How It's Supposed to Be

Chapter Forty-Three

Jimi and I arrived home. He came over to my side and helped me out. I walked to the house an unlocked it. Then Jimi came up behind me with Elijah. We walked in and everyone was standing in the living room. There was a big sign that said Welcome Home Karen and Elijah! on it. I was definitely surprised.

"Jimi, did you have something to do with this?" I asked him.

"No, I didn't" he replied. He had the same look on his face that I did.

"Welcome home guys" Kimberly said and hugged me.

"Thanks" I said.

"How did you get in here?" I asked.

"Kimberly knew where the spare key was kept" Rebecca said.

"Of course she does" I said with a giggle.

"I thought you guys were leaving today?" I said to my parents as they hugged me.

"Our flight doesn't leave until eight tonight" My dad said.

Kimberly made a bunch of food and everyone hung around the house for a few hours and took turns with Elijah. Around 5:00 everyone made their way out, then it was just Jimi, Elijah and I. I was sitting on the couch rocking Elijah to sleep. Jimi finished cleaning the kitchen then joined us on the couch. He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him. We sat there in silence watching Elijah sleep. It was reaching 6:30 and I decided that I should probably put Elijah in his crib in the nursery. Jimi and I stood up and walked slowly up the stairs. We reached the nursery and I carefully laid him in the crib. He squirmed a little bit, but was still asleep. I stood there for a minute and Jimi was standing beside me. He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. I laid my head on his shoulder and we stood there for a good ten minutes just watching him sleep. Around 7:00, Jimi and I decided to go to our room and lay down for a little while. I climbed in bed and Jimi laid down next to me. I scooted close to him and rested my head on his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and started softly rubbing my back.

"I can't believe he's finally here" I whispered.

"Me either" Jimi said and kissed the top of my head.

"It's amazing isn't it" I said and looked up at him.

"It's the most amazing thing in the world" Jimi said with a smile. About five minutes later, I fell asleep in his arms. Maybe three or so hours later, I heard Elijah start to squawk in the baby monitor. It took me a minute to process what was happening, so I slowly started to sit up. Jimi had already sat up and was climbing out of bed.

"I'll get him babe, you stay here and sleep. You need it" Jimi said.

"I can get up with you" I said and yawned.

"Its fine, I can get him. You need to sleep. I know you didn't sleep well at the hospital. Stay here and sleep, I can handle the little guy" He said and kissed me.

"Ok, fine" I said and laid back down.

"I love you, you know that?" I said to Jimi.

"I love you too" Jimi said and kissed me again. Within minutes I was out like a light.

The next morning it was reaching 6:00. Elijah woke up two more times throughout the night. Jimi and I got up with him together. I got about six hours of sleep, which is pretty impressive with a newborn. Sleep wouldn't have been possible without Jimi getting up with him the first time. I heard Elijah in the monitor and I climbed out of bed to get him. Jimi wasn't too far behind. We walked down the hall to the nursery. I picked Elijah up and Jimi grabbed a clean diaper out of the drawer. I carefully laid him down on the changing table and changed his diaper.

"Babe, can you grab the yellow long sleeve onesie with the giraffe on it with the brown cotton pants to go with?" I asked Jimi.

"Sure" he said and went over to the dresser and dug out the outfit. When he found it, he brought it over to me and set it down.

"Thanks" I said and smiled at him. I dressed Elijah and he started to get fussy.

"You're probably getting hungry huh?" I said to Elijah. I picked him up and I carried him downstairs.

When we got downstairs, I sat down on the couch and grabbed a blanket. Then I started breastfeeding him.

"What do you want for breakfast?" Jimi asked.

"Eggs and bacon sounds pretty good" I said with a smile.

"Eggs? Are you sure? Last time I made you eggs, you threw up from the smell" Jimi said.

"That was months ago, when I was pregnant. Eggs don't make me sick anymore" I said with a giggle.

"Ok, if you say so" Jimi said and went to the kitchen.

He started cooking up a storm and it smelled great. I haven't eaten eggs or bacon since I was three or four months pregnant.

"It smells great babe" I said.

"It's almost done" he said.

"Elijah just fell asleep" I said and giggled.

"Man, that baby can sleep a lot" he said with a laugh.

"Babies tend to do that" I said and carefully stood up and put him in his swing. I turned the swing on and walked in the kitchen. I grabbed some plates and cups and set them on the counter. Jimi put some eggs and bacon on both plates. I poured some orange juice in the glasses and then the two of us sat down at the table.

After we ate breakfast, Jimi and I decided to shower and get dressed. Once we were ready for the day, Jimi and I decided to take Elijah for a stroller ride around the block since it was nice outside. I think if I spend another minute in bed or on the couch, I'm going to go crazy. I haven't done a whole lot of moving around in the past few days. The doctor said that I should be up and moving around, but not doing any intense exercise, so I think a walk is the perfect idea.

Elijah had just woke up from his little nap, so I changed his diaper. He was a little fussy, so I tried to feed him and see if that is why he is so fussy. I sat down on the couch and fed him. Jimi sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulder. Elijah latched on right away and started eating.

"Always hungry. Just like your daddy" I said quietly and looked up at Jimi with a smile. Jimi leaned down and kissed me.

When Elijah was done eating, I burped him. Then we went out to the garage and strapped him in his stroller and went for our walk. We walked two blocks and Elijah slept most of the way. We made our way back to the house. I carefully unbuckled Elijah from his stroller and tried not to wake him. He started squirming a little, but fell asleep as soon as started rocking him. I laid him down in the bassinet that we had set up in the living room.

Jimi and I sat down on the couch. He had his arm around my shoulder and I was leaned into him. We watched Elijah sleep for a good fifteen minutes.

"This whole parenting thing is even more amazing than I thought it was going to be" I whispered.

"I agree with you one hundred percent" Jimi replied.

"We made this amazing, tiny, little human being" I said with a smile and looked up at him.

"We did a good job, didn't we" Jimi said with a smile.

"We did" I replied. Then he leaned down and kissed me.

"Raising him is going to be the most amazing thing" I added with a smile.