Up In Flames

Chapter 5

A Few Awkward Weeks Later...

"Really?" Rory strutted around the apartment in her bath towel with the phone to her ear. "No, I'm not. I have to come back in a few days for Emma's checkup but we're doing well here. I think he's coming around."

This time when Johnny tried to get Rory to go home he was at least respectful and did so in a caring manner but it still didn't work. Rory knew he and Brad hated the idea of her being anywhere near Happy, especially with an infant, but that was their issue to work out. Peeking in to see Emma still sleeping Rory went back into the bathroom to blow dry her hair. As the dryer ran, Happy arrived using his key and upon seeing she was not ready and the bassinet was right in the living room he wanted to run. Taking a seat, he eyed her suspiciously as she slept.

"Ah shit," he whispered as she squirmed. "Don't cry." On cue, she opened her eyes and began to wail and the sound immediately alerted Rory.

"What happened?" She asked, her hair half dry, and checked the clock. "She's not due for another bottle for like forty five minutes."

"Nothing happened." He said anxiously. Strides had certainly been made but he was still keeping a careful distance between him and the child. Rory knew he'd need some prodding.

Rory made a bottle but checked Rory first for a wet diaper and the like before deciding she was probably just hungry. "I hate that, makes me feel so shitty. I'm still new at this and sometimes I look at her and have no idea why she's crying."

Happy actually smiled at that a little. It was nice seeing Rory in such a drastically different role. "Porker was just hungry."

"Be nice," Rory stuck out her tongue. "She's not a porker she's just big boned."

"Porker." He repeated and sat back down. It was slowly becoming more normal, although still weird, but Happy didn't like how quickly he became accustomed to Emma's presence.

"Can you finish with this?" She moved her eyes from the bottle to Happy. "My hair will be totally weird on one side."

Happy shook his head and Rory sat, monumentally disappointed. "Okay. I'll just put it up then."

"Why don't we just hang in tonight?"

Closing her eyes, Rory counted to ten in her head before looking at him again. "No. I'm going out. If you want to go home or stay here, fine, but I'm not locking her away or pretending she doesn't exist for your comfort level."

"I'm sorry." He grumbled watching how carefully Rory placed Emma in her bassinet.

"You don't have to hold her but finish giving her this." There was no softness in her voice; Rory was demanding it and Happy knew he had to no matter how badly he didn't want to. He took the bottle from her and, with Rory's help, began feeding Emma again. "Don't jam it in her mouth, just hold it there. Sometimes she doesn't finish and she won't be able to spit it out if you're holding it too hard."

That little bit of advice as she walked back into the bedroom terrified him. The entire time he swore he would going to choke the baby accidentally. It wasn't until Emma completely drained the bottle that Happy actually took a breath.

"Not too bad, huh?" Rory asked from the bathroom doorframe. "Next time maybe you can hold her?"

"Maybe."

"She needs to be burped."

"Okay." He nodded and waited for Rory to take over. She paced over and scooped up Emma with one arm while draping a long burp cloth over Happy's shoulder. "Me?"

"Yeah." She snapped and positioned the baby on his shoulder. "Tap her back lightly." Rory have his arm a few pats before for reference and sat back to watch. "You can use a little more force or we'll be here all day."