Hi Mum, it's Sammy (clone 59 - part 4)

Home again on our wedding night. My lovely Sunny, my new wife.

I tried tickling her, she's very ticklish indeed. Amelia has the best giggle.

"Sammy, I know a better game than this one," Sunny told me with a small slap at my shoulder.

"Yes, dear?"

"Follow me."

Amelia lead me to the bed for a very different sort of a game. I must say she was right. It was even more fun. Our first time in bed as husband and wife.

"Sunny, my love, was the wedding set up to your satisfaction?"

"Oh Sam, it was lovely. It was everything I could have asked for."

I made the most gorgeous woman in town happy. It was worth very bit of effort I put into it. And the reward for doing it well put a smile on both our faces.

Sunny's been studying up on pregnancy and babies.

She alternates between being very excited about the prospect, to thinking it's all going to be very dramatic and soap opera worthy. Fortunately for my sanity, it's mostly excited about the pregnancy.

Me? I get to do the domestic chores. Like unclogging the freaking toilet for the thousandth time. Well, maybe not 1000 but this cheap toilet does clog regularly.

The only good thing is that working on the appliances means I'm a bit better off at the station. Handiness in general seems to be quite useful as a fire fighter.

I do most of the cooking. Amelia hasn't had much practice and if I cook, she can take care of the cleaning. It seems fair to me.

Of course, it won't matter in the least to me if cleaning happens or doesn't. Amelia has this tendency to be a perfectionist. If she cleans, it will be done thoroughly and right.

I must admit, she's not always happy to clean the kitchen after I've finished cooking.  I heard "Something spilled on every surface and every bowl used" muttered once or twice. I've found that a few kisses and a massage and all will be forgiven.

It's just fascinating watching Amelia's tummy grow. I listen and talk to the baby every chance I get.

Being married, expecting a baby, how much better can life get?

Miss Floozy Dina Caliente wanted to talk to me about charisma. Well, that's what she said on the phone. When I arrived, she made a move on me.

I let her know that I'm not interested. Not now and not ever.

Amelia wanted some fresh air, so we wandered over to the local park. Sunny amused herself roasting marshmallows. Then she chatted to people around the park.

I was reading that pregnancy book - god, the number of things that can go wrong is just scary.

Since Amelia was in no hurry to go home. I took the opportunity to work on upgrading my fire extinguisher. It's rare that I get a few quiet moments at work to do such things.

"Sam? Sam?"

"Yes Sunny?"

"It's time. We have to go."

"Go?"

"It's the baby. We have to go to the hospital."

It didn't seem like an easy thing, this birth of a baby. Sunny was pushing for hours. Then finally, in spite of his best efforts to stay somewhere warm and comfy, Charlie Grant came out into the world.

The hospital was pleased with the progress of mother and baby. So we were all sent home.

It seems like just a few days ago that I was a bachelor without a soul in the world that I cared about. Now I have Sunny and Charlie. It's like there was a hole in my life that I didn't notice until family started filling it up.

Charlie in his new crib. It's not an ideal location, the crib is out in the main room. It's either the main room or our bedroom.  Our home is quite small.

We will need to build an extension soon. There aren't any acceptable houses to move to in town. Or none that we can hope to afford.

"Amelia?"

"Yes, Sammy?"

"Do you think it's time to start thinking about a little brother or sister for Charlie?"

"Sammy!"

"I take that as no?"

"Well, not yet, for the love of plumbbob."

It was my last day off work for awhile. I spent as much time as I could with the baby.

I played with him.

Made sure he had plenty of milk and a clean diaper. I'd hold him after until he went back to sleep. Both Charlie and Sunny still need a lot of sleep.

All too soon, I had to return to work.

As usual, none of the maintenance had been done at the station. The truck and the alarms were all in a shocking state.

I swear, none of the other fire fighters would notice a thing wrong with this truck until it fell to bits half way to the next fire.

Amelia checked the mail and found that our guests had sent wedding presents. It was unexpected and some of the gifts were very generous.

She rather insisted that the proper thing to do was write thank you notes to each guest who sent a gift. Since she's still on maternity leave, she took care of it.

Back at the station, it wasn't long before there was a call about a fire.

The home owner had tried to dowse the flames herself. Her efforts didn't work and the fire was getting large by the time I arrived.

It took a couple of hours to squelch the fire completely. The damage to the home was minimal.

It's good to know that I've saved someone's house and belongings at the end of the day.

Someone sent a rather odd look doll as a gift for Charlie.

Amelia put it in the crib for him. I tried later to take it out but he fussed a lot. I put it back and he was quiet again.

Far be it from me to take a toy from a baby who wants it.

"Amelia, come eat while it's hot."

"Is the baby ok, do you think?"

"I checked when I got home. He's asleep. I'm sure it's fine. Come eat."

"Maybe we're handling the baby wrong. He's so quiet. It can't be natural for a baby to be that quiet."

"Sunny, it's fine. I'm sure it's all fine. He's not a fussy baby, the books all said that some babies rarely settled and others rarely fussed. Charlie is a quiet baby, that's not a bad thing."

A few more presents arrived today. Amelia sent out the thank you notes again.

We sold some of the gifts. It might or might not be what was intended by the guests who sent the presents. It is nice to have a fair amount of money though and not just be scrapping by. 

"Our son, Sammy. Isn't he quite the handsome little one?"

"How could he fail, Sunny? He does have a gorgeous mom after all."

"Oh no, I'm sure he's going to take after his handsome daddy." Well, we'll see. He'll be growing up far too soon.