Sabrina ; The next generation

24

Groaning, I rolled onto my back, rubbing my face with my hands.

I took a deep breath, then sat up and looked towards the crib where she laid, crying.

Her cries was what woke me up.

It was my first night in my room since the night I got kidnapped, and I was woken up by my newborn baby.

I crawled to the end of the bed and looked down at her as she cried her eyes out.

"Why are you waking me up?" I whispered, picking her up. "Are you hungry?"

I sighed and ran a hand over my face before getting out of bed. I had to walk all the way to the kitchen to make her bottle.

I walked out, making my way down the hallway while rocking her in my arms.

"Please don't wake everyone else up." I whispered.

I made it to the kitchen and while holding her on one arm, I opened the cupboard to find the formula.

I read the instructions on the back of it. I had never done it before, but I had told my parents that they taught me at the hospital.

They didn't.

I just didn't want to seem like a terrible mother to my newborn. I wanted to be able to do this. To feed my child.

I made the bottle, and it went well until I had to feed her.

She just kept crying, without drinking from the bottle.

"Bina?" My uncle's voice made me look up.

My uncle Marco and William came over last night to see Alec and I. Marco stayed to sleep and William went home to be with their children.

"Here, let me help you..." he said, walking closer to me, but I stepped away, shaking my head.

"No. I need to do this by myself."

"You don't have to do it by yourself, Bina. It's okay to lean on your family for help."

I shook my head.

"She's my daughter. How am I supposed to raise her when I can't even feed her?"

He didn't say anything. He just looked at me with an outstretched hand, and I sighed before giving him the bottle.

"Cuddle her close to you. Hold her gently but not firmly. She needs place to burp. You put the teat against her lips and she will eat automatically. Keep the neck of the bottle at an angle so it's filled with formula at all time."

He showed me how, and I watched as she started drinking, her crying stopping.

"Try it." My uncle said softly and I took a hold of the bottle, holding it like he had. She continued to eat, and I felt such pride that I was doing it.

"When the bottle is half empty, or when she slows down on eating, you can try and put the bottle down and see if she needs to burp. Then you can have her finish the bottle, if she wants more. They are very good at judging how much they need, so you don't have to panic if she doesn't drink an entire bottle."

"Okay." I said quietly, staring down at my baby as she ate. "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me." He said. "I've fed a lot of babies, including you and your siblings."

"I just... I don't know how I'm supposed to do this." I said, letting out a heavy breath. "I'm nineteen years old. Five minutes ago, I didn't know how to feed my baby, and I don't even know how to change a diaper. Mum and dad have been doing it so far. I don't know how to do it."

I looked at my uncle who leaned on the kitchen counter.

"I'll show you when she's done with her bottle." He told me. "Sometimes it can be a little difficult. Especially if it's your first. But you just need to get the hang of it. You're gonna be excellent at all the different baby things. I can promise you that."

He walked closer to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders, giving me a sideways hug.

"You don't have to worry about the name either." He told me. "Will and I had no idea what to name Raine until he was three weeks old. Sometimes it just takes time."

"Then what did you call him?"

Marco chuckled.

"I called him accident."

"Accident?" I asked, looking at him.

"Yeah. It was just some lame inside joke William and I had. He had gained a little weight and I joked about him having been pregnant with Raine." He said, and I chuckled.

I yawned, but I was unable to cover my mouth as I was feeding the baby.

"I'm a little nervous about seeing grandma and grandpa again." I admitted, shaking my head to try and keep myself awake.

"Why is that?"

"I don't know. I don't want them to look at me and see nothing but what happened to me."

"You know, they're just gonna be happy that you aren't dead." My uncle said. "We all are very happy that you and Alec are back."

"Yeah." I breathed. "So am I."

Uncle Marco sighed, running a hand over his face, and when I glanced at him, he was looking at me with a look that I hated.

"I don't need you to pity me." I said. "So stop, alright?"

"Well, I do pity you, Bina. You've gone through something traumatic and I do feel bad for you."

"Well, I don't need that. I'm fine." I said, looking down at my daughter again as she turned her head away from the bottle. "I think she's done." I said, placing the bottle on the island.

"Try and place her so her chin rests on your shoulder." Uncle Marco told me. "Support the head and the shoulder area with one hand, then use the other to gently rub and pat her back. It will help her burp."

I did what he told me to and I ended up walking back and forth the kitchen while patting her back.

"What do you think about the name Willow?" I asked, looking at my uncle who was eating the grapes that stood on the island.

"Willow Weasley?" He asked, with a faint chuckle.

"Yeah, I don't know..."

"If you like the name Willow, then name her Willow."

I shrugged.

"I don't know if I like it." I muttered, and then my daughter burped for the first time after this bottle. "She did it! I did it! I made her burp!"

Uncle Marco laughed, nodding.

"Try and see if she wants the rest of the bottle." He told me, and I moved her back onto my arm, grabbing the bottle.

I put it to her lips and she immediately started eating again while staring up at me.

"See, you're already acing it." Marco smiled. "You're already an excellent mother."

"No I'm not..."

"Yes you are. The fact that you care and you worry if you do things right, shows that you are a wonderful mother, and that little girl already loves you."