Edie
I hold Dylan closely to my chest as I look up at the tall bus in front of me. Words can't describe how happy I am to have him in my arms now, but I'm not so thrilled about traveling home on the tour bus still, especially with a newborn.
"Edie?"
I snap my head up and see Ross standing in the doorway onto the bus. Everyone else must of got on and now I'm the last one. My brain tells me to move but my feet stay frozen, can I do this?
"What's wrong?" He's now standing in front of me, placing his hands on my arms, making me look up at him.
"I'm scared" I whisper. I'm not going to try and hide anything from him. He needs to know what's going on, how I'm feeling. Because if I try and close myself away from everyone it's not going to work.
"Me too" He admits and I relax in an instance. Ross knows what I'm going through, because not only am I a first time Mom but he's in a first time Dad too. We've both been thrown into the deep end and we're learning something new every minute since our son arrived.
"This is scary for normal couples when they bring their baby home...but we're bringing our baby to a bus before we even get home. That's even scarier for me"
"I was thinking that too but I forgot about how many people we have with us on our journey home" He wraps his arm around my shoulder and strokes Dylan's head softly. "We're altogether and if struggle we have my parents, my siblings. Someone will always want to help"
"Or they'll go insane with the crying" I giggle, but so far my boy is just perfect. He cries when he wants feeding or a diaper change or just a cuddle from someone. And then all he does is sleep, just like his Dad.
"No they won't" He says. "How can they get mad at that little face"
We step onto the bus and I take a deep breath. My whole world has changed and now I have to learn how to be a Mom and travel with my family. Not many people can say that.
Instantly Riker is in front of me holding out his hands, smiling down at his nephew. I kiss the top of my sons head and pass him over to Riker. He sits straight down and lays Dylan down on his chest. They all love him and I couldn't be happier.
...
"Night guys" Ryland waves at us before heading down to the bottom floor to head to his bunk. Throughout the last hour everyone has made their way to bed, now leaving me and Ross alone.
"Maybe we should get some sleep" Ross yawns, leaning his head on my shoulder.
"We should but I don't want to move" I whisper. Dylan has just been fed and now he is sound asleep in my arms and I don't want to make any sudden movements in case he wakes up.
"He'll be fine" Ross reassures me. "If he's anything like me he'll be able to sleep through a hurricane"
"That's an understatement" I scoff and Ross rolls his eyes at me and then holds his arms out towards me. I gently lift our baby off my chest, causing him to almost squeak and let out a small yawn as I pass him over to Ross. He takes Dylan in his arms and gestures me towards our room on the bus.
We make our way there, as silently as we can without waking anyone but I know it won't be long until Dylan needs feeding again so everyone will be woken from his cries.
I sit on our bed as Ross lays Dylan into his small moses basket that is placed at the end of our bed. I watch him look down at the small baby in front of him. His eyes wondering, watching the way his small fist clench as he sleeps, the way his small chest moves slowly up and down and how his eye lids flutter. He's looking at him the same way I have since he came into this word. How could we make something so perfect? So innocent and small and wondering how quickly the years will pass.
"Come on" My voice drags Ross' eyes away from his son and he looks at me. I pat the empty space next to me on the bed and he looks at Dylan one more time before crawling up the bed and laying down next to me. "It won't be long until he's awake again"
"I'll do the night feed" He tells me and I laugh.
"You? Ross, you said you can sleep through anything. You really think you'll wake up to him?"
"I can try"
"We'll see" I move myself down the bed next to him and Ross grabs my left arm and pulls my hand towards him.
"Your hand looks better with this on it" He grins, tracing his index finger over my ring. At first it felt like it was weighing my hand down. It felt so strange to be wearing it.
"I love it" I tell him and he brings my hand to his lips and kisses it softly. "How much did it cost?"
"That doesn't matter" He smiles at me and I know he would of spent a lot of time to find the right one. He's a perfectionist like that. "Just know that I love you"
"I love you too" I whisper. "Now can we go to sleep?"
My eyes are burning from the lack of sleep over the past forty-eight hours and I know I won't be able to keep myself awake for much longer.
"Yes" He smiles and pulls me to his chest. "We've done good Edie"
"I know"
And within five minutes we were out for the count. But apart of me couldn't wait to hold my baby in my arms again.
...
Ross
"That's my boy" I coo at my son in my arms as he finishes the last of his bottle.
"He inhaled that" Rocky laughs, watching me feed Dylan.
"He's got a good appetite"
"I can see that that" He stretches out on the seats opposite me and grabs his guitar. I take away the empty bottle away from Dylans lips and sit him up on my knee and start patting his back lightly. I try and tell myself this is natural instincts as a Dad but if I didn't have my Mom giving me tips and hints before he was even born I wouldn't have a clue what I'm doing.
We've all been up for a while now, but all doing our own thing. We're still on the move back home, Dad made arrangements to have less stops on the way, which means our TV and radio interviews have been cancelled so questions are being asked. But me and Edie have decided we're not ready to announce the birth of Dylan yet. We're going to leave it another week or two before letting the fans know.
Edie fell asleep about half an hour ago so I left her to sleep. After going through giving birth and staying up during the night with Dylan, there was no way I could watch her try and stay up during the afternoon. So the more sleep she gets the better.
"Do you want to hold him?" I ask Rocky and my brothers eyes widen slightly. He's taken such an interest in Dylan but he's the only one who hasn't held him. "He wants a cuddle with his Uncle"
Rocky thinks about it for a moment and then reaches out his hands towards me. I lift myself off the seat and slowly pass over my son over to my Brother. Dylan looks so small in his arms but my Brother soon relaxes and sits comfortably with his nephew.
"This is so weird" Rockys says, touching the tip of my childs nose and smiling when he scrunches up his face. "You're a Dad"
"I know" I laugh. "I haven't wrapped my head around it"
"I always thought it would go in order" Rocky admits. "Riker, Rydel, Me, You and then Ryland"
"I know, I think we all thought that" I say. "But everything happens for a reason"
"Yeah, and he's here now"
"I know!" I throw my head back against the seats. "Like he's really here"
"Yep!" Rocky holds up Dylan so I can see his face fully and I can feel the smile spread across my face.
"That is so cute!" Rydels voice distracts me from Dylan and I see her standing at the top of the steps with her phone in her hand. "Can I?" She asks and I nod.
We've all taken so many photos of Dylan but we know not to upload anything without coming to me or Edie first. But we need to document everything. I have many embarrassing photos of myself growing up and if my son doesn't have any then none of us have done our jobs right.
"Rocky's holding the baby?" My Mom walks up from the bottom deck of the bus and smiles over at my brother. Ryland an Ellington follow up behind her and we all sit down together. My Mom sits down next to me and holds her hands out towards Rocky. He passes over Dylan and Mom lays his head on her shoulder and rubs my sons back lightly.
I sit and watch everyone around me, smiling and laughing. Rydel and Ryland disagreeing about what to watch on TV while Rocky starts creating some new sounds on his guitar. Life couldn't be any better right now.
"I'm so proud of you Ross" My Mom whispers to me.
"Thank you"
"He's even more perfect then you were" She smiles and kisses the top of her Grandsons head.
"What?" I gasp.
"I have to be honest" She shrugs and I smile at her. I can't disagree because he is perfect.