The doctor prohibited people from visiting Wang Bao and the baby for almost a whole week, even Wang Lei who was King wasn't allowed into the room. His reasoning was because Wang Bao had just gone through an extremely invasive surgery and needed time to heal before he could see other people, the baby also had to get used to her own parents' germs before she could be exposed to others. Nakai during this time felt on edge, he was nervous about Wang Bao and how he would react to the face of their daughter.
When Wang Bao held the baby for the first time, Nakai was sure to pay close attention to Wang Bao's eyes since most of his emotions were shown in them, most of the swelling had gone from the baby's face which only made her features stand out more. Wang Bao held their baby like he was shown by the nurse as he fed her with the bottle. Wang Bao could feel Nakai looKing at him and he was also aware that the baby in his arms resembled his Mother to a T. Having Nakai look at him so intensely made Wang Bao control his emotions but this only confirmed Nakai's suspicions. By the end of the week Nakai could see Wang Bao was getting worse emotionally but every time he tried to discuss it, Wang Bao would play it off as being tired. When they were finally allowed visitors, the first people through the door were Wang Lei and Nera, followed closely behind by Wang Xei. There was clear tension between Nakai and Wang Xei but neither one acted upon it. Wang Bao was surprised to see Wang Lei had lost weight since he last saw him and could see he hadn't been getting much sleep as well. When Lei walked over to the baby that was sleeping in her bed beside Wang Bao's bed, he froze just like Nakai had. He whispered under his breath but everyone in the room could hear him.
"She looks like Mother."
Wang Bao nodded quietly but didn't say anything, when food was delivered for everyone, both Wang Bao and Wang Lei didn't touch it, maKing Nakai and Nera nervous. Wang Xei looked to be the only carefree person and he snacked on the cold meat. When he grew tired of the tense and awkward silence, he wiped his mouth before talking.
"Let me guess, you regret executing Mother, Lei? And you think your child is the reincarnation of Mother, Bao?"
By the look on both of his Brother's faces, Wang Xei knew he guessed right. Nakai and Nera looked at Wang Xei as if to warn him to back down but the man carried on.
"Don't regret anything, the woman was crazy and deserves whatever bad treatment she gets in life and death."
Wang Lei obviously didn't want to talk about it but Wang Xei didn't care. He wanted his Brother's to face the truth, even if it was harsh. As for Wang Bao thinking their Mother had been reborn into the baby, he wanted to laugh but Nakai was standing in front of him before he could let out another sound. Nakai's voice was harsh but quiet as leaned towards Wang Xei.
"I would think carefully about what you say next."
Wang Xei wasn't intimidated by Nakai and replied to him in an equally dark voice.
"How long do you think Bao has before he breaks? You need to deal with it now, head on. You don't think I know about his violent outbursts? You have a child now, do you really want to wait and see what happens?"
"That won't happen."
Wang Xei scoffed and walked away towards the door, as he opened the door Wang Xei looked back at his two Brothers.
"Don't let that bitch have power over the both of you anymore, you two are stronger than that and deserve better."
The room was silent after Wang Xei's departure, his words made Nakai's chest itch, a feeling he hadn't felt in a while. Wang Lei seemed to take on Wang Xei's words and his eyes held a bit more life while Wang Bao hadn't changed. The doctor came in not long after and felt the gloomy atmosphere in the room, he could see Wang Bao wasn't his usual self and pulled Nakai out of the room to talk with him.
"I've noticed Wang Bao hasn't been connecting with the baby, is everything okay?"
"....I don't think he's happy. I think he's beginning to regret going through with the pregnancy."
The doctor didn;t look surprised with this and he began explaining something to Nakai.
"Postnatal depression is very common, I'm not surprised Wang Bao would have it. I came in to tell you,that it's okay for the three of you to move back to his room but if you want, we can keep him here."
Nakai disagreed, he felt Wang Bao being in a familiar room would help him feel more relaxed and possibly help ease his mind as well. The other topic the doctor wanted to discuss was the name of the baby, she was a week old and they still hadn't thought of a name. Because Nakai had been stressed about Wang Bao, he hadn't even thought about a name and said he would talk with Wang Bao once he feels a little better.
Once Wang Bao was moved back to his room, he did get better. HIs appetite returned and he slowly started to no longer push himself away from their baby, Nakai felt he could breathe again as he watched Wang Bao feed their daughter and a warm glow was on Wang Bao's face. As Wang Bao sat on the bed, feeding the baby, Nakai felt it was a good time to bring up the naming situation since it was best to pick one sooner, rather than later. When asked about the name, Wang Bao blanked for a few seconds before shrugging his shoulders.
"You can pick....Will she have your family name too?"
"Are you okay with that?"
Wang Bao thought about it, the light in his eyes dimmed a little before he nodded his head.
"I think my family name is cursed so it would be best to give her yours."
"Your name isn't cursed."
Nakai smiled exasperatedly and moved closer to Wang Bao's side, Their daughter had already gained two pounds in only a week and she looked huge when in Wang Bao's arms. Nakai looked at her face and figured she would need a beautiful yet strong name. After thinking for a little bit, he thought of one.
"What....about.. Hera?"
"Hera...Hera Ta. I like it."
Nakai took Hera from Wang Bao since his arms were struggling to hold her for so long and repeated her name out loud, she was sleeping after drinKing so much but wriggled happily as if she liked the name as well.
. . . . . . . . . .
Not long after Wang Bao and Hera settled into the new room, the doctor came to visit. He gave Wang Bao a physical examination to check on the incision while maKing sure he was feeling well mentally too. The doctor also made sure to weigh Hera since she was growing at the rate of a healthy Giant baby and knew her milk would need to be doubled if she were to stay happy. After checKing over everything, he discussed the last of his orders for Wang Bao's health.
"You're healing well but you need to be on bed rest for another three weeks, as for any penetration, it's best to leave that for at least eight more weeks since your internal stitches will take a little longer to heal. Regarding Hera, she is growing at the normal rate of a Giant baby so she will be getting big very quickly, Nakai will have to be the sole person holding her for now until Wang Bao can move around properly."
Both Wang Bao and Nakai didn't like the sound of that, especially Nakai since Wang Bao only recently started feeling an attachment to Hera. The doctor saw their disapproval but there was nothing he could do since too much weight could cause rupturing inside Wang Bao. When the doctor left, the couple were only allowed a moment of peace before there was a rapid knock at the door. Nakai got up to open it when two children sprinted past him and jumped onto Wang Bao's bed. Rara and Karo crawled over to Wang Bao and checked over him to see if he was okay. They didn't touch his body in case they hurt him but their eyes were like hawks as they inspected almost every inch of him. Wang Bao patted the two children on the head as he calmed them down.
"I'm okay, you two don't need to worry. I'm sorry I scared you."
Rara lifted the blanket to see Wang Bao's belly had gone down a lot, all that was left was a small mound. Karo saw this as well and looked up at Wang Bao with fear.
"Did you get rid of the egg?"
"No, the baby is in her bed."
Wang Bao pointed to the crib where Hear was sleeping and both boys slid off the bed to ogle at her. Their round faces squished against the wooden bars as they tried to get a better look, from behind Nakai lifted them up and held them over Hera. Rara narrowed his eyes at the sleeping baby before he was placed back on the ground along with Karo, when Nakai saw Rara's sour face he poked the child's face before asKing him.
"What's wrong?"
"I don't like her. She made brother hurt so I don't like her."
Karo seemed to have a flashback to when they saw Wang Bao drop to the ground in pain and he ran back to Wang Bao's side, tears in his eyes.
"Are you still hurting brother?"
Wang Bao didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the children's dramatic hearts and he shook his head.
"I'm okay now, the doctor gave me medicine so I'm not in pain anymore."
Rara muttered under his breath as he sulked back to the bed, his words earning him a light spank on the butt from Nakai.
"I still don't like her!"
Next on the visiting list was Sea Queen along with Pou, with them, they brought bags and bags of gifts from Pou's crew and Ma. While Pou was teasing Nakai about being a parent with someone who Nakai said to not even be his friend, Sea Queen was checKing over Wang Bao to see if he was alright. Wang Bao always found it odd to see such a beautiful and young looKing woman act so Motherly towards him but he had grown to enjoy the feeling.
"You've lost a bit of weight Bao, are you eating enough?"
"My appetite from before hasn't carried on after giving birth, I can barely stomach two meals right now."
Sea Queen looked unimpressed with that and ordered Nakai to start cooking Wang Bao's meals again since that seemed to be the only way to get Wang Bao to gain weight. Because Wang Bao looked tired, thanks to his low weight, Pou and Sea Queen didn't stay long, Wang Bao was hoping there would be no more visitors since he really was tired but Wang Lei and Nera showed up just as they had a breath of alone time. Wang Bao was glad though since he could see his Brother was feeling a little better and looked to be getting proper rest, he didn't know if Wang Xei's words had caused the change but he was happy nonetheless. While Nera held Hera and fed her, Wang Lei lazed across Wang Bao's bed, sighing tiredly.
"I've decided to no longer be King, Bao. As soon as I find a good replacement, Nera and I are heading back to the big island."
For some reason, when Wang Bao heard this he wasn't surprised, in fact he was glad to hear his Brother choosing to be honest with himself.
"Do you have anyone in mind?"
"I do but I don't know if I like the idea or not."
Wang Bao didn't catch on to what his Brother was meaning but Nakai did and disagreed straight away.
"You want to entrust him with the country? He'll burn it to the ground once he has the chance."
Wang Lei rolled onto his side so he could look Nakai in the eyes.
"He's a lot more loyal than you think, besides, he wouldn't do that since he loves Father too much and Father loved this country."
Finally, Wang Bao understood who the mysterious person was and jumped on Nakai's boat of disagreement.
"You can't trust Wang Xei with being King, he's crazy!"
"Like the rest of us aren't? Don't worry though, I haven't made my decision yet, it's just a thought."
With that Wang Lei got up and pulled Nera out of the room, heading back to their own. Nakai held Hera until she fell back asleep then joined Wang Bao on the bed.
"Do you want to go back to the big island too, we can leave once Lei has dealt with everything."
Wang Bao wanted to roll onto his side so he could face Nakai but his stitches prohibited such movement, instead he had to opt for turning his neck painfully to see Nakai.
"You said you would take me to see Giant Country."
"...I did. I guess I need to go back sooner or later."
At that moment Hera began crying again and Nakai got up from the bed, picking her up. Nakai rocked and soothed her but nothing was working and her screaming got more trill. Wang Bao felt his heart race and his hands tremble from the sound, in front of him Nakai was frowning too and headed to the door.
"I'll walk her around out here, get some rest."
En. Wang Bao hummed to keep Nakai from hearing his shaky voice. When the door was shut most of the baby's crying was quietened but he could still hear the high pitched wailing from before, Wang Bao quickly shook his head then drank some water before pulling his blankets over his body, including his head. Under the blankets Wang Bao was able to calm himself back to normal. The on and off feeling he couldn't explain was beginning to wear Wang Bao down and he was finding it harder to deal with the feeling whenever it showed up, it was also getting harder to hide it from Nakai. While still under the blanket, Wang Bao hoped the roller coaster inside him would even out already before falling asleep.