Heart of stone

Manimals!

"Mama! Manimals!" Nat whispered to wanda, pointing at some of the pigs. "Yeah they're piggies! Can you tell me what piggies say?" Wanda asked her. "Oink oink!" Nat said with a huge smile on her face. "That's right! Such a clever girl." Wanda praised, seeing Nat's smile made her day.

"So we have pigs, cows, chickens, goats and we actually just got some new lambs if you would like to feed them in about... thirty minutes?" Laura said, knowing how much Nat would enjoy feeding them. "That would be amazing, thank you so much. Can you say thank you to Laura?" Wanda said to Nat. Nat froze for a second, going shy, before whispering a "Thank you Laura..."

"Your so welcome honey." Laura responded, melting from Nat's cuteness. They all made their way to the pigs as that's what Nat seemed to be drawn to the most. "Piggies huge mama." Nat whispered to Wanda in amazement. "Yeah they're huge, aren't they?"

Nat was entranced by all the animals, whispering to Wanda how big or small they were, and what noises they made. It was definitely an unforgettable day for all of them.

After looking at all the pigs, and even petting some of them, it was time to feed the lambs.

Laura and Clint got all the bottles ready for them so by the time they had finished with the pigs Nat was instantly able to feed one of the lambs.

"Mama firs'..." Nat said unsurely. "You want mama to go first?" Wanda asked, making sure she was understanding Nat. Nat nodded and Wanda smiled at her shy baby.

Wanda took a bottle from Laura and went over for he lambs. They instantly swarmed her and started going for the bottle. "You Wanda try Nat?" Clint asked and Nat nodded, taking the bottle from Clint. She went near to Wanda and suddenly the lambs started swarming her too.

She started laughing as they fought over the bottle, wanting to be fed. Her giggles were so cute and seemed to be contagious as the others started to laugh too. "More mama! More!" She giggled and Wanda looked to Laura to silently ask permission. Laura smiled and handed Nat another bottle.

This happened over and over until all the bottles were gone. Nat's giggles were heard by all the other three, making their hearts melt. Wanda had taken about a million photos of Nat feeding the lambs and plenty videos of her baby laughing joyfully at the animals infront of her.

Although Nat didn't have any more bottles she was still being swarmed by lambs, making her laughs increase as they nudged her gently and some even licking her. She was so happy in this moment she wanted it to last forever.

Eventually the lambs realised they had no more food and started to leave Nat alone, much to Nat's disappointment. However one lamb stayed with Nat. It just sat next to her, it's head in her lap, eyes starting to get droopy.

"Mama he sleepin'" Nat whispered to wanda with wide eyes. "Yeah we should be quiet if hes sleeping, huh?" She said, making Nat nod. "Mama take picture?" She asked, wanting to remember the time a lamb fell asleep on her forever. "Of course babygirl." Wanda said smiling, taking out her phone and snapping a few more pictures.

Nat sat still for a while, not wanting to move and wake the small lamb up. When she was napping she hated being woken up. "You wanna go see the other animals baby?" Wanda asked and Nat shook her head, content with the lamb resting on her lap.

It took about ten minutes before the lamb opened its eyes again, coming out of its slumber. It lifted its head from Nat and gently nudged her hand, almost like a goodbye, before running off to find the other lambs.

Nat sat there for a few seconds with a smile on her face before turning to Wanda and holding her arms up. "Up mama?" She asked quietly. Wanda smiled and picked her baby up "Of course my girl. Mama will always pick you up..." she whispered, mostly to herself.

Nat yawned again, worrying Wanda. Why was Nat so sleepy? Was she getting enough sleep at night? Was she sick? What was wrong?

"You tired babes?" Wanda asked and Nat nodded, resting her head on Wanda's shoulder. "Do you feel sicky or just tired?" Wanda asked and Nat mumbled an incoherent response before falling asleep.

"Seems like she needs another nap." Wanda said chuckling. "I don't think she slept too well last night." Clint and Laura brushed it off, not minding. It wasn't their business wether Nat was sleeping or not, they didn't need explanations. "It's cool, she can play with the piglets in the pigpen after she wakes up." Clint smiles, knowing how dirty it is in there.

"Alright, thank you guys so much for letting us stay here for a few days. I know Nats really enjoyed it, especially today. She had that spark back that seemed to have disappeared not too long ago." Wanda admitted, feeling better knowing Nat had a good day. "Always. I'm gonna go get the kids from school but I'll be back in about 45 minutes. Hopefully Nat will be awake and seeing the animals again!" Laura said, smiling at Nat as she slept.

Laura left and Wanda and Clint sat down in some white plastic chairs, talking while Nat slept. It only took her 30 minutes to wake up with a frantic cry. "Hey babygirl it's okay... your safe with mama, it's okay." Wanda says, quick to help Nat calm down.

"Your okay, your with mama at the farm. You don't need to be scared my love. It's all okay." Wanda says I'm an attempt to soothe her. Nat didn't respond, only clinging to Wanda tighter. "I'm right here... it's okay mamas here. I won't let anyone hurt you."

Nat slowly but surely let go of Wanda, letting the woman wipe the small girls cheeks from tears and snot. "You okay my lovely girl?" Wanda asked, already knowing she will answer the same as always, with a small nod. Nat nodded as expected and Wanda internally sighed, she only wanted to help Nat. She couldn't though and it was becoming a problem.

"You still sleepy or you wanna go see more animals?" Wanda asked and Nat's face brightened up. "Manimals?" She asked, excited. Wanda nodded and got up, following Clint to where the messy parts of the farm was. It was full of mud.

"Mama, jump?" Nat asked, pointing to the mud. Although she cringed at the thought of cleaning the dirt out of Nat's clothes and hair and off of her body... she also knew she would cherish the photos. "Okay babygirl... you can play in the mud." Wanda said, only slightly regretting her answer.

Nat splashed around in the mud and water, some parts puddles and other parts thick mud. She was having the time of her life. Jumping up and down in the puddles and rolling around in the mud, she was so happy. Wanda could see her huge smile and was happy that her baby was happy.

She managed to go a few minutes before falling on her face, although it didn't hurt she took a minute to decide whether it was worth crying over. Wanda and Clint stood, unsure of what she was going to decide to do. Luckily, Nat let out a huge laugh, almost toppling over with giggles. It made all of them laugh and Wanda was glad she had been recording.

After many photos and an extremely dirty baby, they made their way inside. Even though it took almost an hour, and lots of soap, to rid Nat of the dirt, Wanda was happy with the day. She was glad she had photos and memories she could cherish of her babygirl forever.