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Jay turns over in bed with a groan. The covers that were piled on top of him fall to the floor in a heap when he kicks them away blindly.
“Hailey?” he rasps. He hears her, but he can’t quite pinpoint from where. His arm reaches toward cold sheets on her side of the bed, and he forces his eyes open slowly.
Waking up without Hailey next to him is common these days, but he has not found a way to get used to it. He still hears her, though.
“A scrub is a guy that can't get no love from me
Hanging out the passenger side of his best friend's ride
Trying to holler at me.”
When he finally realizes where her voice is coming from, Jay chuckles to himself and scoots his way out of bed. The clock on Hailey’s bedside table illuminates the dark room. 1:03am. Right on schedule.
He slides on his sweats and pads two doors down to the nursery. The soft glow of Ava’s night light seeps from the room and paints his skin a soft yellow when he leans against the door jam.
Hailey is facing away from the door in the rocking chair with the baby tucked close to her chest. She holds a bottle lazily in one hand and gazes down sleepily while the song still flows from her lips.
“But a scrub is checkin' me
But his game is kinda weak.”
He is not sure he could love her more. Jay watched Hailey become a girlfriend, fiancée, wife, and mother with a front row seat and every time he thinks he has seen her at her best, she floors him.
He just stares for a minute and listens to her sing. She never was very good- still isn’t- but it makes his chest ache in the best way. “Interesting song choice,” he whispers.
“Jesus,” Hailey startles when she hears Jay behind her. She cranes her neck back to find him half-dressed and disheveled from sleep. “Hi,” she laughs softly. “How long have you been there?”
“Couple minutes,” Jay pushes off the door jam and steps into the nursery. “Can I hang with you two for a little while?”
Hailey nods and pulls her feet off the ottoman so he can take the seat in front of her. He presses a kiss to the top of her head, humming against her hair when she murmurs, “That song has been stuck in my head, and I thought I was alone.”
“Alone?” Jay raises his eyebrows and juts his chin towards Ava lying in her lap.
“You know what I mean.”
“Mhmm,” he smiles while he settles on the ottoman and taps the plastic device on the bureau next to them, “you’re forgetting we have a baby monitor.”
“I-” Hailey pauses and rolls her eyes “-I did forget that, yeah. Sorry.”
Jay sits with his elbows resting on his legs and plays with the soft edge of the blanket Hailey has resting over herself and the baby. “It’s alright,” he says softly. “I like watching you two.”
That is all he does for the next several minutes. He sits with his arms crossed over his knees, and he watches. Hailey’s hair has grown longer since she had the baby. There has not been time or energy put towards coloring or styling it, so her usually bright blonde waves are now mixed with a light brown. He can not remember the last time she put on makeup.
Even still, her hair spills over her shoulders in the way that always makes him want to skate his fingers through it. She is paler than she would usually be during the summer, but her cheeks are flushed a light pink. Her blue eyes still shine. Jay is grateful every day that Ava got those eyes.
Hailey hums now with her gaze fixed on the baby, blinking tiredly while she finishes her bottle. “I can feel you staring,” she says without looking up. Once the bottle is empty, she pulls it from Ava’s mouth and holds it towards Jay to place on the bureau. “What?” she chuckles when she finally looks up at him to find his gaze completely glazed over.
“You’re a mom,” he breathes. “It still blows me away sometimes. You’re a mom, and it’s amazing.”
“I dropped celery on her face today while I was trying to cook and hold her at the same time.”
“What?” Jay can’t contain the laugh that bursts out of him.
“I don’t know,” she smirks back, “I just feel like you were romanticizing the picture a little bit.”
“You’re my two favorite people. I want to romanticize you.”
“Alright,” Hailey goads. She points to the clean burp rag on the bureau for Jay to hand over. “Tell me- in this romantic picture you have there, does Ava spit up on me this time?”
“She would never.” Jay unfolds the rag and leans forward to spread it across her shoulder.
Hailey rolls her eyes and lifts the baby to begin patting her back. “Right.” After about four taps, Ava spits up part of her meal through a burp. “You were saying?”
“She doesn’t mean it,” he teases. “Here, I’ll take her.”
The baby squirms in his arms when he lifts her from Hailey’s chest, and he settles her against his own before crossing the room towards her crib. “You didn’t mean that, did you?” he whispers to her as he bounces. “No, I didn’t think so.”
Hailey scoffs loudly from the other side of the room. The baby is five weeks old, and they are teaming up on her already- not that she expected any different. She drops the soiled rag into the hamper with the others and joins Jay by the crib as he lays the baby back down.
They both hold their breath as he transfers her, waiting for a cry that does not come. Ava snuffles for a minute before settling and drifting back to sleep.
“I’m so in love with her,” Jay sighs with a gentle finger tracing her tiny fist. He glances to the side when Hailey hugs his left arm and presses her forehead to his bicep.
“I’m so exhausted,” she whispers. “I’m sore.”
“What can I do?”
“Nothing,” she smiles groggily and rests her chin on his arm to look up at him. “Just listen.”
“I can do that.”
“I’m surprised I’m still standing, honestly.”
Jay glances at Ava again to make sure she is still asleep before pulling his hand from her. His fingers find their way into Hailey’s hair, tilting her head up so he can kiss her gently. “Let’s go lay down again, yeah?”
It takes no convincing to get her to follow him back down the hallway into bed. She curls up against him immediately when he picks the rumpled comforter up off the floor and spreads it out over both of them.
Hailey hooks one leg over his with her head resting in the crook of his shoulder. Her eyelids close slowly while mumbles into his chest. “I’m happy.”
“Hmmm?” Jay reaches over to move a strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face.
“I’m happy.” She looks up at him with tired eyes. “I should have said that earlier. I’m exhausted, sore, overwhelmed… but I’m happy.”
“Good,” Jay leans over to press hip lips to her forehead one last time before she closes her eyes for good. He leans over her as gently as he can to drag the baby monitor from her bedside table to his own in preparation for the next time Ava wakes up- three hours from now. He may be a little exhausted, overwhelmed, happy, too.