Simple Ch. 2
Owen was home now… Weird. Amelia had fallen into such a routine with the kids being the solo parent for the month that Owen was pretty much absent and now the routine wasn’t needed. He was back. He was all theirs for the next two weeks. With Flynn and Bella at Maggie and Andrew’s for the night, that left the Hunts with their youngest babies. Bella was sponge-like, soaking up all the attention Owen could give her. Abel was just happy to be held, regardless of if it was Amelia or Owen. Amelia and Owen were in the girls’ bathroom giving Rose and Abel a bath together for once.
“Mia, what do you think about moving to a bigger house? We always talked about how we didn’t want the kids to have to share their rooms or even bathrooms if we can help it… We both make good money. We could move to a larger house in the same school district.”
“You want to move? I thought you loved this house.”
“It was a great starter home for us when we first got married. But I grew up in a small house, and you were youngest of five kids. You said it yourself. Derek was the only one who didn’t have to share a room because he was the only boy. Rosie and Abel can’t share a nursery forever and I’m sure the older two want their own space since they have their own interests.”
Amelia wiped the drops of bath water splashed from Rosie off of her face and looked at Owen.
“I haven’t thought about it to be honest. Extra space would definitely be nice. I’m not opposed to the idea. It would be bittersweet leaving the house we brought all 4 kids home from the hospital though.”
Owen flashed her a smile and gently rinsed the sweet-smelling baby shampoo from the little bit of dark brown hair Abel had.
“Of course, it would be a little sad but that just means we’d have a new home to make tons more memories in. We could have a big backyard to put a playset in, and maybe a basement that we could make into a media room and play room for the kids.”
Amelia’s eyes lit up with excitement when she thought of them getting a dog.
“We could finally get a puppy. The kids would love to have a dog.”
“Their mother would love to have a dog. We have 4 young kids, two of them being under the age of two. Are you sure we need a dog right now?”
“Hey, if we are moving houses, we are getting a dog. Remember that time those therapy dogs were at the hospital? You used it as our date. How can you not want a dog after that?” Owen knew he’d be no match for Amelia. When she wanted something, she got it. She was stubborn and ruthless like that, although he didn’t really mind.
“Mama. Milk.”
Their attention was redirected to their younger daughter who was ready to get out of the tub to start the bedtime routine.
“Do you want to take Abel and get him dressed? There is a bottle I pumped earlier that is in the fridge you can warm up if he can’t wait for me to get Rosie laid down.”
“Sure! Dad can handle the little guy while you two have your girl time.”
By the time Amelia had nursed Rosalie to her liking and gotten her tucked in in her crib, Owen already had Abel fed and asleep on his bare chest on their bed. There was something about seeing the man she loved most with their kids that drove her crazy in the best way. However she had to remind herself that while she loves him very much, he had still been absent for a month and it wasn’t something she was fond of.
“He drank that entire bottle?”
“Yeah, four ounces. He fell right asleep once he burped. I was just letting him rest on me, but I can move him to his crib if you want.”
Owen gently sat up a little straighter to shift Abel back into his cradled arms, but Amelia stopped him once she saw the baby start to stir.
“Hold him a little longer. He looks very happy to be with his daddy for once and not me.”
Then Amelia joined them on the bed and let Owen get situated once more.
“He’s amazing, Amelia. When you first had Flynn, I thought to myself ‘There is no way I could ever love someone as much as I do him’… But then you had Bellamy and my love grew. We struggled for a few years to conceive and I know it wore you thin dealing with secondary infertility. Four years after Bella came Rosalie. We were officially outnumbered but she was stunning and fit right in with the rest of us. Lastly was this miracle of a baby. I love all four of our kids equally yet differently. I’m in awe with how strong and resilient Abel has been since birth. Even with him being specially abled, he is no different than the rest of our kids or our niece and nephews. I was so damn wrong to go about things the way that I did after he was born. I wasn’t around much in a time all of you needed me. I know it’s only been one day but I want you to know how serious I am about being here again. For the next four weeks I’m going to be here every day with you. I want the chance to bond with our amazing baby and make things up to you, Flynn, Bella, and Ro. We have a beautiful family and I don’t want to take any of it for granted.”
“Owen – I think we should take a break…”
