“Why are you crying?” Noah asked, walking into your bedroom with two bowls of ice cream that you requested.
You sobbed, “I’m having a baby.”
“Yeah...” He sat the bowls down on the side table and sat next to you, “Is everything, okay?”
“Fine. Perfectly fine.” You wiped your eyes and rested your hands on your belly, “I was just thinking about how cute he will be and his little toes and fingers and the little sounds he’ll make and--
“Calm down, babe.” He laughed, pulling you to lean against him. “It’s very exciting, I don’t want you to get worked up about... nothing.” Noah kissed the top of your head and took his turn at rubbing your belly.
“He’ll probably have dark hair like you. I hope he looks like you. I hope he’s tall and oh my god, what if he has curly hair?!” You cried out, “And he has a big smile that takes up his whole face?”
“That all sounds great, I’m sure he’s going to be the cutest ever.” He pushed a few hairs from your face and wiped off your cheek.
You held your hand up, pinching your fingers together, “His little baby finger nails are already formed, he is already a baby, he isn’t just a little alien blob. He is the cutest baby I’ve ever seen on a sonogram.”
“I think it’s time for you to go to sleep.” He squeezed his arms around you, “You’re getting a little emotional.”
“But just--
“Babe, no. Bed.” He slid down in the bed more and pulled the blanket over the both of you. “Think of his little shoes he can wear.. and little socks!”
“Little everything, he’s a baby.” Noah grabbed your hand and kissed it. “You get to meet him in one week, we’ll be able to see all his fingers and toes and his hair and you can put little socks on him.”
You calmed down after a while, listening to Parks and Rec playing lightly in the background. Noah pulled his book from the side table without moving you off of him and read while his fingers rubbed little circles on your belly.
Noah woke up and his book was next to him, somehow propped open on the page he stopped on.
The baby monitor next to him showed a baby, wiggling around in his bed and crying. He noticed it was 4am which meant it was feeding time.
Without waking you he went and got him, changed his diaper, had a conversation with him and brought him back to your room.
“Baaaabe, someone’s hungry.” He nudged your shoulder, holding the baby against his chest. “I can’t do what you do, so you need to wake up a little bit.”
You groaned and stretched your arms, pushing yourself against the headboard. “Do I have to open my eyes?”
“No, I will try my best.” He smirked, laying the baby on your lap while you just pulled your shirt up. “Okay, boy, let’s eat.”
You cradled him in your arms a bit, helping guide him until he seemed to bite down. “Got it.” You mumbled, making yourself comfortable.
“Go to sleep, I’ll watch him.”
“It’s hard to go to sleep when someone is literally biting my nipple.”
He tried to contain his laughter as he knew you were serious. “Do you need anything?” You shook your head no. “I’ll wait till he’s done then I’ll get him back to sleep.”
Thirty minutes later you laid the baby on your lap and pulled your shirt down, wiping his face off with the hem.
“Need anything?” Noah whispered, picking up the baby. You nodded your head no and he left to the kitchen; you could only assume he also wanted a snack.
He went down the stairs, flipping on a light as he hit the bottom one. “The quicker you burp, the quicker I go to bed.” He told the baby, patting on his little back.
Noah took a look in the fridge, then in the pantry, back in the fridge and once more in the pantry before grabbing cereal and pouring it in a bowl.
“Alexa, play baby lullabies in the kitchen only.”
“Alright.” The robotic voice said, “Playing from playlist, baby lullabies, only in the kitchen.”
A soft song took over the kitchen and he turned the main light out leaving only the oven light on as he stood at the island and ate his cereal. The baby kicked around and wiggled as Noah tried to convince him to burp, but he never did.
Fifteen minutes later he was sitting on the island, still patting the baby’s back, humming along to the song playing. “C’mon, dude. Just burp or like.. anything.”
Thirty minutes later he was pacing in front of the oven, holding the baby different while continuing to try and make him burp. “If you don’t do this your belly is gunna hurt and you can’t cry to me about it.”
“Okay, you can cry to me about it. But it will be all your fault-- thank you.” He sighed as the little boy burped the smallest burp and coughed. “
Usually he was back to sleep in no time, but not tonight. Noah had rocked in the chair with the TV on and with the TV off, he walked, he swayed, he stood still, he put him in his swing and he put him in his bed; all with no success.
“Duuuuude, it’s almost seven in the morning, you’re eating in another hour and I’m really tired.” Noah whispered, “Please, please, please go to sleep.” He pulled him from the swing and watched the baby’s eyes search the room before landing on his face. “Please go to sleep, for daddy?”
He sat back down in the rocking chair and began pushing to rock. He pulled his phone from his pocket and found something to read on it while he hoped the baby went to sleep.
“Oh you wanna go through daddy’s emails with him? That’s so nice of you.” He scrolled his email, deleting a bunch immediately before responding to a few, reading some out loud and scanning a few scripts he had been offered. “Oh I could play a young dad who is raising a little boy on his own… or a college frat boy who invents a dating app… or even a biker who wants revenge on the people who killed his parents…”
He caught himself dozing off as he read one of the scripts, quickly noticing the baby was finally asleep.
He silently, “yesssssss”-ed out loud before sneaking up the stairs.
A little nightlight lit up the corner of the nursery as he laid the baby down on his cream colored sheets, sucking on a pacifier. He double checked the baby monitor before heading back to bed himself.
He tried to get into bed as gently as possible but you still turned over and looked up at him, “Did he burp?”
“Two hours ago.” Noah laughed, “He’s a little shit, he wouldn’t go to sleep after that.
“Sorry, usually he’s back asleep fine.”
“Not your fault, babe.” He pulled the comforter over himself and you as he scooted closer. “We read my emails together and he went right to sleep.”
“You could have gotten me up, I know you have an interview tomorrow… today.”
“And they’ll ask about the little dude and I can say I was up till seven thirty in the morning with him so they’ll have to edit my tired eyes. You don’t have to do it all.” He kissed your forehead, “I think I can make it with a little less sleep than normal.”
10am rolled around quicker than ever.
Noah brushed his teeth and ran his fingers through his damp hair while you grabbed a quick shower before he left.
“Interview at eleven, lunch with management at one thirty or something, let me know if you want me to bring any lunch home after that!” He yelled over the sound of water as you rinsed out your hair. “I’ve got seven minutes till my car is here.”
Seven minutes of alone time.
@NoahCentineo: This little dude kept me up all morning but he’s cute so I guess I forgive him.
“You posted a picture of your little boy on instagram earlier today, who you still haven’t named publicly, saying he kept you up all morning?” The interviewer asked, sitting on a chair opposite him in a brightly colored room.
“Yeah, little dude woke up to eat at four in the morning and would not go back to sleep until after seven or something.” He laughed, “I tried everything I could think of and I started reading a work email out loud and he passed out.”
“Is he usually fussy or is he pretty good?”
“He’s usually awesome, he goes to sleep right when you start rocking him. I don’t wanna jinx it, but he’s been great so far.” Noah smiled. “He has his moments, but, so far so good.”
“What’s your favorite part of being a dad so far?”
“That’s so weird to hear still.” He laughed, “Ugh, I love just watching him…… just looking at him and watching him take in the world. Looking at his little fingers, little toes, little every thing.”
“So you like being a dad so far?”
“I love it, I love every part of it and I love watching my fiancé be a mom and I love watching us all grow and I just think it is awesome.” He smiled, even bigger than he was before, “It makes me smiley.”
