Being Parents? Piece of Cake. So Far is the eighty-fourth chapter of Zak Saturday's Immortal Love Life. It was first published on March 24, 2016.
Chapter[]
Chapter “Who’s the cutest baby girl in the world?” I told my baby daughter, Jasmine, whom I was carrying in my arms. She didn’t answer, of course, so I answered for her. “You are.” Zak and I have had her home for a week now and we just couldn’t get enough of her. A couple days after she was born, Selena went into labor and gave birth to her son and she and Zack named him Peter, like I knew they would from my dream. He was cute. “But not as cute as you,” I told Jasmine. “Mommy has to go to school now, and you’re going to be with Daddy. Does that sound like fun? But don’t worry. I’ll be back before you get too bored with him.” “Uh, hey,” Zak said, sounding insulted. “Sorry, Zak. I didn’t mean it.” “I’m sure you didn’t.” I laughed, then gave him Jasmine. “I’ll be back soon.” “Don’t you get a maternity leave or something?” Zak asked. “Yes. But this is school we’re talking about. It takes a lot longer to catch up on than work. But I only have about two more years left of it, and I don’t wanna drop out. After that, I’m free from school for us to live our lives, and I won’t have to be separated from either of you forty hours a week.” “I know. And I can’t wait.” “Me neither. So I better go. Now, you know what to do, right?” “If you do, I do.” “Ok. Well, if she gets fussy and nothing seems to work, just play her a song of mine and that should calm her down.” “I know. But promise to play one for her and me in person when you get back.” “I will. Bye. And have fun.” I gave them both a kiss and went on my way to school. It’s only been ten minutes, and I already miss Jasmine. Being separated from your newborn for the first time really was hard. And I’m glad I wasn’t the only one. “Hi,” Selena and Zack said to me on our way to our first class, and they seemed sad. “You miss him?” I asked. They both nodded. “I miss my daughter too. But we’ll be back with them after school’s done.” “Yeah, but we’ll probably have homework to do,” Zack said. “Maybe. But we can do both.” They stared at me. “You really think we can?” Selena asked. “No,” I admitted. “But we can try.” “We’ll see about that.” “Yeah. Zak is taking care of Jasmine. Who’s taking care of Peter?” “Both of our mothers,” Selena replied. “My mom has him today and your mom will have him tomorrow and ex cetera. Though, they’ll probably see each other during their turns with him since they are best friends and all.” “Yeah. Well, let’s get through this day. I’m sure Zak will be tired with Jasmine by the time I get back.” I would never be tired with Jasmine. Why? She’s adorable. It was time for her nap. I fed her some of Sarah’s milk from a bottle, making sure it was the right temperature first, and she fell asleep in my arms. I could’ve put her in her crib, but I didn’t want to. I liked holding her. I was sitting in the rocking chair in her room when my mom came in. “Hey,” she said, whispering. “Is she asleep?” I nodded. “Yeah.” “Why don’t you put her in her crib?” “I like holding her, and I can’t seem to let her go.” “I understand. It was hard for me to let you go sometimes too. But I had to give your father a turn eventually. Speaking of which, I came here to tell you how proud we both are at how you’re handling this. Honestly, we underestimated how mature and responsible you are and this, she, just proves that you’re a very good young man and Sarah too.” I smiled. “Thanks, Mom. I just want to be the best I can be for Jasmine and for Sarah.” “I can see that, and you are.” “Do you wanna hold her?” “Do you want me to?” “No. But it’s not exactly fair to keep you or anyone else from holding her.” “You’re her father. It is fair. Just don’t do it to her mother.” “I won’t.” After my talk with Mom, and watching Jasmine sleep in my arms, it made me sleepy too. I haven’t exactly gotten much sleep since she’s been here, partly because I love watching her sleep. I still didn’t want to put her in her crib, so brought her to mine and Sarah’s room and laid her on the bed. Then I laid next to her and went to sleep. When I awoke, Jasmine was no longer on the bed. I started panicking. A lot. I looked all over the room, saying “Oh, no” the whole time. Then I went to her room and found Sarah sitting in the rocking chair, rocking and feeding Jasmine. I sighed with relief. Sarah laughed. “Looks like Daddy’s about to have a heart attack.” “I am,” I replied. “When did you get home?” “About ten minutes ago. You know, Zak, there are reasons why cribs are meant for babies and have bars.” I started panicking again. “Why do you say that? Did something happen to her with me in our bed? Did she fall off?” “God, Zak, you need to relax. She’s fine. And she was far from the edge, but you need to be careful with her there, though I can tell you already are. Maybe a little too much.” “I just don’t want anything to happen to our baby girl. Especially not under my watch.” “I know, and she won’t. Especially with a daddy like you.” “And a mommy like you.” She smiled. I kissed her. “So, can you sing that song for us now? Would you like that, Jasmine? Do you want Mommy to sing to us?” “I suppose,” Sarah replied. I took Jasmine from her and Sarah went and sat at her piano that we set up in Jasmine’s room. I sat next to her. Sarah started singing You Are Mine, the song she sang at her beauty pageant and won when she was six. It’s the only song I’ve heard her play that she didn’t write: I will lift you from all your fear I am hope for all who are hopeless Do not be afraid, I am with you I am strength for all the despairing Do not be afraid, I am with you I am the Word that leads all to freedom Do not be afraid, I am with you I really liked the song and Jasmine fell asleep to the comforting sound of her mother’s voice. “Hey,” I said. “Do you think maybe you can write one for me?” “Write what for you?” Sarah asked. “A song for me to sing to her too. Or, maybe not sing, but at least, play it for her to listen to from me.” “Really?” “Yeah. I mean, it’s better than giving her a stuffed animal, wrapping it up in a blanket, have her hold it, and read a baby book to her.” “I think she would love that.” “I don’t think she will, and I’m not going to try. I’d prefer a song over that any day.” Sarah laughed. “Well, I can try to write one. But I may already have a song in mind that I didn’t write.” “Ok. What?” She grabbed her phone and scrolled through her Playlist. “Well, I actually got this song from my mom’s phone. I was looking through it one day, knowing that, as old as she is, she’ll have a lot of songs on her Playlist that she likes and that maybe I could find more songs that I like too from her own taste, and I found this one.” She touched it and it started playing: Lost in the moment and each other’s face But I loved her first and I held her first How could that beautiful woman with you But I loved her first and I held her first From the first breath she breathed As I listened to the song, while holding my daughter and watching her sleep, I think I saw one corner of her mouth turn up just slightly, like she was trying to smile in her sleep. I knew it was perfect. Sarah wiped away tears from her eyes. “I like that song.” “Me too,” I agreed. “I think I might play it for her every night when we put her to sleep. I think she likes it.” “I don’t blame her.” We put Jasmine in her crib and watched her continue to sleep for a while. There was nothing more beautiful than that. Aww. Quiz time! What was the name of the second song that Sarah sang, and who sings it? You guys can guess the first one too if you want, though it's not quite like the other songs that Sarah's sung in this story. Please review here. |
Character Appearances[]
Main Characters[]
- Sarah Hollinger
- Zak Saturday
- Drew Saturday
- Zack Hollinger
- Doc Saturday (mentioned)
- Raylee Hollinger (mentioned)
Minor Characters[]
- Jasmine Saturday
- Selena
- Peter Hollinger (mentioned)
- Britney (mentioned)