Oliver had noticed a change in Carrie. He knew he should have expected it, but it was a bit bittersweet. First off, she wanted the baby to be a girl. Actually, he could see Gabby was a little let down as well. Although, they knew Corey would be a part of the family.
"She won't let me help," Carrie insisted she could take care of a baby even if she was almost five. "Let's not say I'm four anymore." Carrie crossed her arms and was still a little too sassy for her own good.
Truly, Oliver knew Gabby must be a bad influence. Carrie was already too independent. But she was watchful, and they let her help. This meant she learned to do a lot of vacuuming and kept the livingroom picked up as the days were full of wake-up calls once Corey found his voice. No more holding just a sleeping baby.
Still, Carrie had her grandparents and her cousin to go to each day while Gabby stayed with the baby. Even so, he knew Gabby was not going to quit her job. By the time the six weeks of maternity leave were gone, he knew she was ready to escape too.
He took off some time from school, as well. Hoping he'd get a schedule down, but that was like asking for the lottery. Every day was evolving, but it helped to find the right baby formula because Gabby wasn't doing well with breastfeeding. It was excruciating.
He knew it would do no good to talk about how she'd planned on breastfeeding for months before the baby arrived, and now it tensed her to the point where she wanted him to feed the baby all the time.
"Well, maybe you need to see if you need something to help-" He didn't even know how to finish the sentence. But he was ready for her to see the therapist instead of himself. But she was against that too.
The livingroom might have looked great, but there were dishes piled high in the kitchen. Loads of laundry waiting. Oliver knew this was coming. He knew from the moment she'd talked about having a baby.
"Maybe..maybe I should ask for more time off," Oliver told Gabby as she was getting ready to go back to work.
"What? No." She looked at him as if he was being weird, but who was the one making sure the baby was fed and his diaper was fresh? It was Oliver.
"Yes, who's going to take care of Corey?" Honestly, he felt no one was on Corey's side but him. Maybe it was the fact he saw himself in the baby, and he'd wondered if he'd been loved enough as a baby maybe his life would have been much better. He wanted Corey to feel loved. He loved his son, and found joy in every moment with him.
"Well, I thought your mother was?" She shrugged. He felt she was indifferent, and it frightened him.
"She's been far too kind to us." He pressed his lips in an effort from being angry. "We need to get our act together at home."
"Well," she said. She knew for certain that his mom said she'd help until they found someone.
"It's going to be me, isn't it?" He glared at her as if he knew Gabby's true colors. She was a great consumer, always being trendy and tossing it away when it passed its prime. Evidently, the newness of Corey was already wearing off.
"You?" She looked at him blankly.
"I'll quit my job, and stay home with him." It was the only solution he could see in the future.
"Don't say that," she winced. "You love your job. And well..." She sighed as if she got the hint that maybe she should put away the clothes that were on the bed. They had to go to sleep sometime around midnight.
"You know I love you," Oliver said on his way to a crying baby that Gabby didn't even want in their bedroom anymore, "But I hate some of the things you do." He said under his breath. Of course, she wasn't listening. She never really listened to him.
