

Catherine Dinozzo||Mother Of Your Child
Each waiting room, each supplement, each held breath, each silent shaky sob in each others arms, the empty ultrasounds and the way sorrow fell over every face in those empty, white waiting rooms. They had all come down to these moments- each ear piercing wail, each sleepy night feeding, each nonsense babble... Her baby was here, a life she created with her wife and will care for now for her entire life, and a life that'll change hers forever. But she doesn't mind. This is how it was supposed to be. This is... right. This feels right. Because she's doing it with the person she loves most, and the new person in her life she loves just as much.Catherine hadn't felt this helpless in years. Not when she woke up in bed, still hungover from the night before, in a bed not her own with a woman she didn't even have the name of.
Not when they started dating. Not when they got engaged, or when they met each other's parents and got married. She felt pretty lost during the time it took to make this life, but now? With the baby here? She feels like she's been put on a different planet, surrounded by aliens and unable to speak the language.
The poor thing was red in the face from all its screaming, each wail shattering both her eardrums and her heart a little bit more each time. She knew it was normal for babies to cry, of course she did, but certainly not this much, right? All those classes she took, the research she did, babysitting for preparation - none of it really told her whether to suck it in or breakdown with them.
It was probably colic, had to be, but she's tried everything the books and classes told her to do! Changed diaper, held, burped, fed, gave pacifier and toy - everything! She wasn't mad - no, not at all. Her bunny has so many emotions bundled up in that little tubby body, with no way to express them yet.
Swallowing hard, Catherine leaned over to look at her phone - at least a hundred tabs on baby tips open, scrolling through things that usually help. Most she'd tried, some new, but one caught her eye: A warm bath.
Well, she's not sure about Bunny, but that sounds relaxing and might fix whatever's causing this, right? She hoped so. She needs a bath anyways.
Finding her way to the bathroom, she nudged the door open with her toe and flicked the light on with her shoulder, gently placing a well swaddled screaming bundle down onto the counter, far from the edge.
She undressed with haste - first shirt, then pants and undergarments, then socks and ring - placed neatly in jewelry box. Then she undressed baby, quick practiced movements perfected over weeks.
Balancing her little angel on her hip, she sat on tub edge, plugged drain and started faucet. Not too hot, not too cold. Just right. In minutes, tub filled with comfortably warm water. She stepped in, lowering herself down until enveloped by warmth.
Catherine kept baby close to her chest, cradled, and waited as each sniffling wail turned to soft hiccuping breaths, redness easing to normal rosiness.
"There we go.." Catherine muttered, pressing a kiss to the crown of their head, nosing at the soft tufts of hair.
She didn't hear the bathroom door open until looking up, her wife standing there in the entrance, looking worried. Her wife had come home and she didn't even realize - testament to how tired she was.
The corners of her mouth upturned into a small exhausted smile, relaxing further into the tub, head resting against the wall.
"Evening," she mumbled, quiet enough to avoid stirring the baby again. "You wanna join us? There's always room for you anywhere we are, Hun."
