“Six hours. She was so much better this morning. She stayed awake for a long time. We went through her exercises and talked. But after her bottle she went to sleep and slept harder than ever.”
I can hear the worry in his voice.
Thabo frowns. “Did she finish the entire bottle?”
“Almost. She certainly managed to get more in her system than any previous feeding.”
I come more awake as I watch Thabo glance at Chadka before speaking again. “Stop giving her the formula.”
Papi flinches. “What?”
Chadka nods. “I agree. I’ve never seen it before, but maybe she’s either allergic to something in the formula or reacts strongly to it. Some ingredient may be acting as a depressant to her system. I’m going to look into it. Let’s switch her to a very basic cereal. You can feed it to her with a spoon. You’ll need to give her a vitamin supplement to replace the parts of the formula she needs to maintain her health.”
Papi has one hand on my shoulder. He swipes the other down his face. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Thabo shakes his head. “None of us did, and we still can’t be sure that’s the problem, but let’s give it a try.” He shifts his gaze to mine. “I want you to try really hard to sit in your highchair and eat as much of the cereal as you can. You can drink water with it.”
“Yes, Sir.” I’ll try anything.
Chadka hands Papi a medicine bottle. I assume it contains the vitamins he mentioned. I’m not even going to ask how those are administered. I’d bet my last wakeful moment those pills are going to go in my bottom. These Eleadians really like to insert things in my butt.
After the doctors check me out in every imaginable way for the billionth time—at least that’s what it seems like—Papi settles me back in my stroller and fastens me in.
As we leave the office, I find myself looking around. I’ve never been alert enough to see anything during our trips to and from the clinic. Everything is so colorful. There seem to be dozens of new colors I’ve never seen before. The air is clean. The sky is clear blue. It’s so picturesque that it barely looks real. More like what I’ve seen in cartoons.
When I hear giggling, I glance to the side to see about a half dozen women just like me playing in a park. It has swings, slides, sand boxes, and several other pieces of equipment. It’s the kind of place where children would go on Earth. Except there are no kids here. Just adult Baby girls.
Papi pauses the stroller. “As soon as you’re able to get around, I’ll bring you here to play and meet some of the other Little girls.”
I grin, excited. The only thing that gives me pause is the fact that I can see hoops and colorful stones dangling from every one of these women’s nipples. It’s the oddest custom I could ever imagine. I’m struggling to fathom consenting to something like that. I wonder how many of the women also have their clits or labia pierced. Maybe I’ll never know. Naked breasts are the norm, but everyone is wearing a diaper.
“Let’s get you home and fed, Little one. Fingers crossed that the doctors are correct, and it’s the formula that’s making you so tired.”
Chapter Thirteen
Zingar
I’m worried about Bailey having the strength to sit up in her highchair, so I’m careful as I settle her and strap her in securely before putting the tray on. She’s not going to fall, but I don’t want her to slump to the side either.
This Little girl is my heart, and it’s beating fast. Mostly I’m excited that she’s awake, but also her being awake means my fear is increasing. Anything can happen to her if she starts crawling around or, heaven forbid, walking. Maybe I can convince her to stay low to the ground for a few weeks.
“Do you feel stable, Little one?” I ask, still holding her biceps.
She nods, curls bouncing. I need to fix her hair. So far all I’ve done is wash and brush it. She’s been mostly unconscious while I did so. I bet she’d like to have it pulled up in pigtails or braided.
“I want you to have your hands free to help brace yourself. Can you do that? Keep them on the tray to help your stability.”
“I will, Papi.”
I’m downright excited as I follow Thabo’s instructions and prepare a bowl of cereal for my girl. It’s plant-based as all foodon Eleadia is. This one is high in fiber and one of the first foods we serve our human mates when we introduce foods. It’s the least likely to cause an allergic reaction. But I’m still nervous since until now no human has suffered any ill effects from the formula either.
She was fine while we were still on Earth, so I have to assume she built up an intolerance to the formula or some ingredient in it over the months. Hopefully the doctors can figure out what ingredient might be causing my Little girl to be lethargic and perhaps remove it. I hate the thought of her not getting enough nutrition.
After preparing the bowl, I pull a chair up so I’m facing Bailey. “I made it pretty thin this time. I want to be sure you don’t have any trouble swallowing. There is no data about feeding foods to our mates until after they’ve been here for months. I’m just going to give you a little this first time. If you can tolerate it, I’ll feed you more later.”
“Okay, Papi. What is it?”
“Chimspa. It’s similar to oatmeal on your planet.”
