🏁 Tetrology Of The Sea - Book 1: From The Sea 🪼🔨💻 💞 🔮

Twenty-One

Travis opened his eyes and looked around slowly. He felt lighter and remembered he had given birth the day before. He jumped, looking around for her when he heard his door open. Josh walked in and smiled softly at him.
"How you feeling?"
"My baby... Where is she?"
"She's alright. Are you? You had us worried for a moment there."
"I think I'm okay..."
"You were bleeding a lot and we cleaned up the mess and got you all cleaned up. You need to rest though."
Travis didn't have a problem with that and laid back down, feeling his exhaustion overcome his body. He felt like he'd ran a marathon with huge ankle weights on in water.
"I think you'll be fine in a day or two and will be able to start walking around."
He nodded and breathed in a little when the door opened again and Ruth walked in, holding something in her arms.
"Do you see Daddy?" she said softly as she lifted the bundle up a little.
Travis smiled at seeing his tiny daughter and Ruth smiled at him.
"Do you want to hold her?" He nodded and she walked over. "Be careful with her now; your grip is very weak and we don't need her dropped."
"I know." He said as he took his daughter into his arms.
Esper blinked at her father, her dark green eyes looking at him intently. He smiled and pet her head softly, feeling her soft downy hair. He trailed his finger down her face and across her lips. They automatically opened and she began to suck on his finger, hoping for milk.
"Has she eaten yet?"
"Her bottle is heating up right now actually." Ruth said with a smile.
Unsatisfied with nothing to eat, Esper let Travis' finger go and her face looked like she was about to start crying but she didn't. He kissed her on the forehead and laughed a little.
"Wouldn't you know it? She looks more like Shana than me." Ruth smiled. "Hey, Mom... Um, I have a question to ask you."
"Alright..."
"Even though I told Shana that I didn't want her to be a part of Esper's life, do you think it's cruel of me to tell her what her child is? I mean, she should at least know it was a girl and her name or something... or do you think that's too cruel?"
Ruth sighed and crossed her arms.
"That's up to you, sweetie. Do you think her knowing and unable to come and see the baby would stab her in the heart? Who knows? I mean, you hurt her feelings very badly when you told her what you did. She came over the night it happened and wanted to know what I thought about it. I told her I agreed about his reasons but that they weren't things I would have based my distance on... She really did love you Travis..."
"I love her too but I just... I can't get past the fact that she knew about me and didn't help. She just let me get hurt and bullied and I don't want that for Esper. If there is something that I recognize, I will act on it. I will not have my daughter feeling as if her mother didn't love her or something."
"I understand."
"But I just thought that maybe she should know what she's got."
"I will tell her that you said hello and ask her if it would be worse for her to know about the baby or not. Shana's not too shy to tell me if it would crush her."
Travis nodded and he lifted Esper to go to his mother.
"I'm tired now. I don't know if I'd be able to hold her any longer... And, yeah... I want you to try and tell her about Esper."
Ruth nodded, taking Esper from him and taking her to get fed.

Shana sat in front of her house as she looked across the way at Ruth's house. She was still mad about what Travis had told her some months earlier. Who was he to tell her that she was unfit to be a mother? If the situation was turned around she knew that he would take care of her no matter what and all she wanted to do was do the same for him. Why was he being so hurtful to her? Was it because of what he had overheard? Or the fact that she knew what he was the whole time? Maybe it was because she didn't try hard enough to keep him from getting beaten up so much... Whatever it was, it had pissed him off so much that he didn't want her in their child's life. She sighed and looked around, not really caring anymore. She saw Ruth's car pull in and almost wanted her to come over or something. To Shana's surprise, Ruth started across the road and walked up to her.
"Hello, Shana."
"Ms. Ruth... How's it been?"
"I could ask the same of you. You don't seem your usual self."
"Can you blame me?" she said with a look to the older woman.
Ruth smiled sadly at her and sat down.
"I have some news that I was sent to give you but I need to make sure that it's alright with you."
"O-kay?"
"Would it hurt you more to know about your baby but not be able to see it or if we leave things this way, you in the dark about everything but the knowledge that it's alive and healthy?"
Shana blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Travis had the baby."
"Already? It hasn't even been close to the second term."
"We did some math and it turns at that the average time when using the seahorse gestation as well as humans would be around three to five months. It's a bit early but for someone like him it's a good amount of time."
"I see... Is he okay? Is he in the hospital?"
"No. He had the baby by himself."
"How exactly?"
"Seahorses, if you watch the male ones, have a hole that is at the top of their bellies. When the babies are ready to hatch, the hole opens and the little seahorses are ejected out. With Travis, I think that his mix with humans directed the hole southward and so instead of being on top of the belly it's on the bottom close to his hips."
"Oh... makes sense."
"I need the answer to my question."
"Oh... No, I want to know."
"Alright... It's a girl."
Shana's face lit up as tears filled her eyes.
"A girl... What does she look like?"
"Looks like she might have more blonde hair like Travis but she's got a mix of both your eyes, a dark green I've never seen. She'll be a beautiful little girl."
Shana couldn't stop the tears in her eyes and sniffled.
"Wh- what's her name?"
"Esper." Ruth said with a funny look.
Shana laughed a watery laugh. "Oh god... Well, I can't say he isn't original."
"He had worse ones but I figured helping him eliminate some would be less traumatic for the child." She said with a smirk.
Shana laughed and wiped her eyes.
"So Esper Bagery, huh?"
"It goes together I guess."
"D-do you think he'd let me have a picture of her? Just one?"
"I'm sure he'll use Facebook and update pictures. I don't think he has friends on there except for you so..."
Shana nodded and smiled a little.
"A little girl... If nothing else, I know she'll be loved. Tell Travis that I'll never forget him and I'll be ready if he ever needs me."
Ruth nodded and left to go to her home.