whirlwind

Fourteen - Touch

Returning back home was a definite shift.

And she didn't mean home as in her house with her parents and brother- no. Her home with Nicolas.

Her real home.

There was constant fuss in the house, almost every moment someone was checking up on either her or Adeline.

Elizabeth was especially doting, and it was no surprise that she definitely was always ready to hold Adeline whenever Cara was sleeping, or eating.

Alexander was — well, Alexander. He was constantly being a worrying mother figure, which was never NOT funny.

Nicolas couldn't take his eyes off her, and she meant that in the most genuine way, as if it was more true than anything she had ever said. He had this look on his face whenever he laid eyes upon her - a look that Cara could only assume was meant for people that he loved more than anything in this world.

It seemed the whole family was partaking in childcare duty, considering she had the pleasure of watching two grown men argue whether the mobile that was being installed was periwinkle or lavender.

Don't be worried. Cara took the opportunity while she had it — the video is on YouTube now.

She also watched Alexander, the most serious, and formal man she had ever met stress on level she had never seen as he attempted to prevent Adeline from crying.

"What is it that she wants?" He asked, bending over so he was eye level with her in her carrier.

"You did this," Nicolas said, seeing as he was shoulder to shoulder with his brother, and in the same position.

"I did no such thing—"

"You did—"

They stopped arguing when Adeline's cries got louder - as if that were humanly possible.

Alexander then shook a delicate rattle in his hand, while Nicolas spoke through a little stuffed bunny in a means to qualm her cries and demands.

Eventually, Cara couldn't take it any longer and she headed in between them, handing the little angel her pacifier, and watching the men's confused reactions as she instantly quieted.

A mother's touch.

Nights were a lot less stressful than she had thought. Many people had told her that sleep was an impossibility, so she prepared herself to be exhausted for the next eighteen years.

However, when she awoke in the middle of the night on their first day home from the hospital, Cara furrowed her eyebrows, listening for the crying that she expected. Instead, she heard nothing. Standing from her bed, she looked around, only to find the bassinet next to the bed empty. She immediately rushed into a feeling of dread and she turned and bolted out of the room, only to stop dead in her tracks when she heard a soft cooing and a low voice speaking quietly.

Her eyes adjusted to the darkness, and standing in front of the window was a curly haired man and his infant daughter.

Cara sighed in relief, before wrapping her short robe tighter around her, moving closer to the pair.

It was odd.

Her room was situated right next to Nicolas' yet she felt so distant from him.

She supposed maybe it was the post pregnancy hormones that had her up in her emotions, but it certainly didn't prevent her from missing him.

Huh.

Missing someone who was literally right in front of her.

How ironic.

She headed quietly over, resting her chin on his shoulder so she could look down on their child.

Upon her presence, he brushed his lips against her temple.

Cara smiled quietly as he silently turned and laid Adeline gently in the crib, watching as the pads of his fingers gently brushed over her cheeks.

"She's beautiful. Looks so much like you," he whispered, his eyes looking up to Cara as he gently crossed over to her, shocking her as he took her face in his hands and pressed her lips to his.

She was lost in the kiss for a moment, still in utter shock.

She had missed this.

When he pulled away, and rested his forehead against her own, and his eyes opened, allowing her to see the look in his eyes.

That look... that was the look that he had when he saw Adeline. Like she was his whole world.

And now he was looking at Cara.

Without another word, he pulled her into his arms and she rested her chin on his shoulder, holding him close.

It was a nice gesture, the pure notion of just being hugged.

Cara inhaled deeply, and she knew that this was the moment to confess, this was the moment to tell him how she felt. How she felt about him.

"Nicolas, I—"

He cut her off by pulling away, pressing his open palm to her cheek. "I know."

With that, his touch faded, and he stepped away, leaving her alone once again.