Forever In My LIFE (Book 4) 2nd Alternate

Part 32

Like clockwork, my little man wakes me with soft fussing. As I pull him from the bassinet for his feeding, I see that it's just after midnight. "One day old, sir," I tell him as he latches on and his little mouth starts to work away, one eye opens sleepily and quickly closes. He stays awake better now during the feedings since I've been tickling his tummy every so often, which in turn has led to longer naps in between.

When he's done and burped, I check his diaper before I return him to the bassinet. I use the toilet myself, and since Prince isn't here, I quickly drift back off to sleep. This whole process gets repeated once more at a little after four in the morning, and I know by the next feeding, Prince will likely be back here with us.

I wake to Prince's soft lips pressing a kiss to my cheek, "Hello, Mama," he says with a grin when I open my eyes.

"Hey," I smile up at him in the flicker of the LED candles, "did you knock their socks off?" I ask sleepily.

"Of, course I did," he sits beside me on the bed. When I move to sit up, he presses his hand on my shoulder, "You don't have to get up unless you need to."

I relax back down, "Have you checked Ramiel yet?"

"I wanted to kiss you first," he wiggles his eyebrows and stands, I notice his limp is more pronounced as he crosses the short distance to the bassinet. "Hey, there," he grins into the bassinet before lifting the baby against his chest and returning to me. "Look who's awake," he says as he sits back down, his smile fades slightly when he sees my concern.

"You're limp is worse," I mention.

He presses his lips together for a second, but the smile reappears when looks back at Ramiel, "What are you doing up, hmmmm? Are you hungry?"

I watch Prince, waiting for him to acknowledge my concern but he does not, so I say, "He shouldn't be hungry just yet," I look at the clock to confirm the time, "It's only been about two hours."

"Ah, so you just wanted some attention," he talks to Ramiel. I reach across to stroke a Ramiel's tiny cheek, the baby flashes his toothless grin.

"Are you going to avoid what I just said?" I prompt Prince for a response.

He continues to lavish attention on the baby. "Sugar, it's fine, I danced a little too hard tonight, that's all, " he answers me, but his face stays animated for the baby, now it's my turn to press my lips together.

I sit up in the bed and slowly stand, stopping to kiss Ramiel's head. I place my hand against the nape of Prince's neck and pull him in for a deeper kiss before I say firmly, "I love you, and I hate knowing you're in pain."

He nods, "I fine, Dana, really," he says it as sincerely as possible, even meeting my eyes.

"Okay," I say, letting it drop, it's rare that he actually uses my name, so I know that this is as far as this conversation is going to go this morning. "Just remember, we need you," I say softly and make my way to the toilet.

When I return, Prince is finishing up securing a fresh diaper on Ramiel. "It wasn't too bad, but I changed him anyway," he says as he carefully lifts him and places him back in the bassinet.

"Come here, Sugar," he extends his arms out to me and I walk into them, he pulls me tight, "I love you so much, you know that, right?"

I melt against him, "Yes," I whisper, "but humor me when I ask about your pain, it's only because I love you."

"I know, Baby, it'll be fine by morning," he pulls away to look me in the eye.

"It is morning," I counter, glancing at the clock to drive my point home, then I return my focus onto his eyes.