Little One

A Story by Koiel

A man and wife and their newborn

A small, bubble-eyed girl, only three months. Her wonder will never cease to amaze him. He laid awake in the bed, exhausted from a twelve hour shift, the little one on his mind. He had just finished putting her to bed for the third time tonight. He looked up at the ceiling, smiling. His wife lay next to him, snoring. He chuckled a bit, leaning over her body to kiss her hair. In love. With his child, his wife, and the content tiredness that came with work, love, and a child. Wonderful. How beautiful it was, actually. He couldn’t even imagine life without the two of them in it. His daughter’s eyes lit up when she saw her mother, and she’d smile at him every time she turned her fragile head in his direction. Nevaeh, they named her. The little girl was his whole world, wrapped up a tiny, fair body.
“We made that,” he’d say to his wife every day. “That girl is ours. We made that. Together.”

His wife stirred, rolling over. He scooted closer to comfort her, wrapping his strong arms around her waste, feeling her stomach. She hadn’t gotten her shape back - but he liked it. That pouch had held their child; nursed her and grew her inside. His wife moved his arms away.
“Hun?” he asked, a little confused. “What’s wrong, darling?”
“Baby...” she mumbled. She began to get up.
In the next room, the baby began to cry. He got up and rubbed his wife’s hip. It was so crazy that she knew when the baby would wake.
“I’ll put her to bed, darling. Don’t worry,” he cood. She laid her heavy head back to the pillow and waited.
He went back into the nursery, picking up their fair child and holding her to his chest.
“Shh, it alright, girl...” She stopped crying almost immediately.
His wife, hearing the cries stop, began snoring again. He heard her snore from the baby’s room and smiled. She deserved the rest. He gave her a child.
And so, he put Nevaeh back to bed for a fourth time, going back into the bedroom to lay next to his wife and smile at the ceiling, thanking God for it all.