The Devil Walks Among Us; Book l - Completed 4/21/22

Settling

Roughly two weeks later, Mia had continued to settle back into the refines of her own home after she and Michael spent a couple of weeks at the Johns' house, Little John keeping tabs on them as they were both recovering from their injuries. She was grateful for her brother and his husband, as well as Michael, for being her heroes after the events of Halloween night.

Mia had wasted no time in bringing Ella - Ella Grace Harris - to the barn, instantly watching Ella become curious about the horses, although she was sleeping throughout the whole time, but it was the effort. "They love her, Michael." Mia smiled up at him as he had finished feeding them for the evening, not letting her do any physical work, even if it was picking up a bucket, to keep her from straining her already damaged lungs.

"Who wouldn't?" He commented. "She's beautiful."

Mia couldn't get enough of Michael's consensual vulnerability towards her by finally fully opening up to her. She couldn't get enough of the sound of his voice. It was strong, deep, and passionate with every word he chose to speak. The weather had begun to get colder, Michael's concern for Mia's health consistently progressing as he knew that she could relapse from pneumonia. Fortunately, she didn't have to have an oxygen machine on her throughout the day now but had to have it occasionally during the night.

She smiled up at him before looking down to adjust the baby's sling around her torso, standing on her toes to place a kiss on Michael's warm lips. His beard wasn't short, but wasn't long, either. His eyes held a certain color to them now, as if he had a dark veil lifted away from him after meeting Mia.

Throughout the day, Mia had tried to keep herself busy by catching up on house chores, even though Michael had been excellent at keeping the house clean, leaving Mia to do almost absolutely nothing after coming home from work, which she was grateful for. But now that she had been on maternity leave, she had plenty of time to find something to do, especially for twelve weeks.

Michael had been standing in the kitchen, leaning against the counter after Mia had swatted his hand away from helping her from her current project of rearranging the countertop. Ella was now sleeping nearby in the bassinet after being fed. He hated seeing Mia force herself to stay busy when she should be resting, but she protested, proposing that she would take it easy on herself and would know when to rest. As much as he hated to see her doing this to her protest, he was amazed at her drive to keep going.

Suddenly, he heard a quiet whine come from Ella's bassinet, immediately catching Michael's attention first as he dismissed himself from the kitchen to check on her, relieved that she had grunted again as she had stretched her arm in her sleep. Michael smiled down at her, adjusting the pacifier that was hanging loosely in her mouth. He couldn't help himself, he was obsessed with the heartwarming feeling of Ella's fingers clamping around his index finger. He brought the wool blanket up to her sternum, feeling her clamp her fingers around his index finger as he did so. He swore there was no other feeling like it. She was absolutely perfect and beautiful, something that he thought he didn't deserve, but he was sure glad he got to experience it.

"Michael? Is everything?-" Mia called, smiling at him as she watched his love for Ella bloom all over again. She loved how nurturing he was with her, feeling completely safe with his instincts. She stood there, watching him, wondering if he sensed her presence close by.

Slowly, she approached him with her slight limp, her leg still sore. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her head against his back. "You're such a good father, Michael."

He didn't respond but eventually found his way into turning around to look at her, pressing his lips to her forehead as she leaned against him, mainly to take the weight off of her hurt leg. "Can you take me to work later?"