🔸Bonus | 3

GINELLE

"Baby come see, she's awake."

Grey excitedly called from the next room and I dropped the small white blanket I'd been folding.

I rushed into our room to find him standing next to the small crib beside our bed, a spot he never seemed to leave.

He smiled at me and then turned to the small figure laying on the soft purple covers.

Our baby

Grey leaned closer to her face, his smile as wide as ever and I watched how her soft brown eyes watched him in wonder.

She blabbered out while lifting her small fingers as she turned side to side, trying to reach Grey's face.

Her legs lifted slightly when she eventually held the side of his face and an excited sound left her mouth.

"My sweet baby," Grey nuzzled his face into her small hand, another lovely sound coming out of her that I smiled.

I watched Grey slowly pick her up into his arms, her small body barely covering half of his broad chest.

He pressed soft kisses on her chubby cheeks while soothingly rocking her into his arms and her fingers held onto the curve of his shirt in small tight fists.

What a sight.

I just stared at their interaction with so much joy in my heart, Grey assuming his father role so naturally.

With one of his arms securely holding her to himself, he turned towards me and reached for my hair, affectionately stroking it down.

"She slept for so long, I was worried." He lips pressed over my temple twice and he gently pulled me closer so that we were hugging.

"She's still young," I assured him that it was normal to have her sleep for long hours.

Our baby, Gina, turned at my voice and she started to squirm in Grey's arms upon seeing my face.

Her eyes dimmed first and the corners of her mouth turned down before she started to cry.

Grey passed her to me, his face troubled at her sudden cry and I softly rubbed her back as her head rested on my chest.

She went quiet a few seconds later and I noticed the relief on Grey's face. He was usually troubled when she cried.

There were times when she cried so much to a point where I didn't know what she wanted that I too found myself crying.

I would helplessly rock her into my arms and Grey would worriedly look at the two of us, trying to find a solution.

We would alternate holding her, Grey doing all he could till she finally went quiet and fell sleep.

Putting her to sleep was yet another difficult task because just at the slightest stir, she would wake up.

It took almost ten minutes to fully lay her on bed but the best thing was that she slept for longer hours.

This had been during her first two weeks but now she'd calmed down. At three months now, I had grown to learn her body behaviour.

Right now she looked up at me with puckered lips, her right hand holding onto a strand of my hair and I understood that she was hungry.

I sat down at the edge of our bed so as to feed her properly and Grey followed, sitting right next to me.

He watched me feed Gina, his eyes alternating between her face and mine and the corners of his mouth curved up in a smile.

"What is it?" I whispered so as not to distract Gina from her feeding but she looked up a second later.

Grey smiled again, this time he looked at my body and then at my face before smiling at our baby.

"I love watching you," his gaze lingered on my upper chest where Gina's hand lay and I slapped his arm.

He chuckled and rested his head on my right shoulder, his attention going to Gina as she sucked.

He snuggled into me until our baby was done feeding, his hand tracing patterns down my lower back.

"I prepared bone soup for you earlier, do you want to have it now?" Grey asked after sometime and I nodded.

I didn't even know how he'd learned that I needed to take something liquid everytime I feed Gina.

He seemed to know everything I wanted before I could even spell it out verbally.

I carried Gina to the kitchen where Grey warmed up the soup he'd prepared as I sat at the dining table.

I stared at the baby in my arms and smiled. I was a mother. I was a parent. Grey and I were parents to this lovely baby.

Gina looked just like me when I was younger. My mama had said that the moment she first saw the baby.

She had my brown eyes, my chestnut brown hair and my small button nose that Grey loved to point out.

We looked so alike, the only feature she had taken from Grey being his dimples. Hers were on both cheeks, her smile being just as lovely as Grey's.

She held onto my hair again, something that Grey too would do whenever he sat beside me.

I watched her lift her head to the sound of Grey saying that everything would be ready in a minute.

Her eyes followed his back as he moved across the kitchen, watching his every move.

"That's daddy," she looked up at me and then turned her face to the side so that she'd see Grey clearly.

She said something incoherent but her eyes remained on Grey so I assumed she was attempting to say daddy.

Grey eventually brought my soup and he tried to take Gina out of my arms so that I'd eat but our baby refused to budge.

She curiously look up at Grey as if to figure out what he wanted that I almost laughed.

He seemed to realize that she was adamant on staying with me a minute later and he just sighed.

I assured him that it was okay as I used my free hand to drink, ensuring that the cup was far away from Gina.

"She likes it when you hold her," Grey mumbled in an envious way as he looked at how she snuggled into me.

"And you barely leave her side," he was usually there when I cleaned and fed her. We lulled her to sleep together, eventually putting her to bed together.

There was never a time when Grey stayed away from us. Be it making her small bed, dressing her up or even cleaning her nails.

He was there for the small and big tasks regarding our baby girl.

The day when she was born. I remember it as if it were yesterday.

Grey had held her into his arms for ten minutes straight, the palms of his hands holding her small body.

I had seen him shed a tear at her first cry. He refused to let her go even when the nurses insisted that they needed to clean the baby first.

He was so protective of Gina and I knew he was going to keep her safe from harms way.

I wanted to be a good mother for Gina and it worried me how I was going to raise her well and mould her into a great girl.

I found myself worrying of whether I would be capable enough and it was not until one night when I realized that Grey had been struggling with the same thought too.

I had woken up to an empty space beside me and after sitting up a minute later, I noticed Grey standing over our baby's crib, watching her sleep.

He didn't realize that I was awake until I got off our bed and walked to stand beside him.

That night he told me that he wanted to become a great father to our daughter. He wanted to be there for us in all aspects.

He promised that he would do everything for us and love us unconditionally but I knew all that was unnecessary.

He had already proven of his love from the start. During our dating days, my pregnancy and even during Gina's birth, his love was so evident.

That night we had gone back to sleep after praying for our family's wellbeing and for the good growth of our baby.

The burdens we carried in our hearts lessened and together we promised to support and uplift one another.

"What are you thinking about, tulip?" Gina looked at me as if she could tell that Grey was referring to me.

She had heard him call me by that nickname severally that I at one time thought she'd end up calling me that when she was older.

"Our family," I clasped my hand over his, intertwining our fingers as I smiled at him.

I couldn't even begin to describe the love I had for our small family. Our family of three.

I loved Grey and Gina wholeheartedly.

"Everyday when I wake up and see both of your beautiful faces, it makes me feel like I have everything in the world."

"You're my life, my tulips." He stroked my bare arm and smiled down at Gina as she reached for his thigh.

"Gaah," her small hands reached for his shirt and Grey took her into his arms, attempting to hold her in a standing position.

She turned to look at me and then at Grey, her gaze curious, as if trying to figure us out.

She gazed at Grey longer, her hands reaching for his face so that she could touch his sideburns.

She gurgled when Grey kissed the palms of her hands and made a sound similar to hers.

"Gaah," Gina repeated her original 'words' as Grey said them back and I noticed how excited she became.

Her small hands lifted up and she began to repeatedly say her new learned words.

Grey indulged her into small talk, he told her a story about a beautiful princess and Gina would gaah at all his statements.

It was progress and I loved it.

I went to pick one of her favorite toys from our room so that she would play with us.

Out of all the numerous toys we'd bought her, her favorite one was a small yellow duck that made a sound when pressed at the center.

Gina didn't seem to like dolls like every other baby girl. She loved ducks the most and Grey had even bought her a larger duck to hold in her sleep.

I came back to find them seated on the floor, Gina leaning onto the lower part of the couch so that she too was sitting.

Grey was clapping his hands in front of her while singing a song as Gina attempted to follow his actions.

Though off key, the smile on our daughter's face didn't fall as excited babbles left her mouth.

She watched Grey's hands and then tried mimicking his movements and when she eventually made her first clap, she smiled so brightly, the dimples on her face making her even prettier.

She looked up at me and blabbered out and I smiled encouragingly, clapping my hands too.

Her focus went back to her hands as she tried to repeat the process. She attempted two times in vain before Grey held both of her hands and they clapped along.

"Baah, baah," her blabber increased as Grey helped her clap, still singing along.

"I love you baby, I love you baby, I love you my baby, I love you baby."

Gina's lips tried to follow the pattern of Grey's as he sang and when she couldn't catch up, she just stared at him.

"You're both adorable," I ruffled Grey's hair and sat beside him, smiling at their lovely interaction.

"I've learned the rhythm, right?" He asked me about his singing earlier and I pressed my lips together to avoid laughing.

"Is it not any better?" He furrowed his eyes and stared at the ground before us.

"It's getting there, Gina loves listening to your song." I encouraged him and seeing the smile on her face, he smiled too.

I had at one time sang that song to Gina on a night when she woke up in the middle of the night.

It was obviously made up but Grey wanted to sing her to bed too so I ended up teaching him how it went and it was then I realized he was so terrible at singing.

At first his voice was hoarse and very off key but now he had improved.

"Gaah," Gina reached for her favorite toy on my lap and I carefully made sure that her back was supported as she sat down.

Her small hands barely held the toy so it kept falling down and Grey would hand it back to her.

We watched her toy with the little duck and the moment she pressed at the center, her hands dropped at the sudden sound.

She had never known that the duck made a sound so the moment that soft squawk was heard, she dropped the toy.

Her terrified eyes looked up at us and then at her beloved toy, her face puzzled.

I took the duck and softly pressed and when that sound came out again, she looked down at her toy.

I began to press repeatedly so that it produced a beautiful pattern and Gina started to move her legs to the sound.

Her hands tapped over her knees as she went along with the sound produced, rocking her body to and fro as Grey supported her.

Once she got accustomed to the sound, I gave her duck back and watched as she pressed just as she'd seen me do.

It didn't make a sound at first but on her second try, the soft squawk came out and you could have seen how her face lifted.

Her mouth opened, her eyes crinkled as she lifted her small hands in the air.

She brought them down and stared at her palms and after clenching her hands in small fists, she eventually clapped her hands.

"Baah," she excitedly looked at us at her accomplishment and we joined her in celebration, clapping our hands together.

"Well done baby," I leaned down to kiss her lovely face as Grey continued to clap for her.

"You have done so well," my thumbs traced over her cheeks as I watched her eyes light up in excitement.

I almost didn't realize my husband's pout until he grumbled under his breath and tugged the edge of my shirt.

"What about me? Have I done well?" His eyes were almost sullen that you'd think someone had scolded him.

"Of course you've done well, baby." I kissed his cheeks twice but he looked at me with that expectant gaze.

I held back a smile at his pouty expression and then leaned to kiss his lips like he wanted.

His right hand lifted to gently pull my head as he deepened the kiss, his body moving closer to mine.

My eyes closed as his mouth moved over mine and I almost forgot my surroundings, were it not for Gina's babble.

I pulled away, Grey's hand not dropping from the back of my head and when we turned to Gina, her eyes were wide in surprise.

She reached for our knees and stared at the two of us, her eyes looking at Grey's mouth and then mine.

"Gaah," she uttered her new learned word and we could only guess what it meant when she looked away and picked her duck.

✪ ✪ ✪

A day like this last year, I found the courage to post the very first part of this story.

I remember how nervous I was back then, when I began writing the first chapter.

At that time, I didn't know that this story would bring me this far and I'm so glad to have began this.

Thank you all for your support. I'm grateful that you've accompanied me throughout this journey.

Happy first anniversary (or should I say birthday) to Always, Tulip.

(⁠๑⁠˙⁠❥⁠˙⁠๑⁠)