Chapter 2.35-Her Baby

          Tibi walked up to Ignacio telling him all about her party and how it had went while Layla gazed in wonder at the tiny bundle she held. She still wasn’t sure how she’d managed to get something this large out of her. Magic or something she was sure. The doctors were genius’ was all she knew for sure.

          “I’m going to show this one their room,” Layla said quietly as Ignacio asked another question of his newly teenaged daughter.

          “Shouldn’ that top have sleeves?”

          “No! It’s not supposed to have sleeves. That would look a little weird don’t you think?”

          “Maybe pull it up a little and it wouldn’ look weird.”

          “It doesn’t look weird now, Daddy. It would look weird if pulled it up or added sleeves.”

          Exhaustion over the events of the day slowly descended on Layla. Looking at the family portrait as she passed it reminded her there was so much more to do tomorrow. She really ought to schedule a new portrait sitting. Especially now that the little one was finally here. She could already see her baby, sweetly dressed, sitting on her knee with Daddy’s other hand on their little shoulder. And Tibi. She was no longer the little girl in the photo before her. Tibi was a young woman now, a teenager eager to experience life.

          The photo of her mother at her prom nearly stopped her as she made her way to the nursery. Her mother would love to see that she herself was a mother now. But she had so many questions she wanted to ask about her baby, and her mother wasn’t the one there to answer them. Sabria would answer if she asked, and depending on how well she saw Layla that day Layla might not even have to ask. But she wanted her mother. Needed her. Shaking her head she took another step allowing her gaze to rise.

          Seeing the copy of Phedra’s prom photo she’d managed to get ahold of up on the wall brought a fresh wave of grief. How could she have ever encouraged Phedra to leave her little one behind? The warm little bundle in her arms needed her, just as Henry had needed his mother around. Layla couldn’t imagine leaving her baby behind to go off somewhere just for research. Dream or no dream. And she hadn’t really understood that until now. She’d thought It would have been best for Phedra to go instead of being an absent parent. She’d been mistaken.

          She really needed to get in touch with Phedra. She’d been trying for so long now. Leaving message after message with the secretary of the expedition was getting her down. Why wouldn’t Phedra call her back? Maybe she’d need to break down and call Cyrus to see if he’d heard from their sister. Who knows? Maybe Cyrus had already told Phedra that Henry was a boy about to be a teenager himself. At least he would understand how Layla felt. She’d made a mistake. A horrible, horrible mistake. A mistake she was desperate to rectify. How had she been qualified to give such an opinion? Such bad advice?

          Though she had been in here only this morning to clean, the nursery felt alive in a way it never had to her before. And it was all due to this tiny wiggly little sim with a sweet gummy smile. Cuddling her tiny daughter closer than ever Layla felt her heart melt anew.

          Gently and carefully lowering her into her crib, Layla was rewarded with another sweet smile. Smiling herself she was shocked at the cooing noises she made. Was it really this easy to be a mother? Loving her was so easy it was almost painful.

          Speaking of painful. Standing back up Layla rubbed the back of her neck. She never should have done the laundry this morning after she’d already rescrubbed the nursery. And after giving birth? She was absolutely worn out. Making sure the baby was alright one final time, Layla went off to get some well-deserved rest.

          Seeing Layla pass as she went into their bedroom Ignacio cut Tiburcia off as she gave her spiel about going to a school of fashion design when she left high school to get a chance to love on his new daughter.

          Tibi waved him off with a roll of her eyes, grabbing her cell phone to call Emily about some minor detail about school and boys or something. He really couldn’t figure it out while still so preoccupied.

          “You are not what I had expected little one,” he said softly. “Not with your mother. Not for me. But I am more than happy that you are here with us.”

          Cooing back at the gurgling baby, he snuggled her even closer.

          “No,” Ignacio continued talking to his tiny daughter. “Here you are early according to the calendar, but I think you are right on time. I bet you can get your Mami to wake up a little bit. She already loves you so much. I can see it.”

          “And I love so very much as well,” said Ignacio, cooing between his words. “And I know your big sister will love you when she gets to know you also. She is a little busy right now though, trying to grow up. But you, you, my little angel. You are going to still be my little girl for a while yet, yes?”

          The infant’s wiggles began to be more insistent, and Ignacio finally decided to relinquish the tiny bundle, gently placing her back in her crib so she could sleep.

          “Good night, my angel,” he whispered. “Good night, my Mariah.”

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 Yes. An entire chapter just to tease you with a name. But Doggone it Layla! Quit Frowning! Also, Layla couldn’t get into bed right away. It seems Cali’s little problem with parties from her wishacy is finally happened in my game, and Layla had to wait for both Nalleli and Shad, and Lottie and Raul to finish using the hosts bed. *facepalm. Thanks guys. *thumbs up. Awesome manners.

Though a for real Thanks Guys! For voting and naming the Generation 3 Heir to you all! Layla totally did a happy dance you all picked the name she wanted. Really. She gloated like crazy, too. No matter how much I told her the vote was very very close. lol. Maybe I'll get a more manageable heir one day and will still get to use Rhodri or Chayne.

And for the record, I tried to clarify this here but just in case I didn't manage to explain this a little better: Layla is not thinking Phedra is a bad parent. She's feeling like it's her fault that Phedra has stayed away for so long. She's giving undue weight to her words to her sister and is desperately wanting to rectify that. And I have to apologize since it didn't come off that way earlier. I'm a little focused on something coming up and I've kind of neglected what has to be done correctly first. My bad, yo. ;)

Oh, for the record also, Lottie had a baby during the week I sped through with one long chapter. So this is their second she’s expecting. That was her maternity wear she wore last chapter, and she was expecting on Snowflake day as well. I also believe Sally is expecting her third. So babies! Babies everywhere in my town! But only one for Layla and Ignacio.