Page 80 of Everything After (Everything Trilogy)

ALFIE

Part of me was dreading taking Lily and Charlie home. Lily had been coping so well as a mom, plus I liked having my wife and my son to myself.

Arriving home would change that because we both knew there was a houseful of people waiting for us to get there. In the previous months before our baby was born there had been a lot of changes.

Elle had given birth to Drew and Elle’s third child—a baby boy they’d called Owen.

Lily’s mom, Roslyn had taken retirement, and her parents had moved from London, which put our original plan to hire some nannies before the birth on hold.

But about a week ago we’d hired one young, well-qualified nanny, Vicky from Illinois, who moved into our home.

Roslyn and Charlie had bought a property on Star Island three months ago, which had delighted us both. Having her parents nearby had given both Lily and me more confidence. It was a new, domestic experience for Lily and me, as my parents were long deceased.

When Oscar arrived at the hospital to take us home, I was in two minds whether I wanted to go. Of course, I wanted to show off my son, but I feared too many faces may overwhelm the confidence of my wife.

“All set,” she remarked after touching up her lipstick in the bathroom mirror. “I can’t wait to get home and get settled before Charlie needs to breastfeed again.”

“We best get moving then. I think that little guy is taking advantage of the goodies stashed in those,” I said, nodding at her engorged breasts.

“You’re just jealous,” Lily stated as she sat in the wheelchair, grinning.

I picked up the car seat with our baby tucked safely inside and we made our way to the elevator.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” the senior volunteer asked, pushing Lily’s wheelchair into the elevator car.

I slapped a hand on my chest and glanced toward Oscar, who smirked. “Me?”

“No, him. Are you famous?” he asked Oscar. The porter didn’t wait for him to answer before he spoke again. “Wait. Didn’t you used to play football?”

Oscar glanced toward me then back to the porter. “Yes, sir.”

“Forty-niners?” he asked.

“Yup,” Oscar stated, glancing anywhere except toward me.

“Damn, you were on fire during that last game. Knee injury got you canceled out, right?”

Before Oscar replied, the elevator glided to a halt and the doors opened in the loading bay, where Oscar had the car waiting. We were leaving at the rear of the building, but with the addition of our precious cargo onboard.

“Excuse me,” Oscar said, sweeping by the porter to ensure our pathway was clear of bystanders, paparazzi and fans. “All clear,” he called out. He opened the back door, took the car seat from me and I helped Lily onto her feet.

“Thanks, man,” I said, handing the porter a hundred-dollar bill.

“Hey, I’m a volunteer, you don’t need to—” Oscar closed the door before the old man had finished talking.

“I’ll be glad to get home. No one realizes how tiring being in the hospital is.”

“Says she who just pushed a seven-pound baby out her vagina yesterday,” I stated sarcastically.

Lily laughed, and my heart warmed at how relaxed she was since the baby had arrived.

If I’m honest, I’d expected more than a little hesitancy, but she’d surprised me.

My thoughts were that even though it was early days, Lily would prove to be what my gut had always suspected she’d be, a natural mother.

On arrival home, our house was crowded, which was exactly the opposite from the welcome I’d wanted for the mother of my child and our newborn son. An overwhelming wave of responsibility shook me at how fiercely protective I felt toward them both.

For the first hour my chest felt tight while I watched our guests play pass-the-parcel with Charlie.

It was interesting to watch how each person claimed their stake in his life.

Seeing the smiles on the curious faces of the adults that would feature in his life grounded me.

Like the saying goes ‘It takes a village to raise a child’ these people would be part of ‘Charlie’s village’, and the love in the room for him felt almost palpable.

If my anxiety was raised, our son showed none of that. He slept through all the adoration for him like a boss—until he woke up hungry, which allowed him and his mom a chance to escape all the celebratory coos and cuddles.

“And where do you think you’re going?” I asked Jack when I saw him heading upstairs toward our bedroom.

“Where else? To spend some quiet time with Lily.”

“In your dreams, buddy. You’re not going up there while my wife’s feeding our son. Give her some privacy.”

“It’s Lily. I’ve seen her tits more times than you. She’s like a sister to me,” Jack countered.

I belly laughed. “That’s hysterical. It’s not normal to see your sister’s tits, dude. If you had a real sister, you’d know that.”

“You said it yourself, Lily and me… we don’t have a normal relationship,” he suggested.

“I get that, but you’re still not seeing her tits.”

“I’m not going to see her tits. I’m going to chat to her.”

“I get that, but you’re still not going up there while her tits are out—period.”

“I’m not going to see her tits. I’m going to chat with her.”

“Not while her tits are out,” I muttered again, chuckling.

“It’s only me, she won’t mind.”

“Oh, is that so? Then you won’t mind if I go ask Mya to take her tits out while I chat to her.”

“It’s not the same,” he muttered, sounding exacerbated by my argument.

“Why not? No one is going to disturb my son from eating, nor my wife while she feeds him.”

“Fuck me. I missed her in the hospital because you wouldn’t allow me to go there,” he grumbled.

“No one came to the hospital, not even Roslyn and Charlie,” I explained.

“What’s all the noise down there?” Lily called out from the top of the stairs.

“It’s only me. I want to come up to see you, but Alfie’s blocking me again,” Jack whined before I could say anything.

“Alfie’s not blocking you, Alfie’s telling you to fuck off back to the sitting room with everyone else,” I stated.

“No, Jack. I’m just putting myself back together. We’ll be down in a few minutes,” Lily replied.

“See?” I asked. I flashed him a smug grin. “My wife, my wife’s tits, my wife’s privacy. What does Mya think about you creeping around Lily?”

“I don’t creep. Lily and I are very open about how we treat each other.”

“Don’t you think your kids will have questions when they get older?”

“No.”

I chuckled. “Just, no?”

“What’s all the arguing about out here?” Roslyn asked as she strode into the hallway.

“Jack wanted to go talk to Lily while she had her tits out. I told him no.”

“Please, Alfie, they’re called breasts. And quite right too.

Lily deserves privacy. Jack you should know better.

You’ve never had boundaries with Lily. I used to have to move you back to your own bed in the middle of the night when you stayed over.

She’s not your teddy bear, you know. Have you ever thought of counseling.

You may be suffering from separation anxiety. ”

I laughed. The one thing I loved about my mother-in-law was her bone-dry humor. “Roslyn, I fucking love you.”

“And I won’t have that kind of potty mouthed language around my grandson either,” she said, scolding me in the same tone she had admonished Jack with.

She eyed me up and down then did the same to Jack.

“Now, I know there are… issues between you, but you both love my daughter, so you need to learn to co-exist.”

“She was mine first,” Jack taunted. I knew he was joking, but I didn’t see the funny side of it, and neither did Roslyn when she cast him a murderous glance.

“Jack that means giving Alfie the respect he deserves as Lily’s husband.”

“Thanks, Roslyn,” I said, sweetly with a hand over my heart, to show her how thankful I was for her siding with me.

“And Alfie, you must try to find a way to tolerate this unique connection between Lily with Jack. They were inseparable both as children and adults until Lily came to the US.”

“Lily is right here and she’s tired of you two at each other’s throats,” Lily said, having left Charlie resting upstairs in his crib for a few minutes.

“Tell me I did wrong, preventing him from coming to see you while you were breastfeeding.”

“I’ll tell you where I’m at, and you can figure out who is right for yourselves.

My son needed to eat. My breasts weren’t out for objectification, Alfie.

I think Jack’s aware of that since he has five breastfed children of his own.

Right now, these are my son’s source of food,” Lily said with my hands over each breast. “Am I not to feed him if we go out where there are other people? Do I hide his head under a blanket to save the blushes of others at the expense of our son’s needs? ”

“Of course not,” I agreed.

“However, I was in my own home this time, so I could choose where to feed Charlie. Jack, if I had wanted to talk to anyone while I fed my newborn baby, I’d have fed him in the sitting room.

Upstairs is a quiet place, and I wanted to catch my breath and bond with my baby.

So, in a way you were both correct in your thoughts.

Although on this occasion, Alfie was right to deny you to seek me out. ”

“Fuck. I’m sorry, Lily. Like you said, I’ve had five kids, and I didn’t think of you breastfeeding in the same way as Alfie did. I just wanted to spend time with you without everyone else butting in,” Jack admitted.

“Yes… there are too many people here today. It’s like no one had ever seen a baby before.

Look… I’m grateful for the friends and family we have, but this is new.

You remember how you were with your first?

Alfie and I are trying to find our feet…

our new normal. That’s not easy when there are six other adults, a toddler and another baby in the room. ”

“At least we left our kids with my parents. Elle and Drew should have left their kids at home.”

“Elle’s breastfeeding,” Lily reminded him. “And she’s not going to bring one child and leave the others at home.”

“You’re right. I guess I misjudged how today would go. I’m going to grab Mya, and we’ll come back another day.”

“Okay, your dad and I will go home and come back later this week as well,” Roslyn said to Lily.

“Thanks for understanding, Mum,” Lily said, hugging her mom.

“Jack, you’re staying.” Lily turned to me.

“Alfie please would you ask Drew and Elle to give us some space. They live relatively close by, and they’ll see us around most days.

Jack and Mya have come a long way, and I appreciate them wanting to be here,” Lily argued.

I sighed and nodded. “I get it, he’s your best friend, and like Roslyn pointed out, it might be a relationship I’ll never understand, but I recognize it’s one that I’ll need to live with.”

“Right, that’s settled,” Lily’s mom said. “Alfie, I’ll do your dirty work for you. No need to get into it with Elle and Drew. We’ll all be gone in the next half hour. All you need to do is look after my daughter and grandson.”