How We Met Juliette

Infinite Season Ep. 7 Have you met the baby?

Barney's POV...

We came home two days after you were born. We were greeted by all of our friends. I still have no idea how they got into our apartment. As we looked around, the apartment was full of gifts that were sent from people at WWN and from mommy's family in Canada. The first gift that really caught her eye was a basket full of baby clothes and a little stuffed lamb; which, mommy still thinks of as the softest thing she has ever felt in her life.

She took the time to admire the handy work that was put into assembling the gift basket. But when she read the card, her face turned crimson red, her nostrils flared as she shouted "don't smother my baby, Patrice!" even though the annoying co-worker whom she was referring to was nowhere in sight. Mommy immediately regretted her little outburst the minute she saw the consequence that followed. You woke up from a wonderful nap and you screamed bloody murder.

"Oh, baby. I'm so sorry... Shhh" mommy said as she picked you up out of the infant car seat, held you close to her chest and started rocking you in an attempt to calm you down.

"Robin, I'd hate to break it to you, but having a baby is like going on a bit of a diet. Once you have a kid, there are certain sacrifices you have to make; mannerism that you have to cut from your life" Aunt Lily said as she laid a gentle hand on mommy's knee.

"In your case it would be the sheer volume of your annoyance and hatred of Patrice" Uncle Marshall added.

Mommy gave it some thought and she believed that even though it would be difficult once she got back to work, she could learn to adapt. She spent a good five minutes attempting to sooth you until I finally gave in and asked the question everyone was dying to get answer to.

"Hey, Robin. Should I tell them her name or do you want to do the honors?" I asked as I sat on the couch beside her.

"Oh, yeah that's right. I've just been lost in love with my little girl. Everyone, this is Juliette Claire Stinson" mommy announced.

Everyone was in awe of your beautiful name. When mommy initially came to me with the name, I had to think about it for a while to see if it really flowed. I eventually grew to love it and I thought it would suit you very well. It was a name that would be able to withstand a lot of bad times, be there when we weren't and it would be written on your grave with pride when the day came; which we were hoping wouldn't be for a long time. We had only known you for two days and it already felt like a lifetime.

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Robin's POV...

The rest of the day was a bit more hectic than I had anticipated. All the kids were gathered around us and they desperately wanted to take turns holding you. Marvin approached me and said "can she be my girlfriend?" which I thought was the cutest thing ever. I had no idea how to respond, so I just nodded my head and smiled.

Everyone had a turn holding you. The first person to ask, even before you were born was Aunt Lily. When I was 6 months pregnant with you, I promised her that she could be the first one to hold you after we did. She was completely in love while she held you.

"I forgot what it was like to hold someone so small" Aunt Lily sighed.

You were passed around a couple more times that day until everyone left well before 8:30-9:00PM; which is when all of the kids, including you, went to bed.

~X~

You're first night home was a bit difficult; and by that, I mean it was like attempting to put together a puzzle of 1000 pieces. You woke up every three to four hours to be fed or changed. Daddy and I were at each other's throats all night since we were so sleep deprived.

"Robin. It's your turn again" daddy said groggily.

"I was just with her. It's your turn!" I insisted.

"Well, until men can somehow produce the magic boob milk that is so appealing to babies, it's your turn" daddy shot back.

Your cries were like screams of bloody murder and your face was vermilion. The one thing I forgot about babies was how unpredictable they were. Since you weren't born with the ability to speak, and since it had to be developed over time, figuring out what you needed was always a guessing game. Even though it was two against one, it still seemed like daddy and I were outnumbered and that you had an unfair advantage.

We took turns getting up so the other one could sleep a little bit longer. But there did come a point where we both had to get up because it finally dawned on us that raising a baby was a team effort. We could only hope that it would get better when you got older and I went back to work in three months. Even though I wouldn't be going back for a while, I started to have mixed feelings about it. On one hand,  I was excited to be back on the air, doing what I loved. But on the other hand, I was anxious about leaving you for the first time and having to listen to Patrice's overly cheerful and annoyingly high voice all day.

2:00AM, when I found your daddy completely passed out on the bed in his suit pajamas and when I realized there was no hope of waking him up, I decided to sit in the rocking chair and try to rock you to sleep. When I had just been rocking and feeding you for ten minutes, you were still a little fussy; so, I decided to try something else while I burped you.

In case you might not be aware, but I assure you that daddy will bring this up whenever he sees fit. When I was 16, I was a popstar back in Canada known as Robin Sparkles. I had two big hits called Let's go to the Mall and Sandcastles in the Sand. Let's go to the Mall had become so popular worldwide, that I hadn't set foot in a mall in over a decade after its initial release. But Uncle Ted convinced me to let go and overcome that fear.

Let's go to the Mall wasn't a song I was particularly proud of but I figured the lesser of two evils was Sandcastles in the Sand. It was a song that I wrote after my old boyfriend, Simon Tremblay broke up with me for another girl. It had a calming melody, so I figured it would be suitable for me to sing to you. When I was 45 seconds into the song, you fell asleep. As I walked over to put you in your crib next to our bed, I noticed that daddy was smiling in his sleep.

"Sandcastles in the sand..." he murmured in a sing song voice.

"Good night, sweet Juliette" I said as I kissed your forehead and gently placed you back into your crib and climbed back into bed with daddy.