After Tonight

“Abbey,” Allie approached slowly, trying to keep Ella from getting bumped in the midst of the excitement. “This is Ella.”
I held out my arms, attempting to keep myself composed. When I felt her in my arms I looked at Rob, who was hastily wiping his eyes. Ella snuggled against my body as I cradled her. Everyone else in the room disappeared when she looked into my eyes. Hers were big and bright blue, exactly like Rob’s.
“We’ll, uh, we’ll be out in there if you need us.” A voice somewhere in the distance spoke faintly. Rob nodded and turned his gaze back to Ella and me.
“Look at her,” I whispered, brushing back a bit of her thick, brown hair. “She’s perfect. Breathtaking is an understatement.”
Rob stood up and walked to the bed. I adjusted myself and he sat down beside me. Ella’s small mouth shifted to a smile and my heart melted. We sat in silence, watching Ella as she grasped at the air.
“We did good, huh?” I smiled lightly, nuzzling her forehead.
…
Ella’s mop of brown hair had only increased by the time she was two months. Her baby blues got bigger and she had beautiful dark lashes. It hadn’t been tough for her to figure out that if she batted those lashes at her dad, he would turn to mush. She smiled a lot, which made me happy. And her giggle, well I could only say that it was a musical as I had hoped it would be.
It was a lazy Saturday. After I returned from the hospital, we had a lot of lazy days. Ella was lying between Rob and me on our bed.
“She’s beautiful,” Rob murmured as he tickled Ella’s stomach. “Ellie looks like her mommy, don’t you love?” He blew a raspberry on her stomach and she gurgled, smiling.
I kissed her cheek and closed my eyes as I rested my forehead near her head. I couldn’t have been more grateful to be here with the two of them. I felt Rob’s fingers against my hair, pushing it away from my eyes. They came to rest gently on my cheek. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me, studying me. I smiled at him, not having a need to speak. He knew what I was thinking.
Rob lifted Ella above his body. Although it made me nervous, I knew he would sooner shoot himself in the foot than let her go. He grinned up at her as she squealed and I moved my body closer to his. He brought her down on to his chest. Her head bobbed a little as she strained to see his face and we both laughed. We always joked at how much she could resemble a turtle.
Ella latched on to one of my fingers, smiling at me as she tried to pull my hand closer to her. I picked her up, much to Rob’s dismay, and wiggled her little body above my head. To my delight, she smiled that wondrous smile. I brought her down onto my chest and held her close—I never wanted to let her go.
Within a few minutes, Ella’s mouth stretched into a wide yawn. She nestled into my chest and closed her sleepy eyes. Rob had turned onto his side and pressed his head against my bare shoulder. I felt his lips on my arm and his hand falling onto my stomach.
“Don’t tell me—you’re tired too?” I kissed the top of Ella’s head and looked at him. He nodded and gently picked Ella up from my chest. He laid her on her back in between the two of us.
“I know you’re just as tired.”

Rob’s P.O.V.
I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, because in honestly I couldn’t sleep nor did I want to. As Abbey drifted off to sleep, I opened my eyes. She looked serene—both of my girls did—and I was happy to see her finally get rest. It hadn’t been easy for her and she was still in pain. I watched Ella’s chest rise and fall, feeling overwhelmed at the site before me. This was it for me. I wasn’t going to run away from this.