once in a lifetime.

Stella only nodded and welcomed Austin back with open arms, rubbing his back to push him back into sleep. She had to admit it was weird seeing Jake changing Austin’s diaper, and he definitely needed practice, but one step at a time. The brunette hummed into Austin’s ear as he giggled softly and his eye became droopy with slumber. “Are we going to keep ignoring the elephant in the room?” She finally said after what felt like forever and was ready to talk about what had been bothering her because she couldn’t shake it off no matter how hard she tried. Stella cradled Austin in her arms once more and it wasn’t long before he drifted back to sleep once again and he breathed peacefully. The girl triple checked that she had removed all blankets and pillows from the crib and handed them to Jake, “Just fold these or put them away somewhere, yeah?” She suggested and kissed Austin’s head once more before setting him down.

Jake took the blankets from her as he set them off to the side as he exited the room and turned to see Stella lower down and kiss their sons head. "Come to my room." he said knowing that whatever they were going to be arguing about would definitely not be good for Austin to hear and possibly even wake him up. Jake sighed and ran his hand through his disheveled hair roughly as he blew out a breath already knowing what they would be talking about. He'd been playing dumb this whole time in hopes to avoid their 'talk' they always had and he didn't know why, but it just seemed to cause an even bigger rift between them. Looking up to see her, he at down on the edge of his bed, crossing his arms. "I'm sorry." he spoke out barely above a whisper and nervously bit his lower lip just waiting for her to lash out at him. At least he was letting her release whatever stress she was feeling.

Much to her surprise, Jake rolled out of bed and took the bottle from her hand and smirked, attempting to lighten the mood she assumed. She watched him walk into the nursery ad hearing the strain in Austin’s cry literally made her heart drop. She couldn’t help but not worry about him. Turning on her heel, Stella turned on the light in her room and almost tripped in front of the smaller crib in her room. The brunette had saved up to buy something smaller she could put in her room since he didn’t really sleep in the nursery when Jake was gone. Stella felt much more safe knowing he was right there with her. Stella found a t shirt and some shorts to put on and went into the bathroom to put her hair up and wash her face. Just as she was drying, she heard Austin’s cries go silent and she felt a sense of relief wash over her. Stella’s curiosity got the best of her and just as she was making her way down the hall to the nursery she heard the familiar tone of Jake’s raspy tone and couldn’t help but smirk as she eavesdropped. Finally coming in view, she stood at the threshold of the door and watched Jake cradle Austin. “Hey.” The Latina replied and slowly walked in and went over to the changing station and pulled out a diaper and wipes. “He should probably get changed before he goes back to bed,” Stella spoke and smiled down at Austin and played with his tiny fingers.

"Oh yeah, sure." he said and got up putting Austin on the changing table. "Let me do it. Least I can do." Jake said as he took the wipes from her and unbuttoned the infants onesie as the smell wafted through his nose making a distorted facial expression. "No, really I got this." he said to Stella in case she had some doubt in him. Jake had missed a lot and from the looks of it, he might as well learn as quick as possible. Taking the diaper off, he took hold of the babies feet while his other one wiped his bottom clean. Once Jake was sure Austin was clean after six wipes -- probably way more than one should use -- he looked around for the diaper genie or whatever that baby trash was called and twisted the bag and threw it out. By now, Jake could hear Austin beginning to fuss and cry so he quickly threw the diaper on fairly well before buttoning him back up and handed him back to Stella. "That was pretty deadly right there." he said with a light chuckle. He hadn't changed much diapers before he had left, but a few. It was going to take some time to get used to again considering he didn't have any work now, but a few photoshoots and whatnot. Some advertisement firm wanted him on the face of their new clothing line so whatever brought in the cash he wouldn't mind doing. 

Before she could comprehend, Stella gaped at Jake and widened her eyes. Reaching out for her phone, the frustrated brunette crossed her arms and stared at Jake hard before he turned around and went up the stairs. Stella could actually feel her eyes stinging and her vision blurred but she ignored it and sniffled. The girl sat there for a while until she began hearing the familiar cry of Austin and she couldn’t even force herself to move. Her body was drained and the only time she went outside was to walk the dogs or get Austin some fresh air. Momentarily, Stella tried to think from Jake’s perspective but it was difficult because it always seemed like he had a nonchalant attitude. The Latina walked around the other side of the den to get her phone and shoved it in her jean pocket. Austin’s cries filled the house almost and maybe it was just because she was used to it but she wondered how Jake didn’t. Strolling into the kitchen to warm him a bottle and her head was literally throbbing at how dirt the kitchen was. It actually crossed her mind that she had to clean the kitchen and dishes were piling up and it made her cringe. After mixing the formula and warming the bottle, Stella shut everything off downstairs and made a detour before visiting Austin. Opening Jake’s door abruptly, the brunette turned on the overhead light, which would probably blind him if he was awake. “Should you feed your son or should I?”

Closing his eyes, he drifted in and out of sleep until a loud shrill cry from the nursery woke him up. Figuring Stella would get him, he laid there in the dark until he saw the light come on and immediately shielded his eyes. "What?" he said as he sat up and flipped the covers aside to fully look at her and saw the bottle in her hand. "Oh. Yeah I got it." he said as he could  he heard the strain in the cry now where it worried him. "Go get some rest." Jake grabbed the bottle from her slowly as he grimly smiled at her before walking into the nursery to pick up the crying infant. It was in that moment that Jake finally realized how much Austin had grown when he was gone and the thought of losing that precious time made Jake's stomach drop. He knew growing up without a father had made him bitter and angry for not having that figure for guidance. Thinking about it, Jake was doing just that with the job and he didn't want to miss anymore and at least be here for his son. He didn't want to be his father knowing he had a son who he just didn't want to take care of. Having that on his conscience would only fester and make things worst. Getting rid of his thoughts as he tried to coax the crying baby, Jake sat down and put the bottle into his tiny mouth where he soon saw his lips attach and began to suckle on the nipple. Holding him carefully, the new baby smell still on the infant washed away his dreadful thoughts as he just stare down at Austin where Jake's eyes gazed around his smooth face and the small dimple on the side of his cheek. That small dimple make Jake smile not knowing really why, but it did. Maybe it was the fact that the kid was the spitting image of both him and Stella. Feeling himself choke up from his overwhelming thoughts and not wanting to be his absentee father, Jake leaned down to kiss Austin's forehead. "I love you." he whispered quietly when he pulled back. "Should probably give your mom a break hm? You're not exactly old enough to do anything, but I mean we can go explore the city a bit." he laughed sounding ridiculous, but he didn't care. It was nice to just talk and actually let himself breathe. He didn't realize he'd been so engrossed in trying to actually bond with his son and looked up to see Stella. "Hi." he smiled a little.

Stella only rolled her eyes at Jake’s careless behavior. “Yeah, okay whatever.” She mumbled and distracted herself by playing on her phone. The brunette knew Jake was completely oblivious as to why she was mad at him and she couldn’t understand why. Hadn’t it been so obvious? When Jake was gone, the rare times that they did talk were just simple ‘how are you’s’ or ‘how’s the baby?’ and that was it. It only made Stella paranoid that Jake was growing bored with her and would much rather travel to exotic places than taking care of a two month old baby.

"So... what you don't want to talk now?" he asked her as he returned and set the bottle down on the table in front of him. He sighed as he ran his hand through his messy hair. "Give me that." Jake instructed when he saw her on her phone and knew that the device was almost her lifeline. Setting her phone down on the chair across from her, he came back to sit next to her. "If you're going to give me the silent treatment I'm just gonna head to bed early. I'm tired. I wanted to come and sit and just talk with you, but it seems like you don't want that so if this is your way of telling me to get outta your hair, I will." Jake said as he tried not to be agitated with the way she was acting and leaned over to press a soft kiss to her temple before retreating to the confines of his room. The sad thing about them was the fact that though they lived together, they weren't exactly sleeping together. He didn't quite know how to tell her that he disliked this arrangement , but neither did he want to step on her toes even more and push her away unwillingly. Maybe he was oblivious as he usually was, but he was honestly way too tired to think of anything rationally or put too much into his thoughts. By now, he had stripped his shirt and jeans for a pair of boxers and laid in bed with a slump. God, he hated the travels of his work, but he did have to admit he enjoyed them experiencing a new world every now and then. 

Seeing her take her hand away, Jake retreated his own as he sighed. Looking at her, he could also see that she wasn't even looking at him as he cleared his throat. "How long have we known each other to where I know you're clearly not. Sitting back against the sofa clearly now not in the mood to catch up if Stella was going to be giving him short answers. Jake knew she wasn't okay and maybe he should've at least tried to be a decent enough boyfriend by checking when he could, but he'd been so busy. He knew it wasn't an excuse but there was also nothing else that he could really do either. "Have at it. Go ahead and give me a lecture. We both know that's coming." he said as he stood up and went to the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. Jake was honestly way jet lagged and all he wanted to do was just spend some quality time with Stella and their son, but that clearly wasn't in her books. He knew something was wrong, but he just couldn't figure out what.

Somebody t-take me to s-s-see Spiderman right n-now before I-I explode.