“I don’t want to.” I hold onto him tighter. “Cold.”
Which isn’t a lie, but I also don’t want to be in only a diaper in front of both of them. I’ve been covered up by a blanket sinceI got here, and that’s how I want it to be unless I can get some clothes.
“We need to weigh, and then you can come right back into my arms,” Daddy gently says as he squats down. “It will only be for a minute.”
A minute too long. Does he not understand that?
Daddy unravels the blanket and places me on the scale. I wrap my arms around myself, trying to cover my breasts.
“Don’t cover yourself,” Daddy scolds me. “You are so pretty as you are.”
“You can see her ribs from the back,” Yamal points out.
I move my head, but all I can see are my shoulders.
“Little pet, how much did you eat on the space station?” Daddy asks. “There is no wrong answer. We are just curious.”
I shrug. “I ate three meals like everyone else.”
“Did you eat all of your food?” Yamal asks.
The scale beeps, and Daddy picks me up once again, holding me close as he wraps the blanket around us.
Yamal tsks as he looks at the scale. “She is underweight. No wonder she is colder than everyone else. Her body can’t keep the heat in.”
“Did you eat all of your meals?” Daddy asks as he walks back into the living room.
I shake my head before resting it on his chest, snuggling into him. So sleepy and cold. It feels right being in his arms, like I am supposed to be here all the time.
“How much did you eat?” Yamal asks. “Why didn’t you eat all of your meals?”
“Maybe one meal. It was bland and didn’t taste good, so I just stopped eating as much,” I whisper.
No one has ever told me I am smaller than I should be. The dress I wore covered everything up, and I didn’t know I was thisskinny. I didn’t think it was affecting me this much not to eat all the food.
“That’s why she wanted more of the formula,” Yamal tells Daddy. “I’ll come up with a plan for her to eat, a schedule. If you can follow it, it’ll make sure she puts the weight back on. She will get healthy eventually, and won’t be as cold as she is right now.”
“So keep feeding her. Is there anything else I need to do?” Daddy asks.
“Have her close to you as much as possible. If you need to leave her, place a heater next to her and extra blankets, but I wouldn’t leave her for long. It’s not good for her to be this cold all the time, but as she gains weight, it should improve,” Yamal explains.
“Thank you for coming.” Daddy stands with me in his arms.
“You don’t have to see me out.” Yamal waves his hand in the air. “Feed her another bottle in an hour and another one before you go to bed.”
“Thank you again,” Daddy calls after him.
The door closes, and I shut my eyes, nuzzling into his body. He’s so warm.
“Are you feeling okay?” Daddy asks.
“Cold. Sleepy,” I mumble.
“Today we were supposed to go over your rules, and I was going to teach you some tricks,” Daddy tells me. “But with you being so cold, we won’t do the tricks today.”
“Do we have to?” I whine.
“Yes, we do. Rules are important.” Daddy runs his hands up and down my back.
