single dad: the sequel (v.h)

chapter one

As much as he didn't want too, he called his parents. Telling them that their granddaughter had been born and if they wanted to see her they were welcome to come visit.

He made one thing clear however: no drama.

A little over 22 hours ago, Aaliyah had been rushed to the hospital 3 weeks before her due date because her water broke in the middle of her sleep.

20 hours later, her and Vinnie were crying tears of joy at the sight of there beautiful babygirl, Janelle.

Vinnie had finally been allowed to hold Janelle, whose nickname had already been established as Nelly. The two hours of what the nurses suggested be "mother to daughter" bonding time had finally ended and the first second Aaliyah said he could his daughter, he dropped everything around him to see his babygirl.

"My cute babygirl. I love you so much baby." Vinnie cooed softly, smiling down at his baby as she wrapped her tiny fingers around his pointer finger.

The first moment that her eyes opened, she couldn't take her eyes off of her daddy. She had quickly established her first close relationship with her father, crying when someone tried to take her away from him. The only person to take him away from Vinnie and her not cry, was Aaliyah.

"Hi Vinnie." Nate said, walking in the room with his mom and brother.

Nate's eyes scanned the room, immediately heading for Aaliyah at the sight of the baby in her arms. Maria stood uncomfortably by the door and Reggie stayed next to her.

"May I hold her?" Nate asked, taking the girl into his arms. Tears brimmed his eyes at the sight of her. His son's third child, who looked exactly like him in female form.

Surprisingly, she didn't cry at all with Nate. She was calm and ended up falling asleep in his arms. Maria didn't want to hold her, which angered Vinnie but he decided to say nothing. He didn't want to ruin the happiest day of Aaliyah's life. Reggie held her for a few minutes but it ended quickly when she woke and started crying.

"Babe, I don't know what to do! What do I do?" Aaliyah said, after 5 minutes having not been successful in calming her.

It was only then that the 4 of them realized that this was Aaliyah's first time handling a newborn but it was Vinnie's third time, so she obviously asked him because he knew what to do.

——

Aaliyah and Vinnie had fallen asleep curled up in the bed. Nelly was laid in the hospital baby bed next to her mama. They all three slept peacefully until morning and were woken up to the sound of Bear and Kaiser gently crawling up in the bed.

"Hi babies." Vinnie said, letting his kids crawl on top of him.

"Mama!" Kaiser said, crawling off of Vinnie and laying next to Aaliyah.

"Hi Kaiser." Aaliyah said, giving the boy a quick glance before turning back to Janelle.

Vinnie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Aaliyah was never like that with Kaiser. She was always happy to be around him. He just let it go, brushing it off to her just being tired.

However, the more he realized that she was continuing to be short with him the angrier he was beginning to come. By now, Reggie had left the room and went home and Vinnie was ready to snap at the way that she was treating his children.

"Daddy can I hold the baby?" Bear asked.

Before Vinnie could even answer her question, Aaliyah did, telling her no and that she was too young to hold her.

"Aaliyah, Bear held Kaiser when he was born. She would feed him when he was just a newborn. She'll be okay with her." Vinnie said, speaking politely to her so he wouldn't stir up any arguments.

"I'm just not comfortable with her holding her while she's still a newborn." Aaliyah said.

"What if she sits in between my legs and holds her?" Vinnie tried to reason.

"Vinnie, I said no." Aaliyah answered.

Vinnie shook his head, standing from the bed and picking up Kaiser and Bear. He slid his shoes on and walked to the door with his babies in his arms.

"Where are you going?" Aaliyah asked.

"Taking my children to get breakfast." Vinnie said, walking out the door and closing it behind him.

He let Bear down on the floor so she could walk. He held her hand as they walked down in silence to his car.

"Daddy, why is Aaliyah being so mean?" Bear asked as he buckled her into her car seat.

Signing, he answered her,

"I don't know honey."