Once Cole left, it was around dinner time, so I feed Aster and then we both head to bed.

A couple hours later, at one AM, Aster wakes up again. "Come here baby," I say and scoop her up and lay her beside me in my bed. She hasn't been waking up in the middle of the night lately and it was pure peacefulness being able to sleep through the night. It must just be the cold that's bothering her. We both fall asleep again.

I wake up again at seven AM and crawl out of bed. Aster's still sleeping, so I have time for a shower before I need to feed her breakfast.

I quickly shower and get dressed in my black leggings and a dark blue sweater. I grab my phone and start texting Cole.

Me: You busy today?

Cole: Nope

Me: Wanna hang out with Aster and I today?

Cole: Yeah, where and when?

Me: My house, in an hour

Cole: Ok sounds good

Me: Bye

Aster starts fussing, I put my phone away and pick her up. "Good morning, sweet pea, are you hungry?" She grins like I just mentioned a big ice cream sunday with whipped cream, sprinkles, and cherries. "Alright, princess, let's go eat." I shift her on my hip and go downstairs to the kitchen. I feed her mashed peas and carrots, and we both polish off a container of strawberries with her eating little pieces I ripped apart for her and me gobbling up the rest. She reaches for more, "sorry, baby, we ate them all," I say and the doorbell rings. I open it and Cole's standing there, "hey," I say and let him in.

"Hi, she feeling better?"

"Yes, way better. Thank you so much for helping me yesterday."

"Yeah, no problem."

"You can sit, I'll be right back," I climb the stairs with Aster on my hip and walk over to our room. I grab her a fresh diper and a clean outfit, and quickly get her changed.

We go back downstairs and I see Cole looking at our family picture, it was a picture we got just a month before Dad passed away. He's in it, Mom's in it, seven months pregnant with Aster, and I'm there too. "Hey," he says, looking between the picture and me. "You look so much like your dad, so does Aster."

I grin, "yeah, it I'm glad I didn't get my mom's eyes or hair," I say and he chuckles. She has dull green eyes and dirty blonde hair.

"Yeah, it's not quite the perfect combination."

"You could say that again." I look at Aster in my arms, "say hi to Cole," I say and she grins reaching her arms out toward him. He takes her.

"Hi Aster," she flaps her arms excitedly. "Did you sleep well last night, baby?" He asks and she grins, and pulls his ear.

"I guess she slept well for having a cold, she woke up once in the middle of the night then she fell back asleep." I say, he looks over at me, he looks down at her again.

"Is that right, Aster, you woke sissy up?" He asks tickling her belly and she squirms around in his arms.

A couple hours later, Cole, Aster, and I are lying on the couch watching The Little Mermaid.

"So, why do you think Aster loves this movie so much?" Cole asks, looking over at me.

"I don't know, it's a cute disney movie, if I were her, it'd be my favorite too I guess." I reply, I shift slightly over and lean my head on his shoulder. I fall asleep before I hear his reply.

When I wake up again, Aster is sleeping in my arms, and I'm laying with my head on Cole's chest. The movie ended a while ago, and Cole's arms are draped over Aster and me. I smile and close my eyes and drift slowly back to sleep.

I jerk awake when Aster starts flailing around in my arms, "shh, it's okay, princess" I coo in her ear, "are you hungry? I can get you a bottle baby," I say and start to sit up, but I see Cole is still fast asleep and his arm is tight around me.
I groan, "Cole, wake up, I need to feed Aster," he's still fast asleep. I put Aster down over to the side and manage to wiggle out of his grasp while he stays asleep. I pick Aster back up and grab her a prefilled bottle from the fridge. I hand it to her and she takes it and sticks it in her mouth.

I walk back into the tv room and see Cole in the same position I left him in. I lay Aster in her pack n' play, and I go to my and Aster's bedroom to get changed and grab her a change of clothes and a diper.

I get changed and I grab her this adorable white and black outfit. A black and white hair bow, black knee high socks, and a white onesie that says 'Girl, (noun) definition: a girl with a bow. I love this outfit, she looks so cute in it.

I head back down the stairs with Aster's outfit, I see Cole finally woke up, and he took Aster out of her pack n' play and he's playing on the floor with her. I decide to just stand back and watch for a minute, he's so good with her.

He picks her up and spins her around and she giggles, he places her back on the ground and walks a couple steps away from her. "Come here Aster," he says holding out his arms. She stands up and he seems surprised when she starts walking toward him. "Wow! Good girl Aster!" He praises her, as she colapses into his outstretched arms.

I walk over toward them, "hey, princess," I say to Aster, and she gets back up and walks over to me. I pick her up, stand up, and get her situated on my hip before I look over at Cole again and I can't help grinning. "Cole," I say to catch his attention from Aster. He looks at me. "You know, you're a heavy sleeper." I walk over to Aster's pack n' play and lean down and grab her empty bottle.

"Yeah, my mom always flips out when I oversleep because she doesn't know how to wake me without dumping water on me." He says chuckling. He looks at Aster again, "I burped her already."

"Oh thanks, and I wish I'd thought of the water." I take a deep breath, "okay, and Cole?"

"What?"

"I wanted to ask you if you know anything about when we fell asleep last night," I say and look into his eyes.

"I remember that you fell asleep on me practically midsentence," he looks at me, "other than that, nope."

"Okay, well when I woke up, I kinda had to wiggle out of your grasp, so I could get aster her bottle."

"Oh, that," he says, looking down, like he just remembered something embarassing. "I kind of hold on to the closest thing to me while I sleep. Whether it's my pillow or a person or like, I don't know, just about anything." He looks back at me, "Willow, I've been wanting to ask you this ever since I met you at the park just a couple of days ago. You're sweet and caring, you're pretty and you work so hard for Aster, I love Aster like a little sister and you, ever since we've started hanging out, I think I realized I like you, Willow. Will you go out with me?" He asks, and I look down at Aster. I don't have room for love in my life, Aster needs me.

"I'm sorry Cole, but Aster really needs me, I can't just leave her with Mom any time I feel like it. I can't do that to her." I take a deep breath and look up at him, "Cole, you know how much Aster means to me and you see that our mother has given up on her. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but I can't just give up on Aster for some guy I met less than a week ago."

"Willow, you and Aster both mean so much more to me than you think. Before I met you two, I had nothing to do with my time other than just hang out at the park alone. I don't care if she would come with us, it would make it better, the two most amazing girls I just met, on a date with me." He grins, and looks into my eyes. I can't help but smile back. "Willow, can you at least consider it?" I nod, "great, thank you Willow. Umm I have to go, but text me your answer and we'll go from there." I nod, and he looks at Aster. "Can I see her for a second?" I hand her over, he takes her and throws her in the air and catches her. He kisses her cheek, "bye Aster," he hands her back to me. "See you later, Willow."

I hear the door close and I go to the kitchen to make dinner.