Like all new, first time parents, the Pancakes were overwhelmed and sleep deprived.
Bob snored softly, clothes in a pile beside the bed where he'd just discarded them. Eliza picked up and rocked a wailing Ainsley.
"Here baby. It's okay poppet" she cooed; albeit in a tired monotone. She guided the bottle to the small, waiting and obviously hungry mouth. Which spat it out and cried some more, before Eliza tried again.
With no aunts or uncles, no grandparents available to fuss, the visitors quickly dried up. Bob had lost his parents, both Pancakes had been only children and what little family Eliza had left lived far overseas. So Bob and Eliza were left largely on their own.
Clara was some help, though it had been years since she'd dealt with one so small.
Internet support groups often made things worse. When the Pancakes made the decision to solely bottle feed their daughter, the backlash online was incredible. It put them off parenting forums entirely.
Bob was a proud father and he tried to take his turn caring for Ainsley. He was pleased the bottles allowed him to wake and feed her. But Bob was still working at the restaurant full-time. His income was vital to paying the bills and providing for the family.
Eliza had arranged a lesser work load which she could manage from home for the first few months at least. She still needed to provide some columns for the magazine; mainly a few fluff pieces on the latest baby gear.
Ainsley was neither more nor less fussy and demanding than your average infant. She didn't sleep through the night for the first fourteen weeks. So, her first months of life passed the Pancakes family by in a worn out, yet mostly joyful blur.
Ainsley smiled, rolled over, and sat up unaided at approximately the expected times for a first born.
It was about then that the Pancakes began to socialise again. Eliza began to concentrate on her favourite aspect of her job; food reviews. The boss apparently thought she had a talent for it too, because she was promoted to her own regular column.
Even Bob was invited out for a drink and an evening off with an old friend, Sidney Valenzuela. Sidney used to work at the karaoke bar back in the day. She looked Bob up on Facebook and eventually convinced him to put on some nice duds and come out to catch up on their lives.
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