Silent Pain

39

A week passes when the lovers bring Claudia home. Angie is ready to see her friends again and complains about the baby being too small to play. "You have to wait until she grows up a bit, Angie. She's just now holding her head up." Donna smiles as she looks at her daughter in her arms.

Kissing her head, Donna looked up at Marie, who smiled at her, holding Angie on her lap. The cart stopped in front of the Beneviento manor, where they got out, unlocked the door, and walked in with the baby girl. "Welcome home, Claudia," Marie said as Donna walked through the house's threshold.

Blue eyes looked up and scanned the roofing and walls of the house while Donna walked around with her. "What color will her eyes be?" Angie asks as her friends come to life. Marie smiles, "I'm not sure, Angie. They won't start showing for a while." Angie nods, running off to play with her friends.

Donna settled on the rocking chair in the foyer, holding her daughter while Marie smiled and watched her. "Our precious baby girl." She said softly, a smile on her face as she kissed Donna's cheek. "I want to set something over by the stairs so we don't have to worry about her climbing them." Donna said, and Marie nodded, "I'm okay with that. I will build a gate or something." Donna nodded, gently running her thumb over Claudia's cheek and kissing her head.

She had fallen asleep to Donna rocking her, and Marie smiled when her wife got up and traveled into the kitchen. They had set up a rocking crib that Marie built in the kitchen, living room, dining room, and workspaces so they could constantly keep an eye on their daughter.

Marie smiled when Donna laid her in it, and they started working on supper together. "Should I prepare a bottle for when she wakes up?" The brunette looked at her wife, who hummed, checking the time. "Hm. Yeah, and then set it on low." Donna nodded and started working to make a bottle on the stove. Once finished, she put it in a bottle and set it in the fridge to cool down before being served to the baby.

"Miranda said to use warm water to warm it back up since we don't use a microwave or baby formula stuff," Marie said, and Donna nodded as she rolled the bread out. "What do you want for supper?" Marie asked, and Donna hummed, "How is the garden looking?" "Well, enough to get a few more vegetables before I need to tend to it again."

"Prepare a salad, and I'll work on some bread. We can figure out a main course later." Marie nodded and grabbed her basket. She got out, picked some fresh vegetables, and hummed, "Someone's been munching on our vegetables." She sighed, taking what was good off.

She returned and set the basket down. "I may have to set a trap." She looked at Donna, who hummed, her brown eye worried. I think a rabbit has been eating our vegetables." She held up a half-eaten carrot, and Donna frowned, looking at the bite marks. "That's not good. Please don't kill it, though. It's not his fault; the garden provides good food for him."

Marie tilted her wife's head and smiled, "I won't hurt it, baby." Donna smiled and sighed, leaning on her tippy toes and kissing her wife. They both hummed and giggled before a whine caught their attention. Looking at the crib, they spotted their daughter just waking up. "You finish dinner; I can take care of her," Marie said gently, grabbing the bottle from the warm water and leaning down, cradling the baby.

She settled in the foyer and smiled at Claudia, who watched her with big eyes. "Mommy's made you a bottle so you didn't get all fussy," she said softly, rocking the chair. She put the bottle to her daughter's lips, but the infant didn't take it. "Are you hungry?" Marie whispered as she tried again, but Claudia didn't want it.

"Alright, what about some snuggles?" She asked softly, getting up and going to the living room where she lay on the couch, laid the infant on her chest, and held her close. "Snuggles are very important, Mommy, and I will be doing this a lot." Marie smiled as her baby laid her head on the woman's chest as if she were on her tummy. Marie patted her bottom gently and kissed her head, "A bath will be needed after dinner. Maybe I can convince Mommy to see if you can take one with us?"