Reina [HS]

epilogue 2

3 months later

With Rosie in my arms, babbling to her, I walked into the bedroom. I glanced at my phone quickly, only to check the time before bringing my full attention back to my daughter who reached for my chin with an uncoordinated movement, pinching my skin with her tiny fingers. I gasped dramatically, pretending to bite her hand which immediately made her let out a laugh, my new favourite sound ever since I heard it for the first time.

Rosie was now three months old and getting to follow along her crazy development made me feel like the luckiest person alive. She had changed so much since coming to this world, it was honestly mind blowing to watch. Every single day, there was something new about her, something that wasn't there before.

She had grown a lot, she wasn't the tiny baby we first brought home anymore. She was still small, but a lot stronger and heavier now. Her hair had grown too, although it didn't get darker, just stayed the same blonde and even started curling a tad bit. The set of blue eyes that both me and Elizabeth were so obsessed with, had recently started changing as well. They turned more of a deeper blue - losing that iciness to them - but neither of us minded at all, because Rosie looked even more beautiful than before, if that's possible.

She was an exceptionally gorgeous baby, and I'm not just saying that because I'm her dad. She really was.

But it wasn't just her appearances that changed in the last three months. There were also a ton of nonphysical transitions in her. She now noticeably recognised us and everyone that she had contact with on a regular basis, such as Mum or Gemma. She started expressing her emotions more clearly, she smiled, laughed and attached the different facial expressions to actual feelings.

She was becoming more and more vocal too, it wasn't just crying anymore, but little mumbles and burbles that no one understood but her. It was like she had her own little language and I fucking loved it. Another thing was that she recently seemed to have an interest in different things. It wasn't that obvious, but if you watched her closely you could see it in her eyes, how she reached for things with purpose sometimes or tried to understand the world around her. She didn't really have favourite toys yet, but she was curious and often wanted everything at once. It was adorable, Elizabeth and I were always both puddles on the floor during playtime.

Watching her grow up was bittersweet though. On the one hand, it was such a wonderful experience to guide her through all these little stages and also huge milestones at the same time, to see her take one step after the other, and still — my heart ached. 3 months had gone by and that's nothing, yet I felt like she was already her own little person and before I could even blink twice, she wouldn't need me anymore. It sucked, but I knew that's just how things worked. I still wished she'd stay my little baby for a bit longer though.

"Elizabeth, you're going to be late." I called into the bathroom through the cracked open door, bouncing Rosie a bit to keep her entertained as I walked around our bedroom.