LoveBite [2]

38

After Satine had been softly urged to let the baby go, so that someone else could hold her, she has her back again. She and the rest of the ladies stand in the kitchen with the files that Satine had found in a box beside the sleeping child back at the base.

"So..." Nat sings.

"How old is she?" Ruby Marie asks from her seat on a stool.

"Three months." Wanda states before she takes a sip of her coffee.

"What does that mean for her?" Satine asks. "Does she still need to be breastfed or is she eating normally?"

"Breastfeeding." She nods down at the papers.

"She'll need it for around a year, but the regular soft foods slowly begin at month six." Ruby Marie crosses her arms on the counter and she nods while looking down at her as her eyes gaze through the room, not having a clue what she's looking at.

"Uh..." Satine hesitates. "Then...who wants to breastfeed?" She chuckles and the three slowly grin with their heads down.

"Why don't you try it?" Nat shrugs and her smile drops.

"What?" She asks softly.

"Is that okay?" Wanda tilts her head, truly looking for an answer.

"Yeah-Yeah, I mean --" She nods before she has to take a deep breath. "Of course." Her brows furrow as she looks down at her. "Uh..."

She spins around on her heels and urgently waves for Peter to follow as she exits the room while the ladies smile behind them. He tries to ask for details as to why she seems so panicked on their way to the bedroom, but she just looks at him with wrinkled brows before turning forward, only concerning him further.

Once they hit their destination, he closes the door and turns around, but has to quickly adjust as she instantly hands the baby to him.

"Whoa, alright." He coos and fixes his hold. "What's wrong?"

"Uh..." She breathes while gripping her fingers. "She still need to be breastfed and they want me to do it."

"Really?" He tilts his head with furrowed brows. "Shouldn't one of them do it? Maybe Wanda?"

"That's what I was thinking, but they said that I should try it." She pushes her hair behind her ear as he takes a deep breath. "I don't know how."

"Well, I mean, it won't hurt you." He states fast with a slight shrug. "Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for you to try." He nods and she sighs, nervously agreeing. "Is it possible after being sterilized?"

"Yes, it is, Sir, and for most women, it is completely safe." Friday states and Satine jumps a bit with wide eyes. "My guess is, with her strength, she and the baby will be completely fine."

Peter hesitates before he gives her a look of encouragement. Her tense body slowly relaxes as she stares into his eyes before she closes her own.

"Okay." She nods.

She reaches out for her and he ever so gently hands her over before she sits sideways on the corner cushion of the couch.

"She's probably very hungry." She pulls her shirt off of one arm as he sits beside her, resting on his knees.

"I'm surprised she hasn't started crying yet." He agrees.

"That'll be a blessing for whoever we hand her off to." She states and he hangs his head for a moment before nodding in agreement.

She takes a deep breath as the child reaches out for her before she lets her do her eating thing.

"Ah." She jumps a bit. "Okay, wait." She pauses as he covers his mouth with his fist to hold in a laugh. "Hold on, wait, that feels so weird." She breathes a smile. "I don't it's working -- oh, nevermind." Her brows raise in an instant before her eyes go wide.

"What does it feel like?" He slides closer and she looks up at him.

"Uh..." She thinks. "Kind of warm...her gums are fairly sharp...and it's somewhat relieving."

"What do you mean?" His brows furrow.

"I don't know." She shrugs softly while watching her eat, like she hasn't in forever. "It just feels like a sort of weight off of my chest." She states and he nods with tears involuntarily filling his eyes. "Or maybe it's just my mind playing tricks on me. Because I want a kid and this is the closests I'll get to having one."

"No, it's not." He shakes his head in a near whisper tone and she looks up at him. "We'll have our own." He nods surely. "I'll make sure of that."

♡

Satine and Peter venture back into the common room and he was able to steal the little being away from her, so that he could hold her again. They head back to the kitchen, where Nat stands alone and looks at them with a grin.

"How did it go?"

"Odd." She nods while holding his arm, standing a bit behind Peter. "But nice." She smiles a bit.

"Good." She nods while crossing her arms, leaning her hip against the counter.

"I..." She hesitates while brushing her thumb along the baby's soft head. "Does she have a name?"

"Not yet." She shakes her head.

"Can I..?" She slowly trails off from the sentence and Peter lays his arm over her shoulders to bring her closer.

"Whatever you want." Nat agrees gently.

"Anastasia." She immediately and softly concludes, though she's still a bit weary.

"That's a pretty name." She nods with wrinkled brows. "Did you have that one planned?"

"I've..." She shrugs while looking down at her as tears fight to fill her eyes. "I just wanted to use that as my baby name for a long time, so I figured I could just give it to her." She does her best to hold back. "I mean, I have other names I like anyway." Her brows furrow. "I --"

"Satine." She calls with the softest voice she can provide and she looks up at her. "She is yours." She nods and the pair just stare at her and Satine starts shaking her head. "She belongs to both of you."

"That's not funny." She breathes.

"And, I'm not joking." She tilts her head a bit and the tears begin to slowly fall.

"She's not --" She shakes her head before looking up at him while covering her mouth with the back of her hand. "She's not ours." She cries in disbelief with a bouncing knee as he turns to her with a deep breath and licks his lips, then turns back to Nat.

"Is she?" He squints his eyes and she nods.

Satine breaks into silent sobs and hides behind her hands on his shoulder. With his heart pounding in his ear, he looks down at the beautiful girls in his hold. He closes his tearful eyes with a sigh and hangs his head on Satines.

"That's why we suggested that you breastfeed her." Nat continues. "That's the kind of bonding only a mother can know." She shakes her head and she wraps her arm around him to grip his shirt, looking at Nat behind her hand. "You have a baby." She sings near a whisper with a smile and she slowly breathes a smile and sniffle. "Finally." She jokes and the two chuckle, still with tears streaming down their cheeks.

"Thank you so much." She sighs with furrowed brows while reaching towards her and she takes her hand. "Thank you."