Quiet Time

Chapter 18

     Emma groaned as she woke in her crib, taking a few more moments to enjoy the cozy warmth provided by the footie sleeper she was in before fully waking up. She turned over flopping her covers off to look into the other crib at the still sleeping Lucy.

     Emma took a moment to think back about how she first came here, and how far she had come. She was allowed complete freedom in her crib able to move around it freely, and without locking mittens to boot. Compared to when she first arrived and how she could only look on at Lucy's freedom as she was tightly secured to the bed, she had come a long way. Of course the locking top of the crib meant she couldn't escape it without help. Emma chose to count her blessing instead of dwelling on what she didn't have.

     She fumbled for her sippy cup, which had fallen neatly into a corner of the crib. She quietly drank out of the cup as she brought a stuffed dog into her lap to cuddle with while she drank. She was quiet, trying not wake the sleeping Lucy in the next crib over, but at the same time she wanted to make some noise to let her caretakers know she was awake and hopefully release her.

     Without much effort Emma wet her diaper. Part of her was concerned with how easy this was getting to be. She almost did it without knowing, but she also knew that it would be a long time before she would be allowed regular underwear, and there was no sense trying to fight it for that long.

    Emma's musings were interrupted by Elizabeth who quietly entered beaming at Emma, who couldn't help but return the smile. Elizabeth gently opened Emma's crib, careful not to wake the sleeping Lucy. She quickly ushered Emma out of the room who couldn't help but giggle.

"How's my soggy little baby this morning," Elizabeth said once the door was safely shut.

"How did you know," Emma said embarrassed thinking the sleeper would have covered all evidence.

"Well it was just a lucky guess, but then you went and told me yourself," Elizabeth said with a snide grin.

"You tricked me!" Emma protested.

"Not too loud you'll wake sissy," Elizabeth said popping a pacifier in Emma's mouth. Emma obediently quieted and began suckling. "You'll have to wait until she wakes up for a change." Emma whined at this news. "Oh I know poor thing," Elizabeth said sarcastically. "Now be a good girl, Carmen made some brekky for you." Emma groaned again, that usually meant the mildly unappetizing baby food like mixture, and her assumptions were correct. Carmen waited with a jar of the stuff on the couch, but also a few scrumptious strips of bacon, no doubt something to keep Emma behaved during the meal. It worked as Emma happily hopped in Carmen's lap and the woman tied a bib around her.

"Very good," Carmen said with a smile. "You have been so good lately." Emma smiled as she ate a bite of the mush that Carmen brought to her mouth. Elizabeth went to rouse Lucy from her slumber while Emma ate. Emma absent mindedly watched and opened for another bite as Elizabeth left. "Emma we've decided we want to show you something. Something you may not like, but something we want you to do." Emma whined worriedly thought this was alleviated somewhat as Carmen fed her a bite of bacon.

     Elizabeth lead a groggy and fussy Lucy into the bedroom, a usual routine. It was there that Elizabeth or Carmen helped her take all of the medicine she needed to. Much to Emma's surprise, as Elizabeth passed, Carmen led Emma into the room right behind her. Emma never questioned why she was never around to see Lucy take her medicine until this moment. Emma whined a little as Carmen held her gently in her lap as she sat in a small chair in her and Elizabeth's room. It was the first time Emma had spent a long amount of time in the room.