Your baby won’t say I love you

 Your baby won’t say I love you.

But there will be signs.

It will be in the way they turn toward your voice before they can even hold their head up steady.
The way their whole body softens when you pick them up.
The way they stop crying the second they feel your chest against theirs.

It will be in the way they study your face like it’s the most important thing they’ve ever seen.
Because it is.

You are their safety.
You are their familiar.
You are the rhythm their nervous system recognizes.

They won’t say the words.
But they will reach for you when the room feels overwhelming.
They will search for you with their eyes when someone else is holding them.
They will smile differently at you than they do at anyone else.

And one day they’ll say “love you.”
But by then you’ll realize they’ve been saying it all along.

In the midnight feeds.
In the way they curl their fingers into your shirt.
In the way they fall asleep faster on your shoulder than anywhere else.

Motherhood can feel thankless.
No applause.
No verbal appreciation.
Just exhaustion and repetition and wondering if you’re doing enough.

You are.

They may not have the language yet.
But their body knows you.
Their heart knows you.
Their entire tiny world is built around you.

That’s love.