Just Friends, Right?

Easy, Tiger.

Christian~

Pulling into the garage, I try to hurry so I can go see my wife and kids. I drop my stuff at the foot of the island. While the lights are off, I'm pretty sure Jada is asleep on the couch.

I go over to the couch and see Jada sleeping on the couch. Rylee is laying on her chest, wide awake.

I try not to wake her up by taking Rylee. "Hi, little guy."

I walk around the living room, trying to put him to sleep. He seems like he doesn't want to sleep right now. "Were you doing this to Mom all week?"

I hear scrambling behind me. "I have him," I tell Jada, turning around.

She looks relieved yet so exhausted. "When did you get home?"

"Three minutes ago."

I sit next to her, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just tired. I swear this kid doesn't sleep."

I laugh quietly, "He was wide awake when I picked him up."

"That's awesome."

She is exhausted. "How much sleep have you gotten?"

"Per night?"

"Sure."

"I'm up every two hours to feed him. Probably like a good five hours."

"Do you want to head to bed?"

"I'm going to have to feed him in like half an hour. It's not worth it."

"I can feed him. I know you have milk in the freezer."

"I do but I'll still have to pump."

I nod, looking down at Rylee. My mom says he looks just like I did when I was this little. It's hard to believe but I can see it.

"How was the week?"

"Nothing short of hard."

"I'm sorry."

She puts her hand on my arm, "You can't change anything. I know you want to but you can't. I just need to adapt."

"How was Addie?"

"Well, she asked me to put her brother back. Then I had to explain to her that I cannot 'put him back' and she wasn't happy about it. Your mom took her to the Madison Zoo one day. She cried a lot, I cried a lot, and he cried a lot this week."

"How was his doctor's appointment?"

"He got two more shots. I'm pretty sure I cried more than him and I'm not sure why."

"Well, you got me for the next 11 days."

"Really?"

"I even have an off day in between series."

"Best news ever."

She sits up and lays her head on my shoulder, "He sure makes up for the sleep deprivation by being cute."

"You said that about Addie."

"I wasn't wrong."

"Are you wanting to head to bed soon?" she asks.

"I can stay up. I didn't play today. I'm not tired."

"So it wouldn't be too much to ask if you'd wash my hair?"

"Not at all."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I don't mind."

Jada~

"You're going to put me to sleep," I tell Christian quietly as he massages my scalp, letting the shampoo foam in my hair.