After Tonight

“Robert.” Rob’s family had flown into JFK earlier in the week and his mother was now chastising him about how he held Ella. “Robert, you need to support her head.”
I rolled my eyes and stepped in between them. “It’s Ella’s lunch-time.” Rob eagerly followed me out of the nursery, his mom hot on his tail.
“Her head needs more support than that, Rob.” Claire continued her rant. “It’s just so small—do you understand this?”
Not answering, Rob made a beeline for the bathroom. The door closed tightly and I could hear his heels bang against the cupboard doors as he hoisted himself onto the counter. She had been like this all week and he had gone as far as stashing a book in one of the drawers for when he really needed to get away.
I held Ella against my chest as I prepared her bottle. She’d moved on from breastfeeding several months ago. Though Rob was sorely disappointed that he would no longer be able to catch spontaneous peep-shows, he liked the bottle method much better because he no longer had to hunt me down when Ella needed feeding.
Once the microwave beeped, I took the bottle out and turned to see my somewhat mother-in-law looking horrified.
“Who told you microwaving formula was alright?”
“Oprah,” I replied flatly, shaking my head and walking into the nursery. Rob and the others had done a fantastic job picking out that rocking chair—I never wanted to get out of it.
“Are you even going to test it?” The woman was relentless. If she hadn’t been so rude to me on our first meeting, I would have passed it all off as tough love. But, she was really starting to annoy me. Annoy us.
“Claire, would you like to feed Ella?” Instead of arguing with her, I smiled through my teeth and held up Ella. I was using my baby as a peace-maker.
Her eyes lit up immediately and she snatched Ella out of my hands. I sighed and got up, offering her my prized chair. At least that would keep her off our backs for a bit. Rob’s dad, who was actually pretty quiet, wandered into the nursery from the living room. He smiled warmly at me as we passed one another. I always liked him.
“Rob?” I knocked softly on the bathroom door. When I jiggled the handle, the door opened. Just as I had suspected, Rob was perched atop the counter with his nose buried in a book.
“Did her band of flying monkeys arrive yet?”
“Ooh, babe. Don’t listen to your mother.” I stood in front of him and took the book from his hands. Setting it on the counter, I looked into his eyes and smiled.
“As if I wasn’t already unprepared, or nervous, or scared…” He truly looked defeated. We’d been doing fine since Ella arrived, despite minor mistakes on both our parts—but that was part of being a parent, right?
“You are wonderful.” I held his face in my hands and kissed him tenderly. “Ella loves you, I love you. You’re doing a great job.”
“Apparently I am not.” He smiled slightly, enjoying the fact that I was trying to make him feel better with my lips.
“Yes you are!” I stepped back and pleaded with him. “You’re doing so well with all of this Rob. I swear. Who else can get Ella to stop crying, on contact even?”
Rob smirked, pulling me back toward him by my wrists. “I’ve been hoping she breaks into a crying spell when my mum’s holding her so I can work my magic.”
“You’re rotten.” I smiled, kissing his face. “You know that?”
“So, are you going to set me up then?” Rob raised his eyebrows. “You know, make me look good?”
“Unbelievable!” I giggled, nuzzling his neck. “You’re using your baby for personal gain!”
“Hey, don’t think I didn’t hear you offer her up to make my mom stop picking on you.” His eyes narrowed. “You should be ashamed.”
After a quick, stern glare at one another we burst out laughing. Rob pulled me in for another scorching kiss as his mom called out to me.
“Abigail, do you have any clean burping cloths or do you plan on using wash cloths for the rest of this child’s infant life?” My name was not Abigail.
“Duty calls.” I bit my lip before kissing him once more.
The next afternoon, some of my family came over. We were all getting together at our flat so everyone could formally meet Rob’s family. It was a chaotic mess. Everyone wanted to hold Ella, everyone wanted to catch up, and everyone wanted to be in the kitchen preparing that evening’s meal.
Sitting on a floor pillow, I rested against Rob’s legs. Occasionally he would bend down and murmur a below-the-belt comment about how much our mothers didn’t get along into my ear. I sipped my glass of wine distractedly as I watched various family members pass around our baby. Little Ella was like a hot potato. It was obvious to Rob how much I was bothered by this. Several times, he would straighten up in his chair and tell whoever it was to be gentler, or something along those lines. This, in the end, only made them smile and laugh because “who would have thought Rob was baby lover”.
When Ella finally made the rounds and was back in my arms, she was a bit fussy. I immediately set my glass down to intercept her before Keith could take hold of her for the umpteenth time. Ella squirmed in my arms, telling me that the only person she wanted to be held by was her father. I sighed.
Whenever Rob and I were alone with Ella, she was fine. She rarely fussed for either of us—except at night—and when she did, Rob was the only one who could calm her just so. When we had company, all of Ella’s “happy time” was spent in their arms. So when she finally got to me she was crying, which meant I had to bounce her over to Rob.
Again, Rob picked up on my disappointment. He softly kissed the spot below my ear as he bent down to rub Ella’s belly. She wriggled a second more before cooing. I propped her up and brought her closer to my face. Once again, she smiled happily as if nothing had been bothering her seconds before. Together, Rob and I made faces until she giggled.
“Well would you look at that.” I focused again on the world outside the one Rob and I often found ourselves in. Rob’s dad beamed proudly at his son and everyone else just sat smiling quietly. “You’re quite a natural, aren’t you kid?”
“I guess.” Rob chuckled and went back to blowing kisses to Ella. Somewhere, a flash went off and I looked up to see Grace smiling behind a small black camera.
Unfortunately, Rob’s mom was in the kitchen.
…
“Ella, baby.” I whispered in a sing-song voice as Ella began to cry. “Please.” I wanted to feed her before we all sat down to eat, but it wasn’t going well. The jar of mashed carrots was on her face and in her hair.
“You should have just started her on real food to begin with.” I heard a distinct voice from behind me.
“I didn’t start Abbey on real food—it’s fine, babe.” My mother always had my corner. Either that or she just loved to piss Rob’s mom off.
“The pediatrician said it would be alright.” Rob walked over to Ella’s highchair.
“I’m going to clean her up, alright?” I hoisted her out of the chair and smiled wearily. I had been so tired for the past several months. Rob nodded, his forehead knitting in sympathy, and went back to the family.
Ten minutes later Ella’s face was no longer orange, but she was still bawling her little eyes out. Tired of looking helpless in front of Rob’s mother, I crept into our bedroom and lay down with Ella. It didn’t take long for Rob to realize he was needed.
“She’s being extremely temperamental today, aren’t you Elle?” I held her up and kissed her rosy cheeks, despite the noise coming from her tiny mouth.
“Let me take her.” Rob sat down beside me, propping up some pillows against the headboard. He leaned back and accepted Ella onto his stomach. “I think we’ll take a nap, hm? Sound good, Ellie?”
In a matter of minutes, Ella was silent. She nestled into Rob’s chest as he rubbed her tiny back. I smiled as I watched him kiss her forehead.
“Would you like to join us darling?” Rob laughed, patting the space beside him.
“As a matter of fact,” I carefully crawled into place. “I think I will. For a bit.”
“Good.” He kissed the top of my head and I rested against him. “Because our line of defense out there has been weakened.”
…
“You’re going to love this one,” Rob whispered. “Somebody at Summit—no names are being given—wants to pass off Ellie here as Nessie when she’s a little older.”
“Are you joking?” I pushed back some of Ella’s hair. “Isn’t she blonde or something?”