Co-parenting

Chapter 9

"Oh no baby, don't cry" she says and reaches for her daughter. She bounces her up and down and kisses her head. "Mommy loves you, mommy loves you"

The little girl lies her head down on Veronica's shoulder and calms down slowly.

"This is your fault" she snaps at Archie. He raises an eyebrow and takes a step back. "Mine? You yelled"

"You made me yell!"

"Kids!" Mary interrupts them "I know this is a complicated situation for you but think about Valerie. The poor little girl. It's her birthday and all her parents do is fight. You can't act like teenagers anymore. You have a responsibility"

Veronica sighs and looks at her daughter little tear stained face and then up to Archie. "Sorry" she mumbles.

"I'm sorry too"

"Good, now get your act together" Mary says before she turns back to Hermione and Hiram to continue the conversation they just had.

"Ronnie there is something I want to give Valerie now, before all the others arrive"

Veronica nods and sits down on the couch with Valerie in her lap. Archie sits down next to the girls and pulls a stuffed animal out of a bag. It's a little grey bunny.
Valerie's eyes widen while she reaches for it. She squeezes it tightly towards her body which makes Archie smile widely and his eyes glossy.

"What's so special about the bunny?" Veronica asks confused.

"My dad got it for her"

"Huh?"

Archie sighs "after our first kiss I couldn't stop talking about you. So one day my dad gave me that bunny and said 'give that to your and Veronica's first child'. I think it was more of joke but now-" he sniffs and wipes a tear away while staring at Valerie who still holds the bunny close to her.

"Archie-"

"No, it's okay. I didn't want to get sentimental. I just waited so long for this moment"

Veronica sighs and looks down to her daughter. "Do like the bunny? It's a present from grandpa Fred"

"Fred" Valerie squeals.

"Yes baby right, you're so smart" Veronica giggles and starts kissing her daughter's little head. She holds the stuffed animal into Archie's direction with a smile on her face. "Fred" she says again.

"Just know that your grandpa Fred is always keeping you safe. He watches from above like an angel" Archie explains.

He reaches his hand out for Veronica's but she pulls away.

"Archie just because you, or better your dad did something cute for Valerie doesn't mean that we're okay again. You're here for your daughter"

"Can't I be here for both of you?"

Veronica shakes her head. She lifts Valerie into Archie's lap and walks over to her mom who's just welcoming new guests.

"Your mommy is making it really hard for me" Archie sighs and kisses the crown of his daughter's head. "But I won't give up. I know you don't understand me but I promise you I will never stop fighting for your mommy"

"Mama" Valerie squeals.

Archie chuckles and places another kiss to her head. "Can you say dada?"

"Mama!"

"No honey, dada daaaaadaaaa!"

"Mama"

"Okay, we'll work on that"

•••

The day is filled with lots of giggles and cute moments. Valerie enjoys the attention a lot which makes Archie joke about how much she's like Veronica.
Around 8 pm all the party guests are gone just Mary and Archie are still there. He sits on one of the couches. Veronica across from him. Hiram is in his study. He's still just tolerating Archie. He doesn't talk to him and he doesn't look at him.
Valerie sits in Archie's lap with her head against his chest. In one hand she holds her bunny and in the other one she holds Archie's index finger. She's so tired that Archie has to lean back slightly so she doesn't fall forward.
While Mary and Hermione stand in the kitchen with a glass of wine and talk about how many of their children's habits and character traits they can find in Valerie, Archie and Veronica stare at their daughter. They watch how the sucking on her binky slows down, how her eyelids gets heavier and how she slowly drifts to sleep.

"Archie?" Veronica whispers.

He looks up to her.

"Would you mind bringing her to bed?"

He chuckles and shakes his head. He gets up slowly, holding Valerie in his arms.

"Change her though. I don't want her to sleep in that dress"

"Yes Ronnie. Don't worry, I got it" he smiles. He leans down to Veronica and hold the baby towards her. "Wanna say goodnight?"

She giggles and kisses Valerie's head a couple of times. "Goodnight my little lady. Mommy loves you"

She kisses her little nose and carefully pulls the hair ties out of her daughter's hair before Archie carries her into her room.

Veronica yawns and rubs her eyes. She lies down on the couch and her eyes fall shut almost immediately. She loves her daughter more than anything but it's exhausting to keep her happy and entertained.

When Archie comes back he sees Veronica asleep. He walks over to her and pulls a blanket over her body. He puts a strand of hair, which has fallen into her face, back behind her ear. His fingers run along her jaw. He hesitatingly leans down and places a soft kiss on her head. He knows it was wrong but he couldn't stop himself.