wash out the tub. After that I take the swing back into the living room and set it in the corner next to the playpen. Meghan comes back without Brooklyn ten minutes later.
"Where's the baby" I ask.
"Napping" she says. I nod. This really only happens once a day, the quiet time where we can sleep. Meghan pumps four fresh bottles of milk while we watch Grey's Anatomy on Netflix. After about three episodes, we are both passed out. When I wake up, Meghan is gons, I assume with the baby. I go upstairs and don't find her, I go into the kitchen to see her holding Brooklyn and waiting by the bottle warmer. I smile at how adorable she is. She's the best mother ever. She sees me and stops whatever mindless conversation she is having with Brooklyn. She smiles at me.
"Hey" I say.
"Sup" she says, laughing. I go over to her and kiss her forehead, kissing Brooklyn's cheek. Brooklyn looks at me with a blank expression and I laugh. She is pretty alert for a three day old.
"So..what's the food siteation" I ask. She chuckles and looks at her phone.
"Well it's Saturday so...PIZZA" she says, starttling Brooklyn for a sec. "Sorry baby" she says, giggling. I smile and take Brooklyn for her as she tests the bottle on her wrist. She nods in satisfaction and takes Brooklyn from me. She lays her in her arms and sits on the couch to feed her. After that she orders me to wash the bottle out. Jeez, being a parent is weird. Like, we are both used to younger siblings, but this isn't even close. We have our own child, it's fucking amazing. We created this adorable thing and she's all ours. Can I say thank you God for my wonderful family.

*meghans pov*

After I put Brooklyn down for a nap, Charlie is waiting for me in the hallway. He kisses me roughly but I push him away.
"Can we wait till later" I ask.
"Sure" he says. He looks at me for a minute and then kisses me again.
"This isn't later" I say, enjoying his touch. We haven't done this in forever.
"I know, I couldn't wait" he says and kisses me again. His kiss trails down to my neck and we walk towards the bedroom.

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I get dressed and so does Charlie, after our showers of course. Brooklyn has been happily sleeping for an hour, but I expect that to end soon. As if on cue, she starts crying. I look around the kitchen as I hold her, waiting by the bottle warmer. No food. Amazing.
"Oh, loving husband, would you pretty please with a cherry on top go to the store" I ask Charlie with a sweet smile when he comes into the kitchen. He sighs.
"Sure, Mrs. Puth" he says. It sends a shiver down my spine every time he says it. We have only been married for nine months, the day after I found out I was pregnant with Brooklyn. I don't regret anything. The warmer beeps and I test it on my wrist. It is perfect and I tilt it back so Brooklyn can drink it. After she is done, he kisses me on the cheek and leaves. I put her in her crib and plop down on the couch. As soon as I sit down, Brooklyn starts crying. I sigh and enter the nursery. I take her out of the crib and check her diaper. Clean. She just ate, so she can't be hungry. I rock her in the rocking chair but she keeps on crying. I put her back in the crib and pace around the room, thinking of what to do. Charlie will be gone for at least another hour, I swear that man can't grocery shop to save his life. I'm running off about six hours of sleep in three days and I'm getting ready to explode. I try rocking her again, but she won't stop crying. I sink down with her in my arms. I start sobbing right along with her. I can't Handel this. I look down at her, she's so innocent. I continue crying and hugging Brooklyn. My brain is no use right now. I kiss her forehead and wipe my tears away, but more replace them. My whole body is shaking with sobs and Brooklyn is getting scared because her screams are of terror, not just baby cries. For a single second, hatred flares through my body, but is replaced with love when she fists her hand around my finger as tight as possible.
"I'm sorry baby" I sob. Wow, I can't imagine how people with more than one child survive. She continues screaming and I am clueless. We cry together for a long time. Her piercing screams are upsetting me because I can't figure out what to do. I hear the front door open and shut. Brooklyn and I are still crying when a panicked Charlie runs in. He leans down next to me and I can't look at him. He takes Brooklyn from my hands and I bury my head in my knees as I continue to sob. He finally gets Brooklyn to stop crying and then he comes to me. He helps me stand up and I look down at Brooklyn she is looking up at me with her bright blue baby eyes, then she closes them. Charlie helps me out of Brooklyn's room and into our room. He rubs my back as I hug him and sob into him.
"Meghan, what happened" he asks when I calm down.
"I had a mental breakdown" I say, yawning. He nods.
"So...hi" he says and kisses me. I kiss him back and he lays down next to me.
"I love you" I say. He kisses my forehead.
"I love you too" he says. I smile and close my eyes, falling asleep as Charlie softly sings to me. Brooklyn starts crying around 1 in the morning. I groan and move to get up, ready to feed her. Charlie pushes me down. "I got it" he says.
"Bottle in the warmer for three minutes at thirty degrees. Test it on your wrist so you don't burn her mouth" I say with my eyes closed.
"Okay, she's my child to you know" he says.
"I understand that. I mean you do have the sperm that made her" I say, really unaware of what I just said until he starts laughing.
"Got it" he says and I hear his footsteps fade downstairs, I hear him singing to Brooklyn as he passes. I smile, best dad ever. Oh shit, I still need to call Ashlee. In the morning.

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"Meg, holy shit" Charlie says as he walks in. I laugh, loving his expression when he sees all the pink and purple streamers. Ashlee is coming to visit today, she doesn't know about Brooklyn. Her grandma died on the wedding day and she has been in Nantucket ever since, where her phone gets no service. I'm going to surprise her. Apparently in the morning means seven months later. Brooklyn is almost a year old now, that's insane. Even though she is only seven months old, she's pretty mature. The first time she crawled was yesterday and she was in her playpen. Charlie and I were on the couch and Brooklyn was in her playpen and I look over and she's speeding around. I look over the kitchen island to check on her. She is crawling around on a blanket in the living room.
"It's for Ashlee" I say. He nods.
"I know" he says.
"Go fetch Brooklyn" I say in a British accent. He laughs and goes over to pick her up. He kisses her cheek and she giggles. I stare in disbelief at Charlie, who looks just as shocked. Holy fucknuts, my daughter just laughed for the first time.
"Wow" Charlie says.
"You know what that means" I ask. he shakes his head. "A fairy was just born" I say, trying not to laugh at my own stupid joke. He laughs and she hugs him around his neck, leaning her head on his shoulder. He kisses her forehead and I take a picture for Instagram. Look at this father daughter bonding moment. And...post. Whoop whoop, 12368 likes in three minutes. Charlie hands me my baby and I show her the picture. "Your so popular, yes you are" I say and she giggles again. The doorbell rings And I hand off Brooklyn. I open the door and scream when Ashlee hugs me. Brooklyn giggles loudly from the kitchen. I smile at the sound.
"What was that" she asks as she hangs her purse on the coat rack.
"Brooklyn" I say.
"What's a Brooklyn" she asks. Oh yeah, she doesn't know.
"You'll see" I say. "Close your eyes" I order. She obeys after sighing and I lead her to the kitchen. I grab Brooklyn from Charlie and kiss her cheek.
"Puth, if your making out with your husband" she warns. I giggle.
"Alright open up" I say. She looks at me confused for a second and then something in her brain clicks. She pulls out her phone with disbelieving eyes and then she screams, scaring Brooklyn. "Shh, it's okay" I say to her. She hugs my neck the same way she did to Charlie. He hugs me from behind and then steals a grape, leaving me with one less grape. I glare at him as he laughs, sitting at the island. I sit on the counter , facing the island and Ashlee sits next to Charlie.
"Where's Emmy" she asks.
"She should be here in a few-" I am cut off by the doorbell ringing. Charlie nods and goes to get the door. I steal his seat and then he speaks.
"Oh my god, Emmy, are you okay" he asks. What?
"No" I can hear her crying. I hand Brooklyn to Ashlee and go into the from hall, where I sink to the floor. Emmy has one black eye, a bloody nose and cuts all over her face and arms. Charlie helps me up and Ashlee comes in.
"Oh my jesus" she says.
"Meghan" she whimpers. Then it clicks.
"Ryan did this to you."