Ramiel doesn't care that we're in another state when he starts his fussy grunts, waking me at his usual morning feeding time. I groan as I roll over, but my not getting enough sleep has nothing to do with the baby. Getting up, I smile when I look back at Prince who is still sleeping peacefully. Yeah, it's his fault, I think to myself. He was the one that initiated the encore performance last night, but there's no way am I'm going to complain. When I return to the bed with Ramiel, I feel Prince stir beside me, cuddling his body along mine, he makes the struggle real for me not to fall back asleep again. When I finally roll over to switch breasts, I wake Prince by tracing his upper eyebrow with my finger. His eyes open slowly and he blinks a few times. With his raspy morning voice and a soft smile, he says, "Good morning, Sugar."
"Good morning, and Happy Anniversary," I whisper back.
He grins, "Happy Anniversary," first, he leans to kiss me, before he bows his head to kiss the top of Ramiel's as he nurses. "My loves," his hushed whisper barely audible as his eyes travel back and forth between my face and Ramiel. "What time is it?" I frown, his sudden question throws me as he sits up in bed to get a better glimpse at the clock on my nightstand. "You have a massage appointment in a little over two hours," he says as he kisses my cheek, then uncovers himself to exit the bed. I smile as I watch his little butt flex as he walks to the bathroom, but I have to bite my lip to keep from snickering when my eyes travel down to his socks. I shake my head, that will never cease to amuse me.
Two hours later, Prince and Ramiel are dressed, but I remain in my robe so I'm ready for when the masseuse arrives. Since we have eaten, but Ramiel hasn't since first thing this morning, I'm in the process of pumping breast milk when she arrives. Prince, who looks just as natural and comfortable toting Ramiel around as he does his guitars, arrives at the elevator doors to escort the masseuse to the bedroom for her to set up.
With two fresh bottles of milk waiting, and Prince reading to Ramiel, the masseuse lets me know she's ready. I mouth the words, 'thank you' to Prince before I head to the bedroom, he smiles with sparkling eyes, but only nods subtly. The man is generous by nature, yet seems uncomfortable to accept thanks or gratitude for his actions, but I always want him to know I appreciate him.
Ninety minutes later I exit the bedroom, relaxed as a wet noodle. Prince chuckles when I cozy up next to him on the sofa, placing my head on his shoulder. He sets his book down, "Was it good?"
"I may or may not have fallen asleep," I confess. Prince rests his head onto mine and chuckles. I move my eyes to Ramiel who's now snoozing away in the portable bassinet. I know why, as I look at the bottles I had left, both contain just a small amount of milk left in the bottoms. When the masseuse exits the bedroom carrying her table and supplies, I sit up knowing the gentleman that Prince is. Sure enough, he's across the room and offers to carry the table to the elevator now that he's not holding Ramiel. The masseuse declines, so instead, he just escorts her to the elevator doors. I hear him thank her, and see a folded bill passed to her before the doors close. When he returns to the sofa, I stand, "I better get dressed. We have dinner reservations, I assume?"
"We do," he says, glancing at Ramiel sleeping, then follows me into the bedroom.
"I have to take a quick shower," I remind him, "Massage oil."
"I know," he says, but this doesn't stop him from watching me take one, or helping me by picking out my undergarments and finally a dress.
When I sit down at the vanity, he selects and secures some of my hair loosely away from my face while I apply my makeup. "You spoil me," I tell him when I'm ready, he just kisses my cheek, grins, and struts proudly from the room when he hears Ramiel start to fuss.
Within a respectable amount of time we are ready to go. Prince totes the diaper bag and our light jackets, just in case, while I carry Ramiel. We have just stepped into the elevator when Ramiel sneezes again, I look at Prince, "Gotta love the south," I say. We have only been here one night and I've already had to take an Allegra for my allergies. "The one thing I didn't pack is his snot sucker," I condemn myself.
Prince scrunches his face, "Ewww." When he recovers, "We can pick one up on the way to Angel's," he suggests. Once the valet brings the car and we get Ramiel settled, we're on our way.
With an infant saline nasal kit in hand, we arrive at Angel's place within the hour, Marcus's car is already parked in the drive. Just as I'm stepping out of the car, I hear Angel's squeal as she opens the door, but Derik manages to get to me first. With a fierce hug just like his mother's, he grins when he releases me, turning his attention to the back door where Prince is removing Ramiel. "Can I hold him?" Derik begs.
Angel moves in for her assault on me as Prince answers Derik calmly, "Yes, you can hold him when we're all sitting down."
I fill Angel in on Ramiel's sneezes when she questions the box I'm still holding, "I should probably do this first."
"Poor baby, he's just going to hate that," Angel says in baby talk as she scoops him from Prince's arms.
"Nice to see you, too, Angel," Prince scoffs.
"Face it, Prince, you're no longer the main attraction," Angel punctuates her remark by sticking her tongue out.
I see just a flash of hurt cross Prince's face, but I know Angel was just being Angel, not meaning to be hateful. I kiss his cheek and take hold of his hand, whispering in his ear, "You'll always be my main attraction."
The bashful smile returns, "Thank you, Sugar," he replies and quickly sticks his tongue out at Angel.
"Stop it," I laugh under my breath and roll my eyes.
"She started it," Prince mumbles.
I flash him a look and shake my head. "You two are like siblings, I swear, " I sigh as we follow our confiscated baby back into the house.
In the house, no one seems to be in a hurry for our 'reservations' so I assume I am the only one not in the know. When I'm able to get Angel to release her hold on Ramiel, I take him into the bathroom to perform the nasal rinse. Prince follows to help, and since neither one of us knows how this is going to go, we're both apprehensive. After I read the directions, I have Prince hold him over the sink, he looks as unwilling to be participating in this possible torture as I am. "I'm sorry, sweetie," I apologize to Ramiel before I start, spraying the saline into the first nostril. Ramiel's eyes get big and he sucks in a big breath of surprise through his mouth, but when Prince talks to him softly, he calms. Relieved that he didn't cry, I move in to spray inside the other nostril, he reacts the same way while watching me closely. Before I can reach for the suction bulb, he sneezes. Both of our faces contort with a mixture of awe and horror, Ramiel has shot an unreal amount of mucus from his nostrils. Ramiel reacts to our reaction, his breathing shudders, his face scrunches and he looks like he's about to cry. "No, no, no," I soothe, "don't cry."
"Clean his face," Prince says with urgency. His beautiful face is still contorted in disgust and he's starting to look a little green.
Even I'm grossed out as I try to quickly wipe away the sticky mess. "Oh, my, God, there's so much," I say in a loud whisper as I get another tissue. "No wonder you're sneezing, you little booger machine," I laugh to take my mind off of the grossness of the situation. With the words 'booger machine', Prince relaxes enough to laugh, causing Ramiel to mimic us with his toothless grin. We repeat the whole process, except this time I'm able to use the suction bulb. When we deem him snot-free, we return to the living room.
"I'm amazed," Angel says when we return with a calm baby, "he didn't even cry once."
"Nope," Prince says proudly with his chest puffed out. I snicker to myself, since we were the ones that really struggled with the whole messy ordeal.
Derik drops to the floor, "Can I hold him now?"
Prince places Ramiel onto Derik's folded legs, then sits beside him on the floor to supervise, both children are in awe of one another, the scene is endearing. Derik inspects Ramiel's little fingers, and talks to him softly while Ramiel watches Derik with fascination. Prince and I exchange amused glances before I look toward Angel who's intently watching Derik's interactions. I look away before she catches me watching her, but from my peripheral vision, I see her take Marcus's hand. I wink at Prince and his eyebrows do a quick dip. He doesn't know the reason for my wink, but since I'm beaming, he purses his lips in a kissy motion at me.