V5 Chapter 28 Baby Night Shift 2/2

" Like this?"

Philomel asked as she held the bottle to Little One's lips and immediately Little One started drinking from it. Philomel softly gasp as a sense of accomplishment washed over her along with happiness. Her mind kept registering with amazement and reconfirming that she was truly feeding the baby.

" Whoa, look at him go. That definitely counts as some sort of world record right? He's acting like he has been starved for days."

Hector said in awe as he watched the baby, gulping down the milk like a drunken sailor during happy hour at a bar, extremely fast and spilling a lot.

" Well extremely young babies need to eat, every two to three hours a day. From the looks of this Little One, he might need to be fed 4 times a day."

The elder elf explains as she wipes the spilled milk off the baby's chin with a cloth.

The bottle was half empty when Little One stops drinking, all of a sudden, turning away from the bottle. Philomel follow his head moment, keeping the bottle close to his lips but he kept turning away, no longer wanting to drink.

" Is he full? He suddenly does want it."

Philomel tilted her head.

" There's still half a bottle more to go and from the way, he was drinking earlier. I doubt that it's so. "

Hector shook his head.

" He drank too fast and now needs to burp. Hold him upright over your shoulder, bounce him a little while rubbing his back."

Elder elf instructed as she places the cloth over Philomel's shoulder and helps Little One lay against the cloth.

" Like this?"

She asked and the Elder Elf nodded as a reply. It took some time but eventually, Little One burped and vomited out a little bit. Luckily for Philomel, she had the cloth over her shoulder to protect her clothes, unlike Amon. Which also reminded Philomel that Amon was sleeping with baby vomit on his shirt.

"He must be extremely tired not to notice nor remember that."

Philomel grimaces at the thought as she returns to feeding Little One. And this time he didn't stop drinking until the whole bottle was empty.

" Good job."

The Elder elf praised Philomel as she wipes Little One's mouth. As soon as Little One drank finished his milk, he yawned and started rubbing his head against Philomel.

" What he's doing? What he wants, now?"

Philomel asked utterly confused at the gesture.

" Maybe he likes the feel of your clothes?"

Hector suggested.

" Maybe it's his way to show that he's happy? Or maybe full?"

Elder elf guessed.

" Maybe Amon would know. I'll go check if he's awake."

Philomel announced as she gets up from the table with Little One in her arms.

" Here take this with you. Your Amon might be hungry if he's awake."

The elder elf said as she passes her a tray with a bowl of stew and a glass of water on it. She then remembered that Philomel was holding Little One.

" Umm... Hector. Why don't you help our guests? Bring a towel and a pail of water for them as well. So that they can wash their face before they sleep."

Elder elf ordered as she pass the tray to him.

" Sure thing, boss."

He chimed as he takes the tray from her. Hector escorted Philomel to her room opening the door for her.

" Thank you."

" No trouble."

He chimed as he places, the tray of food on the nightstand, next to the burning candle that lit up, Amon's sleeping face. Hector then left the room but return momentarily with the other items.

" Pail of water, towel, face basin, I also brought another pillow and a blanket for the Little One. Most pups are sleep kickers, best keep some distance between them."

Hector joked as he places the items on the table, earning him a little giggle from Philomel.

" Thank you for this."

She smiled at Hector. Hector couldn't help but notice her smiling face which was highlighted by candlelight to be alluring. He blushed and suddenly felt shy at such a realization.

" You welcome. Well, then I wish the two of you a good night. "

Hector quickly replied as he excuse himself back outside the room.

" Good night, sweet dreams."

Philomel wished between the crack of the door while Hector was closing the door behind him.

" Sweet dreams, Mel."

He tenderly wished before closing the door shut. Philomel turns to Amon, reconfirming that he was still asleep and didn't want to wake him.

" Guess this face-rubbing thing is something we have to find out, together."

Philomel softly said to Little One and noticed his eyes were droopy as his head rested against her shoulder. As soon as she stopped talking, Little One resumed rubbing his face on her shoulder.

" Ah, you're sleepy. Well then, putting you to sleep shouldn't be that hard then."

Philomel guessed as she takes the smaller blanket from the table and walked over to the bed. She lays Little One on the pillow he was playing with earlier and places the smaller blanket over him.

" There nighty night."

She gently said to him as she stand back up.

" Owhh owwhhhh"

Little One started to fuss as he kicked and punched. Philomel pulls the cloth from her shoulder as she sits down on the ground next to the bed.

" Shh.. shh... You might wake up Amon. What's wrong? What do you need?"

She asked gently as pats his stomach, Little One stopped fussing and his sleepy eyes looked at her. It was at that moment, Philomel recalled what his mother did to put him to sleep, while she hung on the windowsill, waiting for the right time to kidnap him, and that was singing a lullaby.

" Yup, there's no way I'm doing that and there's no way you would want that. My singing is terrible. How about a story instead?"

She asked in a convincing way as if Little One understood what she was saying. Even though she knew that wasn't the case and Little One probably was too drowsy to even pay attention to her words.

______________________________________________