Chapter 10 #2
Meela finally looked away from the viewport and noticed Cora and Draevan for the first time. The baby’s eyes brightened, and she opened her arms wide, asking to be picked up.
Cora rushed forward and lifted Meela out of the crib.
She settled the baby on her hip and glanced around the room, trying to find where diapers might be kept.
Yes, Draevan had promised to show her how to take care of Meela, but she still couldn’t push down the desire to do as much on her own without any help as possible. She so badly wanted to impress him.
When she spotted a padded table with a small, padded barrier around it, she knew it was definitely a changing table. She walked across the room while Draevan followed her.
“I am amazed by her mood this morning,” he said with a nod at Meela. “Most mornings, she wakes up and calls out for her parents, then starts crying when she doesn’t see them.”
Rather than place the baby down on the changing table, Cora hugged her tighter and pressed a kiss atop her head.
“Oh, the poor thing. I suppose the Eshunna Passage served as a distraction this morning.” Cora gave the baby another kiss, her heart aching as she considered the grief the baby was enduring.
Meela apparently understood that her parents were gone, but did she realize that they were never coming back?
“All right,” Draevan said with a gesture at the top drawer on the table.
“This is where the clean diapers are kept—and yes, the same exact changing table is in her nursery at our home on New Vaxx—and here is the refresher, this compartment attached to the side. It’s small but quickly and efficiently cleans and sanitizes anything you drop inside.
Just push this button when you want to clean something.
” He went on to explain a few more details about the changing table and its contents, then he stepped back to allow Cora to take care of changing Meela’s diaper.
As Cora recalled how hesitant Draevan had been to let her hold his niece for the first time yesterday, she was pleased that he wasn’t pushing her out of the way to do it himself.
He stood to the side while she changed Meela and put the soiled diaper in the proper receptacle.
Then she pressed the button to start the cleaning cycle.
A faint whoosh sounded in the room as it started.
She waved her hands under the sonic handwasher that was also attached to the table. Then she picked Meela up, settled the baby on her hip again, as it was the most comfortable way to hold her, and turned to face Draevan. To her relief, she saw nothing but approval in his eyes.
“You did that faster than I usually do,” he said with a smile. Then his expression turned questioning. “How much experience do you have taking care of babies?”
“Oh, you know, the usual,” she said, hoping to quickly change the subject. “So, where are her bottles kept? And what about the food replicator?”
Thankfully, he didn’t ask again about her experience caring for babies. Instead, he guided her out of Meela’s room and into the corridor that was lined with sleek, metallic panels. He led her to a nearby door and stood to the side as he motioned for her to proceed ahead of him.
She entered a small room that was lined with cabinets, though one entire wall was simply…
a huge viewport that revealed the stars speeding by.
A circular table rested along the viewport wall with four seats and a highchair, all of it bolted to the floor.
Several strange apparatuses sat on the counter, also bolted down.
Relief filled her when she spotted the food replicator.
She never had one in her penthouse, since she enjoyed making her own food, but she’d used this exact model before when visiting wealthy friends…
the so-called friends who hadn’t returned her calls in months.
She blinked fast and pushed away the wave of abandonment that always seemed to follow when she remembered the people who’d forgotten her so quickly.
“Meela, darling, I’m going to put you in your special chair, then I’m going to prepare breakfast for you,” Cora said as she smiled down at the baby. “How does that sound? Are you hungry?”
Meela pressed her lips together and made a few sounds, but Cora didn’t think they were actual words. Just baby-speak. But that was still good. It likely meant she would start talking soon.
Cora carried Meela to the highchair and got her strapped in, making sure she was safe before stepping away to search for the bottles. But Draevan was already ahead of her. He opened the cabinet above the food replicator, revealing a row of bottles.
“I’ve preprogrammed this replicator, as well as the one in our home on New Vaxx, to prepare a bottle for Meela at just the right temperature.
It’s the very first button at the top.” His hand brushed her arm as he leaned over to place the bottle inside the replicator.
As he stood very close, so close she felt the warmth of his breath on her neck, he murmured, “Go ahead. Press the button.”
She flushed as she reached for the button.
After she pressed it, she watched as milk suddenly appeared inside the bottle in a quick flash of light.
Though she’d used food replicators before, the technology never ceased to amaze her.
“Well,” she said, picking up the bottle, “that certainly makes it easy. Thank you for showing me.” Her breath faltered at how close he was still standing.
Was he purposely trying to make her flustered?
Or did he simply wish to stand close to her?
She decided either option was rather exciting, and if she didn’t think Meela was eager for her bottle, she could’ve easily stood there all day, pressed close to her mate as the stars sped by outside the viewport.
Cora forced herself to step away from the alien warrior, crossing the room to give Meela her bottle. “Here you go, darling.”
The baby accepted the bottle with enthusiasm and held it herself as she drank.
Well, Cora had diaper changing figured out, and now she could make bottles for Meela too.
As for making other food for the baby, she was confident in her skills using a food replicator, though she stood patiently by as Draevan proceeded to explain what meals Meela preferred at different times of the day, the number combinations that would produce those meals, and how to work the Vaxxlian version of a dishwasher.
She appreciated that he wasn’t talking down to her while he explained how everything worked, nor did his voice hold any note of frustration or arrogance.
In her experience, particularly during her years in the music industry, men had often assumed they knew more than she did and felt compelled to explain things to her as though she couldn’t possibly understand them herself.
But thankfully, Draevan was treating her like an intelligent, capable woman who just happened to be a little unfamiliar with some aspects of Vaxxlian life.
His patience and careful guidance brought her more hope for their future together, and once again, she started to wonder if their mating union could turn into something real.
After they prepared breakfast, a plate of muffins, several bowls of sliced fruit, a mug of coffee for her, and a cup of tea for Draevan, they carried everything to the table and joined Meela. The baby finished her bottle just as they sat down, and Cora passed her a muffin and a bowl of fruit.
And then, for the first time in a year, Cora enjoyed breakfast in the company of others, with the little family she’d never expected to have.