The family's baby

Chapter 86

*Fami's P.O.V*

The drive home was uneventful, for the most part. Luckily, we didn't encounter any police stops on our way home so we didn't have to explain why I had my grown daughter lying curled up on my lap. With her proper seat sitting unused right next to me, I doubt they would have let us go without a ticket. I also felt her use her diaper during the trip but decided not to mention it since she didn't seem to care. It did make me glad I put her in a diaper though because I have a feeling she would in fact be throwing a fit if it was a pullup instead.

When we arrive home, Grace is still as clingy as ever. She practically plasters herself to me, making it impossible for me to do anything but carry her in. I do so with no real complaints, patting my baby girl's padded bottom to her enjoyment and so I can actually check the state of her diaper. I find it feeling barely swollen so in no real hurry to be changed. That settled, I entered the house and immediately made my way into the kitchen.

I try to put Grace down to start preparing dinner but Grace will have none of that. She refuses to leave my arms so I give in, finding her just too precious. Making food one handed and with a baby that feels the need to touch everything in your other arm was way more of a challenge than I remembered it to be though. That is why Grace is quickly put down with lots and lots of affection and reassurance. She still clings to me though but I now have both hands free so it's a partial win at least. The only real issue is she is now always in my way and she still needs to touch everything!

When she reaches out her hand to sneak a piece of fruit right next to the knife I'm currently using, my patience runs out. Picking her up, she immediately forgets about my lecture about how you never ever stick fingers on a cutting board mama is currently using and excitedly bounces in my arms as I take her out to the garage. Finding the booster seat attachment I'm looking for, I silently thank my husband for convincing me to just buy the highchair that converts into a booster instead of just a booster.

Grace is oblivious to my plan until I actually put her down and then it's instant tears. Luckily, I'm able to get her fully strapped in before she fully processes what is happening though. She tries to get the straps undone but like always, struggles with them. It gives me the time I need though and I get her toy tray snapped into place without any fight from her to prevent it. She does fight it once it's on though.

After hearing the click, she pauses in her struggle to free herself and stares at the tray in confusion. I play with some of the sensory toys until she joins in and eventually pushes my hands away with a grunt as I'm apparently messing them up for her now. Smiling that she is now fully distracted, I remove Grace's fingers from her mouth and put her pacifier back in, holding it there until she starts using it again. With that done, I finally get back to cooking in peace.

"Are you hoping dinner will just make itself then?" Matias asks as he enters the kitchen.

"Haha, very funny. No... I'm trying to decide if I should make Grace a portion of our food or just make her baby food..." I tell him, continuing to stare at my counter like that will produce my answer. Hearing Grace having fun next to me, not caring about any of what we just said kind of makes me wish this was closer to our normal. She has no idea how annoying it is to constantly hide things from her in whispers and always talk in half truths.

"Baby food? What would make something baby food? Can't she just eat whatever?" Matias asks, clearly not understanding.

"Puréed, dear. Something like apple sauce. I'm trying to decide how little to treat her and it's harder to decide than you would think." I tell him, going over to Grace and kissing the top of her head. My reward for it is being swatted away because I messed up whatever she was trying to do. I just chuckle, thinking about how quickly she moved on from needing my constant touch to wanting nothing to do with me.

"What do you think? Puréed or should we trust her to feed herself tiny pieces of our meal, Matias?" I ask, deciding it best to let him weigh in on my internal debate. He takes a minute to answer, going over to Grace first and getting the same response I did, eventually. The triumphant look he gives me for lasting longer doesn't go unnoticed.

"Well, I don't know if her ability to eat properly followed her back to this... headspace, you called it, right? And I would really rather not risk her choking because she terrifies me when she eats like we might change our minds and take her food away," Matias says, something that I agree with but have to take the chance offered to tease him.

"Hear that? Your dada thinks you're too itty bitty to eat our food," I tell Grace, not even getting a glance from the girl who is too busy trying to pull the sensory toys off of the tray to care about us. I'm lucky they're tied onto the tray or else she would have had them everywhere but on the tray. Just another good example of the mess we will have if we give her a plate of food!

Of course, Matias can't let me have my peace and quiet either, deciding that he has to give her his car keys since they make noise. Grace is quickly fascinated with them, trying to shove them into her mouth which makes me roll my eyes. Matias decides to fight her for the keys back once she won't stop trying to eat them. A fight Matias loses when Grace accidentally sets off the truck alarm which obviously startles Grace and causes her to cry. She wails as she throws the keys, leaving me to try and console a distraught baby while Matias scrambles to turn off the alarm.

"My goodness, can't you behave without me for even a minute," I fake scold Grace as I give her a piece of apple, watching as she starts to teeth on it.

"Definitely purée for you little miss," I say as she smiles at me, the apple falling out of her mouth and onto the tray.

Grace smacks the tray, finding enjoyment in the new toy she has and I wonder if all she really needs to entertain herself is just random pieces of fruit she can smash. My carpet wouldn't thank me or anywhere else in the house for that decision but my sanity would. Something I would need if Grace was still this little when we went to the zoo tomorrow. I love my baby girl but I really desperately need her not to be in this headspace tomorrow morning! This headspace and the zoo is not a combination I particularly ever want to experience!