Chapter Text
Alessia watched Leah walk up and down at the end of the bed, singing softly to Emilia. She couldn’t quite hear what she was singing. Alessia lifted her head to try and hear a little better without alerting Leah to the fact she was awake but she couldn’t help but burst out laughing when she heard what Leah was singing.
North London Forever.
Of course. Leah looked over at her with a little panic in her eyes. “She needs to learn,” she defended herself, adjusting her hold on Emy so she could hold her more protectively.
“She’s four days old,” Alessia laughed.
“You can never start them too young,” Leah kissed the top of her head, “It’s North London Forever, isn’t it?” she whispered, “Whatever the weather.”
Alessia shook her head, “Did you actually put her in her crib after I fed her?”
“She wasn’t sleeping,” Leah justified, kissing the top of her head again, “She always sleeps better like this,” she checked her watch, “We’re coming up on two and a half hours now.”
She turned over and stared at the clock in disbelief. Emy hadn’t slept more than just over an hour in her life yet without getting hungry. “Don’t jinx it,” Alessia laughed.
“It would be very developmentally appropriate for her to wake up soon,” Leah whispered.
Alessia shook her head. She was too exhausted and in pain to remember much from the baby books at the minute. Thank god, she had Leah. She was doing everything. Alessia hadn’t even breathed in the vicinity of a dirty nappy yet. She lived in bed and only moved to go to the toilet, shower or have a bath and even that was painful.
Leah turned out to be right. Emy was awake and wanting food just thirty seconds later. “You jinxed it,” Alessia shook her head at her, teasingly
“It’s developmentally appropriate,” Leah repeated, pouting as she walked over to Alessia and passed Emy to her after she’d sat up in bed properly. Emy latched easily and Alessia noticed the pain in her boobs for the first time. Leah glanced down, “Do you want me to get the pump?” she offered, “It’s pretty common to start overproducing now if you do overproduce.”
“Yes please,” Alessia smiled, pulling Leah down into a quick kiss.
“I’ll Facetime you to pick breakfast and bring the pump up with the food,” Leah told her, her hand gently brushing some hair off her face.
“I love you,” Alessia smiled. She really did. So much. She had the best wife ever.
“I love you too,” Leah kissed her again.
Alessia picked her phone up off the bedside table, adjusting Emy so she could hold her phone and still feed her. She always liked to see the kitchen to know what they had in before she decided what to eat and Leah had started the Facetime habit the first morning after they got home from the hospital without her asking or even suggesting it. Alessia was really falling in love with her all over again.
“Okay,” Leah smiled when she answered the call, “The fridge,” she flipped the camera as she went to open the door.
“Wait,” Alessia stopped her before she opened the fridge door when she noticed something new stuck to their fridge, “What’s that laminated thing?” she asked.
“It’s nothing,” Leah went to open the fridge again.
“What is it?” Alessia insisted, “I can’t move to come down there and find out, it’s just me-”
Leah groaned and focused the camera on the pieces of paper, “It’s a guide to how you organise everything in the kitchen so I don’t get it wrong, I took notes,” she mumbled.
Alessia laughed in complete disbelief, “You took notes.”
“You’re very protective over your fridge and cupboards,” Leah laughed, “This is your domain and I’ve been left in charge, I don’t want to fu- mess it up.” Alessia shook her head. Of course, she took notes and created a guide, laminated it and stuck it on the fridge. “I’ve already been teased enough by our mums, okay?” Leah mumbled, opening the fridge, “What do you want to eat?”
She looked at the fridge. It was perfectly organised. She hadn’t noticed that in her exhaustion. “Scrambled eggs,” she suggested, “Is that smoked salmon there?”
“Got it,” Leah smiled, putting her phone down on the counter and getting everything out of the fridge. “Do you want sourdough or normal toast with it?” she lifted the options up.
“Sourdough,” Alessia yawned, “And coffee please.”
Leah gave her a joking salute, “Coming right up, Lessi.” She kept her on the phone while she made everything. She always did that, it was good to desensitise Emy to the cooking noise and Leah insisted that she never wanted Alessia to feel alone at the moment. Post-partum depression was another thing that Leah was very worried about.
Alessia ate while Leah burped Emilia. Leah had milk and a bowl of cereal on her bedside table for when she had the time to eat. It was a slightly busy day. Her mum was popping over with milk. Between her and Leah’s mum, they hadn’t had to leave the house once because they’d bring them anything they needed. The two of them loved the excuse to visit.
They weren’t having many visitors for the first couple of weeks and their mums were the one exception. The two of them were also video calling into the morning Lionesses meeting to surprise them and let them see Emy through the screen. It was too risky to have them all visit or to visit them, Emilia had a very weak immune system still. The call was probably going to be just after Emy woke up from her nap.
Neither she nor Leah couldn’t get the pump working so, thank god, her mum decided to show up early. “I wanted to get it to you before you ate breakfast,” Alessia could hear her telling Leah while she fussed over the baby that was asleep in her baby wrap. It was her favourite place to sleep, against either of them. Leah sent her up to help while she put the milk and cereal away in the kitchen. Her mum was a lifesaver.
“I could save you a night feed,” Leah commented as she transferred the milk into one of the freezer bags.
“You need to wake me up when you give her her first bottle,” Alessia yawned, lying down a little more, “I don’t want to miss it.”
Leah smiled at her, “I’ll wake you up only for the first time,” Leah told her, kissing her cheek and brushing a hand over her hair, “You have time to grab like forty-five minutes of sleep,” she murmured, “I’ve got her.”
“You sure?” Alessia checked. She could feel her eyes slipping shut.
“Always,” Leah kissed her cheek again, “Do you want me to come back or do you want to just get some sleep?” she asked gently, “I need to hoover and everyone says that it’s a good idea to do it while the baby is sleeping to get them used to it.”
Alessia laughed a little, shaking her head, “Go hoover,” she told her.
“Perfect,” Leah leaned over, her hand supporting Emy’s head as she did and kissed her properly before she left, turning the light out as she did. Alessia found herself falling asleep almost instantly. Her body really needed it.
She was woken up by a very apologetic Leah, “She woke up the second I turned off the hoover,” she complained, “Apparently, it made her remember that she was hungry.” Alessia laughed a little, sitting up and taking Emy from Leah’s arms robotically.
“Can you grab the pump for the other side?” Alessia asked, looking down, “How long was she out for?”
“A couple of hours again,” Leah smiled, sitting on the bed next to her after passing her a breast pump. She’d very clearly washed it out and dried it perfectly already.
Alessia rested her head on her wife’s shoulder after she got everything set up. “I love you,” she murmured.
“I love you too,” Leah kissed the top of her head, “We’ve got about half an hour before Sarina calls us,” she spoke quietly as she opened her phone and checked Instagram. Deliberately going slowly so Alessia could look at it over her shoulder. She’d been doing that for years, Alessia had a bad habit of looking over her shoulder. “Do you want me to get anything out for you?” she was speaking very slowly, “Like clothes or um something.”
Alessia lifted her head, trying to figure out what her wife was thinking about getting her. Some make-up would be ideal, she hadn’t had a chance to get her lashes done and she wanted to cover up her eye bags and a hairbrush. Leah looked so nervous. “Were you going to offer to get me make-up and then panic because you thought I’d get offended?” she laughed.
Leah’s face fell, “Stop reading my mind,” she pouted, “I know you like wearing it but I didn’t want you to feel like you’re not beautiful because you are,” she kissed her cheek, “You are so so beautiful.”
“Do I get make-up, a hairbrush and a hoodie without the endless compliments?” she asked.
“Never, my beautiful wife,” Leah kissed her properly, just a quick peck before she got out of bed. “Which hoodie of mine do you want to steal?” she asked, going to their wardrobe first.
“What hoodie have you worn recently that doesn’t have spit-up on?” Alessia asked.
“How are you defining recently?” Leah laughed. She ended up with one of her old Arsenal hoodies. The black one from before Alessia joined the club. It was one of Alessia’s favourite hoodies. Leah laid Emy down for her first-ever tummy time while Alessia brushed her hair. She wasn’t particularly happy about it but she had to stay there for three or four minutes. Leah moved her back so she was lying right next to Alessia on a pillow and lying down on the bed in front of Emy on her own stomach.
Leah turned her head so she could look Emy in the eye, her face very close to Emilia’s. She didn’t have very good eyesight yet so close to her was the only way that she’d see them. “Hey, we’re okay,” Leah whispered, her hand brushing over her little back. Alessia smiled down at them, putting her hand down and rubbing gentle circles on Emilia’s back with her finger. Emy calmed down a little, focusing on Leah. “Hi baby,” Leah laughed, “You’re so cute,” she brushed her finger over her little nose.
Alessia put her brush down, throwing her hair in a bun and grabbing her phone to take a couple of photos before she filmed her wife. Her perfect wife is a perfect mum. She loved them so much. Alessia thanked god that she made the decision to put on waterproof mascara. She looked up at the ceiling, trying not to cry. Her hormones were still all over the place.
She felt Leah’s hand land on her, rubbing a little pattern over her hip. “You’re not helping,” Alessia laughed, wiping her eyes, “You being too perfect is what’s making me cry.”
Leah laughed, leaning over Emilia very carefully and kissing Alessia’s cheek. Emy fussed, clearly not happy with the development. “I’m sorry, Emy,” Leah laughed, lying back down next to her, “I’m here,” she brushed her thumb over her little nose again. Alessia smiled down at both of them, rubbing a small circle on Emy’s back again. She didn’t know how she was going to make it through watching her wife do this two or three times a day.
She had barely pulled herself together by the time they were calling Sarina. “She’s still so tiny,” Sarina cooed when Alessia turned the phone so she could see Emy in Leah’s arms. She’d asked Alessia a lot of questions about how she was doing before asking to see Emilia, “They grow so quickly at that age.”
“I feel like she’s already doubled in size,” Alessia laughed.
“I have no idea how she fit inside Alessia four days ago,” Leah kissed the top of her head gently.
“I thought the same with both my girls,” Sarina smiled, getting a little distracted when someone grabbed her attention, “Okay, I’m going to hand you off to Holly because she knows how to put you on the big screen,” she told them.
They could hear Sarina introducing the matchday minus one talk to the team and then her telling them that they had a surprise guest but they all needed to be quiet. Alessia giggled a little at that as Leah positioned it so only Emy was on screen, it looked like she was sitting up by herself but she was leaning Leah’s legs and Leah was carefully supporting her head and neck while covering her ears in case of very loud reactions.
Alessia laughed to herself and made sure to take a little screenshot of the Facetime screen. Leah bit her lip to keep from laughing. Sarina was telling them that their special guest was joining the meeting online. Then Emilia clearly appeared on screen judging by the loud reaction that was quietly quietened, all of them changing to whispering their reactions. Emy looked very confused and she clearly didn’t like the position that Leah had her in that much. Leah let Alessia lift her up and picked up the phone. “Hi,” she smiled, angling it so both she and Alessia were on screen.
“Hi,” Alessia waved a little. There were a lot of quiet ‘hi’s chorused by the team then a bombardment of questions.
“Okay, okay,” Sarina took control, “One at a time, press conference style, hands up if you have a question.”
“Hey, Ella's met Emilia! She shouldn't get a question!” Leah heard Beth shout before being aggressively shushed by the whole team.
“Don't worry, you guys she's awake,” Alessia laughed, “Though probably not for long, she just slept through Leah hovering half the house so you can make noise, we’re trying to desensitise her to it so she's a good sleeper.”
Alessia dragged herself out of bed into the bath after the call. Emy had fallen asleep on her chest and Leah settled her carefully in her cot before she helped Alessia with her bath. “Thank you,” Alessia murmured, she needed to wash her hair and Leah doing it for her was so insanely relaxing.
“No problem,” Leah leaned over, kissing her softly. Alessia smiled into the kiss before she glanced at the baby monitor. Emy was still sleeping peacefully, her little thumb now in her mouth. “She’s good,” her wife whispered reassuringly, kissing her neck gently before she went back to massaging her scalp as she made sure that the shampoo was in her hair properly. Alessia’s eyes slipped shut.
“I love you so much,” the words fell from her lips almost involuntarily.
Leah laughed a little, “I love you so much too, Lessi.”
Emy took the next tummy time a lot better. They followed recommendations and laid her on a blanket on the floor, right in front of a mirror. Her little face in the mirror as she looked at herself was too funny. “We’ve got to take her first mirror selfie,” Leah sat behind her, beckoning Alessia closer. She adjusted slowly, laying down on the bed so Leah could get them all in the photo. They took one with them smiling and then pulled their more common poses for mirror selfies. Leah got Emy to stick her tongue out in one photo, she always stuck her tongue out after having a finger or something to suck on.
“That’s my favourite,” Alessia laughed, looking at the photos that Leah had instantly sent her. Leah sent a quick follow-up of a photo of them early on when they had started dating. They had been doing a fit check in the mirror and they took a silly one with their tongues sitting out. “Oh my god,” Alessia looked at the two photos side by side. Six years, moving clubs, a house, an engagement, a marriage and, now, a baby in between.
She reached out for Leah, slipping her fingers under her chin and turning her head so she could kiss her properly, “I can’t believe how much has changed,” she whispered.
“The best change in the world,” Leah smiled as she turned away. The timer was going off and the four minutes were up. She picked up Emy and carried her back to bed with them.
The next day was the Nations League Final. It was against France at Wembley. That was the evening, though, and before that, they had to take Emilia for a blood test. On her fifth day of life, she had to have a heel prick test to check for genetic problems such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease. It was just the walk-in centre a five-minute drive away but Alessia couldn’t really get down the stairs let alone get in the car and do everything required of her to go to the health centre.
“Which is why I’m here,” Leah reminded her, “She has two parents to share the load of raising her and you grew her for nine months and you feed her every meal and I look after you and take her to this appointment.”
“I’m her mum, I should be there,” Alessia insisted, trying to get out of bed but Leah stopped her.
“I will keep you on the phone the whole time but if you slow down your healing, that does no one any good,” Leah told her calmly, “One of her mums will be there, she doesn’t need both of us, focusing on your health makes you a good mum.”
Leah was so calm and she felt insane. She took a deep breath, she couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her cheeks. Leah’s arms wrapped around her and she buried her face in her chest. It was how her mum ended up coming over to stay with her. “Leah’s right,” she told her, pulling her into a hug.
“I know,” Alessia admitted, “But everything just feels all over the place.”
“I know,” her mum murmured, pulling her into a hug.
She could hear Leah and Emy on the other end of the phone. Emy was already in her baby carrier before Leah went to the car. “We’re on our way,” Leah announced, she could hear the car door shut and Leah’s phone connect to the car's Bluetooth.
“Good,” Alessia took a deep breath, leaning against her mum. She pressed a kiss to the top of her head like she would kiss Emy.
It took them less than five minutes, there was no traffic. Leah switched to Facetime as she attached the baby carrier to the pram and added the nappy bag to the base before she went inside carefully. “She’s all good,” Leah announced, showing her the inside of the baby carrier while she walked.
There was barely any time in the waiting room too before ‘Emilia Russo-Williamson’ was called. “You’re walking very well for someone who gave birth five days ago,” the nurse commented as Leah walked in.
“My wife gave birth,” Leah explained quickly, “She’s here.”
“I’m so used to dads being dragged in by their wives, I’m sorry, I just assumed,” she apologised quickly, looking very embarrassed, “Thank you for following the doctor’s orders and actually helping her heal.”
“She’s right here as well,” Leah held up her phone, “She was very worried.”
“Nice to meet you, mum,” the nurse smiled at her, waving, “This one is very easy,” she explained, looking right at her, “Normally, baby doesn’t even notice it.”
She was right. Emilia didn’t even wake up, just wriggling a little before she was comforted by Leah brushing her thumb over her nose. Her wife was so perfect and Alessia breathed a sigh of relief. “We’ll send you the results in a few days,” she explained.
Leah was home in just seven minutes and Alessia had Emilia in her arms. Everything was okay. They decided to announce Emy’s birth before the match. She didn’t want to be in the photo so Leah took a little selfie in her small make-up mirror with Emilia wearing the toddler-sized England shirt that they’d been given and Leah wearing her own shirt. It had a ‘23’ on the back but couldn’t fit her name. In the selfie, only Emilia’s little feet were visible with the angle cutting off Leah and Emilia’s face. Emilia was curled up in the centre of Leah’s chest. They made a joint post on both their Instagrams.
Emilia Russo-Williamson, 30 May 2026
five days old and very ready for her first england match
Alessia ended up falling asleep for the build-up much like Emy who was enjoying her favourite nap spot on Leah’s chest. She completely understood where Emy was coming from. Alessia fell asleep with her head resting on her wife’s legs. Leah was the perfect nap spot. According to Leah, in the build-up, there was a lot of congratulations for them and Alex shamed a couple of pundits into apologising over criticising Leah for not joining the England camp. She’d already met Emy over Facetime and was very protective and proud of Emilia already.
She woke up as they were making an apology for the comments made by Mary Earps earlier on in the programme. “Don’t worry, I made a note of the timestamp,” Leah laughed, replaying Mary’s interview. Alessia had no idea who thought it was a good idea to send Mazza on the media rounds. Khiara had been put as keeper for the match, Alessia guessed that she was sent out because she was one of the senior players not needing to prepare herself for the match.
“Obviously, we’ve all heard by now that you’ve had the newest member of the Lionesses join you-”
Mary smiled brightly, “We’re all so happy to have Emy finally here, Alessia is being rightfully well taken care of by Leah and Emilia is too cute.”
“We’re all very happy for you,” the journalist smiled, “And what do you think of the criticism that Leah shou-”
Mary interrupted her, “It’s completely fucking absurd, if she was here, I’d want her stripped of her captaincy. Alessia gave birth five days ago, she was in labour during the semi-final. Leah would’ve been distracted, she wouldn’t have been playing at her best and, most importantly, her wife would have been alone while in labour. If Alessia didn’t get rid of Leah, then I would’ve done it for her because that’s not fucking acceptable.”
The reporter sounded very stressed, she’d already tried to interrupt a couple of times, “I just want to remind you that we are live and it’s before nine o’clock,” she laughed awkwardly.
“Sorry,” Mary apologised.
“Obviously, you mentioned Leah being distracted there-”
“We don’t need to listen to this,” Alessia whispered, knowing they were going to ask about the Champions League final.
“No, keep listening,” Leah laughed.
Mary sighed, “Did we watch the same Champions League Final?” she laughed, “Because in the final I watched, Leah played one-hundred and twenty minutes, had a ninety per cent pass accuracy, won six ground duels, seven aerial duels, sent forward fifteen long balls and fucking fourteen of them were accurate and only lost possession five times. She was fucking amazing in that final and she conceded one goal, it wasn’t her fault and-”
“Again, Mary, I’m going to have to remind you that we are live,” the reporter sounded incredibly apologetic.
“Sorry,” Mary apologised again but she didn’t sound that sorry. The cameras cut away and back to the studio.
Alex had her head in her hands, “Again, we would like to apologise for Mary’s poor language the-”
Leah switched the programme back to live and Alessia couldn’t stop herself from laughing as the girls walked out. It was Alex and Ellen in the studio looking so disappointed that set her off. Her wife passed her a glass of water. “Are you going to believe Mearps about the final?” she asked, drinking small sips of water.
“Shut up,” Leah muttered, kissing the top of Emy’s head, “I’ve already texted Mary to shame her for her bad language in front of the baby so don’t tell her that I replayed it.” Alessia laughed, shaking her head as she sat up a little more, resting her head on Leah’s shoulder.
It was a difficult match. France was determined not to lose another Nations League Final. France scored early and England only managed to equalise just before halftime so they didn’t get much of a chance to use the momentum off that to push for another. Alessia started to feel very guilty about not being there. Leah did too. Both of them could be there helping out on the team. The guilt only stopped when Emy squirmed in Leah’s arms and reminded them she was there until the end of halftime.
“Maybe we’re better here,” Leah smiled, kissing Emilia’s forehead before handing her off to Alessia so she could feed her.
“We’re definitely more needed here,” Alessia agreed, brushing her thumb over her forehead gently as she fed her.
It went to penalties. Mary was subbed at the last minute to handle them over Khiara. She was always the better keeper at penalties, they weren’t quite Khiara’s area but Sarina couldn’t bring on their best penalty-takers alongside that. Leah was trying to figure out the list in the final minutes. Obviously, G took the first penalty but Chloe and Hempo had been subbed off earlier on in the game plan. Maybe, Fran. Aggie should have a good penalty on her, LJ as well. Their best penalty-takers weren’t on the pitch.
Leah paced up and down with Emy in her arms. Emy could definitely feel the stress in the room and she wasn’t happy about it. “Okay, Ella is saying that G, Millie, Fran, Alex and Aggie first five,” Alessia told her and Leah let out a deep breath.
“That’s not a bad line-up,” she murmured the words into Emy’s hair, rocking her a little.
“Stop blocking the TV,” Alessia told her. She was standing right in front of the screen and it was too painful to move to shove her out of the way, “Not all of us are completely mobile.”
“Sorry,” Leah moved to the other side of the room as the final whistle blew. Penalties. Penalties at Wembley. “This feels like the Finallisma,” she whispered.
Alessia shook her head, “It’s worse,” she swallowed, “I could do something then.”
France took the first penalty. Bacha stepped up to take it. Mary stood in goal, looking strong but Bacha sent her the wrong way. Leah covered Emy’s ears as both of them swore. “Okay, I want the emotional support baby,” Alessia decided, holding her arms out for her daughter. Leah didn’t complain, handing her off easily.
“I was starting to not trust myself,” she laughed, “My hands are so sweaty.”
Alessia smiled, breathing Emy in and feeling herself calm down a little. “I’ve got you, Emy,” she whispered, kissing the side of her head, rubbing her back and trying to calm her down. She started to relax a little.
G stepped up next and Alessia leaned forward, willing the ball to go in. It did. She covered Emy’s ears, “Thank fuck,” she collapsed back again in the bed.
Diani’s went in but Millie’s was saved. Mary saved them by saving Renard’s, jumping up and sticking her tongue out in her classic celebration. She almost forgot to give Fran the ball. Fran scored. 3-3. “I hate this, I hate this,” Leah paced up and down, still careful to not block the TV. Alessia wanted to move so badly but her core was already screaming at her for just leaning forward in her stress. She needed some ibuprofen. Could she have ibuprofen?
She was so distracted that she missed Le Sommer scoring. “Did it go in?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Leah told her absentmindedly.
Alessia took a deep breath, swallowing as Alex stepped up. Don’t get distracted. It was saved. She looked over at her wife, she was squatting with her head in her hands. “The crowd doesn't sound happy,” she whispered.
“Saved,” Alessia told her.
“I can’t take this,” Leah stood up, turning to face a wall, “Who needs to score for France?”
“Geyoro,” Alessia announced as she walked up. It was 3-2. If Geyoro scored, France won. That simple.
Leah nodded, “She’s good,” she whispered, “She scored against Mackenzie Arnold at the World Cup.”
“That’s making me feel so much better,” Alessia muttered as Geyoro put the ball down. She stepped back slowly before running up. It was like the ball moved in complete slow motion before it shook the back of the net.
“In,” Alessia spoke quietly, shaking her head. The guilt was back. She held Emy tightly. What could’ve happened if they were there? Should Leah have stayed with the team? The pain in her core made itself more and more known.
“Are you okay?” she came back to the world a bit more, Leah’s lips were pressed against her forehead.
Alessia shook her head, letting Leah lift Emy out of her arms, “I accidentally did sit-ups,” she told her, “I don’t know if I can have painkillers.”
“You can have ibuprofen,” Leah helped her sit up and move down the bed, lying down, “I’ll get you some,” she kissed her forehead.
“I should ca-”
“Just lie down for a moment,” Leah murmured, “They won’t be off the pitch for a long time anyway.” Alessia nodded. It was so painful and they’d just lost the final and maybe if she’d made a different choice, her friends wouldn’t be upset. The ibuprofen was only in the bathroom and Alessia swallowed it quickly. Her body was just starting to feel more like her own again and out of nowhere there was so much pain.
Leah sat on the bed next to her and Alessia turned over. Her wife played with her hair softly. The TV had been turned off. They lost and her body was in pain. Could she play football again? “It’s only been five days,” Leah reassured her, reading her mind, “You’ve barely even started healing.”
Alessia nodded, taking her hand and kissing it. Jesus Christ, her hormones were all over the place. One thing went wrong and her head just went completely all over the place. She felt a little insane. Leah was there though. She had no idea how people did this alone. She cuddled up to her more. Her arm wrapped around her tightly.
They had the same little routine for the next few days. Emy was pretty happy with her first bottle the next morning and Leah looked so happy and so beautiful while she fed her. Alessia took quite a few photos and a couple of videos. She was so insanely in love with her wife. The next day, she was even more in love with the line-in though. She slept for five hours uninterrupted. Five hours. She needed it so badly.
When Emilia was eleven days old, they had a health visitor for the new baby review. Just tips and advice on everything baby-related. It was around lunchtime and it was the worst time when she actually got there. She was breastfeeding. “Don’t panic, I’ve got it,” Leah pressed a kiss to the top of her head before disappearing downstairs.
She could hear her talking to the woman at the door and explaining that Alessia was breastfeeding. Her phone rang and Alessia quickly picked it up. “Do you want a visitor?” Leah asked.
“You are completely okay to say no, Alessia,” the midwife added, “Leah’s offered to show me her nursery.”
She glanced down at her bare chest, “I think it might be best to show her the nursery,” she smiled.
“Okay,” Leah smiled, “I will show her our bottle cleaning and making and the breast milk freezer too.”
Alessia smiled, breathing a sigh of relief. Leah was giving her time and she knew that Leah could handle showing her around. She’d talk forever about her freezer set-up and bottle-cleaning process to anyone who would listen. She hung up the phone and just focused on feeding Emilia. She was burping Emilia when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” she called out.
“Burping’s my job,” Leah took Emy from her and the little blanket. Alessia laughed, shaking her head.
“How are you doing, Alessia?” the midwife smiled, leaning against the wall.
“Do you want me to-?” Leah offered, “You two can talk.”
Alessia shook her head, it was fine. Leah knew everything anyway. She answered the midwife’s questions and asked her own. She was too tired to remember much but she knew Leah would remember everything. It was why she wanted her there. The midwife ended by telling them how well they were doing looking after Emy and Alessia could only breathe a sigh of relief. Leah high-fived her when the midwife left before moving Emy’s hand so she could high-five her and then moving it so Alessia high-fived her.
After four days of line-ins, when Emy was twelve days old, she felt human, her body felt more like hers. She had a shower instead of a bath and didn’t need Leah’s help and she made it out of the bedroom and downstairs a little to collapse on the sofa instead of her bed. It was the first time she moved for a long time even though the stairs were hell. “I’ll carry you back up them,” Leah told her casually, moving the sofa so she could see the kitchen better.
Alessia laughed as she finally saw the kitchen. She missed the kitchen. Leah had kept it very in order and she missed cooking. Leah moved Emy and her bassinet downstairs so she could join them too. Alessia gave Leah instructions as she made some fresh, non-frozen food. Fresh food just tasted a little bit better. Leah was still having frozen food, the meal was a little too fancy for her so she ended up with dino nuggets and smiley potatoes.
“You are going to have to eat your meals behind our kids' backs when they are younger,” Alessia laughed, “I need them to have a more sophisticated taste palate.”
“That’s fair enough,” Leah laughed, “I can hide my dino nuggets,” she smiled, popping a potato smiley in her mouth.
“That’ll be too ho-” Alessia didn’t even get to finish the sentence, Leah was spitting it out and panicking to grab a glass of water. She collapsed back laughing, “You just took that out of the oven!”
“I wasn’t thinking!” Leah fanned her mouth, drinking the glass of water quickly, “That was so hot,” she panted.
Alessia couldn’t stop herself from laughing at all. “This is not helping with the pain in my core,” she covered her face.
“I’m so sorry,” Leah told her semi-sarcastically.
“You need to take the pasta off the heat,” she prompted.
Leah did so, clearly still recovering. “How is it out of these two meals I fuck up the dino nuggets and potato smileys?”
“I think you failed at eating them more than you failed at cooking them,” Alessia laughed.
“You’re enjoying this too much,” Leah shook her head at her.
“It’s very funny to watch a full-grown adult struggle to eat children’s food,” she giggled. The sun was also brighter in the kitchen. She felt so much better. Alessia rested her hand on Emy’s stomach. She was going to grow up here with laughter. Leah moved over to her, taking her focus away from Emy for a second and kissing her softly. And love too. So much love.
“I love you,” she murmured against her wife’s lips.
“I love you too,” Leah smiled, “And I love you,” she leaned over, kissing the top of Emy’s head.
Alessia brushed her thumb over her nose, “We love you so much,” she told her.
Leah actually nailed cooking it, quite impressively, and Alessia managed to eat it without injuring herself, unlike her wife who managed to burn herself on the tray trying to tip the nuggets and potato smileys onto a plate. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she muttered, eating her food with one hand and running the other hand under the tap.
“You did very good cooking,” Alessia told her, trying her best not to laugh.
“Thank you,” Leah looked a little proud but also looked very annoyed at herself, glaring at the food on her plate before she ate it.
Leah did end up carrying Alessia back up the stairs. Alessia was wiped from laughing and giving Leah cooking instructions and her legs still weren’t quite cooperating with the stairs. Plus, it was always fun to have Leah carrying her. They left Emilia downstairs with the baby monitor. She’d just finished eating and she was always happy to lay in her cot for a couple of minutes then. She had a few minutes when she was awake and they wanted to take her into her nursery for the first time. Leah walked back upstairs with her just as Alessia pushed open the nursery door.
They hadn’t taken her in yet because she hadn’t wanted to miss it. “Wait, she needs to see her name on the door first,” Leah stopped her.
She laughed as Leah ran over, holding Emilia up, right in front of her name. Her eyesight still wasn’t very good so Leah moved her across slowly so she could read the whole thing, supporting her head carefully. “That’s your name,” Alessia told her, “Emilia, e-m-i-l-i-a.” Leah moved her back across, showing her each letter again as Alessia said it.
Both of them giggled as Alessia opened the door. Leah held her so she was looking out at the room as they walked in. “This is your room,” Leah told her, “You won’t move in here for a while though.”
They laid her down for tummy time with some of her toys. She focused on Leah who was acting out a little scene with two of her soft toys. Alessia took a couple of photos before sitting down for a moment. She still wasn’t back at full strength at all. After five minutes, Leah turned Emy over and she was a lot more happy on her back, kicking her feet. Her wife got a smug smile on her face and Leah knew exactly what she was going to do.
Alessia spotted the little soft ball by the cot at the same time as her and Leah stuck her foot out to pull it towards her. She stood up to get a different angle, filming, as Leah kicked the ball perfectly on target to Emilia’s little feet so Emy kicked it back. “Her first kick!” Alessia cheered.
“Absolutely nailed it!” Leah laughed, controlling the ball and kicking it over to Alessia. Alessia smiled, it wasn’t an easy ball to work with but it still worked. She then angled it to kick it back to Emy, hoping it would deflect off her kick to Leah and it did, perfectly. “You haven’t kicked a ball in a month and you do that with a soft toy!” Leah complained.
Alessia laughed, “What can I say, some of us have natural talent,” she controlled it again, doing a few keepie-uppies before shooting it back to Emilia in the same way. Both she and Leah cheered when she kicked it back to Leah with quite a bit of force. Emilia looked a little confused but didn’t fuss at all, she seemed to be enjoying it.
Leah took the phone from her as she kicked the ball over again and the camera was pointed at her, she did a couple of keepie-uppies again. Alessia smiled to herself, she couldn’t believe how much like herself she felt again with a ball, even a soft toy at her feet. She kicked it over to Emilia again who kicked it back to Leah.
“We need to get you a proper ball,” Leah smiled, “Already back in balling form.”
“Shut up,” Alessia muttered but she couldn’t keep the smile off her face. Emilia wasn’t happy anymore though and she tried to bend down to pick her up but she didn’t have that back yet. Leah took over, instantly handing Emy to her. She smiled, hugging their daughter close and kissing the side of her head. “I think she’s tired again,” Alessia noticed her eyes slipping shut.
“Midday nap,” Leah smiled.
Before they went to sleep but after Emy was asleep in her bassinet, they were taking the sleep when the baby sleeps thing seriously, they weren’t sleeping at night, Leah edited the little video to keep Emy’s face out of it and they posted it to Alessia’s story with the little caption back at it already.
The next day, Emy was two weeks old. Leah claimed that she was going to try and make a cake to celebrate. Alessia made her way back down to the sofa to supervise, Leah hadn’t moved it. She was wearing Emy in the wrap again while she slept. “I think this might be the most stressful thing we’ve done in a while,” Alessia laughed, looking down at the recipe.
“It’s cake,” Leah smiled, a little too confidently, “It can’t be that hard.”
Alessia took a deep breath, “We’ll see,” she muttered, “You need two hundred and nineteen grams of flour,” she told her.
It was chaos. At least it was fun. Alessia had to take Emy from Leah and the baby wrap ended up in the wash while she wiped flour off her face. “I don’t even know how it got here,” Alessia whispered to her, kissing her nose and forehead gently.
Despite the mess, Leah managed to get it in the oven with not too many problems, collapsing next to Alessia on the sofa. “Nailed it,” she smiled, holding out her hand for a high five. Alessia lifted Emy’s hand to give her a high five. Leah took hold of Emy’s hand, kissing it gently and then kissing Alessia’s hand.
“I wouldn’t say nailing it but okay,” Alessia smiled and Leah gasped, dropping her hand.
“Is there not a cake in the oven right now?” she pointed out.
“Got to make sure it rises and doesn’t burn,” Alessia shrugged, “And you have to make buttercream which isn’t easy.”
“Challenge accepted,” Leah smiled smugly, standing back up and going over to the mess in the kitchen. She cleaned it up, taking the butter out of the fridge and checking the cake through the oven door about every thirty seconds. Alessia did her best not to laugh while she watched, feeding Emy as she did.
The timer went off and Leah dropped everything she was holding to move towards the oven as quickly as possible. Alessia giggled to herself. “Your mummy’s so silly,” she whispered to Emy, kissing her forehead softly.
Leah heard her and glared at her as she took the two cake tins out of the oven. “Do you think these are done?” she showed them to Alessia.
“You have to do the poke test,” she told her, “Out of the oven and onto the counter and then there’s a little thing you can use in the drawer.” They had risen perfectly but that didn’t mean it was cooked. “In the middle,” she prompted.
Her wife was so cute and focused to make sure she got right in the middle, sticking it all the way in. She pulled it out and paused, “What does that mean?” she looked over at her. It was completely clean.
“It’s cooked,” Alessia laughed and Leah cheered, smiling proudly. It wasn’t even a cake that Leah particularly liked, it was chocolate cake, Alessia’s favourite. She smiled to herself. Her wife was truly her favourite person. Emy fussed and Alessia lifted her off her boob to burp her.
“I’ve got it,” Leah noticed, walking over and lifting Emy out of her arms, “I need to wait for them to chill before I add the buttercream,” she rested Emy on her shoulder. Alessia smiled, relaxing back and pulling her bra and jumper back on.
Getting the cake out of their tins proved to be a challenge. Alessia ended up doing it for Leah but Leah applied the icing. It was a good cake, a really good cake. She was obsessed with the cake. Leah had actually nailed it. Her wife looked insanely smug, watching her eat the cake. “If you made this before we got married, I think I would have made the same mistake as you with the nuggets and chips incident,”
“Did you really just call my proposal the nuggets and chips incident?” Leah laughed in complete disbelief, “And did you just reduce the most divine and heavenly food on the planet to just nuggets and chips?”
“They were just nuggets and chips, Le,” Alessia shrugged.
“Don’t you even dare,” Leah warned, “Those aren’t on the same level as some crap from McDonald’s or something, they are beautiful.”
Alessia shook her head, laughing at her wife, “You’re more pissed about the nuggets and chips than the proposal,” she pointed out.
“I knew I fucked that one up in the moment,” Leah murmured, dropping her head.
She laughed, leaning over and kissing her temple, “I still loved it and I got to steal the good proposal.”
“I feel like I should get more credit for organising all that,” she muttered.
“I’m sorry for stealing your plans,” Alessia told her, not too sincerely. Leah still pouted a little. She leaned over and kissed it away.
Over the next week, she started to get a lot more mobile around the house. Leah was doing the morning feeds from the pumping and the sleep was helping her heal, her body felt so much stronger. She’d also, with a lot of insistence, managed to persuade Leah to sleep through one night feed a night. They were still in the newborn phase so the only visitors that they had were their parents. When Emy was seventeen-days-old, she decided that she was ready for a walk.
“Are you sure?” Leah checked.
“I’m sure,” Alessia laughed, “I am feeling so much better.”
“Okay,” Leah brought out Emy’s stroller and packed the nappy bag while she fed her. They wanted to take her out just as she went down for a nap.
Alessia couldn’t stop smiling as they made their way on their usual walk, down to the park in the middle of the city. It wasn’t far and they moved slowly with Leah pushing the pram. She was in almost disbelief that this was her life now. They’d first done this little walk maybe three months into when they’d started dating and now this. She felt so much love for her little family.
She kissed Leah just as they walked into the park, “I love you,” she murmured.
“I love you too,” Leah smiled brightly, pushing the pram with one hand and wrapping her arm around Alessia, pulling her into her side. Alessia rested her head on Leah’s shoulder. They made the walk short, Alessia’s legs started to feel tired and Leah had to take Emy out of the pram and put her in the baby wrap when she got fussy. She didn’t want to sleep anywhere else.
Alessia kissed the top of her head gently as Leah finished securing her. Emy immediately calmed down. “She’s got her priorities straight,” Alessia laughed, “Only wants to nap against you.”
“I wouldn’t want to nap in a pram after being comfy and warm for nine months,” Leah kissed the top of her head and took hold of Alessia’s hand, her other hand supporting Emy’s head before she looked down at the pram. Alessia hid her laugh as she looked between Emy, Alessia and the pram. She’d run out of hands.
She tried to pull her hand away but Leah kept a tight grip on it. “I’ll figure it out,” she mumbled.
“You only have two hands, Le,” Alessia laughed.
“I’ll figure it out!” she insisted.
“The baby wrap’s meant to supp-” she tried to point out but Leah glared at her.
Leah stared very determinedly at the pram and Alessia discreetly pulled her phone out of her pocket, opening the camera and turning on the video. She filmed Leah’s hand holding hers and then Leah’s hand cradling Emy’s head before lifting the camera to film Leah’s determined stare at the pram. It took Leah a couple of seconds to notice the camera.
“No,” she went to push it away but she didn’t have any available hands, “Lessi.”
“What’s the problem?” she asked, trying her best to not laugh and completely failing.
Leah shook her head, “It’s not a problem,” she insisted.
“I could push the pram,” Alessia suggested.
“Don’t you even think about it,” Leah tugged her away from the pram, stepping in front of her to stop her from grabbing the pram.
She eventually decided to kick the pram all the way home. Alessia said nothing, it was a fairly good effort and it didn’t hit either of their ankles so she’d take the win. It was very difficult to go around corners though. Alessia couldn’t stop giggling most of the way home and Leah mostly just glared at her but it only made her laugh more. Leah didn’t look intimidating to her at all.
They reached the little step into the house and Leah glared at it like it had murdered Emy. “Just let go of my hand,” Alessia tugged her hand away, taking her keys out of her pocket and opening the door.
“Mean,” Leah pouted, lifting the pram up the stairs and through the door that Alessia opened for her.
“I’m sorry, Le,” she kissed her softly.
Leah still pouted though, moving the pram to the side and crouching down in front of her. “Don’t move, though,” she grabbed her foot, undoing her laces for her. “Still annoyed at you,” she muttered, “Lift your foot,” she told her so she could pull her shoe off. Alessia laughed to herself and Leah glared at her again, moving onto her other shoe.
“You know I can do my own laces now,” she told her, “No longer got a bump in the way.”
Leah shook her head, taking her other shoe off and then standing up and just kicking off her own shoes. She couldn’t properly bend down to reach her own shoes with Emy strapped to her chest. Alessia shook her head at her, wrapping her arm around her and pulling her into a hug, kissing her temple. “Sorry for letting go of your hand,” she whispered. Her wife just hummed an acknowledgement of what she said, hiding her head in her neck. “Seriously, if people knew how soft you were,” Alessia murmured, dropping a kiss to the top of Emy’s head before stifling her yawn.
“Let’s get you to bed,” Leah suggested, “I could give her a bottle when she wakes up.”
Alessia yawned, lifting Leah’s wrist and checking her watch, “Yeah, I think that’s a good idea,” she agreed.
Leah kissed the side of her head, “Proud of you,” she whispered, “You’ll be running in no time.”
They kept on with the walks every day, slowly building back up her strength while still giving space for her body to heal. Their moms joined them on a couple of the walks, their dads occasionally too and then Jacob joined them for one but it was her brothers joining her after a week that changed everything. They’d given up on the pram after the second walk. Leah carried the diaper bag on her bag and Emy on her chest.
Not only did Emy prefer it but Leah preferred it too, Alessia lost count of how many kisses she dropped to the top of Emy’s head. They were worried about Emy overheating in the heatwave so they mostly left her in just a nappy under the baby wrap and she adored the almost skin-to-skin contact more than any other nap in their now air-conditioned house. She wore thin little onesies with cute little patterns that Alessia was obsessed with at home. Both of them just remembered what the GP had told them, a cold and crying baby was better than a hot and dead baby.
Alessia also liked it, she got to hold Alessia’s hand and she knew that Emy was safe with Leah and not overheating. They had kept her in the onesie when she was in the pram and she definitely was a little warmer there. “She’s gotten so big in three weeks,” Luca gasped, looking at the still tiny form strapped to Leah’s chest.
“I know,” Alessia brushed a hand through the few wisps of hair that she had.
“Do I get to hold when she wakes up?” he whispered, “You weren’t exaggerating when you said she sleeps a lot.”
“You definitely can,” Leah told him.
They walked to the park with Luca where Giorgio was meeting them, his train had been delayed so it was easier for him to meet them there. Alessia wasn’t emotionally ready for public breastfeeding so they had a schedule to stick to. When they found Giorgio, he’d somehow found a football. “Heads up!” he shouted, messing up his keepie-uppies when he saw them, the ball flying in their direction.
Leah ducked, wrapping her arms around Emy, but the ball reached Alessia first. She controlled it on her chest, wincing a little. Her chest was so tender and she wasn’t wearing any proper protective bra like she usually would. The ball dropped to her feet though and she did a few keepie-uppies before kicking it back to Giorgio.
“Let’s go, Lessi!” Luca’s arms wrapped around her lifting her up.
“Luca!” she squealed, “Put me down,” she told him, focusing on Leah and Emy. Leah was standing up and breathing a sigh of relief, kissing the top of Emy’s head. They were okay.
“That touch though,” Giorgio pulled her into his side when Luca put her down.
She smiled a little, hugging her brother. “Missed you,” she murmured.
“Missed you too,” Giorgio hugged her more tightly before letting her go.
She beelined to Leah, “Are you okay?” she checked.
“Just a minor heart attack,” she glared at Giorgio, “Seriously?”
“Sorry,” he held his hands up in surrender. He was still intimidated by her, “Do I still get to see the baby?”
“I’ll think about it,” Leah told him while Alessia nodded softly, making sure that Leah didn’t notice it. She kissed the top of Emy’s head. She hadn’t even noticed anything at all. “That was a good touch and pass, by the way,” Leah whispered in her ear before she kissed her cheek, “Saving us both.”
“My boobs hurt,” Alessia whispered back, laughing.
Leah laughed with her, shaking her head, “I’ve already ordered some larger sizes of the boob armour for when you’re back playing.”
“So how’s our niece been doing?” Giorgio asked. Her brothers moved closer to them as they started to walk again. Giorgio had abandoned the football where he’d clearly found it abandoned on the football pitch.
Seeing their family with Emy made her so happy. They all had so much love for her. Leah was a little less calm about it. She only completely trusted both their mums to have clean hands all the time. She hovered nearby with hand sanitiser, checked vaccination records and studied how they washed their hands. “Le,” she reached for her wife’s arm, “You can sit down.”
“I’m good,” Leah smiled.
Alessia pouted a little, holding her arm out for a hug. Leah contemplated for a second but decided to stay standing, turning her head to focus on Emy again. She reached out for her arm again and tugged her down this time. Leah reluctantly sat down, letting Alessia wrap her arm around her.
“She’ll be okay, they know how to keep her safe,” Alessia reassured her, “And being right here is okay.”
Leah half-nodded but her whole body was still stiff and her eyes hadn’t left Emy. Alessia kissed the side of her head. “Take a breath,” she murmured in her ear, “Just a long breath out.” She thankfully did what she was told, relaxing into Alessia’s side a little. “I think you’re having a little panic attack, sweetie,” she pointed out, still whispering.
Her wife shook her head, “It’s fine.”
“You’re not,” Alessia insisted. She went to stand up but her legs were exhausted. “Giorgio, can you grab me a glass of water please?” she resorted to asking her brother instead. He was quick to move and get it and Alessia passed it to Leah. She knew that she was going to have to handle this thing at some point. Alessia somewhat knew how she felt. She just trusted a few more people with the thing that she loved the most in the world. The most important thing that she had to protect. They had to protect.
Emy was also getting better at tummy time as she got closer and closer to graduating from the newborn stage. She also loved to stare at the black and white baby mobiles that they had. Emilia hated to have more than one thing happening at once but if it was quiet, she could stare at the mobile for five minutes without a break, lying on her back.
Her biggest jump was her ability to mimic their facial expressions. Leah had worked really hard on it. Her eyesight wasn’t great so she would hold her face close to Emy’s and make silly faces. Emy would try to mimic them. She had learnt to raise her eyebrows. Emy was also completely fascinated by Leah when she pulled faces. Alessia tried it a few times, but she found it hard to pull any face without giggling. When she managed it though, having Emy’s blue eyes locked onto hers and taking everything in; it felt amazing. She was her mama.
It was at sunrise when she was twenty-three days old that they learnt about Emy’s obsession with shadows. The light streaming through the window meant that her shadow was reflected on the opposite wall when Leah walked across it. Alessia had been sitting on the bed with Emy and they just happened to be facing the wall. Emy’s eyes locked onto the shadows and she followed Leah intensely.
“Walk back across the window,” Alessia told her wife. Leah didn’t even question it, doing as she was told. Emy stared at the shadow intensely again. “Did you read anything about newborns and shadows?” she laughed.
“Yeah, they can like them, why?” Leah made her way into the bathroom.
“Emy was fascinated by yours just then,” Alessia explained.
They waited until she had woken up from her second nap of the day and she’d been fed. It had given them time to practice. “You have one task, make a bunny,” Alessia told her, “And stop making me laugh.”
“Sorry,” Leah apologised, balancing the lamp back up so the shadows reflected on the wall properly, “In my defence, it’s very easy to make you laugh,” she mumbled.
“Hey,” Alessia gave her a little shove, “Take this seriously.”
“I am!” Leah defended herself, “But you keep laughing.”
“Because your bunny looks weird!” Alessia told her. It did look weird. And a little sexual, the two fingers to make the ears especially.
Leah made it again, staring at the wall, “I don’t see what you find funny!” Alessia just pushed on the back of her head so she looked down at her hand. It took her just a second. “Alessia Russo-Williamson! Get your mind out of the gutter!” she laughed, shoving her a little.
Alessia laughed again, “I can’t help it! It’s been six weeks and I’m not allowed for another two and a half weeks,” she justified it, resting her head against Leah’s shoulder.
Her wife kissed the side of her head. “I’ll make it worth your while,” she murmured in her ear.
“No!” Alessia moved away from her, “You’re not allowed to do that, okay?” It was just mean. Two and a half weeks to go and she was teasing her. Torture.
Leah held her hands up in surrender, “Sorry, Lessi,” she laughed, taking out her phone, “I’m going to find another puppet to make.”
She shuffled closer to her wife again, looking over her shoulder, “We could make the cardboard cut-outs,” she pointed to the first result.
Leah found the cardboard and some old paper straws they could use to make the puppets. It made them laugh a lot less than attempting to contort their hands into weird shapes. If they were better at arts and crafts, the cardboard cutouts could’ve been amazing but Alessia managed something that resembled a penguin and after that, they decided an arctic theme was easier. Those animals were more blob-shaped. So a couple of penguins, a seal, a sea lion and a polar bear.
“The story has to be silent,” Alessia pointed out as Leah fell down a rabbit hole of researching what a polar bear sounded like.
“Maybe not anything like Attenborough,” Leah shook her head, looking down at the screen. Alessia looked over her shoulder, it was a clip of Orcas attacking a polar bear.
“They can all be friends,” Alessia dropped a kiss on her shoulder, “Plus the penguin is probably the most dangerous, it’s the same size as the polar bear,” she laughed.
“Oo that’s dangerous,” Leah joked, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer in a hug.
Alessia giggled, turning her head and kissing her softly before looking down at the puppets. “Okay, focus,” she told her, “We need a good, silent story.”
They landed on a little story of a lost polar bear being helped by its friends. It wasn’t the best story or the clearest storyline considering it was silent but it was good enough. Emy was completely fascinated, lying on her stomach between them, her head propped up by a rolled-up blanket. All safe and very happy. “You’re too perfect,” Alessia whispered, kissing the top of her head when they finished the second run-through of the story and her tummy time was up.
Leah picked her up, carefully supporting her neck with her hand and arm and holding her above her head. Emy was so content lying on Leah’s arm with her head resting in her hand in the air. She was so safe with her mummy. Alessia sat up and kissed her head, her little hand gripped her finger tightly. “Hi baby,” Alessia whispered, kissing her cheek and then kissing Leah’s hand. She loved her little family so much.
The day she turned twenty-eight days old, Alessia woke up to the smell of cake filling the house. She walked downstairs to find Emilia on her chest and Leah was putting the finishing touches on a cake. “No, get out!” Leah told her, “Ten more minutes until the surprise, go wait somewhere else.”
Alessia laughed, walking out with her hands in the air. Leah walked up from her behind, covering her eyes ten minutes later. She couldn’t feel Emy against her back. “Where’s Emy?” she laughed, letting Leah turn her around, “What’s going on?”
“In the kitchen, I can see her,” Leah reassured her, kissing her cheek. She would be able to see her. Alessia hadn’t gone far. “And it’s a surprise.”
She let Leah guide her into the kitchen and positioned her, she guessed, in front of the counter. Leah uncovered her eyes and she laughed. Emy was sitting in her car seat on the counter, fast asleep, and in front of her was what she guessed was a carrot cake. Alessia had said she was craving it last week. It had buttercream icing on it too. Then there was a coffee from her favourite coffee shop in St Albans and her favourite smashed avocado and poached egg on toast. It was all topped off with a little banner. It said ‘no longer a newborn’. Of course, her wife was celebrating making it through the first month.
“I practised the avocado on toast and poached egg and apparently nailed it,” Leah recounted as she walked over to Emy, lifting her out of her car seat, “Not sure about the carrot cake but the coffee should obviously be flawless.” She still did the little scrunch. Alessia was going to hold onto that as long as possible.
“Officially, a month old,” she rocked her gently, kissing her neck. “Thank you, Leah,” she looked up at her wife.
“Thank you for giving me this,” Leah kissed her softly. Alessia looked between the food and Emy. She wanted to eat but she wanted cuddles for a little longer. Leah ended up quickly helping her put the baby wrap on and she ate while getting her cuddles. Leah had nailed the carrot cake as well. They’d made it a month. Her life was almost perfect. She just needed to play football again.
When Emy woke up, she fed her then they had tummy time. The two of them lay on the floor with her. “I can’t believe we made it a month,” Leah whispered, lifting her head and looking over Emy at Alessia.
“It feels like it’s gone by so fast,” Alessia looked down at her.
Leah leaned over, kissing her quickly. Alessia giggled against her lips, “I love you so much,” she murmured.
“I love you so much too,” Leah smiled against her lips.
The two of them let themselves be in the moment for a second before Alessia ducked her head, kissing the top of Emy’s head, “And we love you so much,” she told her.
Leah smiled, kissing Emy’s cheek, “So so so so so much.”