Chapter Text
Life has been nothing short of chaotic lately.
Emma felt like a hot mess. Truthfully, she had every right to feel that way. Being only a month postpartum, she thought she was doing pretty good actually. But it didn’t change the fact that she constantly smelt vaguely of breast milk or baby powder (sometimes both, on the bad days).
Antonio told her over and over again she was like a super hero, or something along those lines. She agreed at least a little; after all, they were a month into life as new parents and she thinks they’re doing pretty good since they simply sent them home from the hospital without a guide or anything on how to take care of a baby.
That first day, they arrived home a little past 1:00 PM. They carefully removed their new daughter from her car seat and placed her in her crib. They had stood in her pink and white nursery for nearly forty five minutes, simply watching her sleep.
Finally, Antonio whispered to his wife, “What do we do while she sleeps?”
Emma glanced at her husband. “I have no idea. What did we do before?”
He shrugged, his eyes refocusing on their sleeping child. “I don’t remember. It feels less important now.”
Emma hummed, her fingers brushing against his. “I think we’re supposed to sleep when she sleeps.”
Antonio frowned a little, entertaining his fingers with hers, “But what if she wakes up and doesn’t cry? Can she be left alone?”
The sound of her daughter wailing from the next room brings Emma back to the present. She takes a break from folding laundry (a blessing, really. She hates folding laundry. Especially now that they go through even more loads in a week).
An hour later, she finds herself attempting to read a novel on her phone, little baby Lina nestled comfortably in her arms. She’s sitting on the couch in the living room, waiting until Antonio gets home from work. He had started back this week and she could tell he was going crazy being away from them all day.
She’s surprised, however, when the front door clicks open and Julchen and Francis file in behind Antonio, their voices hushed as they speak.
Antonio notices his wife on the couch and beams at her, making his way over. He leans down, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Hi, love.”
She smiles in return, “Hi.” Then, her attention turns to her husband’s best friends. “Hey you two.”
“Sorry to intrude,” Francis smiles at Emma.
Julchen steps forward, but keeps her distance as she glances at the bundle in Emma’s arms. “How are you feeling? Antonio’s seemed pretty tired the last few days at work.”
“That’s not completely true!” Antonio says as Emma gives him a pointed look.
“You slept through your lunch break today,” Francis says, though his tone isn’t accusatory at all. “We wanted to stop by and see if we could help with anything,” he continues, looking back to Emma.
Julchen nods in agreement, “It feels like the least we can do.”
Emma shifts, not wanting to assign her friends her chores. She knows accepting help is important since she’s still healing, but it’s hard when she feels like she should be able to do it all.
Antonio places a hand on her shoulder, “Go take a bath. I can boss them around for a bit.”
Emma pauses, then nods. She turns her attention back to her husband’s best friends. “Julchen, do you want to hold her?”
She looks surprised for a moment, red eyes widening a fraction of an inch, but she nods. Emma wants to laugh at her reaction; she’s acting like she’s never held a baby before. She regularly babysits for Ludwig and Feliciana and they have two little girls, one of which is old enough to be running around and making messes now.
Emma stands and gently passes Lina over to Julchen, who coos at the little girl. Lina stares up at her with big green eyes. Julchen looks at Emma with a smile, “She really is perfect. Now go take a bath and relax a little bit, I’ve got her for now. Take a nap if you need it.”
Francis is standing beside Julchen now, glancing down at Lina. “Antonio, you go take a nap as well, you need it,” he says, not looking at his friend. “Tell me what you’d like to me to do for now and I’ll start dinner in a little bit.”
When Emma wakes up from her nap, she sees Antonio still fast asleep beside her. She tiptoes out of their room, deciding it’s best to leave him be. Passing the laundry room, she sees all of their laundry neatly folded.
She descends the stairs, realizing how hungry she is when she notices the smell coming from the kitchen. Francis has always been a wonderful cook, so this would definitely be a treat.
Julchen looks up at her when she approaches the couch, Lina tucked in her arms, napping away. “How’d you sleep?” she asks softly.
“Really well, thanks,” she nearly whispers back. “You can pop her in her crib if you’d like to have your hands back.”
The white haired woman shakes her head, “No, I want to suck up all the time I can get! They get big so fast,” she says, thinking about her little nieces.
“How’s Feliciana doing, by the way? She’s like seven months postpartum?” Emma asks, keeping her voice low.
“She’s doing good,” Julchen replies, “I think she’s already bugging Ludwig about having another, but their youngest is an angel so I guess she’s not dealing with being too tired all the time.”
“Must be nice,” Emma comments, “but she deserves an angel baby. Her pregnancy was really rough this time around.”
Julchen nods, “It really was. That’s why I’m so surprised she’s already thinking about another baby.” She’s quiet for a while, watching Lina. Then, “You seemed pretty okay while pregnant.”
Emma leans further back into the plush couch. “I think compared to most people, yeah. Didn’t really have any morning sickness or other awful symptoms. I was really sore at the end, but that’s pretty normal when your stomach is the size of a watermelon.”
Julchen laughs softly, but doesn’t respond for a while. She’s still watching Lina, deep in thought.
“What are you thinking about?” Emma asks.
She watches as Julchen takes a deep breath, then looks up at her. “Why does no one warn you that morning sickness can happen at any time of the day?”
Emma stares at Julchen for a moment. The white haired woman is looking particularly annoyed. Then it clicks and Emma gasps, “Oh my God, really? Are you?” She’s nearly bouncing on the couch, but quickly stops herself because she doesn’t want disturb how comfortable Lina looks in Julchen’s arms.
“Don’t say anything in front of the boys!” she says quickly, “I haven’t told Francis yet. I think I’m probably like five weeks, maybe six. I haven’t even seen a doctor yet. Making you wait until week ten is crazy!”
“Making you take home a whole human baby with no training is crazy, too.”
“Shit,” Julchen sighs, “it really is.”
“So, bad morning sickness. Anything else so far?”
“I’m so fucking tired all the time. I mean, I get it, I’m growing a human or whatever, but this is insane.”
“I hope it’s okay to ask, but why haven’t you told Francis yet?”
Julchen leans forward a little, smiling. “Your the first person to know besides my OB. I only found out like four days ago and Francis has a whole date night planned for us tomorrow. I figured I’d surprise him then.”
Emma opens her mouth to respond, but at that moment Antonio appears at the top of the stairs and Francis peaks his out from the kitchen, letting them know dinner is ready. Instead, Emma gives Julchen a knowing smile and they both stand to head to the kitchen.
For Julchen’s sake, Emma hopes that everything is smooth sailing from here on out. She and Francis’s lives are about to get very insane, very fast.