Tiny hands, warm as can be softly cupped Raye's cheeks. They'd stayed still for a while and in her semiconscious state, she laughed on the inside, not wanting to give it away that she was no longer asleep. She remained passive only for a few seconds before she couldn't hold it in any more and had burst into soft giggles when little fingers pinched and pulled her cheeks.
"Mommy, are you sleeping?" A tiny voice asks even as she chuckles and that's when Raye decided to lift her heavy lids too.
Grey eyes with soft flakes of brown sprinkled in its midst gazed right back at her. A wide grin also unfurls on this face, ultimately matching hers. She gazed at her little boy, his soft curls falling in his face, his dimples protruded, in that instant reminding her so much of Brie.
"I'm awake now," she greets the enthusiastic toddler, lifting the covers from her body.
"Where's mama," the three-year-old asks and Raye realized upon his question that Brie wasn't beside her in bed. She became concerned when she heard the faucet running within the bathroom. Her stomach drops recognizing why her babe was up so early; a sadness envelops her mind.
"She's getting ready for the day," she lies but for a good cause.
Getting out of bed wasn't as easy because Craig didn't want to get off from her torso. She ends up slandering kisses all over the boy's face, he laughed heartily, his soft voice ringing out with joy. Raye even tosses him into the air a few times when she was able to slip away from.
When she'd placed him down, he begged to be thrown several more times, but she couldn't bear to do it again due to how heavy he was getting as time progressed. To Raye it was merely yesterday her son was a squishy little thing that enjoyed blowing spit everywhere, now he was old enough to properly form words and sentences and enjoys being unapologetically naughty.
"I'll go check on mama for a bit and while I'm gone I need you to do something for me are you listening, buddy?" She asks and Craig's bright eyes, beamed up at her. He nods his head, his messy hair almost blocking the view from his eyes.
"Good. I need you to bring me as many toys as you can and when mama and I come back out, we'll play with them, okay?"
The toddler nods frantically, speeding off to fetch his little paw patrol cars and stuffed animals. Raye took the time to quickly slip into the bathroom. For a moment her heart ached when she saw Brienna holding onto the sink for dear life carefully brushing her teeth with little to no zeal.
Raye goes up to her and gently hugs her from behind, feeling the way her love trembled beneath her grip. She kisses the back of her head and the side of her face, listening as Brie hums with gratification.
"Is it still bad this morning?"
"To think that I'm doing this the second time around and my body hasn't gotten used to it is annoying," she states with a harsh chuckle, causing Raye to smile. "And yes, it's bad."
"I'm sorry. You know I'm here all the time. If you need anything, I promise I'll get it done. Even if I have to go through a storm too," She kisses the back of Brie's hand, feeling how quavery it was. Raye wished she could've personally done something to quell the girl's morning sickness or maybe faced it for her instead but she couldn't.
Brienna rinses out her mouth slowly, putting her toothbrush away and only then did she turn around to face her love, other than seeing her through the mirror.
"I'm guessing Craig came looking for the both of us,"
"He did," Raye laughs, remembering how the toddler pinched her cheeks and practically stuffed his face inside hers, demanding that she woke up to give him her undivided attention. That was his usual task each morning, waking them up before their own alarms went off. It was a beautiful moment despite the lack of sleep sometimes.
