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“Are you sure?” Heather questions, her hand perched akimbo as she looked at her husband through the mirror’s reflection.
Robby paused mid brush, furrowing his brow as he leaned over the sink to spit out the froth of toothpaste that gathered in his mouth. “Am I sure? Yes, I’m sure why wouldn’t I be sure?” He asks, bewildered at her apprehensive tone.
Heather sighed softly, now folding her arms against her chest as she tilted her head and gave him a knowing look. “Because,” She laments in a prolonged emphasis, watching as he catches her gaze through the reflection again. “Last time you agreed on it and then changed your mind—”
“Okay, that was different!” Robby interjects, rinsing his toothbrush off underneath the faucet. He sets it inside of the cup holder beside Heather’s before switching off the light switch and sauntering back into their bedroom. “Last time she was barely a few months old. She’s older now.” He rebuttals, walking around the bed towards his side as he withdrew the duvet back.
Heather leans over and grabs ahold of the pillows, absentmindedly tossing them aside on the floor. She glances at her husband, giving him a disbelieving look. “So, you’re telling me that if I call the babysitter and tell her to come over so we can go on that double date with Frank and Abby, you won’t change your mind at the last minute about leaving Gia?”
Robby nods, “That’s exactly what I’m telling you. And you know, the fact that you have such little faith in me about this hurts,”
Heather smiles, rolling her eyes fondly at his feigned offense. “I do. It’s just I know how you are about leaving her. Last time we left her with my mother, you called her three times a day to check up on her. And she was only gone for two days,” She remembers Robby being completely restless the entirety of those two days; unable to think or focus with their baby girl spending her first weekend away at her grandmother’s house.
They both crawl on the bed, sliding beneath the swathe of sheets and covers as they adjusted in their positions. Heather reached over towards the nightstand and turned up the volume of the baby monitor, looking at the screen to see Gia still curled up in her crib.
Robby sighs softly, conceding as he nods his head in agreement. “Alright so I might have a little separation anxiety when it comes to you and our daughter. But, I know you’ve been wanting to go to that new restaurant for a while now so I promise not to go in panic mode about leaving her this time.”
“Mommy looks beautiful doesn’t she?” Heather peers over her shoulder to see Robby standing in the bathroom doorway with Gia tucked in his arms.
Her heart swelled in awe at the sight — Robby was dressed in a tux with his cowlicks barely slicked down despite his attempts of brushing them down and Gia was curled against his chest; her chubby little legs kicked in the air as she babbled her excitement with drool drenching the onesie that Heather had just changed her into after she ruined the last one when she discovered that playing with her food was more fun than eating it.
Gia squirmed in her father’s arms, her little fingers finding his as she wrapped a tight grip around his forefinger, still vocal in her loud babblings. “Mmmmamm,” Her words stretched together, barely coherent.
But both Robby and Heather gasp as they look up at each other. “Did she—”
“It sounded like she did!” Heather exclaims, absentmindedly setting the mascara brush down; pausing on her primping as she walked over to where Robby stood. He smiled widely, cradling a hand underneath her body as he lifted her up. She was a perfect mixture of the two, inheriting her father’s big, doe, brown eyes that Heather already knows will have both of them conceding to anything that she asks of them and his constellation of freckles while her nose sloped in it’s shape like Heather’s.
She cooed, smiling toothlessly at both of her parents as she stared between them. “Mmmamma,” She said again, her nose scrunching in the adorable way that mimicked Heather’s, as she flailed her arms around in excitement.
“Mama! That’s right baby! It’s your mommy,” Robby coos, pointing a hand at Heather as Gia wiggled in his arms again. He presses a kiss against her forehead before extending her out to Heather.
Heather felt her pupil line with tears, her lip trembles as she looked down at their daughter. There’d been a moment in her life where she didn’t think she’d ever hear someone call her mama, but hearing it now, after years of trying and failing, made her feel emotional.
She sniffles softly when she feels Robby’s hand brushing against her cheeks, wiping away her tears. “Wanna call Frank and tell him we won’t be able to make it tonight?”
She nods tersely, closing her eyes as she held Gia closer towards her.
“She’s perfect.” Heather whispers softly, the words a soft echo that passes between them in caution to not wake Gia. She laid between them having went back soundly to sleep after consuming a bottle of milk. Her body rose and deflated with every evened breath that she took; her hands were curled in little fists against the blankets. “I know you’re not supposed to say that about your kid, but—”
Robby shook his head, “I say it all the time. And about you too,” He says with a shrug. Rubbing a comforting hand against her back when she stirs a bit. She sighs softly, curling deeper into herself as she succumbed to her slumber again. “You made me a dad, Heather. You gave us this perfect little girl and made us a family.” He reaches his hand over Gia’s body and seeks out Heather’s. He brings it up to his mouth and kisses her knuckles, “Thank you,”
“You know, I never thought that I’d have this. I thought I fucked up too badly all those years back that you wouldn’t want to be with me again. I thought I lost you and lost the chance at repairing what we had. But then you gave me a second chance and now—” He exhaled a trembling breath, his own emotions catching in his throat in the same way that Heather’s did earlier. “I can’t imagine my life any other way.”
Heather nods, feeling her eyes fill with tears again. “Me either.”