Evan Buckley ♡

Chapter 9

I stretched my arm over and felt empty space, meaning Buck was gone. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times before looking and seeing it was only 2:29 in the morning. I sighed and got up, grabbing my robe from the end of the bed. I walked downstairs thinking he was down there since he sometimes will watch TV in the living room if he can't sleep, but all the lights were off. I looked around confused before I walked back upstairs to see Brinleigh's door open and I chuckled when I saw Buck sitting in the rocking chair staring at the sleeping baby...who was in her crib. "Buck? What...are...you doing? Was she up?" He was rocking slowly when he opened his mouth to speak but didn't look at me. "Did you know how many things newborn babies can die from? SIDS, suffocation, unintentional self strangulation, and a bunch of others." His hands gripped the armrests as he spoke.

I sighed and walked in front of him, squatting down and grabbing his hands. I saw as he looked over my head at Brinleigh. "Hey, hey, hey. Babe. Honey. Buck. Look at me." He glanced down nervously. "Yes, babies can die from all of that. But actually, SIDS is the most common out of those and it isn't even that common. Suffocation is actually really rare in newborns because they can't roll over yet to be on their stomach. Same with strangulation. First off, she's wrapped up in her gown with her hands inside so she can't grab anything and pull it, second, she doesn't have a lot of blankets in her crib anyway. Lastly, she can't really move yet. She isn't old enough. And that's why we have the monitor by our bed and the owl bracelet on her ankle to track her sleep and so we can watch her. Okay?"

He nodded a sigh of relief as I smiled and stood up, pulling on his hands to make him stand up with me. I tugged softly on his hands as he walked behind me into the hallway. I closed Brinleigh's door and took Buck's hand again as I walked to our room. I went to the bathroom and came back out to see Buck laying on his side, resting his head on his fist and holding the monitor with his other hand. I shook my head with a smile as I walked over to the bed, laying my robe on the foot of the bed. I climbed behind him and reached over him, putting my hand on the monitor. "No, no, no, noooooo. Five more minutes." He whined like a small child. "Please." I shook my head and pulled it out of his hand. "Buck. She is fine. You have a long day tomorrow." I pushed his hair back and kissed his temple before I leaned over and put the monitor on my nightstand. I rolled over and hugged Buck from behind, resting my hand on his bicep and my chin on his shoulder.