Chapter 21
“Oh, so you are awake and trying to give me a few more minutes of sleep, eh?” Maggie cooed as she stepped into her daughter’s bedroom. Bending over the crib, she scooped Nadia into her arms. The tiny girl wiggled with delight, blowing spit bubbles in anticipation of her breakfast. “Are you going to be impatient while we change your diaper? Or are you going to live up to your name and let me do the deed as quickly as…”
Nadia squealed with anger as soon as Maggie laid her down on the changing table. “Ah, I see that you will not be cooperative, my little lady.” She tickled Nadia’s tummy, which only eased the squealing for a moment, then little arms and legs resumed their wiggling in protest.
Maggie had become quite adept at changing Nadia’s diaper, but her daughter’s morning impatience was still a challenge. Thankfully, today wasn’t too bad. With a clean diaper efficiently strapped on, Maggie carried Nadia over to the chair near the corner. “Okay, we’re ready now. And yes, I know you’re hungry. I know,” she whispered, adjusting her clothing and the ugly maternity bra to reveal her breast. Immediately, Nadia latched on and started suckling, eager to fill her belly.
The doorbell rang and Maggie looked through the small window in Nadia’s room, then down at her daughter. “I know that you’re not finished, love. Do you think the person at the front door is more important?”
In response, Nadia’s dark eyes stared back up at Maggie but there was no cessation of her breakfast.
Maggie smiled softly, madly in love with her little girl. Especially after a full five hours of sleep. Before Nadia’s birth, only five hours of sleep a night would have made Maggie feel like a zombie. Post birth, five hours of sleep was equivalent to winning the lottery.
“Apparently, no one is more important than your next meal. And it’s probably Ms. Iverson next door checking in. No one else would come this early in the morning.” Maggie ran a finger down over Nadia’s soft cheek, smiling at her daughter. Her friends at the club as well as the overly generous owners, Levi, Sean and Matteo, were constantly sending her care packages. Sometimes, it was a package of diapers, and other times new toys or clothes. “Aunt Emily and Aunt Ann are coming for a visit today. Are you looking forward to seeing them?”
The pounding on the door was more emphatic this time.
“Goodness, someone is impatient!” she whispered, but didn’t bother to pull her daughter away. Nadia wasn’t silent when denied a meal. “Whoever is out there can just wait, right?”
Thankfully, there was no more knocking on the door and Maggie relaxed against the cushions of the rocking chair, assuming that whoever had been knocking had gone. “We only have a few more days alone together and I’m not letting anyone interrupt us before I have to go back to work.”