To Build A Home

Chapter 15- Fresh Start

Three hours had passed since their son had been born. Three hours since Krolia was able to hold him for the first time, to see him, to tell him how much she already loved him. Three hours since they decided on a name. Keith. Short and simple, but both Krolia and Steven loved the name. However, both loved Keith, their son, much more than his name.
Steven had spent the last three hours downstairs with their newborn son. He paid close attention to the infant's needs and wants.
While he kept Keith relatively happy and quiet, Krolia was able to rest up. After nearly five hours of labor, she was understandably exhausted. She had gotten some much needed sleep, almost three whole hours of it too.
   She was pulled from her sleep by some feeling. Not a physical feeling like a kick or a contraction, not this time. This was more of a psychological feeling. Something told her to wake up, to check on her son, for she believed he was back in her room. Krolia sat up quickly, but stopped before standing. Her muscles were extremely sore, and the tenderness in her abdomen made moving a challenge.
   "Take it slowly." Steven suggested, approaching her from the doorway. He was empty handed, their newborn son was not in his arms.
   "Where's Keith...?!" She asked in a panicked tone.
   Taking a seat next to her, he pointed to the crib just a few feet away. "He's asleep, for now. I figured I'd come up an' check on ya'."
   "I'm fine..." Krolia Answered, her eyes fixed on the crib.
   "You want to see 'im, don't ya'?"
   With a slow nod from Krolia, Steven provided aid as she got to her feet.
   Just as Steven had said, Keith was fast asleep in his crib. His left hand had its short fingers wrapped around the paw of the lion toy.
   Instantly, she smiled, chocking back tears. "He's so little..." she paused, resting her hand on the railing of the crib. "Are you sure he's the right size?"
   "He was a little under weight when I checked him earlier, but he's fine in every other aspect."
   "Under...?"
   Steven nodded, placing his hand over hers. "Yeah, just a little. It was probably the crossing of species, but I assure you, he's fine." He noticed her arms begin the shake as a tear ran down her cheek. "Hey... I said he was alright. You've got nothin' to worry about."
   "It's not that..." she rubbed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "It's that... He's here... He's finally here, after so long. He's my son, and I'm his mother..."
   "So you're happy, right?" He sarcastically asked, pulling her in for a hug.
   "Yeah... Tears of joy." Krolia kept her eyes on her sleeping son, her smile alone was enough to prove how much joy Keith had brought her.
   "I've never seen ya' this emotional about something..."
   "It's not hormones...!" She was quick to defend herself. "This is real. Just as Keith is my son, what I'm feeling now is real."
   The two heard little whimpers coming from the crib, Keith had started fidgeting, and soon he began crying.
   Immediately, Krolia's maternal instincts kicked in. She dried her eyes and carefully scooped her infant son up into her arms. "Shhh.... It's okay. You're alright." She slowly rocked him back and forth in her arms, stroking his tiny arm as she did so. "Mama woke you up, did she?" Krolia cradled him so gently, so lovingly hushing him with a soothing, motherly voice.
   Steven only watched her, not saying a word. He always knew she would be a good mother, but this was beyond what he had expected. She was a natural. Not the kind who has been through it before, she didn't have any experience. She was simply acting out of love. Krolia wasn't trying to stick to the books and follow the 'proper' steps. She was doing what she thought was right because of how much love she had for her son.
   Keith's cries subsided, and soon he was only whimpering.
   "See... You're okay. Mama is right here." She looked to Steven and smiled, "Daddy is too. We're both here."
   Steven, with permission from Krolia, took their son into his arms. "I'm very proud of you, Krolia." He whispered, his eyes fixed on the baby in his arms. "Thank you for bringing him into this world..."
   "Thank you for helping me through it all..."
He looked to her, a little surprised to hear her say something like that. "You Don't have to thank me."
Krolia continued to smile, knowing full well she wouldn't have gotten through any of the hell she went through without him. They both knew it, but neither would admit it.
   Their moment of bliss was interrupted by the return of the loud cries of their son.
   "I think someone is hungry..." Steven thought aloud, placing the child back in his mother's arms.
   "Huh...? Me...?"
   "Yep. You're his mama. You'll have to learn to feed him."
   "From a bottle?"
   "You know I'm not talking about bottle feedin'."
   Krolia's gaze drifted down to her son, his cheeks were red from his crying. "Oh... You mean that... How do I...?"
   "I thought you'd know..."
   "Guess I better figure it out..." She kissed her son's forehead, silencing him for a split second before taking a seat on the bed. "Alright, Keith... Lets hope you know what you're doing because I certainly do not."
"Once ya' feed 'im, you can give 'im to me and I'll show you how to burp him." Steven took a seat next to her smiling down at his newborn son. "It sound strange but it's pretty essential."
"Okay..."
Keith had stopped crying, only to whimper and whine instead. His tiny arms were fidgeting, he was looking for something to comfort him.
As Krolia lifted the infant to her breast, she slipped her thumb under his fingers. Keith immediately curled his fingers around her thumb. That's what he wanted, just something to hold onto. Holding onto his mother's hand was a bonus.
   Some instinct must have kicked in, because their son suddenly stopped fussing and began feeding from his mother's breast milk.
"Whoa...." Krolia watched her son wide eyed. She was both amazed and flabbergasted. "That's certainly a not what I expected it'd feel like..."
"What did ya' expect it'd be like?"
"Not like that..."
The child stayed reasonably still in her arms until he had his first real meal of his life.
Of course, Steven had fed him a bit here and there between the time he was born and now, but the child was still getting a feel for it all, and even then, he had hardly had much.
Once Keith had his share, he relaxed into his mother's arms. Though his eyes were mostly closed, he was very much so awake. He made little noises, not quite baby talk—his brain hadn't obtained that ability— just a few quiet noises.
"Alright..." Steven carefully lifted their son from Krolia's arms. "This is the fun part." He held the child close to his chest, very gently patting his back.
Krolia let out a tiny giggle as she heard her son make a noise not too dissimilar from a cough, yet still sounding like a tiny burp.
"Told ya' it was the best part."
   Taking her son back, she smiled at him as he drifted off to sleep. "Why do you sleep so much?" She asked her child, a loving smile on her face.
   "Your voice gets higher when ya' talk to 'im." Steven commented, chuckling to himself.
   "It... It does...?"
   "Yep."
   Krolia went a light shade of pink, embarrassment spreading through every inch of her body. "Please tell me that's a good thing."
   "It's your mother voice. Of course it's a good thing." He smiled, reassuring her that the voice she uses for her son is in fact normal and perfectly fine to use.
   "I still can't believe how small he is..." she gently stroked the bottom of his tiny feet, quickly pulling her hand back when he began to fuss. "Sorry, Keith...!"
   Keith made it quite clear that his feet were off-limits, showing this by kicking blindly at her hand. He was awake again, upset with his mother for touching his feet.
"Someone has ticklish feet." Steven commented. He was obviously tempted to touch his son's tiny feet. If he was in fact ticklish, maybe he would giggle or laugh if they were touched in just the right spot.
"Don't you dare...!" Krolia smacked Steven's hand, knowing what he wanted to try. "He doesn't like it...!"
"But it'd be so cute if he would giggle or at least smile."
"You're going to make him cry, Steven. Don't touch his feet. Please."
Despite Keith being only three hours old, Krolia was already very protective of her son. If anything happened to him, she would be beside herself, utterly distraught and emotionally destroyed.
"Alright, fine. I'll leave 'is feet alone, but we have got to make 'im smile somehow."
"Maybe you should look at him before trying to make a plan..." Krolia quietly suggested, her eyes fixed on her child.
Keith, with his short and tiny fingers holding tightly to his mother's thumb, was staring back up at her with his large, beautifully violet eyes, his eyes just were like his mother's . Though subtle and hardly noticeable, he was giving the tiniest of smiles. The infant's mouth was open just enough for them to make adorable noises. With one quiet coo, the child extended their legs before quickly bringing them back up to their chest. Keith was undoubtedly smiling up at his mother. He was happy. Happy to be in her arms, happy to be holding onto her hand, and happy to see her smiling down at him.
   "Someone certainly looks happy." Krolia noted, bringing his hand up to her lips and gently kissing her son's short fingers.
   "I think he's happy because of you..." The doting father commented, his kind eyes looking down at his son. "He's only a few hours old, but he knows how much you love him."
   "Daddy says you know how much Mama loves you..." She stroked his cheek with her pinky, earning a cute glance of curiosity from the boy. "Do you know that?"
   "In a way, I'm sure he does."