Hollywood Heartstopper

Epilogue Two- Stress

 SONG TIME!! "I Get to Love You" by Lyndsey Elm

Would y'all want me to make a playlist of all the songs of Nick and Charlie's "wedding"? 

THREE YEARS LATER

"Nick can you please take her, she won't settle down." 

Nick nodded and Charlie handed over their two month old daughter, Annie. 

The baby immediately settled down, watching Nick with wide blue eyes. 

Watching this, Nick saw Charlie's face harden before he stalked out of the room. He heard the bedroom door click shut. Sighing, Nick settled into the rocking chair, softly whispering affirmations of peace and safety until Annie dozed off. 

Once Nick was certain she was asleep, he set in her in the crib and went off to find his husband. 

They had adopted Annie privately from birth. It just happened that she got the blue eyes like Charlie and the strawberry blonde hair like Nick. They had chosen her name months before. Annabelle Victoria Spring. Annie for short. 

 For some reason, in the two months they had flown through since adopting their kid, it seemed she had no appreciation for Charlie. He picked her up, she cried. He walked in the room, she cried. When it was Charlie's turn to get up at 2 am for feedings and diaper changes, she was inconsolable. It weighed heavily on Charlie's conscience. Nick knew it was hard. Having a baby was hard period but when she only liked one parent it was especially tough. 

Adoption hadn't been an easy decision. At first they weighed their options. Adoption or surrogacy seemed to be their only two options. End the end they found an adoption agency with a young mother who was looking to have a private adoption. 

Knocking gently on the bedroom door, Nick waited for a small "come in" before entering. 

Walking into their shared bedroom, Nick couldn't help but feel sad for his partner. Charlie was curled into a ball on their bed, hugging a pillow tightly to his chest.

"Talk to me, Char." Nick said, sitting down next to his husband. 

"She hates me, Nick. My own daughter hates me. Nothing I do can make her like me. Every time I breathe in her direction she just starts crying." Charlie sniffed. 

"She doesn't hate you. Annie doesn't even know what hate is." 

"Well that's easy for you to say! She loves you." Charlie said sharply. 

Charlie knew it was a low blow and Nick wasn't the one he needed to take his frustration out on.

Nick sighed. "Char."

Charlie sniffled, "I'm sorry. I'm just frustrated. I just wanna be a good parent." 

"I know, honey." Nick rubbed Charlie's back. 

Charlie rolled over and laid his head on Nick's lap. 

"I love you." Charlie whispered. 

"I love you too."  

"What am I supposed to do?" 

"I don't know, love. She's just a baby, honey. One day she'll love you just as much as I do." Nick consoled. 

"I hope so." 

In the next few weeks, she continued to cry when Charlie held her but less loudly. She would still cry, but she started to get used to Charlie's presence. 

FIVE WEEKS LATER

Annie was now nearly four months old. She loved both her parents equally. Things started to settle back down in the relationship between Nick and Charlie as well. Being new parents had taken a stressful toll on their marriage and fights got frequent.