trueloveskid | (no subject)

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psl: neal

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It's almost time for this to be over, she can tell. Any time now, really, and she's been ready for that for days. She waddles like a penguin anytime she goes anywhere, she can barely reach her own feet to put shoes on, and even sleeping has been uncomfortable lately. She's still unsure about what comes next, but at least Neal seems to think that they'll know what they're doing.

At least she'd found a different job, as the receptionist at a salon down the street. Answering phones is something she can do, they don't care if she sits all day, and since she'd started out as a client, they already knew her when they hired her. They also said they could manage without her for awhile after the baby's born.

Which she's really hoping is what's happening now. She's had twinges all day, irregular but unrelenting, and although she hasn't mentioned them to Neal, she knows that he probably knows something's up. She's been wandering around the apartment since she got home, even when he tried to insist that she should sit, because the book and the doctor both said not to go to the hospital yet, and that being active could help the process along. Besides, she's just restless and doesn't want to sit down.

She's in the kitchen getting a drink of water when it happens. There's a release of pressure, like popping the top off a bottle of champagne (or so she imagines, having never actually had champagne), and wetness down her legs. It's a good thing she's wearing a dress.

It's time, there's no doubt about it now, and she grips the edge of the sink as another contraction, a real one now, moves over her. "Neal!"

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She looks nervously out the window during the whole drive, looking for anything that might be a threat to Henry. Namely other cars that don't stop far enough away for her comfort.

It was the city which meant that the cars didn’t go very fast and they were all crammed close together. Neal preferred not to drive while he was in the city but it was the only way to get the pair of them home safely. He found a parking spot, mostly due to the strange hour, and carefully ran over to help Emma from the car.

"I know you’re worried about Henry but I’ll get him. You worry about yourself, okay?" He spoke in a firm tone and when Emma was up right he opened the back door of the car to grab Henry. Neal would come back for their bags after Emma had fallen asleep; right now he wanted to get the two loves of his life inside and resting. Henry had fallen asleep on the car ride though Neal had a feeling that it wasn’t going to last.

"Come on." With Henry’s rocker under one arm he led Emma inside.

She slowly makes her way out of the car and into the building, trusting him with Henry. For the moment. Soon enough she'll have her son back.

Neal lead them inside of the house. He took them both straight to the room, placing Henry's cradle on the chair while he helped Emma undress and slip into bed.

"You lay down. I'll get Henry set up next to you and you can both sleep." He was going to push the cradle into their room.

She crawls into the bed, but knows somehow that she probably won't sleep more than another couple of hours. Henry's going to need to be fed at some point, and basically it's up to him when that happens.

It's noon when he gets Emma in bed and Henry asleep in the crib next to her. He decided to spend that time mulling quietly around the apartment, cleaning up and doing what he can to make it so there was less to do later.

He stashed his sketchpad and a few other items in his desk and set up his laptop to work from home for a few days. It'd be a request he made when Emma first got pregnant and he's glad that the office was alright with it.

Around 4 he'll sterilize the bottles and feed Henry. He's going to wait for Emma to wake up on her own.

She wakes up a bit later and realizes that she's alone in the room. Not only Neal isn't there, but Henry isn't either. She gets out of bed and goes to find them, to see Neal feeding him from a bottle.

"You know I can do that. It is my job, as his mom."

He glanced over to her with a crocked smile. "That's very old world of you." He stepped over to her and waited to see if she wanted to take Henry from him.

"You'll get tired of it soon enough. Don't put all of this on you okay."

It's biology. She reaches out to take Henry, who fusses for a moment until she gets settled on the couch and can take over feeding him again (the way nature intended). She pats the couch next to her for Neal to join them. "There will still be plenty for you to do."

Neal laughed. "Excuses." Though the word carried no weight with it. He took a seat and lightly kissed Emma on the head.

"Let me know if you need anything." She's going to hear him say that a lot.

"Of course I will." She knows that he likes to be able to help out, and she doesn't want to have to do it all herself. She really did mean that there would be plenty of things to do.

"You can be on diaper duty."

Neal snorted a laugh. "Do you know how often kids go to the bathroom when they're babies? I don't think diaper duty is for only one person." He was just teasing her, he'd do it if she didn't want to.

He really didn't mind.

"Do you know that?" Is there something you haven't told her, Neal?

"There's plenty for you to do with me doing the feeding, and there will be times that I'm not home and you get to do it."

"I read books." He didn't know very much from first hand experiance but he didn't discount what he'd learned while reading.

"True." Neal flashed her a grin. "Anyway, how are you feeling?" She'd notice that the apartment was very clean and that Neal had tossed a chicken to roast in the oven. It'd make left overs for the next few days which was something they'd probably need.

"I read books too, but that's no substitute for the real thing." It certainly hadn't been while she was in the process of actually pushing out a baby.

"A little bit less tired." She knows that it will be a good long while before she gets a good night's sleep again, especially given that it will be a month or more before she's healed from what she just went through. "The apartment looks nice."

Neal flashed her a smile, reaching forward and tucking a lose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I needed something to do that was quiet." He wanted to play it off like it was nothing and hadn't been his intent to help her relax. "Feel up for eating? What do you want for dinner?"

"I'm starving." She hasn't had a real meal in awhile, plus she remembers reading something about her metabolism increasing while she's lactating. "Whatever's cooking right now smells really good."

Neal smiled. "Good. It's roasted chicken. If you want to finish up with Henry I can make us plates." He pushed himself from the couch, kissed Emma's forehead and then disappeared into the kitchen. Neal was too happy to care what they did or ate. He knew it would be difficult having a baby but he was a father.

He knew now that he'd do anything for his son.

"I think he's about done anyway," she says as Neal gets up and heads to the kitchen. When he comes back in with their plates of food, Henry's dozing in his baby swing and Emma's waiting on the couch.

Neal smiled at the pair of them. Placing the plate down for him and Emma before disappear into their room. He returned a few minutes later with the carrier.

"Here, so you can eat."

She tucks Henry safely into the carrier and picks up her plate. "Now we can all be fed."

Neal laughed softly. "Want me to put on some music?" He had some classical CD's and he hadn't wanted to put on the TV or something that might disrupt Henry.

"I think Henry might like that." He had seemed to respond well to music before he was born, after all. She doesn't see why it should be any different now that he's here.

Neal nodded his head and rose to connect his ipod to the speakers. He had been able to afford it but there weren't to many high tech things in their apartment.

He put on a nice instrumental that then went into some of Neal's older classic rock collections of music.

"I think he likes it." She watches Henry while she eats, and he's sleeping peacefully at the moment. "It must be hard work being a baby."