The Choices We Make

Chapter 9

DJ

The baby would let practically almost everyone in the building know when it needed something. A feeding every two hours, a change of diaper, a cuddle. It would begin with a coo, followed by a whine that will escalate into a high-pitched full-blown wail if not attended to. Knowing that Yanna had limited movements, he had kept the door to the spare room and her room open so he could wake up at the first sound of the baby's cry. But every single time he'd rush to her room, she had already scooped the baby on her own.

Good thing Little Jaydee was indeed cooperative and easy to put to sleep. After he had nursed, Yanna and DJ could doze off for a bit before the next feeding. Or he could attend to some urgent emails before taking a power nap.

He had been operating on sleep deprivation for the past days, only relying on coffee to think straight.

But he wasn't complaining. Far from it actually.

He had envisioned this before. A family with Yanna sometime in the future. And the reality was way more beautiful than what he had imagined…

That motherhood looked good in Yanna. Despite the unkempt hair, the dark circles under her eyes, the stretch marks, the water retention… She still looked comely to him.

Waiting on her and the baby brought him joy he had not found in taking care of his nephews and nieces. Or his sisters. Most of the things he did was done more because of duty or the need to survive.

Doing the same for Yanna and Jaydee however, he believed, was out of pure love. And he didn't mind he exhaustion. As a matter of fact, he looked forward to the next feeding, the next nappy change, or the next meal he'd cook. He had actually asked his sisters to bring bags of malunggay leaves if they plan to visit.

"Why are you so good at this?" Yanna asked, looking on as he gingerly and quickly bathed Jaydee on the tub. She tried to do it, but the effort needed was too much for her so DJ took over.

"I've had lots of practice when I was young," he proudly told her. "I used to do this to my nieces and nephews."

"Ah, I remember," she acknowledged with a smile because they talked about it several times. Or rather, his relatives told her whenever she'd drop by for to attend his family event she was invited to. She already knew that DJ babysat most of his cousins, nephews and nieces. "I wonder how people back in the day managed to have, like, a dozen children and stay afloat of things."

DJ only chuckled, choosing not to speak his thoughts. He could have said it was possible because his clan lived in a compound. There was always somebody who could look after the young ones.

"I'm really sorry about all this," she said while he patted the baby dry on the changing table and she handed over the clothes and diaper. "Not just for keeping Jaydee a secret. Or that you had to use your vacation leave this way. I know what a huge inconvenience everything should be. You were suddenly thrust into the role of a father without ample time to mentally prepare you."

She had a point, DJ thought as he let her speak. It must be the mommy blues that was causing her to unravel like this. The Yanna he knew would only apologize once and carry on. 

"I’m really sorry, DJ. I’ve asked my parents to help look for an all-around-helper so you wouldn’t do these things...”

With a sigh, DJ picked up the baby. “He needs to nurse again.”

With a little tremble on her lips, Yanna nodded and headed towards the couch. She leaned back before DJ placed the baby in her arms and he watched as her mommy instincts took over to nourish the child. They both watched in silence as Jaydee took hungry gulps of milk from her breast.