Setting: Maternity Port Royal, Paris, France
After getting used to the weight and the feel of her full stomach for nearly nine months, now that the little bundle of joy that she had carried inside of her was out, she felt an odd sense of emptiness as she caressed the skin that had stretched to accommodate her daughter and stared at the pink ceiling of the mother-baby unit of the hospital that Max had driven them to once she told Cristo that her waters had broken. Fifteen hours later – who knew it could take that long for a baby to come out? – she was alone in the room after all of the chaos that had occurred only an hour earlier. Her body had finally been ready for birth, the nurses and doctors swarmed into the room in a frenzy of scrubs and lab coats, her feet were placed in stirrups and she was instructed when to push, but it was hard. Labor was hard, and she was pretty sure she had been crying during the whole thing.
The midwife had been coaxing her and soothing her, but Cristo had shoved the camera towards her and taken her place, holding onto Demi and whispering sweet nothings into her ear, and the most beautiful moment of it all was when their baby girl was almost out, and instead of the doctor delivering her, Cristo and Demi had basically pulled her out together. She had barely even cried as she rested on her mother's chest with her father staring at her like she held the entire world in her hands. She didn't cry until one of the nurses had to take her away for testing while Demi had to deliver her placenta and get checked out after giving birth. With a kiss to the forehead, Cristo had taken his camera back from the midwife then followed the nurse that held his daughter out of the room. Then it was over. Now she was just waiting for them to come back.
The door to the deluxe suite that Cristo had requested for them to be moved to opened and Cristo stepped inside first, of course still holding his camera, but the nurse that had taken her came in after him, holding their daughter against her chest with her all swaddled up in a pink blanket with a pink hat on her head. Demi sat up a little bit, wincing at the soreness she felt all over her body as the nurse came to her side and gently placed her in her arms.
"Do we have a name for this princess?" the nurse questioned as Demi locked eyes with Cristo and he nodded.
"Muse. Muse Kristen Ghesquiere," Demi said, kissing her little nose as the nurse wrote the name down.
"Well, Muse is a perfectly healthy baby. We brought in a crib for when you want to lay her down so that you both can get some rest. These may be things you already know but a nurse will come in later on to teach you how to bathe her and change her diaper, and a lactation consultant will be in as well to teach you how to breastfeed. In the meantime, if there's absolutely anything that we can get for you, just push the button and a nurse will be right in," the nurse explained as Demi nodded but ultimately kept her eyes on Muse. She just couldn't get over the fact that she just had a baby.
"Thank you," Cristo said to the nurse before she congratulated both of them then left the room. He set the camera down on the table next to Demi's bed and sat next to her to look at their daughter.
"I can't believe we created her," Demi sniffled as Cristo wrapped his arm around her, sighing as she relaxed into his embrace.
"She's so perfect," he cooed, brushing the side of his finger against her cheek, causing her to open her mouth a little bit and turn towards the contact as Demi tried to wipe her tears with her free hand. "I love you."
"I love you too," Demi said as she rested her head on Cristo's shoulder.
"I was talking to Muse, but I love you too. I'm so proud of you, ma cherie. Bonne anniversaire," Cristo said as he kissed the top of her head. They settled into a comfortable silence as they continued to stare at their beautiful daughter, just taking in the moment, just appreciating their Muse.
It wasn't until the next day when everyone finally arrived in Paris and came to visit her. Demi only knew they were arriving because the TV in the room was set on the news, so Demi was literally watching the Kardashian clan enter the hospital in a flurry of Yeezy sweatpants, pink balloons, and blonde wigs, then a few minutes later they were entering her room.
"DEMI!" Kylie squealed, carefully wrapping her arms around the older woman before settling next to her on the bed as Cristo recorded the entire moment.
"Hey," Demi's voice was still a little hoarse from yesterday, so she couldn't talk that loud, and she didn't want to either because she didn't want to disturb Muse.
"What's her name?" Kris asked before kissing Demi's forehead and settling on the other side of her.
"Muse Kristen Ghesquiere." As soon as Kris heard her name, she started to tear up as everyone else in the room awed and came closer to Demi as she took Muse out of the crib next to her bed.
"Well, isn't she just the best birthday present ever!" Khloe gushed.
"Why is she literally the cutest baby in the entire world?" Kendall cooed as Khloe scoffed.
"You said the exact same thing when you first saw True."
"And Chi," Kim chimed in.
"And Stormi," Kylie added as Kendall shrugged.
"You guys all make cute babies. But Muse is just too cute. And I love her name, how did you come up with it?"
"Because it's what Cristo used to call me when we first met, and we just thought that it fit," Demi said as she held Muse closer to her chest.
"Was labor as painful as you thought it would be?" Kim asked as her, Khloe, and Kourtney took spots on the bed.
"Yes, but me and Cristo totally pulled a Kourtney. She was like halfway out and the doctor was like, you can grab under her arms and pull her out, but I didn't understand him because he said it in French, so Cristo did and I just followed him and we literally pulled her out of me. It was the craziest thing ever," Demi explained as Kourtney chuckled.
"Did they say when you can come home?"
"The lactation specialist should be here in a few but they said since we're flying privately, she should be fine to fly tomorrow but we'll probably wait until the end of the week," Demi answered just as there was a knock on the door. Cristo told whoever it was to come in then who Demi assumed was the lactation specialist walked in with a smile on her face.
"Hello everyone, I'm Dr. Wesley," she introduced herself in a crisp French accent. "I'm the lactation specialist and I'm here to teach the new mommy how to breastfeed."
"Hi, I'm Demi," Demi introduced herself, trying to sit up a little bit.
"And I'm Cristo, nice to meet you," Cristo said, shaking her hand after passing the camera to Kylie.
"Okay, so do you want everyone to stay in here or do you want them to clear the room?" Dr. Wesley questioned as Demi looked around at her family.
"Um, can Kris stay?" Demi asked as the doctor nodded, so everyone else went to wait outside.
Dr. Wesley showed her how to properly position Muse in her arms for her to breastfeed, then showed her how to get her to latch on but when it came time for Muse to actually eat, she wouldn't properly suck, meaning she would suck a little bit then get frustrated and move her head away.
"Why isn't she doing it?" Demi questioned as she pushed her hair away from her forehead.
"Here, let's see." Dr. Wesley fixed Muse in Demi's arms and though she felt self-conscious around her, she wanted Muse to be able to breastfeed because she knew that it was the best thing for her. "Let's try the other one."
They switched but Muse would still only suck for a little bit then let go and release a loud cry.
"Okay, so the problem may be that you're not producing enough milk, which is fine. Sometimes it takes mothers a few days to actually produce milk so for now, she can just take a bottle with some formula in it," Dr. Wesley explained as Demi shook her head and felt tears instantly spring to her eyes.
"But how do I produce more?"
"It should come in the next day or so, Demi. Breastfeeding is about supply and demand so the more you nurse, the more milk you'll produce. We can try to pump so that she'll still be getting breastfed and so that your body will know to produce more milk. It's also about your health. I know this is all new to you, but you have to make sure that you don't get stressed or agitated because babies pick up on that, okay?" Dr. Wesley reassured her as she slowly nodded, wiping at her tears.
"Okay, I'm going to get a pump so that we can get this little princess fed," Dr. Wesley said, patting her knee before leaving the room so Kris helped Demi fix her gown again then Demi passed Muse to her.
"It's okay, Demi," Cristo tried to comfort her, but she shook her head.
"I can't feed my own child, it's not okay," she sniffled as Kris sighed.
"Demi, sometimes it does take a little while for your milk to come in. You probably have enough in both breasts to feed her, so you just have to pump and feed her from a bottle. Like the doctor said, as you get a schedule situated, you'll produce more milk," Kris said but Demi just shook her head again.
"Did you have issues breastfeeding with any of your kids?"
"Well no, but every mother is different."
Demi didn't say anything after that and no one knew what to say to her. She felt a little better when she was able to pump then feed Muse from the bottle, but she was still noticeably upset. After learning how to burp Muse then giving her a bath, she drifted off to sleep so no one got a chance to say anything else to her about it.
Setting: Muse's Nursery, Calabasas, CA
"Is she still asleep?" Demi questioned as she entered Muse's custom-made nursery, passing Cristo a mug of chamomile tea before joining him in the rocking chair. After a fourteen-hour flight it was Muse's first night home and although she had been sleeping well and Demi had started to produce enough milk to breastfeed, they still didn't want to leave her alone. It was like they were mesmerized by her. One of them was always holding her and Demi knew their little girl was going to be spoiled but she didn't care. Maybe the fact that she had experienced a miscarriage before made her appreciate Muse that much more, but whatever it was, she didn't want her daughter to leave her sight, not even for her to sleep.
"Yeah, I think she'll be good for the next few hours if you want to head to bed," Cristo said but Demi simply sighed as she rested her head on Cristo's shoulder and caressed Muse's soft brown waves. No wonder she had experienced so much heartburn.
"I can't believe this is my life," Demi breathed out, causing Cristo to chuckle a little bit as he looked over at her.
"What do you mean?"
Demi fumbled with her rings as she shrugged her shoulders a little bit, not knowing how to put it into words. She just couldn't believe that this was her life now, that she was married with a new baby and this was how she was living. It was everything she didn't know she wanted, and it was in that moment that she knew she wouldn't be in any rush to get back to her career. All she wanted to do was be with her husband and raise their child in peace. Nothing else mattered anymore.
"Nothing. Je t'aime beaucoup, baby," Demi said, leaning forward to kiss Muse's forehead before resting her head back on Cristo's shoulder.
"Je t'aime beacoup."
ddlovato: your love feels like all four seasons growing inside of me, life has a reason 💕 I was going to wait to post pictures but I just can't get over this moment! So blessed to welcome our Muse to the world. she's the best birthday present that i could ever ask for. forever grateful for my amazing husband who held me through the entire process and helped deliver her. Love you forever bby.
Liked by christoghesquiere, krisjenner, and 9,899,650 others
treysongz: congratulations!!
kyliejenner: chi, stormi, true, and muse 💖💖💖
cristoghesquiere: I think this is the moment that I've been waiting my entire life for. thank you @ddlovato
Liked by kourtneykardash, theoneandonlydallaslovato, and 3,456,900 others
ddlovato: I love you 💖
and now you guys know why the story is called Muse! Hope you guys enjoyed it!