The End Of The Road | HEROPHINE

Chapter 6

Josephine's pov:
The unstoppable sound of our wailing child wakes me from the sleep I'd only just fallen into. 'Why won't he just sleep?!' I question, burying my head under the pillow.
As much as I love bringing up a child so far, this is probably the only thing I don't enjoy so much. It doesn't make sense to me how that baby cries 50% of the time he's awake. But John is persistent I guess, he's determined to get my attention.. maybe he gets that from his Dad.
I sit up and swing my legs over the bed, but Hero stops me.
'I'll go. You haven't slept properly in days.'
'Are you sure?' I ask with a yawn.
'Positive, now get back to sleep.' He replies, 'I'll take him downstairs to watch TV with me. That should calm him down.'
I hear his footsteps through to the nursery and the sounds of John's crying getting further away as Hero carries him downstairs.
At last it's quiet again, and I find myself drifting back to sleep.

Hero's Pov:
I try to be quiet once I'm downstairs, as to not wake Josephine up again. I rock John in my arms for a few minutes while his milk bottle heats up in the saucepan.
Eventually his loud cries turn to sniffles and then he's peaceful once more. He's still tiny, but for sure is starting to get a bit of character about him. He's definitely got my eyes according to Jo, but something about him reminds me of her.
When the milk is warm enough, I switch off the gas and carry both John and his bottle to the sofa. Once I'm sat down I turn on the TV and immediately turn the volume down so quiet that's it's only just audible.
'What we watching then, little man?' I ask him, sweeping my hand over the few wispy hairs he has on his head. I'm pretty certain he'll grow up to have fair hair like Josephine's rather than dark brown like mine.
I feed him his bottle with one hand while flicking through the channels with my other.
Eventually I land on what looks like some kind of kids show, which is strange given how late it is, but I'm grateful just the same.
A few minutes in, John is clapping his hands together and smiling- he's so adorable.
'You like this, huh?' I chuckle, holding him in place on my lap. He's so excited to watch TV that I'm worried he'll attempt to jump down on the floor to get closer.
I hear the door open, and Jo appears in her dressing gown, smiling at where John and I are sat.
'And why my love, aren't you in bed?'
'Sorry Dad.' She giggles, walking over to me.
John reaches his arms out towards Jo, clearly wanting his Mum. I hand him over to her and he buries his little face into the soft, fluffy material she's wearing.
'I'm sorry, I tried. But I just kept waking up.'
'It's okay, get over here then.' I say, putting an arm out to the side, gesturing for her to sit next to me.
'What are we watching then?'
'I'm not sure, it was just on.' I reply with a yawn.
'Hero.'
'Yep.'
'This is an adult cartoon.' Jo says, pointing at the screen as two characters are getting awfully close in the bedroom.
'Shit.' I whisper, covering John's ears and eyes.
She laughs and I roll my eyes.
'I wasn't paying attention, I was watching him!' I protest, trying not to laugh along and give her the satisfaction that I'm a fool.
'I bet he was enjoying that.' She grins.
'Oh, be quiet.'
Jo lays face-up on the sofa with her head in my lap, John now sleeping on her stomach.
We chat to each other for a little while longer before she's fallen asleep mid-conversation. Typical, but expected. I know how tired she is. I reach my hand down the side of the leather sofa, eventually locating the switch. I gently press it, triggering the foot rest to spring up.
I'm thankful the noise didn't wake Jo or the baby. I'm pleased to notice there's a few blankets on the small lampshade table beside me, (probably because Jo sleeps down here with John a lot) so I grab them and cover Jo's legs up first, then myself.
I guess we're sleeping down here tonight.

A/N: sorry for a shorter chapter than usual guys! Hope you're enjoying it x