A/N: First of all, sorry for the wait, I didn't get right into the story for some time. And I had to take care of my personal life a little too, because, well, 'certain things' have to be tried and confirmed, before I write them down ;-) Anyway, I hope you can enjoy this part and I am looking forward to the upcoming ones, as I eventually know where it's headed next. I don't mind constructive critics by the way. I sometimes feel, that people don't dare to say the slightest negative thing, because they have been attacked for it already, despite they meant well. I would love to be reminded of mistakes(grammar or story), thank you!
Hélène's first night was long and sleepless. Despite Gabriel's attempts, to calm his daughter down, so his wife could get some sleep, Nathalie woke up each time from her baby girl's cries.
"Coffee?", she asked him with a yawn, after she had taken a look out of the window, noticing that the sun was rising already.
"Shall I go and get you some? You should still hold back on the caffeine though!", he suggested, as he looked at their child.
But Nathalie shook her head.
"I'll go and make some. Maybe she will calm down, when we walk around a little bit", she said with a quiet voice, to not scare her child again, as she accidentally did the day before, "you should try to get a little rest too, Honey. It's really nice, that you stayed awake the whole night, but, as I woke up anyway, you should've slept a little too"
She kissed his lips very softly, while she held the newborn in a upright position, the tiny head resting on her shoulder.
Hélène was calm now, but fully awake and as soon, as Nathalie stopped walking or rocking her softly, she started to fuzz.
Gabriel grabbed her tenderly around the waist and pulled her closer, taking care to not hurt their little girl of course, and deepened that kiss. Then he kissed Hélène's head very gently.
"Just take it slow, my love. I would rather let you stay in bed and bring that coffee to you. You are aware, that there are still people in that house, who are getting paid to do stuff like that? Why don't you just try and enjoy to be married to a famous and wealthy man. Even if you usually don't like ordering people around for yourself. I remember slightly, how pissed you were, when I didn't let 'you' do 'your' work", he tried to convince her.
Nathalie simply smiled at him, to then tell him with a sweet voice:
"You, my dear husband, are hopefully aware, that they won't begin to work for at least another hour. Have a look at the time!"
Gasping he noticed, that it was only half past six AM.
"Well, uhm....it looks like summer is approaching fast. I would have thought, it was much later. Would you mind, if I tagged along? I know, I worry too much, but...", he brushed a few loose strands of her fringe, that was by now only a little pinkish-red from the middle to the tips, behind her ear. After he kept staring into her eyes for some time, he smiled sheepishly and kissed her forehead, then laid both arms protectively around his wife and newborn daughter.
Nathalie started to giggle when she saw him acting like this. Despite being thankful and overjoyed for the way he cared, she couldn't help but tease him a little bit.
"You know, now that you already offered to tag along, I do need someone to help me, carry back the mugs anyway! So, as you wanted me to order someone around...", she blatantly joked.
Gabriel snickered.
"I'd love to, my dear!"
Now the young mother glanced towards the bathroom, then blushed as she faced her husband with a request, that still made her a bit uncomfortable:
"I....uhm....need to change....uhm....that maternity pad first. Do you think, you can hold her for a moment?"
Gabriel started to beam widely at her. Then he leaned in for another kiss.
"My dear Nathalie, I wouldn't have let go of her yet, if I had been able to make her feel the way you do. It feels like magic, seeing you sooth our daughter just as easily as you do!"
His wife scoffed.
"Yeah, it's probably, because I'm the one with her breakfast. Or at least I hope I will be soon, if I ever will be enough for her!" Her eyes started to fill with tears as she instantly felt self conscious and as if she would be a disappointment as a mother to her daughter and to Gabriel. She just wanted to cry, each time Hélène tried to satiate her hunger and couldn't because....., well obviously because of her being a failure!
The compassionate man pulled her closer and pressed his lips to her temple. He kept them there for some time, feeling her light sobs, as he soothingly hummed:
"Shush, my love. Please don't cry. Look at her! She looks so relaxed and calm right now, though her eyes are open and she holds on to your hair. You will see, the moment I hold her again, she will start to cry!"
Nathalie sniffled one more time, then gave him a loving smile.
"Thank you, Gabriel. I don't know myself, why I overreacted like that."
She shook her head in disbelief.
Gabriel knew exactly, why she was like that. But he wanted to give her a little more time, to calm down and have her coffee, before he told her.
With a lovely smile, he now kissed her cheek again, to then carefully grab Hélène under her arms, his thumbs on the front, while his fingers gave support to her head. The baby though was still holding a strand of Nathalie's hair in a tight grasp and it took them both some time, to carefully get it untangled without hurting her.
Now the proud father placed her in the crook of his arm and said affectionately:
"Hi my little sweetheart. Do you think you can stand, being with your daddy for a moment and give mummy a little time for herself? I promise, as soon, as she comes back, you can cuddle back into her arms. Deal?"
Gabriel now laid his index finger into the newborn's palm and as soon as she grabbed it, he shook her hand very gently. The new sensation though, caused Hélène to smile at him.
Nathalie left for the bathroom, after watching hat scene with a smile. But the very moment she was alone, she felt awful again. All she wanted to do was cuddle into Gabriel's chest and cry. But at the same time, she wanted to get started for the day and show her daughter the world. She had hoped, after her child was born, she could get her emotions back under control. Then she suddenly remembered, what the chef from the hotel had said to her, that the crying would get better, after it got worse.
She had read about the so called baby-blue's, but she wouldn't have thought, it would hit her that fast and right out of nowhere. She sighed, and went to the toilet, trying to ignore the pain, when the urin ran over her sore and bruised intimates, while she couldn't believe, how long she took to pee. What nobody had told her before, and what she only would find out about later, when she would do a little research on the internet, was that after having the baby putting a constant pressure onto her bladder, she should go to the toilet regularly, best would be to set an alarm, because she wouldn't sense her bladder to be full, as she usually would.
The young mother was barely finished with everything, when she heard that Hélène was starting to fuzz again. So she hurried out of the bathroom, and almost bumped into Gabriel.
"Woah, my love, slow down. I don't want the two of you to get hurt!"
Nathalie didn't even wait for him, to finish his words and reached for her daughter already.
"Come here, precious. I'm so sorry, that I left you alone. But I am back now."
Gabriel furrowed his brows.
"Well, you didn't actually leave her alone, did you?", he lamented.
His wife looked at him and grinned sheepishly.
"S-sorry, Honey, I didn't mean it that way, I just....", she sighed deeply, "I just felt so bad, because she was about to cry again and....I......really can't bear....to hear her crying. It... hurts me.... every time!", she admitted reluctantly.
"Let's just go and make that coffee, okay? Maybe you were right and she's going to like the little walk. We could take her for a walk outside too, later. Only if you feel like it of course!"
She nodded.
"Yeah, that would be really great. But I really need that coffee now!"
Nathalie grabbed his right hand with her left, while she held her baby on her shoulder with the other, and dragged him towards the kitchen. Gabriel obeyed laughing.
The couple decided to stay at the small kitchen table to drink their coffee, both staying silent and just watched at their newborn's small movements and grimaces, at least Gabriel did, because he was able to see her face. They had been there for a while, when the still worried man reached for his wife's hand and squeezed it softly.
"How are you feeling? I mean physically and mentally? You know, you can tell me, if anything is bothering you, right? When you were crying before, I remember, that Emily went through that phase too. It's..."
She interrupted him.
"It's called baby blue's, I know and I remembered to have read about it. I just didn't think, it would happen so fast and so sudden. I-i-it's sweet o-of you, th-that you c-care so much", she struggled to speak, as she was about to cry again. "S-sorry, I..."
But the designer just smirked and squeezed her hand once more.
"Shush, my dear. As long as you are alright, I am too. How do you feel? Anything still hurting? Just tell me if so or just if you need something. I am here for you, okay?", he softly uttered.
Nathalie nodded with a loving smile, before she replied:
"I still feel a little sore and I had no idea, how much urin can burn!". she blushed scarlet red but giggled anyway. "But despite those small things, I really feel good. I would like to know, how you are doing though. You have put me in first place for so long now. I really would like to know, how you feel."
Before Gabriel could answer, they heard familiar voices in the hallway. He stood up and looked outside, seeing Marinette and Adrien, who were just on their way to the boy's room.
"Good morning!", he said quietly. "What woke you up that early?"
Marinette groaned. "We barely slept at all. My dad was feeling a little overprotective once again, and was obviously certain, that, if he can't make us leave the hatch door open, to keep us from doing....stuff...., he should sing while he was baking, so we would be aware, that he is awake and watching us. So...as we couldn't sleep anymore, we decided, to bring you some breakfast!"
She held up a bag with buns, croissants, and other baked goods.
"That's a brilliant idea!", Nathalie blurted out from inside the kitchen. Hélène flinched to that, but this time she didn't start crying,
"Sorry, my little baby, I didn't want to scare you. But you probably have to get used to people, who aren't silent all the time!"
"Yeah, me for example!", Marinette chuckled as she approached them. Then she cooed softly: "Good morning, my little BFF. How was your night?", she gazed from Gabriel's to Nathalie's face and continued with a grin, "busy I would say, if I look at your parents!"
Immediately reacting to the well known voice, the baby began to smile and kick with her legs.
Gabriel laid an arm around his wife, who had gotten to her feet to say hello, and hummed:
"It looks as if she wants to say 'hi' to Marinette too. How about you give it a try?"
Nathalie nodded and looked at the young woman.
"Would you like to hold her? She starts to cry only a short time, after I give her to Gabriel, but maybe, you have more luck in keeping her calm!"
Marinette looked hesitantly to the designer.
"I won't be mad, if you succeed, if that's what you are scared of", he chuckled. "I would just like to see anyone, who can make her feel safe and protected, so that Nath can take a break sometimes too!"
Now the teenage girl approached the new mother slowly and with her help, took Hélène into the crook of her arm. The little girl immediately began to fuzz, but Marinette started to talk to her:
"Don't even dare to start crying. I thought we were friends. Remember, when I told you, that I can't wait to meet you? Well, here we are and I am so happy that you are finally here. You could at least try to smile!"
And indeed, the baby stopped and gave the dark haired girl a wide grin.
"See, that's my little BFF!"
While the other three had watch this 'conversation' open mouthed, Marinette started to pace through the room, rocking the baby softly as she did.
"See", she told her, "life is much more fun, if you try to be positive. Everybody here loves you very much. And if anyone is ever not nice to you, then you come and tell me, and I will send Ladybug to kick their but(t)....I shouldn't use those words when I am talking to a baby...uhm yeah...."
She turned around, looking sheepishly at Gabriel and Nathalie, who, like Adrien couldn't hide their laughs.
Nobody thought about anything bad, until Adrien's phone made a notification sound and they saw him narrowing his brows, as he took a glimpse.
"What on earth does that mean?", he yelled out suddenly. "Father? Can you somehow explain that?"
He held out his phone to Gabriel, who gulped immediately.