Sleepless Nights

By Marie S

Her high pitched cry pierced the silence followed by the audible groans of her parents. Ashley’s toes inched toward the edge of the bed until Lachlan stopped her.

“I’ve got her, love.” Lachlan practically fell out of bed as he made his way toward Katie Marie’s crib.

They’d been home from the hospital for a couple of days now and it had been…well truly exhausting with the every two to three hour feedings that seemed to overlap onto one another. Despite the help they had during the day nights were still very difficult. Ashley and Lachlan were coming to the realization that long periods of sleep were over for quite some time.

“I could feed her, Lach,” she mumbled but didn’t actually move.

“Remember, I promised,” he yawned and finally had stumbled to the crib to scoop up their newborn. Katie Marie was rooming in with them at the moment as they house was full of guests due to a threatening case that Bud and his partner Zack were working on. It was adding a bit more stress to the household that had already undergone major changes with the arrival of Katie Marie.

“Yes, but not necessary.” Ashley promptly fell back asleep. She also had the added strain of recovering from the birth of their girl.

Lachlan chuckled and cuddled his snuffling infant to his chest.

“C’mon, cuddles. Let’s get yer bottle.” He kissed her curly red peach fuzz on top of her head.

Lach padded to the kitchen and warmed a bottle of breast milk that Ashley had prepared earlier. Once he was sure the temperature was just right he settled on the rocking chair in their bedroom and began to feed his wee bairn.

He loved to watch her suck so voraciously. She was a hungry one. Matched her Da in that way. Then Lachlan lost himself in watching her fingers and how tiny and perfect they were. Once she was finished he had her on his shoulder where she let out a hearty belch. He chuckled quietly. She took after her Da in that way too though his little Ashley could do them proud if she allowed herself.

Ashley reached out her hand to touch the cold half of their bed. Lachlan wasn’t there. She peeked up to locate him. He was sound asleep on the rocking chair with Katie Marie, also sleeping, cradled against his shoulder.

She tiptoed over to them.

“Lach,” she whispered. “Let me put her in her crib and come back to bed.” She grinned down at her lovely tousled haired husband.

‘Mmph’ was his answer, but he let Ashley scoop Katie Marie from his arms and settle her on her side in her crib. She wrapped a light blanket around her

Once she was sure Katie Marie was sleeping she turned back to her sleeping husband. Ashley kissed his ear and whispered to him again.

“C’mon, Lach. Come to bed.” She pulled him to his feet and led him to their bed. Lachlan gathered her into his arms and pulled her close to him once they were settled. He nuzzled into her long red locks and quickly fell back asleep.

Ashley smiled and snuggled back into his arms. As tired as they both were life was as near to perfect as she could ever imagine. Her eyes closed as she too slept until the next feeding.