Charlie Robin Styles [Addition to We're Having Our Baby]

A Big Girl Sleeps in Her Own Bed

Harry's P.O.V. Charlie, 5

"Where are you sleeping tonight?" I ask Charlie as we near the end of her bedtime routine.

"My bed," she answers correctly.

"That's right. And are you going to stay in your bed all night?"

"Yes. I will stay right here until the morning. I promise," she says so sweetly that I almost believe her.

"You better keep that promise, Miss. I don't want to wake up in the middle of the night with a little girl in my bed again," I tell her, and she laughs. I didn't mean to make it funny, but I have a feeling she's laughing because she knows she'll end up in bed with Em and I no matter what I say.

"Okay, Daddy."

"I love you, goodnight," I kiss her forehead and she kisses my cheek back.

"I love you too. Night, Daddy."

***

The all too familiar feeling of the bed shifting wakes me, as a tiny body slithers its way between Em and I.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" I mutter.

"I can't sleep," she tells me like it's obvious.

"You told me you would sleep in your own bed all night, remember?" I keep my eyes shut, refusing to open them because I know I won't fall back to sleep as easily if I do. I also refrain from moving my limbs which would make Charlie more comfortable. She needs to learn that Charlie's bed meant for Charlie to sleep in, and Mummy and Daddy's bed is meant for Mummy and Daddy to sleep in.

"Just for tonight please," she whines sleepily, just like every other night this week.

"Charlie, go back to your own bed. We're not doing this again," Em speaks up, just as annoyed as I am.

I love Charlie more than anything, and part of me loving her is teaching her manners and boundaries. Sleeping in our bed every night is most definitely a violation of our boundaries.

"Mummy, please!" Here we go with the crying...

"Charlie, I said no. You can sleep in your own bed, you're a big girl," Em tells her.

"No, no, no!"

"Charlie Robin, you have five seconds to walk back to your room or you will be carried there," I have to use my stern voice.

"MUMMY!!!!"

I've had enough of this already, so I pull myself out of bed and carry my screaming five-year-old to her room.

"Daddy, I need to sleep with you! PLEASE!" she tells me as I lay her in her bed and tuck her in.

"No, you don't. You need to sleep in your own big girl bed. Here's Jenny and Sofia," I hand Charlie her stuffed animals that fell to the floor.

Instead of taking them, she screams louder and begins flailing around like a fish.

"Charlie," I try so hard to be patient with her. This is genuinely the only time we ever have behavioral problems with her, and we don't know why. She doesn't tell us about any bad dreams, she doesn't sleepwalk, she isn't scared of monsters, and she has a night light. I don't know what to do, because the only thing that will get her to fall asleep is if she's in our bed, but then she'll never learn.

"Why do you need to sleep in my bed?" I ask her.

"Because I just need to! You are so mean to me! I thought you loved me!"

"I do love you, Charlie. And because I love you, I'm trying to help you."

No matter what I say or do, she doesn't let up.

"Bean, please try to calm down. Just breathe with me," I guide Charlie in taking slow, deep breaths.

Her arms squeeze her frog and elephant tightly while I cradle her in her arms. I'm sitting at the head of her bed, but I have a feeling I'll be laying down with her in a few minutes.

The longer we breathe together, the softer her cries get until she stops shaking.

"I'm going to tuck you in now, okay?" Luckily for me, Charlie nods so I stand up from the bed to lay her under the covers.

I'm placing the blankets over her and kissing her head when I get an idea.

"Would it help if I played some music?" I ask her, trying to remember if the "lullaby" playlist I made for when she was a baby is still on my Spotify.

"Okay," her voice cracks.

I tell her I'll be back in a second, and in no time I've found my phone and connected it to a speaker to play a mix of peaceful songs Charlie likes.

"You used to fall asleep to these songs when you were a baby, I'm sure they'll help you tonight too, okay?"

"Okay," she whispers again and I press play on Yesterday by The Beatles.

I stay in her room for the next half hour to make sure she falls asleep and stays asleep. Now I know how to get her to go to sleep, I just hope it works every night.