Moving Forward

Me Time

Quiet.

I open my eyes, examining the room.

No kid banging on the door, because she's attached herself to Brad and is surprisingly sleeping very peacefully.

No dogs trying to jump on the bed to wake us, most likely because the door is shut.

And most importantly, nobody, except for me is awake.

It's only taken since Ava was born, but I finally get a quiet morning. The baby isn't even awake using my insides as a jumping gym yet.

I jump out of bed, but not too forcefully, making sure I don't wake Ava or the baby, and quickly disappear into the bathroom. I get to pee and brush my teeth alone for the first time in what feels like forever.

Once I'm done, I sneak out of the room, opening the door, only for all 3 dogs to run in past me, and jump on the bed.

"Well Brad can deal with that."

I shut the door again, walking down to the kitchen for my coffee, thinking about everything I can do with the little bit of free time I'm getting.

I could decide what color to paint the living room...

What kind of highchair we want this time. After all, Ava's wasn't our favorite...

Which room to put the baby in. We think the one next to Ava, but what if they wake each other?

What should we have for dinner?

What if I can convince Brad that we should get new cars? We will need more room for the baby.

I get my coffee and breakfast, walking towards the table to sit, but quickly decide that the patio seems much more welcoming.

The warm morning breeze hits me as I open the door, letting me know I make the right decision.  Chirping birds and the sound of the pool water gently swaying surround me.

I pull out a lunge chair, dusting off all the food crumbs and push all the toys on the table to the side. I finally get the time I deserve.

Silence.

Until the door creeps open.

"Hey, she's still asleep. Why'd you let the dogs in the room?"

I sigh, knowing my quiet morning is officially gone.

"They ran in when I opened the door."

He pulls out the chair next to me, taking my coffee.

"Okay, but why are you out here?"

"Because I mistakenly thought that for the first time in years I could have a quiet morning. Obviously I was wrong."

I take the coffee back for a quick sip.

He doesn't seem to care much about interrupting my morning, as he stretches his legs out, laying them in my lap and steals a piece of my toast.

"Why would you want a morning away from this? I could understand her moodiness, but not me."

"I don't know," I roll my eyes staring out at the scenery I planned on taking in "I love sharing my food and coffee."

"Okay, yeah maybe I can understand a little." He hands me back the half eaten toast and my coffee cup "I didn't think I was that annoying."

"You aren't. It just seemed like a good idea when I woke up to see her attached to you still asleep at a decent hour."

I move his legs a little since his feet are just barely touching my belly, making the baby move.

"And you woke this one now."

"I like her more anyway." He sits up, pulling me over to his lap "Doesn't talk back to me or pee on me after I get her out of the bath because she thinks it's funny."

"Not yet at least. She's going to look up to Ava and that's scary enough just thinking about it."

We sit in silence for a while, enjoying each other's company as we're wrapped up, listening to the sounds of nature.

"Brad."

"Hm?"

"I was thinking earlier... maybe we should get new cars."

He looks over at me, slightly fearing the fact that our family really is growing.

"I think so too. We need extra room for all the shit she'll have."

"We don't have anything else planned today, we can always go look once she gets up." I suggest, finishing off the coffee "She'll like that."

"I think she's already up." Brad nudges me in the direction of the door, where Ava has her face smashed into it looking out at us "Thank God she can't reach that handle yet."

"Why are we here?" Ava asks once we pull into the dealership "Can we get a pink car?"

"Maybe red, honey, but not pink."

We get out and find a salesman, quietly explaining our situation so that Ava doesn't hear about the baby, and he suggests a few options.

"We have a few different SUVS with a 3rd row if you'd like that, or we have some that are just bigger than what you have right now. Either would give you the extra space you need."

"I guess we should look into the 3rd row," Brad says surprising me "It's not like this will be our last kid."

"Oh, well thanks for letting me know." I glare over at him, following the guy through the lot "When did we decide on that?"

He just wraps his free arm around me, carrying Ava with the other.

"So this one has the 3rd row and can seat up to 7 people." The salesman opens the back door, letting us see inside "The design of this one is more like a minivan, so there's 2 seats in the second row, and 3 in the third. There's other designs where it's the opposite."

Brad and I look at each other, both unsure. The guy noticing this, points to the car directly next to us that has the opposite design.

Like any grown adults, we throw Ava in the back and let her pick.

"This one!" She says, choosing the first "It's so big!"

We test drive it, making sure that both of us like it as well, before making our decision.

"We'll get two." We decide.