Michael: I winced as Ella threw her bowl of peaches on the floor from her high chair and began crying…..again. I picked her up and began to shhh her and pat her back.
"C’mon sweetie…stop crying for daddy, please?!" I was begging to my 13 month old daughter…what am I doing? I went to the phone and called my wife, who was at a party for work.
"SHE WON’T STOP CRYING!" I begged. Ella squealed and began crying harder. |
"Just go upstairs to her nursery and turn on her singing nightlight. Sit in the rocking chair and rock her. You can do it," she said. I nodded and hung up. I trailed upstairs with my wailing baby and went to the nursery.
Man how many tears can such a tiny person produce?
I turned on the nightlight on the dresser then sat down in the pink rocking chair and laid Ella on my shoulder. She kept crying and I just began to rock.
I was so close to crying too. I was such a bad dad. I couldn’t even get my daughter to stop crying…what was I going to do when she cried over boys? My wife was so much better at this and I just failed.
I stopped thinking for a sec and saw Ella was fast asleep. God was she beautiful. I smiled and kissed her forehead. I held her there on my chest for a few more moments before making my way to her crib and laying her down gently. “I love you, Ella,” I said as I closed the door to her nursery.
Calum: I was juggling my wailing son, Thomas, and his still cold bottle when I heard my wife call ‘Good bye’. I dropped the bottle and ran for the door just as she drove away.
"Crap," I huffed. I was home… alone…with my son…who now was crying, wailing actually. Okay, what does my wife do when he’s crying? God she’s so much better at this than me. What was I thinking…I could be a father?
I looked over at our pool. Thomas loved the water….I got him into a swimming diaper and I got into my suit and went outside. I climbed down the stairs and held him close as I dipped just his feet. His reddened eyes lit up and his mouth quirked up. I smiled and sighed in relief. “Good man.” I blew in his face and dipped him under a bit. He came back up, confused at first but then he smiled. I held him at my side and touched his soft black hair. “I love you, bud,” I laughed.
Ashton: “IZZY NO!” I yelled when I saw my baby ripping my sheet music on the coffee table. I went over and picked her up. She began throwing a huge fit and crying and wailing. I looked over at the clock: three hours until my wife came home.
"Okay Iz…it’s ok…c’mon baby, stop…" I cooed to no effect. She kept crying. I began bouncing her, I put her in her baby rocker, and even making funny faces…nothing.
"Let’s try a bottle?" I said. I mentally face-palmed myself. Izzy was a few months old, she has no idea what Im saying.
I warmed one up, sat on the couch, and put it near her mouth. She stopped crying long enough for to notice the bottle and bring it closer to her. “Isabella, please drink the bottle…” I whispered. I put it up to her mouth and she actually began drinking!
Usually my wife did this stuff and I just played with her. This was the first time I had fed her, I realized. What kind of father was I? Horrible one…that was for sure.
I looked down and saw she was fast asleep. I smiled and wiped a tear from my face. She was so pretty. She had my eyes and hair color. She’d have all the boys chasing her. But for now she was mine. “I love you, Isabella Rae Irwin,” I smiled as I watched her eat.
Luke: I huffed out a breath and promised myself not panic as I held my son, James, who had just bang his head on a wooden chair.
"It’s ok, it’s fine…you’re okay," I kept saying over and over. He cried on my should, my shirt becoming wetter and wetter. I bounced him in arms. My lovely wife wasn’t due home for another few hours. Could I last that long? I laid on his blue baby blanket with his toys everywhere and hoped he’d stop crying. I think he actually began crying harder. I looked down at him and I put my face in my hands, frustrated and angry at myself.
What was I doing? I began to think, my eye brows furrowed and tongue between my teeth.
Suddenly, I didn’t hear crying. My eyes widened as I looked down at James, who was no longer crying. He had that baby-confused face on. I huffed out another breath and then he giggled.
"You like funny faces?" I said in baby talk. I made another funny face and I had him laughing. We kept this going for a while. Finally he yawned and figured it was bed time. I picked him up and kissed his short, blonde hair. "I love you," I whispered to him. He smiled in reply.