Alpha's Fallen Angel

Chapter 71-Amara

Surrounded by Violet, Serena, Cici, and Sophie, I look at myself in the mirror as Aylin finishes my makeup and Gemma does my hair. Aylin must hold more magic than I thought because she managed to cover up these bags under my eyes. I almost look like I did pre-motherhood, minus the breast pump milking me like a cow. Remind me why I insisted on having my Luna ceremony, the equivalent of my wedding, after I had Delaney? Because I wanted to drink at my own ceremony? It seemed so logical at the time. Now, I wanted to go back in time and slap me upside the head, Aylin style.

Delaney screams in Sophie's arms in protest at how long it's taking me to pump. In the hospital, the nurses and pediatrician on the postpartum unit said she lost too much weight by the time she was 24 hours old. It was before my milk supply came in, so they put it down to lack of production, but when I filled up a syringe with colostrum, they had a lactation consultant come see me. She had said Delaney's latch wasn't effective and spent an hour trying to get it right before I gave up and just said I would pump. I wasn't attached to breastfeeding, and frankly, her latch hurt.

I sigh as I feel my body react to her cries, and my freshly deflated breasts fill up yet again. I pause my pump, dump the two smaller bottles I had just filled into her larger feeding bottle and hook myself up again. Aylin brings the bottle to Sophie, who gives it to my greedy baby.

"She just ate like an hour ago! How is she so hungry already?" Sophie asks, and I laugh

"If it was up to her, she would eat 23 hours of the day and then only sleep for the last hour," I tell her and smile.

Despite her constant hunger, Delaney was a good baby, and even though her features pointed to her genes favoring an angel, her growth pointed toward a demon. I was only pregnant for (we think) just under 3 months, which would be a short demon pregnancy, and then she was growing very slowly, also like a demon. At two weeks old, she was still only nine pounds, which the pack pediatrician freaked out about at her 1-week visit, but dad had brought up his own pediatrician who said she was perfect.

The pediatrician and dad said "demonlings" will grow rapidly in utero but very slowly once they are born. Essentially, she would age at half the rate of a pup until she was about 6 years old. Which, honestly it sounded like the best of both worlds to me. Half the pregnancy time and double the newborn snuggles? Sign me up.

"Amara, turn back around; I'm almost done," Gemma tells me, tapping my shoulder to turn my attention away from Delaney. "I can't believe how much your hair has changed since having a baby. It's almost twice as thick, and didn't I just cut it last week? It's almost as long as it was before I cut it!"

"Believe me, I know. It's tempting to just shave it all off at this point," I tell her.

"While I support you in every way, shape, and form, please don't cut off your hair. Or, if you must, at least make me a wig out of it. I would kill for your hair," Sophie calls over from the couch, pouting as she looks at her straight blonde hair.

"There, done," Gemma says

Between her and Aylin, I have to say they did not disappoint. My makeup was dark and smoky, with just a little eyeliner to make my eyes pop, dark red lipstick, and just a light blush to add some color to my pale face. Aylin didn't go all out with contouring my face like she wanted to; she just used concealer under my eyes and a light face powder. Gemma had some of my hair braided into a crown that she laced some baby's breath and lavender flowers into, and the rest cascaded down my back in loose curls.

Even though I was kicking myself for doing this now and not when I was still in that cute stage of pregnancy where a tiny baby bump was visible, I could still walk without waddling, and my ankles were a standard size; it was nice to feel human again. Time has moved so differently since having a baby, and even though Roman and I had plenty of help, I still found all my days bleeding together into one.