A Fighting Chance (Tom Holland AU) [2]

Thirty-Six

The three weeks the three of us spent as a family was three weeks full of both stress and magic. We kept ourselves busy as we cared for Annabelle.

The day Tom returned to set though, all hell broke loose.

As soon as she woke up, she started crying. I went in and changed her diaper, and she kept crying. I then sat down and fed her, and she kept crying when she finished. I gave her a bath and tried to play with her, and she kept crying.

It turned into this cycle of me trying something to stop her crying, and her starting to cry again as soon as I finished. I soon started crying with her, because all I wanted to do was to make her happy.

I guess we must have cried ourselves to sleep because I woke up on our couch with her in my arms when Tom walked in around dinnertime. "How was today?"

"Fucking awful."

 "What happened, my darling?" He whispered, kneeling down in front of us. 

"I couldn't get her to stop crying, and it's stressing me out. I think we must have cried ourselves to sleep."

"Have you fed her? Changed her? Played with her?" I nodded at everything he said, and he sighed as he wiped a tear from my cheeks. She woke up and started crying again, and he sighed softly. "Let me try?"

I nodded again at that, and he took her in his arms gently as I sat up. When she noticed that he was holding her now, her crying quieted and soon she was as giggly as ever.

Seeing her calm down immediately just made me cry even harder, and Tom looked back at me. "Did you have dinner yet?" I shook my head at that. I hadn't gotten a chance to with all of this. "If you'd like, we can order in."

"Yeah," I sniffled a bit as I wiped a tear, seeing Annabelle begin to fall asleep in his arms. He gently laid her in her swing, turning it on to help her sleep--something I had also tried. He joined me back on the couch, pulling me into his strong arms as I cried silently. "I'm an awful mother."

"Grace, that is the furthest from the truth," He whispered, gently pushing some of my hair behind my ear.

"They why couldn't I get her to stop crying? I tried everything I could multiple times." I looked up at him, and I swore I could see his heart break into little pieces as I cried.

"I don't know, darling. But I do know that you're doing amazing. An awful mother would have let her cry without trying to stop it." His voice was soft as he held me, rubbing my arms softly. "And I know that I admire you as a parent."

"You do?" I whispered, and he nodded gently.

"I do. You are already willing to do anything to make her happy. Have you eaten at all today?"

"No. I was too focused on making her happy."

"That's exactly what I mean. You're already sacrificing to make her happy."

"But I failed."

"And that's okay. Nobody's perfect. If I had to guess what was going on, I'd say she missed me. Today was the first day I was gone. There was nothing you could have done to make her happy if that was the case." He pressed a kiss to my head, pulling me close. "How about we order from that Chinese place you really like?"

"Okay." I gave him a gentle smile, and he smiled widely as he grabbed his phone. After he placed our order, he pulled me closer.

"I love you," he whispered as he held me, and I smiled.

"I love you too."

"I think that tomorrow you should get back into the studio." I looked up at him, and he smiled. "I know damn well you miss it. You haven't been since your doctor told you to tone down physical activity while you were pregnant."

"You think I should?"

"I do. I know dancing was always your destresser. Go back into it. Hell, bring Annabelle. Show her how talented her mummy is." He smiled down at me, and I grinned softly.

"Okay." I pressed a kiss to his cheek gently. "Enough about me. How was your day?"

"It was okay. I was a little out of my element after being gone for so long, but it was nice to get back into it." I smiled as I listened, and he grinned down at me. "What?"

"I'm just so proud of you." I pressed a kiss to his cheek, and he smiled.

"Thank you, darling." We put on Brooklyn 99 as we waited for dinner, and I grinned as our doorbell eventually rang. As we sat and ate, I noticed that Annabelle was awake.

"Hi there, baby girl." She smiled at me, and I grinned.

"See? She loves you." Tom smiled as he pulled me close. "And I love you."

"I love you too, baby." Once we finished eating, I stood and gently took Annabelle into my arms.

We sat like that, the three of us close together until I yawned softly. "Ready for bed?" Tom looked at me, and I nodded softly.

As I changed Annabelle's diaper for the night and laid her in her crib, I could hear Tom hopping in the shower. I knew he had a long day on set today.

Once we were in bed, we pulled each other close. "Grace, I want you to promise me something."

"Yes, Tom?"

"Promise me that you'll make tomorrow your bitch." I chuckled, nodding.

"Only if you promise me the same thing."

"Deal." He chuckled, and he pressed his lips to my forehead. I snuggled into him as we laid there, yawning softly at some point. "Go ahead and get some sleep, my darling."

"Okay. Goodnight, Tom."

"Goodnight, Grace." I closed my eyes at that, letting the feeling of being in his arms lull me to sleep.

Tom must have thought I had fallen asleep already because I felt him press a kiss to my forehead. "You're such an incredible mother. I only hope I'm on par with you as a father, my darling." I smiled gently at that before I succumbed to slumber.

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