Read Online Her Two Dads by Ariel Tachna - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ariel Tachna
Tags: Gay & Lesbian
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left,” Jaime whispered. “I think she was exhausted.”
“Or she likes you better,” Srikkanth said bitterly.
Jaime shook his head immediately. “Don’t even think that,” he insisted, leading Srikkanth into his room next door so they could talk without disturbing Sophie. “Babies get colic. Some of them get it worse than others, but it happens. There isn’t anything you can do about it except what we did: hold her ’til she wears herself out and falls asleep. It doesn’t make it any easier to listen to her scream, but you didn’t do anything wrong. I promise.”
“I just feel so helpless,” Srikkanth complained, knowing it made him sound whiny but beyond caring. “She wasn’t like this at the hospital. The nurses said she was a quiet baby, not fussy at all.”
“Sri, she’s three days old,” Jaime reminded him. “She’s not old enough to make that kind of generalizations about. And even if she were, babies’ personalities change as they develop just like other people’s do. Her first night home is probably a part of it, yes, but that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. No matter what you’d decided for her, she’d have left the hospital eventually, which means she’d have to deal with a new environment. You made the right choice. It won’t always be easy, but you’ll make it work.”
“You’re so sure of it,” Srikkanth marveled.
Jaime shrugged, not sure how to put into words what he was feeling. “Babies belong with their parents,” he said after a moment. “I know adoption works, and I certainly don’t want kids growing up in abusive or neglectful situations, but this isn’t like that. You have the means to take care of her, and I can tell you already love her. Next to that, everything else is a technicality. All parents make mistakes, especially with the first baby, because they don’t know what they’re doing. Most of them are pure ignorance and nothing to really worry about.”
“And the ones that aren’t?” Srikkanth demanded.
Jaime shrugged. “The ones that are more serious are almost always negligent if not worse. You may be more inexperienced than most, but you don’t have it in you to be negligent. If you’re really worried about something, ask me. If I don’t know, I’ll call my mama. She knows everything, and she’s closer than your mother.”
“Does she have a cure for colic?” Srikkanth asked with a soft laugh. “Since I failed spectacularly with that one today.”
“I don’t know if she does or not. Let’s see what we can look up and if we don’t find anything, I’ll call her,” Jaime proposed.
Srikkanth nodded. It hadn’t even occurred to him to search online because he hadn’t known what was wrong, but now that he had a name for the problem, he could figure out what to do for it. His computer was in his room, though, and he didn’t want to risk Sophie waking up before he knew what to do for her. “Can I use your computer?”
“Of course,” Jaime exclaimed. “Come on. Let’s see what we can find.”
They flipped open Jaime’s laptop and started searching. An hour later, they had a list of options to try, ranging from swaddling and cuddling with her to startling her out of her crying with the vacuum cleaner to taking her for a walk to get a change of scenery. About the time they finished searching, Sophie woke up. Srikkanth steeled himself for another fit like before, but she settled down as soon as he gave her a bottle. When she was done, she smuggled into his arms, watching him owlishly. Srikkanth rolled his eyes at Jaime. “What’s this?” he joked.
“She was testing you,” Jaime grinned. “She wanted to see if you could figure out what to do with her.”
“I think we all could’ve done without that,” Srikkanth said drolly. “Nathaniel in particular.”
“Did he say something?” Jaime asked sharply.
“Yeah, he snarled at me as I was
“Or she likes you better,” Srikkanth said bitterly.
Jaime shook his head immediately. “Don’t even think that,” he insisted, leading Srikkanth into his room next door so they could talk without disturbing Sophie. “Babies get colic. Some of them get it worse than others, but it happens. There isn’t anything you can do about it except what we did: hold her ’til she wears herself out and falls asleep. It doesn’t make it any easier to listen to her scream, but you didn’t do anything wrong. I promise.”
“I just feel so helpless,” Srikkanth complained, knowing it made him sound whiny but beyond caring. “She wasn’t like this at the hospital. The nurses said she was a quiet baby, not fussy at all.”
“Sri, she’s three days old,” Jaime reminded him. “She’s not old enough to make that kind of generalizations about. And even if she were, babies’ personalities change as they develop just like other people’s do. Her first night home is probably a part of it, yes, but that doesn’t mean you did anything wrong. No matter what you’d decided for her, she’d have left the hospital eventually, which means she’d have to deal with a new environment. You made the right choice. It won’t always be easy, but you’ll make it work.”
“You’re so sure of it,” Srikkanth marveled.
Jaime shrugged, not sure how to put into words what he was feeling. “Babies belong with their parents,” he said after a moment. “I know adoption works, and I certainly don’t want kids growing up in abusive or neglectful situations, but this isn’t like that. You have the means to take care of her, and I can tell you already love her. Next to that, everything else is a technicality. All parents make mistakes, especially with the first baby, because they don’t know what they’re doing. Most of them are pure ignorance and nothing to really worry about.”
“And the ones that aren’t?” Srikkanth demanded.
Jaime shrugged. “The ones that are more serious are almost always negligent if not worse. You may be more inexperienced than most, but you don’t have it in you to be negligent. If you’re really worried about something, ask me. If I don’t know, I’ll call my mama. She knows everything, and she’s closer than your mother.”
“Does she have a cure for colic?” Srikkanth asked with a soft laugh. “Since I failed spectacularly with that one today.”
“I don’t know if she does or not. Let’s see what we can look up and if we don’t find anything, I’ll call her,” Jaime proposed.
Srikkanth nodded. It hadn’t even occurred to him to search online because he hadn’t known what was wrong, but now that he had a name for the problem, he could figure out what to do for it. His computer was in his room, though, and he didn’t want to risk Sophie waking up before he knew what to do for her. “Can I use your computer?”
“Of course,” Jaime exclaimed. “Come on. Let’s see what we can find.”
They flipped open Jaime’s laptop and started searching. An hour later, they had a list of options to try, ranging from swaddling and cuddling with her to startling her out of her crying with the vacuum cleaner to taking her for a walk to get a change of scenery. About the time they finished searching, Sophie woke up. Srikkanth steeled himself for another fit like before, but she settled down as soon as he gave her a bottle. When she was done, she smuggled into his arms, watching him owlishly. Srikkanth rolled his eyes at Jaime. “What’s this?” he joked.
“She was testing you,” Jaime grinned. “She wanted to see if you could figure out what to do with her.”
“I think we all could’ve done without that,” Srikkanth said drolly. “Nathaniel in particular.”
“Did he say something?” Jaime asked sharply.
“Yeah, he snarled at me as I was
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