Sea Glass: Marie and Lauryn

Chapter 18

"Okay, sweetheart, let's get you out of this bath and into some warm jammies, huh? Then mama can get you a nice bottle of chocolate milk and we can watch a movie. How does that sound?"

Lauryn nodded silently. 

She had not said a word since they left court. The Crown Prosecutor had come and found them outside and told them they could go. It didn't matter; Marie wouldn't have brought Lauryn back into that courtroom for all the money in the world. It was enough questioning, and she didn't want to traumatize Lauryn further. The poor little thing even had wet herself out of panic.

Furthermore, she did not want to face Luke and Theo while Lauryn was coming down from her panic attack. They had clearly heard their exchange when Lauryn had fallen hard into her little headspace, probably involuntarily since she couldn't control when she regressed in that sort of high stress situation. Lauryn had not seen that Theo and Luke were standing there when she called her "mama." And knowing Theo, she would not just let it go or forget. But she had not wanted to explain in front of her father or Matthias, who had come just moments later with the Crown Prosecutor. This would have to be a conversation for later. 

If ever. Maybe Theo will drop just forget it? Unlikely.

She helped Lauryn out of the tub before wrapping a large towel around her. She hadn't stopped slightly shaking since her panic attack, but Marie held her as tightly as she could hoping that she would. As soon as she was done drying her, she lifted her into her arms and carried her into the bedroom before laying her down carefully.

Walking into the closet, she pulled Felix from where Lauryn had put him along with her other stuffed animals and toys. Then she went to the chest of her little things in the back of the closet and opening it, pulled out a pacifier and returned to Lauryn. 

As Marie bent over her, she let Lauryn's hair from the elastic she had used on it in the bath before placing the pacifier at her lips and sliding Felix into her arms. As she began to suckle it, a look of relief spread across her face and she gave Marie a small smile. She was sad now that she had pumped that morning on account of Lauryn having not been little in over a month. Nursing would probably have made her feel even more relaxed. 

Maybe tonight.

"There's my sweet baby girl."

Turning to the drawer of diapers, she pulled out a plain white cloth one with inserts along with powder. Lifting Lauryn's legs, she pushed the diaper beneath her bottom. Applying a dusting of powder onto her hips and bottom, she spent longer than usual rubbing it in, sensing how it calmed her. By the time Marie pulled up the front and secured it snuggly around her hips, Lauryn had stopped shaking, her body limp. 

"That feels better, huh?" Marie asked.

Lauryn nodded, curling up onto her side and sighing. 

Finally relaxed.

Marie knew that they would have to talk about everything at some other time, but for now, she was more than happy to allow Lauryn all the space and time she needed to be little. There would be nothing that Lauryn would feel other than Marie's love for her.

Taking the soft, oversized cornflower blue t-shirt from beside her, she helped Lauryn to sit up.

"Arms up, baby doll," she said. 

Lauryn did as she was told and Marie had to work hard to mask her worry. As she put her arms up for Marie to slide the shirt over her head, her protruding ribs came into view. Over the past few weeks, Marie had been unable to get Lauryn to eat very much with the anxiety. She had lost a little of the hard-earned weight and her ribs were a bit more prominent than Marie would have liked. It wasn't noticeable to anybody but her, but Marie was on high alert. Lauryn had to keep weight on to be approved for physical therapy, which she desperately needed to improve her motor functions, muscle control, strength, and balance. She was already so petite as it was; even just a few pounds lost were concerning.