Chapter 20
Dawn
Atiny whimperwoke me up about an hour later. The movie was still playing and the ship had just run into the huge iceberg. I blinked my eyes, trying to figure out what exactly woke me. When the noise happened again, I remembered the baby Elijah had set in the box on thefloor.
I slowly made my way out of Elijah’s limp hold as he snored on. I looked at him and could see the dark circles around his eyes. I felt bad for keeping him up during the night with the nightmares that plagued me. I didn’t want to wake him, so I took a deep breath and moved towards the baby who was searching for food and wiggling around. Her blanket was loose aroundher.
Slowly and carefully, holding my breath, I picked her up and brought her to my chest while grabbing a diaper from the fabricbox.
She was so light compared to Lilly, who was easy to support on her legs and feet now while you heldher.
Once in the kitchen and I quickly made her a bottle and changed her diaper—whichwas wet—before holding and feeding her. I made my way back to the living room, taking a seat in the oversizedchair.
She fit perfectly in myarm.
I knew I was hooked. Her green eyes were open, and shelooked up at me as she drank the bottle. She instantly had me captivated. I wasn’t sure who her mother was, but I had a feeling Erick was the father, just because he had the reputation of not taking preventativemeasures.
I made myself comfortable in the chair, holding her to my chest as she went back to sleep. Now I had picked her up, I didn’t want to put her down. She was the something worth fighting for. She had me wrapped around her little heart, and I would do just about anything forher.
* * *
Elijah
I was confused. It was now dark outside, and I was alone on the couch. Glancing at the clock underneath the TV, I read that it was just after midnight, which meant I’d slept on the couch for a solid six hours. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, feeling more refreshed than I had forweeks.
Sitting up, I looked around the living room, my eyes landing on the oversized chair Dawn was curled up on, sound asleep. Cradled on her chest was the baby, held in both arms and a blanket stuffed up against her so she wouldn’t fall. My heart swelled at the sight, and I snapped a picture on my phone of themtogether.
No wonder I didn’t hear the baby. I expected to be woken up shortly after I fell asleep, not knowing if Dawn would get up with her, or if she’d ignore the baby all together. I was happy to see it, knowing there was still life inside hersomewhere.
When I’d walked Kaleb out, I asked what they talked about. He wouldn’t tell me anything, saying it was all up to her. Whatever it was must have worked, as she ate most of the pizza I sat down in front of her, and now she was taking care of the baby, letting mesleep.
Not wanting to wake either of them up, I gently laid another blanket over them, and took care of the empty bottle lying on thefloor.
Not knowing what to do, I sat back down and watched some mindless TV and played on myphone.
I’d only just started to doze back off from boredom when the baby began to stir. I was up and making a bottle by the time Dawn blinked awake. When I came back to give it to her, she was sitting up and changing the baby's diaper again. Dawn’s eyes were brighter, and I’m pretty sure a few hours of good sleep had helped hergreatly.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked, sitting back down on the couch, facingher.
“Yeah, I did,” she said, glancing up at me with a small smile. My own smile broke out at seeing her happy and content—a much better sight than yesterdaymorning.
“Good to hear,” I replied happily. “Is the baby doing okay? No breathingtroubles?”
She shook her head, watching the little one eat with asmile.
“Do you want to go back to sleep?” I asked, knowingshe had to be tired from lack of sleep, but once again, I only got a no from her as she tended to the baby and got up, moving to sit next to me. “Alright, then how about we play twenty questions? It’s where we take turns asking each otherthings.”
“Okay,” she said, laying the baby down between us and playing with her hands. I thought the game would be a great way for her to hopefully open up more, since she seemed to be in a better mood for the timebeing.
“Great, I’ll go first,” I said. “What’s your favoritecolor?”
“Blue. Yours?” she answeredquietly.
“Green,” I answered, not even having to think about it. She smiled, knowing my reasoning, and I loved it. “Favoritefood?”
“Ice cream, maybe?” she said in thought. “I don’tknow.”
“I’ll let you eat whatever you want, whenever you want, until you find your favorite,” I promised her. “Mine would besteak.”
