Closer

153.

"It's too quiet without her," Eddy mumbled, kissing the top off Brett's head gently. It was getting late, and had Elise been home they'd have slept hours ago. Instead they had just held each other for hours in bed. "I hope she's alright with Ray."

"Of course she is," Brett mumbled, pulling him closer. He snuggled his face into the crook of Eddy's neck. "I'd never leave her with Ray if I didn't trust him to deliver her home in the same condition as she was in when she left."

Eddy chuckled quietly, running a hand through the back of Brett's hair.
"I know, I know, I just... I don't know, it feels better to have control myself."

"Yeah, much better to be in daddy's care than wild uncle Ray's," Brett chuckled, closing his eyes. He was getting sleepy finally after having turned his sleeping pattern around.

Eddy smiled into Brett's hair, closing his eyes too.
"It's so weird after so long, but I love it when you refer to me as Elise's dad," he mumbled, unable to keep his smile off his lips. "It's like... I don't know, just fills me with happy feelings."

"I get you. It's the same when you refer to me as baba," Brett smiled, sneaking his hand underneath Eddy's shirt on his back. "It's like... Confirming that this is our little girl. That we are a proper little family and not just two idiots and a baby, you know."

"Who are you calling an idiot, huh?" Eddy chuckled, tilting Brett's head up with a fingertip so he could kiss him softly.

As he did, he heard his phone buzzing on the night stand. He turned to look at it.

"Who's calling?" Brett asked as Eddy sat up a bit more. Eddy just answered the call instead of informing Brett.

"Hello?" Eddy said with obvious anxiety in his voice before pressing the speakerphone button. Brett furrowed his brows.

"Please tell me there's a secret trick to get her to sleep," Ray pleaded in the other end, and Brett just laughed as he realized there was nothing to worry about. Eddy chuckled a bit too, his shoulders coming down a bit.

"Sorry mate, the only trick I know of is that Brett's voice appearently is magic," Eddy said, and Brett stuck his tongue out at him.

"It doesn't work every time, otherwise I'd always have the night shift," Brett explained, sneaking an arm around Eddy's waist. "She won't sleep, huh?"

"No, and it's not like she's crying or anything, she's just awake? I feel like I can't just leave her in her crib alone if she's awake?" Ray half asked, half stated. Brett turned his head to kiss Eddy's cheek quickly.

"How much has she slept today?" Eddy asked, resting his head on Brett's shoulder. He suspected Ray hsd the same problem they had a few weeks ago, where they just let her sleep when she finally fell asleep. That was a certain way to ensure she would not sleep at night, as they discovered eventually.

"Like four hours total? I don't know, I didn't count," Ray explained, and they heard Elise make some sounds in the background. Eddy couldn't help but smile.

"Doesn't sound too bad, unless you possibly went over six hours or too close to bedtime," Brett said calmly, sneaking the hand that rested around Eddy's waist under his t-shirt again.

"Ahh well, she did sleep in the car..." Ray began, and the parents immediately saw where this was going. "I guess I just let her sleep for a bit, figuring she was just tired still. It was kinda early morning still..?"

"Do the maths again, then, is it more than six hours?" Eddy asked followed by a yawn. They heard Ray counting for himself in the other end for a bit, obviously hitting way more than the six hours they thought he knew about having babysat her for a few days.

"It's more than six, so I guess I just have to entertain her until she tires out," Ray sighed before cooing at Elise away from the phone. "Sorry to have woken you up."

"We hadn't fallen asleep yet, it's no worries," Eddy said before realizing how that would sound. Ray laughed.

"Alright you two, continue having fun. Night!"