A Slender Child

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The park was warm for this time of year. Not short sleeves warm, but comfortable-in-long-sleeves-and-no jacket warm. We were in a more reclusive area of the park - one Slendy had found on one of his many nights out apparently - which meant that we didn't have to worry about any by passers causing a scene when they noticed the young mother and her child laying on a blanket in the grass with the Slender man stretched out beside them. That wasn't exactly something most people saw everyday, you know?

This was nice - Slendy and I hadn't really done much together since the baby was born, and even though she was here with us, she wasn't crying for once. THAT was certainly a relief.

Without any eyes to indicate whether he was sleeping or not, I couldn't quite tell if my partner was currently conscious or not, though I suspected he was out cold. He hadn't said anything, or moved so much as an inch for some time now, so I decided to let him sleep. He'd been so exhausted lately - we both had in fact - but I managed to push through it somehow. Usually Slendy did too, but understandably, the relaxing combination of the warm sun, fresh air, and soft blanket had been enough to put him to sleep. I smiled softly as I gazed at him. The poor myth deserved a break.

I sat there with Robin in my lap and quietly talked and played with her. The sun shone off of her wavy raven hair and made little rainbows on the strands while her pale cheeks were flushed a little from the excitement of play and a new place. Looking at the beautiful little life before me, it was hard to believe that she'd been inside my belly only four months ago. My how the time had flown.

I made faces at the little baby and she chortled happily. I loved it when she was in a good mood like this. It was times like these when I enjoyed mother hood the most.

Not that the rest of the time wasn't amazing as well. Parenting was... an experience to say the least. You learned a lot, in very short amount of time, and it seemed, so far at least, as if you never QUIT learning either. Everything was so new still, even after four months.

Parenthood was also terrifying. Those moments when the baby would roll over unexpectedly and almost fall off the edge of the bed, those moments when you literally dove to save her as if she were a priceless glass vase in a television sitcom - the ones where you know two minutes into the show the irreplaceable glass object is going to get bumped off its table - and then BAM. Dive on the floor, suffer carpet burn, save the vase.

There was also times where I would just sit there while she slept, and wonder at what sort of a person she would be. Would she be happy in life? What sort of trouble would she get into? Would she be a hard worker? A fighter? A lover? Would she be successful? I had so many questions to worry about for this little life - I wanted nothing but the best for her. She DESERVED nothing but the best.

My perfect little Robin.

I knew her life would be different than most girls. After all, most girls didn't grow up with a father who was infamously known as a child murderer and a monster, even if he'd ceased to be so years before. Most girls didn't have to grow up with a father they wouldn't be able to tell anyone about. That made me sad. Robin would miss out on normal little girl things, like the daddy daughter dance in elementary school, or even, later on down the road - MUCH later on hopefully - getting walked down the isle by her father. How would all this affect her?

And then there where other things I had to worry about... Like how and when I was going to tell my family and friends that I'd had a kid. During my pregnancy, after I'd started to show, I'd refused to see any of them - I didn't know how to explain. For all they knew, I hadn't had a boyfriend since I was a junior in high school. How the hell would I have gotten pregnant? I kind of wondered just how bad it would actually be if I told my family the truth - that I was dating the Slender man and had given birth to his child - but I was scared as to how they would take the news. In my head I could see Dad polishing his gun, and I almost laughed. Pft, as if a gun would actually do anything to the Operator.

Robin grabbed a fist full of my hair and yanked, literally pulling me out of my thoughts.

"Baby girl, what do you think you're doing?" I scolded her playfully.

Robin just giggled.

I giggled too and played 'peek-a-boo' with her for a while. Her little laughter was so cute and infectious, she was like my own personal ball of sunshine. I swept her up over my head and bounced her up and down, careful not to let my hold slip. I brought her down swiftly, then held her back up, playing with her. I brought her back down and kissed her nose.

"I'm gonna getcha!" I exclaimed and rubbed my face against her's saying, "Nom-nom-nom-nom!" Robin squealed and giggled gleefully.

I heard a deeper chuckle from beside me and glanced over at the source of the noise. Slendy had his hands folded over his stomach in a relaxed way and he was looking at me with an adoring crooked smile on his lips.

I smiled apologetically. "Sorry, did we wake you?" I asked.

He shook his head, "It's fine. In any case, I quite enjoy watching you play with her." He grinned, "You know, I must say, her laughter is much more welcoming to wake to than her cries."

I laughed. "I can agree to that!"

He extended his arms towards us. "May I hold her?" he asked.

I blinked. Wow, Slendy almost never held Robin. He'd convinced himself after just a few weeks that holding her only made her cry. Despite my efforts to persuade him that that wasn't the truth, he'd made a point not to hold her unless necessary. "Why make her unhappy if she doesn't have to be?" he'd asked me sadly one time.

"Of course," I said, and hand the baby to him. 'Please don't cry Robin. Please, please, please don't cry!' I begged silently. If she cried now, I'd have almost zero chance of getting Slendy to hold her again any time soon.

The Tall One sat his daughter on his chest and smiled at her warmly, and perhaps a little hesitantly - no doubt waiting for her giggles to subside and turn to screams.

"Hello my little one," he said softly.

Pause. I held my breath and waited to see her reaction.

Robin giggled and grabbed a fist full of her father's blood red tie and tugged on it with all the strength her little hands could muster. I breathed a sigh of relief

A grin stretched across Slendy's face. "You like my tie little one?" he asked, sounding both relieved and excited.

I leaned my head against Slendy's arm, smiling affectionately at the sight of my two favorite people getting along. Today was a good day. It was nice to get out of the house for once - it was nice to take a break.

Lord knows we all three needed a break.