Bailey was filled with pride as she watched Malachi and his wife graduate, both with honors. They had a rough road ahead, but they had a good strong start, and she felt pretty safe in saying she had a hand in making sure they had that start.
How could one little baby disrupt an entire household so thoroughly, Malachi wondered as he walked the floor with his son again. Elijah seemed to suffer from colic every night, keeping him awake until the wee hours of the morning. He would finally fall asleep, usually less then an hour before Malachi had to go into work.
Holly had taken very little interest in their son, she seemed extremely detached from the whole parenting process and spent many hours each day out, leaving Bailey to care for her new grandchild. Bailey didn't say much about it, but she wondered if perhaps Holly suffered a bit from Postpartum Depression. She didn't mind caring for her grandson, but she knew a child needed his mother.
Mason moved out shortly after Elijah's birth, seemed a baby in the house was more then he wanted to deal with, Malachi missed having his brother around, and a part of him also envied him, he was free to date whom ever he wanted, go where ever he pleased, his life stretched out in front of him, the pages still unwritten. Malachi couldn't say the same for his, it seemed his life was already written, his path chosen.
Malachi watched as Elijah took his first steps towards him, he couldn't believe their little baby was one already! Holly took no more interest in him then she had when he was born, some days he wondered if she even realized she was a mother.
Malachi was finally achieving his dream of being a Private Investigator, but it took time, and even though he was married, he might as well have been a single dad. He didn't know what he would do if it weren't for his mother helping.
Holly had thrown herself into her new job in the architecture department, she worked long hours, often staying past midnight to put finishing touches on her newest project. Malachi could feel the distance between them growing larger by the day and he wondered if their marriage was doomed to be one of the failures.
Elijah had just turned four when Holly came home early from work one day, she was pale as a ghost. Malachi rushed to her side, "What is it Holly, what's wrong?" She stuttered for a bit before finally bursting into one of her rages she blurted it all out, "I'm pregnant Malachi! Pregnant! I don't have time for another kid, I don't want another one! I won't have another one, Elijah is more then I can handle!"
Malachi choked, she couldn't be serious, she didn't handle Elijah, she hardly even spoke to him! " It's going to be fine Holly, we will handle it together, besides my mom will help, she already does help a lot!" Holly glared at him, "You aren't hearing me Malachi, I'm having an abortion, I am not having another baby!"
Malachi swallowed the urge to slap his beautiful wife, he wondered how on God's green earth he was going to look at her if she killed his child. " Holly, I know you don't want to do this, but please, don't kill our baby, I'm begging you, I will do anything you want if it will change your mind."
A week later, Holly came up to him, "I'll have it, but there are conditions. It's my body that has to go through carrying this thing, and if I'm going to go through with it, you are going to take care of it, all the time, I don't want it in my room, I don't want it waking me up, ever. Also, you will quit nagging me about being gone so much, if I want to work late, it's my business. I'll eat what I want while I'm carrying this thing, it will not stop me from doing anything, understand, and it's all yours when it's born, you take the responsibility for them both. Oh and one more thing... unless you never want to sleep with me again, you will get a vasectomy, immediately!"
Malachi was trapped, if he didn't give her what she wanted, he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she would end the pregnancy, "Anything you want Holly, it's yours, just have the baby."
The pregnancy was picture perfect, as far as he could tell, although he hardly saw his wife in the months leading up to their child's birth. When Holly went into labor, Malachi panicked, memories of Elijah's quick entrance into the world flooding his mine. He was frozen as she screamed with each contraction, not sure what he should do.
"Malachi, take your wife to the hospital, it's time to have your baby!" Bailey was the picture of calm, in fact she found the scene just a little on the sitcom funny side. Her son quickly snapped out of his panic and looked over at his mom, "The baby's coming, what if we don't make it?" She grinned at him, if only she had been so lucky with her children's births to have them come so quickly, "You need to leave now, I'll watch Elijah, now go!" She watched them both leave the house, wondering if she was to have a granddaughter or grandson this time.
The baby was healthy, his wife in perfect shape for any woman who had just passed a watermelon. They were able to bring Alison home two days later. When they arrived, Holly hit him with her latest demand. "I ordered a bed set up in the nursery, that way the brats won't wake me up, you can sleep in there."
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