I groaned as I put down the box full of records. How many boxes of this stuff was there? It seemed like there had been a million of them so far. It had been a week and four days since I left the hospital that day, and I had quit my job, and changed school transfers to U-Dub. Mom and dad hadn't left my side the entire time, and I hadn't had to do a single thing on my own. I had learned how to feed Noelle, which needed to be often because she was so small, and how to change her diaper. When it came to getting up in the middle of the night, my mom was awesome about helping me.

I wiped the sweat from my brow as I opened the door to the apartment again. It was large and open, and completely white. My mom was in the middle of the living room, dancing with Noelle on the hardwood floor. The apartment had 3 bedrooms. One would be my room, one Noelle's, and one would be my study. I pulled the last box into the living room, and my mom smiled at me. Noelle pulled her head up to look at me, holding it steady and looking at me. She looked back up to mom, and smiled as my mom cooed. Noelle shook her little hand up at my mom and I grinned at them.

My father came in with the moving men who brought in my dining room table and couch. They brought in the bed and the crib, and then brought in the stuff for my study. I smiled as I walked into Noelle's room. My mom had already set up some of her things, and the wallpaper was a light yellow. Dad started unpacking some of the boxes, as I looked out the window. I hadn't been in Seattle since I was little. The bright lights of the city and the Sky Needle looked down at me. I could see U-Dub from my window, and a hospital nearby.
"Edward?" My mom called. I turned around to look at her. "Can you take Noelle? I'm going to decorate and finish her room." I smiled lightly at her, walking over to take my fragile baby from her arms. I knew that my mom would go all out on her first granddaughter's room. Before leaving Providence, Noelle slept in a crib in my parent's room. This would be Noelle's first real room, and I was excited to let her see it. I knew she wouldn't care much. She was a baby, but I really did care that her room would be perfect.

Mom handed Noelle over to me, and she started to cry. I rocked her back and forth, hushing her wails. She wouldn't stop crying, so I started making raspberries. She looked up at me with her big green eyes trained on my face. I smiled down at her, and she hit at me with her tiny hands. Suddenly, she burped very loudly, and startled herself. I took my sweater and wiped the spit off of her chin, only to have it dribble back down a minute later. I couldn't help but laugh at the stunned look on her face.

I rocked her back and forth, bouncing her slightly. I realized, once again, that this was my daughter. This was part of who I am. She would be connected to me in so many ways that I didn't yet know and would never fully understand. Noelle was also the one connection I had to the woman I still loved. This tiny person was a part of me, and would now be a part of my life forever. I had gone from totally alone in the world, to back with my parents, my brother, and with a daughter. I still didn't totally

I would graduate from U-Dub in a few months with my Master's degree in accounting. Did I really want to be an accountant? No, but it would be a steady job in the future. I hated working in tax preparation, and bookkeeping. I despised pay roll services and accounting. I couldn't stand business. But each time I had thought about quitting, I thought about my baby that I had never met. Now I could think of Noelle. I was doing this for Noelle. Would it be as much money as a doctor? Of course not, but it would be something with a solid job, and a high enough income. My parents were paying for the apartment, and I felt bad about it, but Seattle was expensive, and with all of the expenses for Noelle, I needed some help.

I rocked Noelle back and forth a little slower, not bouncing at all. She looked up at me, yawning, as her eyes closed slowly. I smiled at her, rubbing her soft hair slightly. Her eyes closed and she snuggled into my side. I kissed her wispy hair, rocking her back and forth. I walked with Noelle into my bedroom, laying her down next to me as I just watched her sleep. She suckled in her sleep, as if she wanted a bottle, and she flailed her little legs. I smiled at her, and she whimpered in her sleep. Being a father was exhausting. While I didn't have to take care of her by myself (yet), she did keep me awake. I could hear her cries in the middle of the night, and my mother putting her back to sleep. The fact that she had Down Syndrome didn't change pretty much anything when it comes to what a two month old does. She was still hitting some basic milestones, but not as many as babies without Downs. She was constantly eating, sleeping, pooping, peeing, crying, or just watching things. She was fascinated with the world, but boy, when she was unhappy with something…well, let's just say I'd never heard a baby cry as loudly as Noelle did. She fell asleep fast to a tape that we found in Lauren's apartment that was marked "Lullabies". It calmed Noelle almost immediately, but we rarely played it.

I was constantly watching her now. I knew my parents would be leaving my apartment soon, and that I couldn't ask them to live with me any longer. I was a dad now. They knew I needed to act like one. They had set the move out date for 2 days after I moved to Seattle. It was planned that way so they could help get some things unpacked, but that I could still take care of Noelle as soon as possible, and organize some things. Mom was an interior designer now, but she said she had some references to some babysitters that would help watch Noelle while I was at school. It tore at me that I would have to leave her, but if I didn't go to school, I wouldn't be able to support Noelle.

Mom came and took Noelle from next to me, putting Noelle on her shoulder. Noelle started fussing, but my mom quickly hushed her. I knew that my mom was concerned for Noelle's safety when she slept next to me in bed, but I could never fall asleep with my baby next to me. Mom put her in the bassinet while my dad set up the crib. She had struggled a bit with the crib, and really only liked being in the bassinet. Mom moved the bassinet into my room, and placed my sleeping baby in it. I grinned as I heard a slight sigh come from the bassinet. I was exhausted. Moving had taken so much longer than I thought. The projected time was 48 hours. What I forgot was that babies don't exactly love long car trips. We had travelled about 13 hours each day, with a few rest stops to calm Noelle down, to eat, and to go to the bathroom. For the first few hours, Noelle had kept her eyes wide open as she suckled on a bottle. Her eyes trailed the things outside the windows of the car, and she struggled against her car seat straps. Her little tongue was always out of her mouth. I had found out that almost all children with Down Syndrome had large tongues and smaller mouths, causing their tongues to protrude from their mouths. It caused a lot of spit to be on her chin, but already, I didn't mind that I had baby drool over almost all of my shirts. Her little almond eyes shifted around often, still fascinated with the world she had never seen before. Her little chubby, overly spaced fingers grasped hard around anything she could get her hands on. Her grip was surprisingly strong. She was constantly constipated, and had bad diaper rash, so diaper times were hard and often disappointing. No one ever tells you that when your baby doesn't poop, that it's disappointing. I suppose not all parents had this issue, but Noelle was cranky when she couldn't poop, and it was hard to see her so upset.

We had gotten all the normal baby things. We had kept Noelle's crib from Lauren's house (her dad was happy to get rid of the baby and all remnants of her) but the bassinet had been Jasper's. Jasper had been adopted when he was a baby, and I had just been adopted as well. He was 18 now, and I was 6 when he was adopted. Mom and dad had been trying to adopt Jasper when I came into their lives, so they adopted us both. It had been hard to adapt to having a newborn in the house. My birth mother had another child, a three year old, but she hadn't been abandoned with me. It took me a long time to get over the fact that my mother just didn't want me. Only me. I didn't know why she didn't want me, but it took me a long time to get over it.

I shared a room with Emmett those first few years. I had nightmares all the time, and he took care of me. He was 4 years older than me, so was now 27. I couldn't believe our babies were about the same age. Alex, Emmett's son, was 4 months old. They had a lot of trouble with getting pregnant. It was ironic considering that I had a baby unexpectedly. I hadn't met Alex yet. They hadn't come and visited, and I refused to go see them. I was mad because Emmett and Rosalie hadn't supported me when Lauren got pregnant, and Emmett got a job in Seattle around the same time as dad. Rosalie happily moved, and I was alone in Rhode Island. I just realized that Jaspers birthday was last week. He was stationed in England right now, after being in Germany for a few months. He had joined the Army the day after his 18th birthday. He didn't want mom and dad to pay for his college. He knew they had the money, but after learning about how his birthparents had gotten married young, had multiple children, and couldn't take care of them, mooching off of the government for every cent they had, he refused to take charity. He still had issues with his adoption, always very angry and out of control about things. He felt that mom and dad had done enough for him, so he joined the Army to pay for his schooling, and staying far away from relationships. Emmett had done law school with Rosalie by his side, and Jasper was becoming a Psychiatrist. He had gone to many in his life time, and felt that he could do some good.

I had always been good at math and didn't have time to do an extra three-ten years to become a doctor, a lawyer, or anything else. I needed what gave me the most money for the least time. Becoming an accountant was the fastest thing and would provide a nice enough income. Even if it meant giving up my dreams.

I grabbed my iPhone, playing a soft lullaby. I laid back in my bed, falling asleep quickly, listening to my baby's soft snore. And for the first time in a long time, everything felt right.

A/N: Hey guys. Sorry for the long wait. I'll be writing every weekend or two now. Anyway, can I get 4 reviews for this? Thanks! –Kassie