𝑅𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑛𝑖𝑥 ✔︎ || 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑑

62

~ phoenix ~

Sunlight poured into the room at dawn.

I was slowly rocking Tori against my chest as her exhausted mother slept beside me. The angelic demon began her temper tantrum around three in the morning. With a sigh, Lavinia had gotten up to feed her screaming daughter.

Now, the halo was back, glowing as brightly as ever, as she lay quietly in my arms.

I barely slept a wink last night. However, Viktoria was not the only culprit. Her mean uncle had to take some of the blame too.

Mostly, I was confused that Ilya didn't want his own baby, but I couldn't ignore the hurt blooming in my chest either. Did he think we were going to be shitty parents? Or maybe he thought I would be a shitty mom...

My gaze was drawn to the girl when she began to coo and gurgle. I couldn't help but smile at her adorable playfulness. A small pink fist grabbed my hair, tugging sharply and sending a stinging jolt through my scalp.

Before she could wake her mother, I silently left the room. As I lifted her up, I knew something smelt off. My suspicion was right. Little Tori had an accident.

Gently tweaking her noise, I made faces at the baby. She screeched her delight. After laying her down on the carpeted floor of the lounge, I quickly ran back into the room to fetch her nappy back. In seconds, I was back by her side, carefully pulling off her pyjama bottoms. Then, I undid the buttons of her striped bodysuit. As soon as that came off, the smell grew more pungent.

"Yikes, Tori!" I murmured to her, wrinkling my nose, "What on earth did you eat?"

Nonetheless, I continued to clean her up, using the soft wet wipes to clean her pink bottom. Like I watched Lav do a hundred times already, I also smeared some cream on her butt to prevent rashes. Finally, I was done. After Tori was in a fresh nappy, I lay beside her staring up at the crystal chandelier.

"Phoenix."

I glanced at the doorway, where Ilya stood in his black robe. Dark shadows marred the skin beneath his eyes.

Scowling, I looked away.

"There's a mudak in the room, baby," I told Tori, picking her up again, "but you just ignore him, okay?" [asshole]

The little girl gurgled unintelligibly.

"That's right, Tori," I grinned.

A frustrated sigh sounded behind me.

Ilya walked over and sat behind me, with his legs enveloping us. Before I could make my escape, his arms came around me too so he could stroke the baby.

"Твоя тётя красивая, разве не Тори?" he said to her, ignoring me. [Your aunt is beautiful, isn't she Tori?]

Glaring at him, I covered her ears from whatever poison he was feeding her.

"Ignoruj ​​go, kochanie. On kłamie," I whispered to her in Polish. [Ignore him, baby. He's lying.]

Tori cooed her response. I nodded in agreement. Her uncle was an absolute douchebag.

"Красиво, умно, сексуально..." With every word, his voice grew closer. [Beautiful, smart, sexy...]

Suddenly, his lips were on my earlobe, nibbling gently.

Stifling a gasp, I refused to acknowledge the breathtaking sensation.

"Całkowicie śmieszne," I told her, through gritted teeth. [Utterly ridiculous]