It felt like the clouds had parted, the sun came out, the flowers blossomed, and the birds chirped happily as Beyoncé held her cleaned up baby girl in her arms for the first time with tears in her eyes. She was practically a copy of baby JJ and it made her laugh through her tears. Her heart was so full and it filled more and more every time she thought about the family that they have created (so far.) She looked from her baby girl to her husband who held the biggest smile on his face, just from watching his wife interact with their daughter. "I can't." She whispered as her tears continued to fall from her eyes. Jay immediately came closer to her side and kissed her lips.
"Congratulations, my heart." He smiled. "You're really a mother of two. You did it!" It was surreal to him that they now had two kids together. They were entering their thirties and were fully emerged into this adult lifestyle. Jay couldn't believe that he'd be turning thirty in seven months exactly. Time seemed to just drift by, but lucky for him he felt like he was thriving and not just surviving. He had Beyoncé to thank, first and foremost, but he also had his children to thank as well as his friends. They had two mouths to feed and two lives that were in their hands. They were responsible for shaping two children of the future to, hopefully, become something/someone great.
"I'm so happy right now, baby." She handed Blue to her father and Jay's eyes lit up as he eyed her.
It was love at first sight for him, she was beyond precious. "I will protect you." He whispered to her. Her eyes fluttered open as she look up at him. "Oh my God, babe, she's such a pretty girl!" He gasped. "My little princess." Having a daughter felt so crazy to him.
"She looks just like her daddy, too." B told him. Again, for the birth of their second child her family was filing into the the room one by one to welcome Blue into the world. Her mother was beyond excited to be a grandmother of two and to have yet another baby to spoil. Mama Tina spoiled JJ to the ends of the earth and she couldn't wait to do the same with her granddaughter.
"Look at this baby!" Tina exclaimed. "She's so gorgeous." Solange immediately agreed.
"You be making me want to have a baby." Solange expressed. "Because your kids are so beautiful."
"Girl, no, you don't." B laughed. "JJ didn't sleep for a year!" Jay laughed as well and nodded his head because it was true. JJ gave them the hardest time ever, but they still loved him unconditionally, life was just hard during those times.
"I'm good with just borrowing yours for a few more years, potentially my whole life. I don't know yet." She shrugged.
"Well, you can 'borrow' them whenever you want." B smiled. She loved how her children were surrounded by so much love. They had so many people that loved them and wanted to spoil them. She knew that her kids would never have to want for anything because someone was bound to get it for them.
Mama Tina was also brought to tears as she continued to watch her baby girl grow up before her eyes. Beyoncé was very grown at this point, but she'd always be a baby to Tina. She couldn't be more proud at how well off her daughters were. They had both grown to be such beautiful, phenomenal women. "I'm so proud of you, Beyoncé." Her mother finally said. "For everything you've done this far and the woman you've become."
"Awww." She pouted. "Thank you, mama. I had the best teacher. I aspire to be as good as a mother to my kids that you were to us."
"You're doing amazing, B. Don't overthink it." They shared a big hug and Tina kissed her forehead. Beyoncé held a genuine smile upon her lips and thanked everyone for their kind words and support to her. It really made all the difference.
Once B's family left, Pierre soon joined them and brought a very excited boy with him. "Mommy!" He exclaimed, seeing her for the first time today.
"Hi, baby boy. How are you?" JJ nodded and told her he was feeling good. He was just excited to see her as if he never saw her before.
"How was he, P?" Jay asked him.
"He was good." Pierre chuckled. "That's my dawg. We be chilling."
"I appreciate you." B smiled and told him to come and meet his niece. He made sure to clean his hands before picking her up. He complimented her on how adorable she was and told her that he was going to be her favorite uncle before placing her back into B's arms.
"Come here, JJ." B called. Jay helped him up onto the bed and he crawled closer to his mother.
"Look." B said looking down at Blue. "It's your little sister, Blue." She explained to him.
"Little sister?" He repeated, feeling a little bit confused.
"You're going to grow up and protect her." Jay added. "She's going to be your best friend and y'all are going to look out for each other. Y'all can play together, eat together, go to school together, and grow up together."
JJ displayed a grin and began to nod. That all sounded fun to him. He probably didn't even realize how much he'd wanted a sibling to play with. "You're going to be a great big brother." B told him followed by a kiss on his forehead.
After three days of visits from their friends, tests, monitoring, and anything else they needed, the Carters were ready to be discharged. They were so happy to be going home and welcoming their fresh baby to their fortress.
JJ felt some sort of happiness to have a baby around. He had just recently turned two, so he didn't fully understand the concept of their family growing, but he was displaying signs of excitement. JJ smiled and held his arms out. "I hold the baby." He kept a smile on his face as Jay pulled him into his lap.
"You have to be very careful, Jay. She's fragile and we don't want her to get hurt. She's not big enough for you to play with her yet." B reminded him. JJ nodded his head. B handed Blue over to Jay who made sure to assist JJ in supporting her neck.
"Hi, Blue Blue." JJ widely grinned. B and Jay both laughed at his simple greeting, although it was insanely precious. B grabbed her phone to take some photos of one of their first interactions. She vowed to be a mom that took a lot of pictures. She wanted her kids to look back when they were grown and see themselves grow up. He leaned in to give her a hug and it made them nervous, but they allowed him to express his newfound love to his sister, just being sure to protect her in the process.
They gushed as they watched the way JJ interacted with his baby sister. He seemed so fascinated, yet he was being so gentle. Blue had even begun to fall asleep in his arms. "Let me put her to bed, JJ." B said reaching for Blue. "You're doing such a good job being gentle, baby. I'm really proud of you." She smiled. "Say 'good night' to Blue." JJ smiled and bid her a good night. B kissed him and again thanked him for being so sweet and gentle with her.
B walked Blue to her bassinet and hoped that she decided to stay asleep for a while because it was getting late and she was extremely tired herself. Thankfully, Blue stayed asleep and B took that as her time to take her clothes off and get into her night mode.
B sat on the bed and swung her feet around gently as she got fully inside. Her abdomen was still hurting and she was beyond tired. "You okay?" Jay asked as he had just come back from putting JJ in his bed. He glanced over at Blue who was sleeping in her bassinet next to their bed and smiled.
"I'm okay." B said. "I'm just sore and tired as hell."
"Go ahead and go to sleep, baby." He told her. "I'll finish everything up downstairs, then come back and hold you." He said referring to doing the dishes and cleaning up. They were really good with teaching JJ to clean up after himself and put his toys away, but there was always something else to clean behind him, like the mess he always left after eating.
"Thank you, baby." B smiled. Jay gave her a hug and kiss on her forehead. "I love you so much. Are you coming to bed when you finish?"
"I love you, too, ma. Yes, I'll be up when I'm done. I know you want to be all up under me right now." B chuckled because he was right.
"I sure do!" She said and then let him walk out and do his thing. She didn't realize she was so tired that she was sleeping before he even finished cleaning up, which was around thirty minutes. She felt him get in the other side of bed and immediately woke up to snuggle close to him and wrap her body around his. He kissed her softly and whispered to her how much he loved her and she repeated the same before drifting off back to sleep.
Blue was already proving to be an easier, more manageable baby than JJ. B hated to compare the two of them, but when she looked over at Blue who was quietly lying in her rocker taking in her surroundings, she couldn't help but to think of how different things were with JJ at this point. Although only weeks had passed, Blue was still able to just stay awake and chill out without any crying or carrying on.
Since Blue's arrival, JJ had been different as well. He was more... helpful, in a sense. He started to remind B more and more of Jay the way that he was always so thoughtful and so caring, despite his age of only two years old. He always wanted to share with Blue. When she was in her rocker, he would sit in front of her, show her his toys and play with her and talk to her. JJ still wasn't the most fluent speaker, but he tried his best to speak clearly enough to talk to her and teach her the things that he knew, so she could understand him. It was beyond sweet and adorable. They could see that JJ was really giving it his all already. Jay couldn't be more proud. He wished that he and his siblings had gotten along more, but they just didn't. He barely even communicated with his siblings anymore. He doesn't want his kids to end up like that, so seeing them get along so early had him thinking positively.
"Come here, baby Jay!" B called from the kitchen. He quickly stood to his feet and followed his mother's voice, leaving his stuffed lion with his sister and letting her know that he'd be right back. He answered 'yes?' and smiled at her. "Hi, baby." She smiled back at her adorable son. "Time to eat."
"Blue has to eat too." He said immediately with a frown.
"Baby," She chuckled. "Blue Blue eats something different. She drinks milk, just like you used to."
"No... she wants Hot Pocket." The seriousness in his voice mixed with his baby 'accent' made her burst out laughing.
"She cannot have a Hot Pocket, Jay, it will hurt her tummy." B explained. "Soon she will be able to eat the same things as you, but she has to get bigger first. So, no feeding Blue your food. Got it?"
"Got it." He sighed dramatically and climbed into his chair. "I wish she could have Hot Pocket." He said with another sigh that made B cackle. He had obviously been on a Hot Pocket kick as of lately. It was what he requested every single day. Either the ham and cheese or the pepperoni, no other flavor. She made him some fries as well and poured him some barbecue sauce for them. B, however, made her and Jay some chicken salad sandwiches from a rotisserie chicken Jay brought home and some classic Lays. She didn't have a chance to call him to the kitchen because he was already on his way in, holding Blue in his arms.
"Is it time for her to eat?" Jay asked. Since Blue rarely cried, it was almost hard to keep track of her feeding schedule because she didn't always cry when she was ready for her next meal.
"It's time for you to eat." She said and placed his plate at his seat at the table. "I'll feed her."
"You sure? You need to eat, too, B. I can do it real quick, so you can have a chance to sit down." She shrugged him off and just told him that she would eat after she was done breastfeeding because she needed to pump anyway. Jay was satisfied with the answer and sat down in his chair next to his son. He'd only been eating for 5 minutes and already looked a mess. "Slow down, boy." Jay said with a laugh. One would've thought that JJ hadn't eaten in weeks. "It's not going anywhere." He only got a wide grin in response to his statement.
"Hi, pretty girl." B cooed softly as she caressed Blue's hair that was already starting to curl up. Her eyes fluttered open and closed as she fought her sleep. "You're so precious, Blue Blue." B hummed a tune to her as she rocked and burped her.
"Baby." Jay called as he peeked his head into their room. "Come on and eat. Let me put her to bed. I don't want you to go insane thinking that you're doing everything by yourself. I'm here to help you, ma, just let me help."
"Thank you, baby." She smiled. "She's sleeping, I appreciate you though. I'm gonna lay her down now and come eat. I promise, I won't neglect myself again."
"I'm so proud of you." Jay came over to give her a sweet kiss. "You're doing so good. We're going to do so much better this time around. We got this, baby." He knew how things went last time and he refused to let B get in her own head again. He reminded her how well she was doing every chance he got.
"We got this." She repeated and actually believed it this time. Their life was going well and she was extremely confident that it would be staying that way.
After laying Blue down in her crib, B made her way back to the kitchen to get her food. "Here, ma." Jay said as he made her plate and sat it on the table. She thanked him with a kiss and sat down. "Do you need some time alone or do you want me to chill with you?"
"Come chill." She said and Jay sat down at the table with her.
"Mommy?" JJ came and stood beside her. He waited for her to answer with 'yes, baby' before he said what he wanted. "Can I sit with you?"
Jay answered for her with a hard 'no' and told him to leave her alone so she could eat. B waved Jay off and told JJ it was fine for him to sit with her. She picked him up, letting him straddle her legs, wrap his arms around her, and lay his head on her chest. She already knew he was tired and would be snoring on her very soon, so she really didn't mind picking him up. Jay shook his head at his spoiled son. "How can I say no to my baby?" B asked Jay with a fake pout as she caressed JJ's head with her free hand.
"I just want you to be able to eat and chill without having a baby attached to you." He told her.
"It's fine, baby." B chuckled. "I'm a mom now, there's not a lot of things I can do without a baby attached to me. I don't mind it though. I love my children."
"I love them too, but that doesn't mean I don't need a break sometimes."
"I appreciate you, baby. I'm alright though. If I need a break, I will tell you." She smiled and reiterated. "I promise." Things really felt different this time. They hoped and prayed that it would be easier and it all had come true and it turned out to be the most beautiful thing in the world. Their picture perfect family. It gave them goosebumps.