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‘The lamp is floating again.’ Duke hummed as he leant comfortably against the small bookshelf in his daughter’s room, glancing over at the nightlight, the one with the pink shade and the three sheep surrounding the base. They found it in an antique shop months ago and knew exactly what it would be used for.
‘She’s a baby, she can’t exactly control it yet.’
Duke looked up as his partner stood from the armchair in the corner, bouncing Clementine gently as she put the bottle down on the side-table. Sydney looked exhausted, frankly – she had been insisting on waking up during the night to look after the baby considering Duke had been staying home during the day.
‘I’m not expecting her to.’ He put his hands up in self-defence, chuckling to himself. He couldn’t stop smiling, he always found himself so enamoured by his partner these days, something about starting a family with her. His whole world had been reframed and he wouldn’t have it any other way.
‘Good, we’ve probably got a couple more years of this.’ She sighed, not in any form of frustration but rather contentedness. ‘A hopefully peaceful few years, they owe me that much’ She looked at Duke like he would know what she meant – he didn’t, but he nodded anyway.
‘Sure.’
That was the best answer he had. That used to bother him, he hadn’t told her but it always did. There was something so unexplainable about her that did nothing if not confuse and stun him. He would often find himself throwing in the towel any time he tried to figure out how she had done something. Now, he sat with that feeling. He held it in his heart and was patient with it. He waited with it, gave it time to grow into admiration and adoration. There was something so innately magical about her, besides the obvious. Duke didn’t know what he had done in a past life, and he was certain there was one, but he couldn’t fathom deserving something like this.
But here he was. He pushed away from the bookcase that they hadn’t filled yet – Clem was a few months old after all. He watched Sydney put their daughter down carefully before gently laying his arm around her shoulders, looking down at the cot.
‘Give it three hours until she wakes up again?’ He hummed.
‘I’d say two.’
‘Make it a bet, then?’
‘I should know better than to make deals by now.’
‘Guess you’ll just have to trust me.’
‘Depends, what do I get if I’m right?’
‘Loser gets up to check on her during the night?’
That won him an unamused look. Sydney pulled away from his side, hand casting over the white-painted wood of the bassinet. Her silver nails reflected the warm light of the lamp – which was still bobbing up and down, lowering more toward the chest of drawers as the baby slowly drifted off.
‘I can handle it; you get all day with her.’ She was trying to downplay it. But she was tired, she couldn’t hide it, not from him. Having all the time in the world weighed heavy on her, hours of lost sleep added up to years, and he wasn’t going to let the clock keep counting.
‘I’m the one on paternity leave, I can catch up on sleep during the day.’ Duke reminded her gently, following her as she drifted away from the crib, letting his voice hush as he heard the lamp resting back upon the dresser, the bulb turning out. The opening door obscured the corner of the room even more, the woodland wallpaper falling into darkness as the light of the hallway tore an ethereal path from the crib to the doorway.
‘I can catch up another day, we agreed I’d be the one getting up for her.’ Sydney offered him a smile as she waited for him to exit the room, shutting the door behind them softly.
He returned the smile, he always did.
‘We made that deal when we were both used to getting eight hours sleep.’ He pointed out with a chuckle, slipping a hand into his pocket. He had gotten dressed for once, he felt like he should, tonight was an occasion after all.
‘You watched her all day and made dinner’ She repeated her sentiment but tacked on the extra clause, her hand grasping his free one and pulling him lightly toward the dining room – which was really a small table and chairs in the corner of their living room that they broke up with two different rugs. ‘You did it without burning anything too, you’ve had a big day.’ Her tone filled with playful condescension that won her an amused eyeroll.
‘I burned soup once; I was distracted by Holly.’
‘Yes, she was knocking your Star Wars figures off the shelf, I remember.’ Sydney looked over to the ginger cat laying across the couch, watching them like she was daring them to try and move her then see what happened.
‘It’s like she wants to drive me insane, reminds me of someone.’ He hummed as he walked off toward their kitchen, which wasn’t that far of a walk.
‘Is that why you named her after me, then?’ Sydney hummed as she took a seat at the table. He had set it for once, instead of them just eating while watching monster-of-the-week Sci-Fi. There was a candle, which he had probably found in a cupboard somewhere, in the middle of the table. The napkins were the ones from his grandmother’s house that he had gotten when she passed, he only brought them out for special occasions.
‘I thought of the name independently.’ Duke insisted as he carried two plates through to the table, balancing them carefully, placing them before dashing off to grab two wine glasses.
Miss Holloway watched him with a soft smile. She watched as he sat opposite her, as he talked on and on about his day and about every small thing their daughter had done. She couldn’t wipe the smile from her face. No matter how hard she tried to find a witty or clever response, she couldn’t manage much more than small laugh and an agreement. He took away any fears or any reliance on sardonic jocularity. She was sure she said something at some point. A reciprocation of his sentiments as he wished her a happy anniversary, wishing for more years together. She would trade anything to experience all her years with him.
He said he loved her.
She went to answer, eyes clouding with tears as a weight lifted from her. They had made it and for once she had what she wanted. She was cut off by a baby cry. The world prevented her often from admitting it. But, as they both looked around at the life they had built together, the unsaid was said.
Duke rose from his seat, kissing her on the cheek as he passed by.
‘You were closer with two hours; I’ve got her tonight.’
She didn’t argue with him. She looked at the slowly burning candle, the time it had left dwindling.
She blew it out.