Chapter 6 - Life

Bleary eyed and half asleep, Cam climbed from the warmth of the bed and shuffled naked across the room to Darcy’s crib, pulling on her robe as she went. It had been three weeks now with their daughter testing her vocal cords and bellowing at every opportunity. They were already exhausted. Michelle had gotten up the first time it happened, but Darcy had only calmed when Cam finally came down and fed her.

“What time is it?” Michelle said groggily from under the duvet as Cam pulled on a robe.

“Shh, just go back to sleep, I’ll deal with her.” She smiled when there was no reply from Michelle. No doubt already back to sleep in the knowledge that her wife would take care of everything. Cam bent down, plucked Darcy from the crib, and cradled her in her arms. “Shh, come on now little one, what’s the matter?” Picking up a small blanket, she wrapped it around the baby and left the room. The last thing she needed was for this one to make such a noise that she woke her brother. That was last night’s fiasco.

“Hungry? Is that it?” she asked as they wandered into the kitchen. She opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of milk Michelle had expressed earlier. She hadn’t wanted to; in fact, she had made such a fuss about breastfeeding that Cam was almost prepared to give in, but after last night, she finally agreed that maybe it was best if they took turns in waking up in the middle of the night.

Setting up the bottle warmer, she kept talking, and gradually Darcy calmed down. She seemed to do that a lot when Cam talked to her. Of course, they knew Cam’s voice as well as they did Michelle’s; both women had spent time talking to them while Michelle carried them. She thought back to the night she thought Michelle was asleep but in fact had been listening.

“So, you know kiddos, we’ve talked about this before: I know how much you wanna get out here and see your beautiful mama, but you can’t! Not just yet,” she said, gently stroking them. “And maybe while you’re in there still you can have a bit of a rest, get yourselves in position so Mummy doesn’t have to.” She had been thinking a lot about birthing options lately. “So she can push you out easily, okay?”

“Thank you for thinking of my vagina, darling,” Michelle mumbled as she smiled and watched Cam blush.

“Oh hell, you ain’t supposed to hear our chats.”

“Uh huh, and just how often do you and the ‘kiddos’ have these chats?” she asked playfully, looking down at her gorgeous wife lying with her head on her rather large tummy.

Cam gritted her teeth, caught and a little embarrassed. “Um, most days,” she admitted, “You sleep a lot, by the way.”

“You know I adore you, don’t you?”

“Yep.” Cam smiled back. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Everything. I am starving.”

“Okay.” Cam jumped up. “Everything coming up. I’ll be right back.”

Now as she waited for the bottle to warm and looked at the tiny bundle in her arms, she could hardly believe it. She, Camryn Thomas, a girl from a south London council estate, was now a woman: a grown-up living in LA with a movie star for a wife and two of the most precious gifts. Life was sweet right now, even if she was completely knackered.

The warmer pinged and she took the bottle, testing the heat against the inside of her wrist. It was fine, so she took Darcy into the living room, got comfortable in the large armchair, and covered them both with a large throw. Darcy wasted no time in guzzling down the milk. “Like that, do you?” Cam chuckled as Darcy’s eyes opened and closed, fighting the urge to sleep. “I get the feeling that you are going to be stubborn and headstrong, am I right? You going to take on the world? I hope so.” She kissed her head and put the empty bottle on the side table, lifting her daughter gently against her shoulder on the spit cloth, rubbing and patting her back gently until she got the required wind up.

Two hours later she woke up in the same position. Darcy was sound asleep and snuggled into her arm that was stabbing with pins and needles. “I guess we should go to bed then,” she whispered, moving her across to her other arm. Darcy fidgeted a little and Cam stopped all movement in case she woke her. When she finally settled, she continued on. Climbing the stairs wearily, she yawned again.

Placing Darcy back into her crib, she checked on Noah. Sound asleep. Then she crept back across the room, slipping her robe off and feeling the chill of the night touch her skin. The covers felt welcome as Michelle’s arm slinked around her waist, bringing an instant warmth. “Thank you,” she mumbled, kissing Cam’s bare shoulder.

An hour later and she was up again, this time with Noah.