Alone Together

Chapter 2-Chris

The next afternoon, I made the trek back home. Just like Analeigh told me yesterday, it had snowed overnight. Thankfully, it was only an inch of snow that was plowed off the highways long before I left for work this morning.

I am so glad that this day is Friday because this week is finally over. I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to get home if it wasn’t for the fact that my best friend’s wife just had her baby on Tuesday morning, the day I traveled to Indiana for work. Go figure.

Darren and Lisa had a baby girl, Rachel. Their first child and, of course, it was a girl. I can’t wait to make fun of him in person.

When I arrived, I parked behind Lisa’s car and hurried to their door after grabbing my camera. I lifted my hand to knock, then thought I had better text them to let them know I was here just in case Rachel was sleeping. A moment later, the door opened, showing Lisa.

“Chris, sweetie, come on in.” Lisa gestured me inside.

I took off my coat, hanging it on the hook. Then I turned to Lisa. “Don’t you look beautiful for just having a baby. Puts other mothers to shame.” I held out my arms for a hug.

Lisa laughed, hugging me back. “Such a liar.”

“Congrats Lis.”

“Thank you.”

We pulled apart and I said, “Okay, where is the little princess at?” Lisa laughed again, this time rolling her eyes. “Rachel is with Darren in the living room. I swear between you two she is going to be spoiled.”

“Damn right she is,” I responded proudly. “I’m going to be her favorite uncle.”

When I get to the living room, I see Darren snuggled on the couch holding his precious newborn. It is a beautiful and weird sight to see. Ten years ago, I never imagined that one day my friend would be holding his own child. My best friend is a dad.

“Well, I never thought I would see the day that Darren Murphy had a daughter.” Darren looked over at me as I lifted my camera, getting it to focus just right. I snapped a couple of photos. Mainly Darren Darren was glaring at me.

I sat down on the couch next to the couple, as Lisa settled in next to her husband.

“Rachel, meet your Uncle Chris,” Darren said quietly, gently placing her into my arms.

I cradled the newborn close to me. Immediately, I can see features that Rachel obtained from her parents. The little bit of hair she has is dark like Lisa’s. A dimple in her chin came from Darren. A lot of her comes from Darren.

“Doesn’t she look like Darren?” Lisa said softly, reading my thoughts.

“Well, now we know that he would make a pretty girl.” I tore my eyes away to look at my friend, who did not look amused at my comment. I flashed him a smile and went back to look at his daughter.

“You are beautiful Rachel.” I cooed, holding out my finger. Rachel reached out to try to grasp it and it took several tries before she was able to get a grip. She smiled at me.

“Your daddy and I are going to have to beat up a lot of boys when you are older.”

“Damn straight,” Darren says while Lisa rolls her eyes. “Again with the no boys thing,” she muttered.

“How have you both been? Getting any sleep?” I asked, turning my focus to the new parents.

“Just barely. Good thing Darren took a few weeks off so we can try to get on a schedule and take turns sleeping throughout the night.” Lisa replies.

“If you need a babysitter you know I’m always available.” Darren looked at me with a frown.

“The only person you ever babysat was your brother Adam when you were younger,” he pointed out. That is true. I haven’t even babysat my nephew yet and he is going on two. My older brother and his wife live over two hours away. They rarely go without their son and if they do, they have a babysitter on call.

“Hey, he is still alive, isn’t he?” He gave me another look.

“Point taken.” I looked back down at Rachel and spoke to her. “Sorry, princess, guess we won’t be hanging out until you know how to cook by yourself.” Lisa raised a brow silently questioning me.

“You don’t want to know,” I quickly answered.

“I wish I could have been at the hospital with you both,” I said a minute later. Rachel starts to fuss a little in my arms so I hand her back to Lisa.

“Don’t worry about it, hon. Darren managed not to pass out.”

“It was terrifying,” Darren admits, not the least bit ashamed.

“Anyways, how was your trip?” He asked.

“Pretty good. There is talk about me going back in a few weeks.” I sat back on the couch.

“You’ll never guess who I had coffee with yesterday.” Darren, who was looking more tired than when I first arrived, said, “You’re right, I’m not.”

“I ran into Analeigh Grayson the other day.” I watched Darren’s forehead scrunch creating lines.

“She graduated with us, right?” I nodded once. Darren was taken aback.

“How in the hell did you run into her in Indiana?” I tell Darren the story about hearing her name while I was in the coffee shop and approached her. Turns out it was the same person I thought she was.

“What a small world,” he said, rubbing his chin when I was finished.

“So what’s going on with her?”

“Analeigh is a realtor now. Went to school in Indiana, then stayed after she graduated.” I responded. I didn’t learn much about her current life. We stuck to topics of high school and college mostly.

“Hmm. I guess she changed her mind about accounting. I could have sworn that is what she was going to school for.”

I shrugged, knowing nothing about that. “Must have,” I agreed. I sat up from my reclining stance to pick up my camera. I took several photos of the new family. With each picture I watched my friend’s eyes droop more and more. Rachel had fallen asleep already.

“Why don’t you two put down Rachel and go take a nap? I can hang out here for a while and watch over her.” I offered.

“No, it’s fine.” Darren insists, shaking off my offer.

“You two are falling asleep. Let me help.” I stood my ground, showing that they would not send me off. “Just show me where everything is.”

Darren turns to Lisa and they share a silent conversation that only married couples seem to have. When they come to a decision, they both face me.

“Okay,” Lisa said. She stood up carefully cradling Rachel to her body. I follow her to the nursery where she lays Rachel down in her bassinet. Once she checked that Rachel was okay, she picked up the receiving end of the baby monitor, handing it to me. Lisa points out all the necessities for Rachel, like diapers and wipes, before taking me to the kitchen to show me where the stuff was to make a bottle. She goes through how to make one. Telling me to put the one she just made in the bottle warmer if Rachel got hungry.

“We just fed her not long before you got here. Chances are she won’t be hungry when she wakes up. Likely you will have to change a diaper.”

“Gotcha.”

Lisa stood there looking a little apprehensive about leaving me alone with her daughter. I pull her into a hug.

"If there are any problems, I will wake you up, okay?” She nods tiredly against my chest.

“Besides, you will likely wake up from her crying. Everything will be fine.”

I let her go and she meets Darren in the hallway. He puts his hand on her lower back, guiding her to their bedroom.

After Darren and Lisa got up, I took off shortly afterward to go home. Thankfully, it is the weekend and I don’t have to get up and go to work tomorrow. This means that I will end up at my parent’s house for dinner. Even though I have been living on my own for a few years, ever since Darren and Lisa got married and got their own place, I barely get by at cooking.

I can make simple things that require either the microwave or shoving a pizza into the oven. On occasion, I can make spaghetti, mac and cheese, and soup. Outside of that, I am useless in the kitchen, which is why I am frequently at my parent’s because I know my mom will feed me.

My older brother Justin moved away from home while I was still in high school not long after he graduated to save money for his deposit on an apartment. I followed about five years after him and now our younger brother Adam is a junior in college, only coming home for holidays and the occasional weekend when he wants to get away from dorm food. Because her kids are hardly home, mom welcomes me with open arms and then sends me home with leftovers to last a few days.

For tonight, though, I will be putting in a microwave meal and sitting in front of my TV alone.