sixwordstories | (no subject)

Yes, just about anything can it seems. *He is holding a tiny newborn baby* My wife complained about all sorts of things. Luckily it's now over for her, as Ku arrived last week.

Very true. *grins, looking over* He's adorable. All of the messes of pregnancy are worth it in the end.

Thank you. *he smiles and kisses his son's tiny tuft of blond hair* He's a good boy, but he doesn't sleep through the night, or much. He's loud. But apparently he's got to be at least a month old before he sleeps through the night. *New father is new*

It depends on the baby. What I've found to be helpful is starting them on cereal around that time. It helps them to sleep through the night.

Start him on cereal when he gets close to sleeping through the night? *hands her the baby and takes a pad from his pocket and writes that down* Is there special baby cereal or do we give him you know, Rice Krispies or something? He doesn't have teeth, that seem hard. Maybe oatmeal?

*takes the baby and smiles softly, watching him write down what she says* Baby cereal, and you put it in his milk.

So by this point he should no longer be breast feeding? *He looked at her with tired, curious eyes. Normally you probably wouldn't let a stranger hold your baby but Andy had so many questions and she was a police officer, after all. She wouldn't do anything to Ku*

Right. Maybe pumping, and then giving him the cereal at night. I never breast fed, so... *She shrugged a bit, distracting the baby with the shininess of her bracelet.*

May I ask why you choose not to breast feed?

*is furiously writing down her advice*

I'm sort of doing all this for him, my wife... something isn't right with her, sometimes she doesn't want to be near him, sometimes she says she just can't connect with him, but that's normal, right?

Just not my thing, and I wasn't keen on starting Livia on one thing and switching so soon after.

*frowns* Not really. It sounds like she might be suffering from postpartum depression.

But you weren't worried about a mother-child chemical reaction thing? *looks at her and smiles just a tiny bit* You're so good with him. You don't mind holding him for just another minute? He's so quiet and still. How did you do that?

*looks up at her from his bad, frowning* What? You mean, she's sick?

Not really. I did what I thought was best. *shrugs* I don't mind at all. It's nothing really special you do. Every baby has a different personality. He may have just been tired out from acting up before.

It's a chemical thing new moms sometimes battle with. It might help her to talk to somebody.

Yes, that's it exactly! Just trying to do what we think is best! It's hard to trust ourselves sometimes. *He looks at her gratefully* How old is your child? You are so at good at this. I really appreciate it. You must think I'm an awful father, having a complete stranger hold my brand new baby. You're a policewoman, aren't you? So I trust you. Really that's just my excuse for trusting a stranger.

*nods and writes it down* Could you talk to her maybe? You're so smart.

You're gonna make mistakes -- we all do. The only thing you can do is love your child, and it's obvious you do. *smiles* She's nine. I don't think you're an awful father. You take good care of your son, and you love him, and in the end, that's all that matters. I am a cop, yes.

I can if you'd like me to.

I hope all that stuff is true. I do love him. I love him very much. He's blond hair like I do and bluish eyes like my wife does and a little turned up mouth and nose like my mum has. He's perfect. Like I'm sure your daughter is. He's so still and quiet in your arms, I still can't get over it.

*nods enthusiastically* I would like that very much!

It is true, and he is perfect. Babies like to be rocked gently, and they love to hear your heartbeat, so you keep them close to your chest so they can hear it.

*hands him her business card with her cell phone number on it* Feel free to have her call me anytime, or we can go out and I'll talk to her. Whichever works.