Page 18 of Awakening the Beast
His eyes now widen with fear. “But what if I drop her?”
Arlo steps in, moving Lumi to the crook of his arm before standing. He wraps his arm around Cree’s back, lifts him and sets him down on the chair, then Arlo raises Lumi and presents her to Cree.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right here,” Arlo reassures him.
Cree extends his arms hesitantly, and Arlo carefully places Lumi onto him. Cree’s hold is awkward as Arlo crouches in front of them, casting a small smile my way. I return his smile, and together, we take in the memory unfolding before us. The two of us continue to ogle Cree as he gazes down at her sleeping peacefully in his arms.
“Maybe we could change her into something of hers? Wren decided to get some cute stuff, I saw,” Arlo suggests.
I watch curiously as Cree gives his dad a gentle nod and a faint, wary smile. I lay there for some time, observing as Arlo and Cree clean and dress Lumi. I'm starting to feel useless lying here; I want to do it all with them, but I know all of this was necessary to save her.
Arlo raises her up with a big smile on his face, and she's dressed in something he clearly chose. “Daddy's little angel,” he says proudly. I smile softly as he kisses her forehead sweetly and brings her to me to feed. When she’s on me, I glance down and guide myself to her, and she immediately latches on.
“Why is she...?” Cree asks, pointing to his chest with a confused look on his face. I try not to giggle, so I opt for a soft smile instead.
“That’s where her milk is, and that’s how she eats right now,” I explain.
His brows raise in shock. “On your...?” he trails off, still trying to wrap his head around it.
I glance up at Arlo, who is rubbing his stubble with a smile, before returning my focus to Cree with a glimmer of amusement on my face.
“That’s right,” I confirm, nodding.
As he looks lost for words, I think about how I want to find out how he reacted to his dad’s return, but from what I see and how he has been around him today, it’s as if he had never left, and he seems very happy, which makes me happy.
As the day fades into the early evening, I sit back and watch Arlo crouch in front of Cree.
“I'm going to have you spend the night at Grandma’s,” he says gently.
Cree's face collapses, and despair falls into his eyes, making my heart ache, but Arlo continues, “Don’t worry, I’ll see you tomorrow. It's just that I need to be here with Lumi and Wren because Wren still needs support while she’s in pain. If the doctors allow it, she could be home tomorrow.”
Cree hugs his dad, holding him tightly. “But I’ll be missing you,” he whispers.
I start to speak because I feel awful for him, but Arlo simply raises his hand to stop me, as if he had just heard my thoughts about stopping the situation.
“I promise I’ll come to get you first thing in the morning, and you can call me from Grandma’s phone whenever you want to.”
Cree eventually agrees, and Arlo lifts him before carrying him to me. Cree leans over to kiss me goodbye before Arlo lowers him to the ground.
“Could you please place Lumi in her crib for me?” I ask Arlo.
He gives me a nod before bringing the crib closer to me and lowering her into it, then covering her with a blanket. When he’s through, he looks down at me, dips his head, and gently kisses my lips.
I place my palm on his cheek as he gives me another long, lingering kiss before moving away. Our eyes lock for a moment, then I watch as they both walk out, Cree turning to wave goodbye, his small hand fluttering in the air.
After a while, I lay there staring at Lumi as she sleeps, and I begin to think about getting up to have a shower. I feel shitty and just want a nice warm shower to help me refresh. I press a button on the bed to raise my body to sit up more before pressing another button to lower the bed so it’s easier to get out of it.
I know they said it would be painful, but they also said I need to start moving around to recover quicker, which is what I want more than anything. I edge myself slowly off the bed with a groan, trying my hardest not to tear my stitches, and when Ifinally have my feet on the ground, I turn and steady myself with my palms on the bed.
I take a couple of controlled breaths before I suddenly hear the door open behind me. I don’t even need to look; I know it’s him. I listen to the door close before his footsteps approach me from behind.
“What the fuck are you doing? Why didn’t you wait for me?”
I shake my head as it dips low. “I needed to get up; I was getting annoyed laying there doing nothing, and I want a shower.”
He places his lips on my neck, the warmth of his breath sending a shiver down my spine, before taking my arm to support me. “Come on, I’ll help you.”
I allow him to slowly guide me toward the en-suite, latching onto him tightly.
