Page 164 of The One I Hate
“I think she’s sleepy,” Mom says, bringing Lainey back to me.
“I’d assume so. She’s been up for an hour, which is a record for her these days.”
I take my baby girl, giving her a kiss on her head, before walking over to Charlie. “I’m going to go put her down.”
She smiles and waves goodbye to the group. “I’ll come with you.”
The look in her eyes is her ‘don’t fight me on this’ look, so I don’t. We use Lainey as an excuse to bypass a few people as we make our way to the house.
Who knew you could get out of shit because of your kid? This has so many new possibilities…
Charlie slips the headband off Lainey as I change her before putting her into the bassinet. She’s out before I even let go, but Charlie and I don’t go anywhere. No. I bring her into my arms, holding her as we watch our daughter sleep.
“Can you believe we’re here?” I ask.
Charlie shakes her head. “Sometimes it doesn’t seem real. Then I remember the labor.”
I laugh before kissing a spot on the slope of her neck. “Have I told you today that I love you?”
She turns around and wraps her arms around my neck. “You have. But I don’t mind hearing it again.”
“I love you.”
“Good. Because I love you too.”
Our lips meet in a way I can only describe as perfect.
Which is weird to think.
Nothing about us is perfect. Not how we got together. Not how we made this baby. Hell, not even how we make sense.
But all of that imperfect makes us perfect.
And I can’t hate anything about that.
