Luke had to go to Uni the day after Henley was born so Arielle drove me home. Half way home Henley got hungry so we had to pull into the KFC car park so I could feed her. Since it was around lunchtime, and Arielle and I hadn't eaten all day, she went in to grab us some lunch as I fed Henley in the car. Two ladies walked past, they seemed to be mother and daughter, and they both looked at me in disgust. I had Henley covered by a swaddle while the door was open but I was sitting in the car like normal.
"I'm sorry I'm feeding my new born baby," I shouted angrily at the judgie women.
I'd fed and burped Henley by the time Arielle came back but we decided to get home before we ate. I got her to bring Henley's swing into the dining room then I sat her in it before I ate. It was nice to see Henley enjoying her swing, and by that I mean it was nice she stayed asleep. By the time Arielle and I had finished she woke up crying. I took her out of her swing and asked Arielle to put it back in the lounge room. I took Henley upstairs and put her on the change mat so I could change her nappy. She ended up having a poop explosion so I had to change her clothes and wipe her down.
After she was changed I lied on the bed with her and started playing with her hands. Arielle joined us soon after.
"She really is beautiful," she smiled.
"Yeah...she is," I smiled without taking my eyes off the yawning baby.
Arielle and I just chatted for a while, while we watched her and played with her. There was suddenly a knock on the door making us both jump. Luke smiled with a shy wave and knelt on the floor on the opposite side of the bed.
"How's she doing?" he whispered; softly rubbing the top of her head with his palm.
"She's great. She feeds often, which is to be expected due to her tiny tummy, but she feeds great. She loves the swing and loves feet massages," I rambled on.
God's she's precious," he smiled.
You could tell by the way he looked at her that he was so infatuated with her. He couldn't take his eyes off her.
"She loves drives too," Arielle added after a while.
"She slept like the whole way home aside from one feeding stop," I told him.
"That's great," he was still smiling and still didn't take his eyes off her.
I watched him take out his phone and take out a few photos before she started crying. He panicked but picked her up quickly and carefully to comfort her. My heart melted at the sight of him holding her snuggly against his chest as he bounced around the room. His phone buzzed on my bed and I cooed at his lock screen. It was my second favourite picture of Henley.
"Our lock screens kinda matched," I laughed and placed my phone beside his then turned them both on.
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"I got to go through the pictures mum took and...wow," he gushed then fished something out of his pocket.
He threw the item softly and it landed on my bed. It was a USB. I looked at him in confusion but he just smiled.
"The photos," he explained.
"Oh," I laughed.
I plugged it into my laptop that was beside my bed and went through them with Arielle as Luke changed Henley's nappy. As soon as I started going through them I began to cry. There were photos of me in the shower, both in pain and not in pain, ones of Luke and I, some of the people that were in the room and so on. She'd captured every single moment. She captured my face when I was told I was gonna have to have a caesarian, she captured some really lovely photos of Luke and I and some really heart wrenching ones of my face while I was pushing.
"Holy fuck," I breathed out heavily then wiped my eyes.
"I didn't mean to make you cry," Luke told me in a panic.
"No it's okay. I'm just emotional," I replied, trying to laugh it off. I fanned my face as I kept going through the photos, "bet Celeste is jealous we beat them to the punch," I joked.
"Nah. She adores Henley so it's okay," he explained, holding Henley close to his chest again.
She was chill for another five minutes until she started making suckling noises. Luke watched me unbutton my dressed and unclip my bra before handing her to me. She immediately latched on but I felt so uncomfortable having Luke and Arielle watch me so intently.
"What?" I eventually asked.
"Does that hurt?" Arielle asked.
"No. It just feels like a guy sucking on your nipples but a little more gummy," I explained with a laugh.
"Well I should be heading home," Luke sighed and stood up. "If you ever need anything don't be afraid to ask. If you want me to stay over so you have some help I'm here. If you want me to watch her while you nap I'm here. Seriously, if you want anything don't be afraid to text or call," he rambled.
"Thanks Luke. I appreciate it," I smiled.
He lent over the bed to kiss me on the forehead, kissed his pointer and middle finger then placed them softly on Henley's forehead.
"See you guys later," he waved.
"Bye Luke," Arielle and I cooed in unison.
"Keep him," Arielle was quick to say.
"Luke and I don't work," I replied immediately.
"Oh bullshit," she spat.
"I'm serious. We never have and we never will," I sighed.
"Fuck outta here. That was the cutest shit I've ever seen. It's obvious he still loves you and wants to be with you," she ranted.
