Our Second Chance Life

1

Sterling

It’s three in the morning and I’m sitting in the living room with Des, curled up under a blanket as I try to keep my eyes open. Between making sure Maddy gets to school on time and my own weird sleeping schedule.

The last two weeks have been hell… Well, all apart from finally being able to hold this lovely little man in my arms.

The first two nights were the worst, but we’re finally slipping into a new schedule, which may or may not be the best thing as it consists of me being up most of the night and sleeping in the morning and Wilder taking over the care of Des during most of the day.

I really do hope that Des starts sleeping through the night soon-ish, because, right now, there is just too much weird and off-time schedules with this all.

Des makes a happy sound and curls up against me. He looks so happy and I’m glad he’s finally full because it means I can go back to sleep. There is an amazing man in our bed and I would love to at least sleep in the same bed as him for a couple more hours.

“Dessy Des,” I whisper. “We’re moving again.” I cradle him in my arm and slip out of the blanket as I stand up. He looks so happy, and he’s so beautiful. Luckily, he’s mostly a happy and content baby, but he’s got his moods, even at this young age.

I walk into his little room, but then think the better of it and take him to our room. We’ve put a little crib next to our bed and I slowly lower Des into it. Then I crawl under the blanket with Wilder.

“He happy?” Wilder’s voice is low as he turns to me and wraps his arms around me, pulling me close.

“Yeah. Needed a bottle.”

“Ah. Okay.” Wilder runs his lips over the back of my neck. “Go to sleep for a few more hours, it’s much better when you’re here with me.” I feel his breathing even out again and he’s asleep.

It’s so easy for him, to fall back asleep. But I’ve always known that. He’s been like that from the start, he always falls asleep the easiest and the fastest.

And still… He wakes up each time Des does, but with his work during the day and my work not consisting of much during the winter months… It’s me who takes care of Des the most during the nights.

“He’s amazing,” I whisper at Des, who seems to focus in my direction even though he probably can’t see me yet.

To see him focus on me, on us, when he’s awake, it’s such a magical thing. Such a small person and they’re already so aware of what’s going on around them. Or, at least, trying to be aware of everything. That energy and curiosity, I hope he never loses it.

I reach out to him, touching his cheek. “Your dad’s right, let’s sleep for a few more hours.”

***

I stretch out on the bed as I slowly wake up. I’m alone now, which doesn’t surprise me. I wake up alone most mornings these days. I check the clock next to the bed and see that it’s nearly eight in the morning.

Letting out a deep breath, I stand up and quickly get dressed. I may be on time enough to give Maddy a quick hug before she’s off to school.

I make my way down the hallway, towards the kitchen where a lot of noises are coming from. When I open the door, Maddy looks at me with a huge smile on her face.

“Look, Daddy!” She points to Des, who is pulling a weird face.

Ehh… “Wild?” I look towards my husband, who is supposed to be in charge here now, and he’s just leaning against the counter, looking at Des with a huge grin on his face.

Then he looks at me. “Yes?”

“What’s going on?”

“Maddy likes it now, but I don’t think she’ll appreciate what comes next.” He laughs as he goes over to Des, who has stopped pulling the weird face.

“Oh! Ew!” Maddy quickly steps back and tries to get out of reach of the stench. “He did a poo!”

“Yes. That’s what he does when he pulls a face like that.” Wilder laughs as he walks past me with Des, he stops for a moment, giving me a kiss. “Good morning. I’ve got coffee for you in the pot.”

I roll my eyes for a moment. “Thanks. Now, get him cleaned up, will you?”

“Will do. Will do.” He walks down the hallway to the nursery, still laughing.

I step into the kitchen and Maddy still pulls a face.

“He’s smelly for such a small baby.” She waves her hand and I open the window a little bit.

“That, he is.” I pour myself a cup of coffee and then sit down at the table.

“Daddy?” Maddy looks at me with a serious look in her eyes.

“Yes?”

“Can I…” She stops for a moment, then lowers her voice. “Can I have a big picture of Dad in my room?”

I lean to her. “Why are you whispering?”

“Because. I don’t want to hurt Wilder. He’s my dad too.”

Oh, wow. “He won’t be hurt if you ask that. He loved Dad too. And yes, you can totally have a picture of him in your room. If you choose a picture, we’ll get it printed at the size you want and even get a really nice frame for it.”

I’m glad it’s nothing too serious, no matter how serious she’s being about it. “Why do you ask?”

“In school, we’re going to make frames with pictures in them for Valentine’s Day, for like… our family and things. And I want to make mine for Dad.” She looks… Sad and a little conflicted.

“That sounds like a great idea.” I reach out to her, taking her hand in mine. “Do that. We’ll all love it. He’s still your dad and still your Alpha, even when he’s not here.”

Maddy nods, then she smiles again. “Okay. I will need a picture of Dad though.”

“We’ll look at them over the weekend, does that sound good?”

She nods again and then stands up, putting her cup and plate on the counter, suddenly making me aware of how much she’s grown up, then she looks at the clock. “It’s almost time to leave.”

I look too. “Yep. I’ll go check on Wilder, see if he’s ready yet.”

“Daddy… When will you be bringing me to school again?” Maddy looks at me.

“Next week, okay? Daddy is a little tired from having to give Des a bottle in the middle of the night.” I smile at her. “But I’ll drop you off at school next week.” Then I walk to the nursery, where Wilder is just stepping out with Des in his arms. “And?”

“No damage.” He laughs. We’ve had some accidents with poo all up the back of his clothes, but luckily, not today.

“Good.” I take Des from him, keeping the little man close. “Maddy needs to leave for school.”

“Yes. And I’m dropping by Hailey and Aiden after that for a bit.” He has this look in his eyes that makes me stop him.

“Why?”

He shrugs a little. “I may have a job for Aiden that’s a little easier on him?”

“Do I…” I sigh. “Do I even want to know?”

“You don’t need to.” He smiles. “It’s not something bad, and I didn’t make it up just to help him. Ehm… One of our company’s clients needs someone long-term to take care of the numbers and other stuff like that for their company since they’ve been growing a lot and they basically asked me if I knew someone. It’s full-time but he’ll be spending most of it at home instead of stuck in some office. I don’t know, it sounded good.” He shrugs.

“Sounds like a great opportunity.” He’s right on that, and I know that Aiden could really use a job that makes a little more money than he does working some short-term admin job like he’s doing now.

“Yeah. I’m hoping to catch him before he leaves for work.” Wilder leans in for a kiss as Maddy comes out of the kitchen with her school bag.

I give him a quick kiss and then turn to Maddy. “You ready for the day?”

“I need a good luck kiss from Des first.” She grins and I come down to her level a bit so she can kiss him on his cheek. Then she gives me a kiss too. “See you in the afternoon!”

“Have a good day at school.” I smile as I watch both my loves walk out the front door, leaving me alone with my little man. “Just you and me kid.”

I stand up straight, walk to the living room and sit down on the couch. “Let’s do some relaxation first.”

Des makes a happy little sound, so I don’t think he disagrees with my idea.

I may have mostly recovered in the last two weeks, but I still exhaust easily and mornings are definitely not my best part of the day anymore.