Page 73 of Accidentally Yours

A few moments later, the nurse handed her a Sprite and a pack of graham crackers.

“Thank you. I’ll name our next child after you.”

“Next child?” I looked at Willa.

“Just kidding. Probably. Maybe. We’ll see how well you behave during diaper duty.” She smirked. “Oh, I just had an idea for another box!Born From Chaos—A Labor & Delivery Kit. And Possibly Trauma Therapy Starter Pack.”

As I stared at my wife, cracking jokes minutes after giving birth, and my beautiful daughter snuggled against my chest, I was undeniably wrecked, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

* * *

One Week Later

The baby was still awake.

Still.

Awake.

We were in sleep or die mode.

“I think she’s broken,” Willa said. “Do you think we can reboot her?”

“You’re delirious from lack of sleep, sweetheart.”

“She’s been screaming for three hours, Damien.” Willa paced the bedroom, bouncing the baby on her shoulder. “Shh, sweet girl. We love sleep. Sleep is our friend. Sleep is not the enemy.”

“She’s training us, Willa. She’s wearing us down like a tiny war criminal,” I sleepily said.

“Okay. We’re out of ideas. She’s been fed, rocked, burped, swaddled, and bounced like a damn Pilates ball,” Willa said, setting Daisy in her bassinet.

“We haven’t tried begging yet,” I said.

“Like, down on our knees?” Willa glanced at me.

We both got down on our knees in front of the bassinet.

“We’ll give you everything. College. Therapy. Your own glitter empire. Please, just go to sleep,” I begged, softly rubbing her belly.

She let out a tiny yawn and closed her eyes. Willa and I looked at each other and quietly stood up.

“We’re never talking again,” Willa whispered.

“We’re never sleeping again,” I whispered back. “We have about thirty minutes before she wakes up. Hurry.”

We both carefully climbed into bed. Willa snuggled into me as I held her tight. The closing of my eyes felt good. And just as I drifted into a deep sleep, my eyes flew open when I heard a whimper.

“Please go back to sleep. Please go back to sleep.” I chanted in my head.

Our demon child didn’t listen as she let out a full-blown, earth-shattering scream.

“Well, we had a good run,” Willa said, throwing back the covers.

ChapterThirty-Two

Willa

“We just need to accept that the night terror I birthed is nocturnal,” I said, stumbling into the kitchen and taking Damien’s coffee cup from his hand.

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