Can't Help Falling in Love

82

Meredith took a deep breath as she made her way into the kitchen after spending an hour in front of her jazzercise DVD. She'd found that nap time was the perfect time to work on losing her baby weight, and although it was going to take a long time, she was already starting to feel better about her body, and the week before she had actually managed to squeeze into the fat jeans she'd had before getting pregnant, which she'd considered a major milestone.

She was almost surprised with how much fun she was having at home with her girls. She had always planned on staying home with them, but somewhere in the back of her mind she had been worried that she would completely drop off the face of the planet, spending all of her time in the middle of the woods with two babies. She and Derek had fallen into a comfortable routine, feeding and cuddling with Becky and Melanie in bed before he had to leave for work, at which time she would put them into the bassinet beside her bed in hopes of getting another hour or so of precious sleep. Play time followed, and she was always amazed at how quickly her daughters were developing curiosity in the world around them. They did something new everyday, and she was always excited to see what new tricks they would come up with. After lunchtime was nap time, and then more play time, which Derek usually came home in time to be apart of. Their evenings consisted of bath time and reading, maybe the two of them watching a movie as they cuddled with their daughters.

She couldn't believe how unbelievably perfect her life was. Even if she was still fat and didn't sleep through the night, life was perfect.

As she downed the rest of her water, a soft whimper came over the baby monitor and she smiled as she tossed the bottle into recycle. "Mommy's coming, Mellie," she murmured, even though she knew her daughter couldn't hear her through this end of the baby monitor.

"Hi sweetie," she whispered, lifting Melanie out of her crib and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Did you have a nice nap?"

Melanie, still half asleep, rubbed her eyes tiredly as she nuzzled into her mother's embrace.

"Let's go sit on the porch while we wait for your sister to wake up," Meredith suggested, walking out of the room. "Daddy should be home soon, and then maybe we can convince him to take us out to dinner. You have to give him those eyes, remember the ones I told you he couldn't resist?"

Melanie giggled as Meredith grabbed the baby monitor from the kitchen and moved to sit on the front porch, holding Melanie in her lap. "You really are your father's daughter," she sighed. "You don't like sleeping at all, do you? Your sister sleeps a lot more than you do."

In the past few weeks, Becky and Melanie had each began to develop distinct personalities, perfect combinations of her and Derek. They each had their own characteristics that made them completely different, and she loved watching her daughters develop personalities.

"Your daddy doesn't like to sleep either," Meredith sighed. "But you do like to eat a lot, which you definitely get from me."

Melanie stared at Meredith for a moment before she turned to look out over the cliff with wide eyes.

"It's a pretty view, isn't it?" Meredith whispered, even though she knew Melanie couldn't really see that far. "This is your daddy's favorite place in the world. And Grandpa's too. Through those woods over there, there's a lake where Daddy likes to go fishing with Uncle Mark. And there's lots of room for you and Becky to run around when you're old enough. Maybe Daddy will even build you a swing set, and you can play on that."

Melanie giggled as a squirrel ran across the yard, and her head moved to follow the small animal across the yard.

"Can you see that, princess?" Meredith whispered. "You see the squirrel running across the grass?"