Elise has an early audition, so you're only surprised for a minute when you open your eyes to an empty bed. You stretch your arm over the place your wife usually takes up, and smile sleepily into your pillow because it's still slightly warm.
You can hear quiet whines from across the hall, and you know it's Skye.
You've had Skye for 9 months now, and you love them to death. When Elise mentioned having a baby over a year ago, you weren't sure you wanted to. But she managed to convince you, and after having nearly 4 years of just you and Elise, travelling, partying, and filming together, you were ready for a new challenge, and Skye was exactly what you both needed.
The morning sun is warm on your back, and as much as you don't want to get out of bed, you're supposed to meet your wife at the Starbucks downtown at 10:30, so you do need to get up.
You get out of bed, slide on your sweatpants, and walk to Skye's room.
Your baby is standing (with help from the bars of the crib), looking eagerly up at you.
"Hey, babes," you smile, leaning down to collect the little bundle. Skye gives you a bubbly smile, and reaches for a strand of your hair when you kiss their nose.
You carry them into the kitchen, where you make yourself a coffee with one hand while holding Skye on your hip with the other, (a task you've become surprisingly good at over the months).
You sit Syke in their high-chair while you heat up some of their milk and put some blueberries into a small bowl.
They bang on their chair impatiently, babbling nonsense at you.
When they see what you've brought for them, however, they grin up at you and squeal a little bit, which you can't help but smile at because it reminds you of Elise when she gets excited.
Blueberries make Skye so messy, but but they love them so much, so it's definitely worth all the cloths it takes to clean them up afterwards.
You sit down beside them, sipping your coffee and watching Skye's adorable grin grow as their hands, teeth, and face turn purple.
You laugh when they outstretch a chubby, stained hand, as if to offer you some of their mushy breakfast.
"Eat up, cutie," you kiss their little fingers and watch them giggle.
Skye's laugh always reminds you of Elise, and grab your phone off the kitchen counter.
You send her a text, "Break a leg, my little monkey <3", and snap a selfie of you and Skye, (purple face and all), and send that to her too.
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You're sitting outside the studio when your phone vibrates I your coat pocket. You pull it out, and your heart warms at the text from your wife.
You love it when she calls you cute nicknames, it seems to be a habit you think she might have picked up from when you two were in Carmilla together.
Then you see the photo she sent you, her and Skye enjoying a messy breakfast of blueberries, Skye's favourite, and you grin. You think your heart is bursting with love for your little family.
You send her back an I love you, with more heart emojis than is probably necessary.
"Elise Bauman," calls a woman's voice, and you quickly get up, just catching the words, "I love you too, cupcake," on your phone screen before you shove it back into your pocket, smiling.
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You finish your coffee and a toaster waffle, and Skye finishes whatever fruit they've managed to not get all over themself, and refuses (multiple times), to finish their purée, so you give up and put it back in the fridge.
You carry Skye into the bathroom and clean their face, and just like you would have done, they whine and try to push it away, and you can't help but chuckle when they stuck out their tiny tongue at you, although you aren't sure where they learned that, because it definitely wasn't from you, right?
"Come here, little munchkin," you smile at them ; their expressions are keeping you amused, the way they scrunch it up like you do when you don't like something.
You try to keep them entertained by dropping kisses all over their clean face.
In your room, you sit Skye on your bed while you get dressed into jeans and a black t shirt.
The baby immediately crawls up to your side of the bed and cuddle into Elise's yellow pillow (which you kept from the set of Carmilla), where they start a collection of drool.
"Hey, Skye, that's mine," you tell them. You're actually impressed at how many of your habits they're already picking up.
You find Skye's tiny "My mommies are movie stars" shirt that Sarah and Adrianna
got for them when they were first born, and a pair of soft jeans.
You dress them while they babble nonsense, and pretend to talk back to them. Little fingers grab at your dark hair, so you direct their hands away from your hair because Elise is always insisting you keep up with the rules of raising a baby, or Skye will never learn to respect people.
You give them a goofy smile and blow raspberries on their bare tummy, and hearing the delighted squeaks each time you do makes you laugh.
When Skye is dressed, you take them to the living room and set them on the floor with a few toys, and you gather your things and do your hair.
Even though you've only gone a few hours without seeing Elise, you miss her a little. Not in a painful way, you have Skye to keep you on your toes, but just in a way that your stomach turns in excitement at the thought of seeing her soon. She's always so excited after auditions, and her bouncing energy is contagious.
You put on your jacket, grab your wallet, and pull on a black beanie. You hesitate over your car keys, but decide to just walk.
After picking up Skye, who is wriggling around chewing on their toys, and putting on their little army green jacket Elise found at the GAP and also one of their tiny beanies (at nine months, you think hats already suit them), you step out of your apartment.
It's not that cold, but the September air still nips at your fingers. You hold Skye cozy in your arms, even though they don't seems cold, judging by the way they're gurgling baby into your ear and pointing excitedly at every passing person.
They sure have Elise's outgoing personality towards everything new, and by now you've learned by now that people don't mind attention from a baby.
The sounds of downtown Toronto are pretty quiet at ten past ten in the morning, so apart from the cars, it's quite peaceful. The sun is shining down on you now, warning your skin and face.
Skye settles into your shoulder, and one of their hands grips your hair, but you really don't mind. You place a soft kiss on your baby's head and continue your little walk to he coffee shop.
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You get out of the car, and a wave of warmth and tempting scents washes over you as you enter Starbucks.
You order a dark coffee for Natasha, a green tea latte for yourself, and a cookie for Skye. After collecting the paper bag and drinks, you find a table for you all by the window, because Skye loves watching the people and dogs pass by.
You are a bit early, but the audition had ended sooner than you'd expected. It had actually gone great, you had a callback the next Friday. You probably have a stupid grin on your face, and it only grows when Natasha and Skye enter Starbucks.
Natasha grins when she sees you, and Skye giggles.
"Hi!" You kiss Skye's head and hold their little fingers.
"Hey babes! How was the audition?"
"I got a callback!" You squeal.
"Awwh, congrats, that's awesome!"
Natasha pulls you into a hug and kisses you, and you smile into it. You think you could kiss her forever, but Skye gurgles and grabs your hair.
"Hey sweetie pie," you grin, breaking the kiss, and Natasha hands you the baby.
She sits down across from you and you put Skye on your lap, kissing their little cheeks.
It probably should be embarrassing how happy you are to see your family after even just a few hours without them, but you really do love them more than anything in the world.
"This for me?" Nat asks, glancing at the coffee and you hum a yes, handing it to her. She thanks you, and you watch her sip it slowly. Her hand finds yours, and her thumb strokes gently over your hand, leaving you beaming at her because she's so amazing.
You love the way she's so relaxed here with you, and how out of all your fame and fans and filming and how easily you could get carried away, spending time doing little things together is still your favourite thing to do. Whether you're just taking Skye to a park to play or enjoying one of Natasha's spontaneous surprise dates (which usually involve lots of candles and good music), you're never happier than you are with each other.
Natasha pulls out the cookie, breaking it into pieces and handing them to Skye, who tries to fit them in her mouth whole, drooling happily.
You drink your latte, smiling as Natasha feeds bits of cookie to the baby, you wiping their chin now and then.
"How was your guys' morning?" You ask Natasha.
"Good," she says, grinning, "Someone got a little messy, didn't they, cutie?" She taps Skye's nose cheekily.
You laugh, "I saw that, but at least they enjoyed them. And Natasha, I love the nicknames as much as you do, but Skye's never going to learn their actual name with you around." You eye her, trying to be seriously.
"Alright," she sighs, "I'll stop, as long as I can still use them on you, cupcake."
"Fine," you smile.
Skye decides they want to eat your hair, grabbing it and bringing it to their mouth.
You stop them, telling them no and retrieving your hair.
Natasha laughs and tells you they're taking up your "thing for hair."
"Yeah," you agree, "at least I don't shove it in my mouth though."
Natasha cocks an eyebrow, apparently amused and you scoff.
You kiss Skye's soft head, and sit them on the table as Natasha leans forward and babbles back at Skye. She makes funny faces at the baby, and it makes you laugh.
Natasha has never been quite as outgoing as you, she's always been a bit more shy, but ever since you had Skye, she's semester not to care as much about who might see her or what she's doing, like making you and Skye happy is her top priority, and she'll do anything to see you two smile.
You love when you can be a part of these moments between the two people you love most, Natasha tickles Skye and they both erupt into soft laughter, and it makes you wonder how you ended up with the two best human beings in the world as your family.