Recovery Period

Chapter 29

Eventually Nico finished the bottle and at the sound of sucking air, Raina removed the nipple from Nico's mouth. She shushed Nico's whimpering as she reached into the drawer and pulled out the pacifier case. She clicked it open and popped the pacifier into Nico's mouth, tossing the empty case on the ottoman.

Nico tested out the feel, decided it would do, and stopped whining. She blushed as Raina praised her and turned to hide in the baby blanket.

"Aww, so shy," Raina mused, running a hand through Nico's hair. She wrapped both arms around Nico and gave her a gentle squeeze, chuckling at Nico's small grunt. "You comfy, little one?" She asked softly.

Nico nodded and yawned a bit, rubbing her eye with the hand that had been holding onto Raina's shirt. She went to hug Mol when she realized...he wasn't there. She lowered her hand and frowned, looking around a bit. She whined when she couldn't see him and looked at Raina in desperation.

"Nico, what's wrong?" Raina asked, cupping Nico's face with both hands.

Nico's eyes welled up and she whined louder, squirming on Raina's lap.

"What is it, sweetheart?"

"Wan mo," Nico mumbled around the pacifier.

"Want more what?"

"Noooo. Mooooooe," Nico whined.

"Mo? I don't know what that is, sweetie. Can you try again?" Raina asked. She frowned as Nico squirmed more, clearly starting to get frustrated. "Can I take your pacifier for a second so I can understand you?" She continued, placing a hand on the pacifier's ring.

Nico clamped down with her teeth and shook her head, unwilling to give up one comfort for another. Why couldn't she have a paci and Mol?

Raina sighed and studied Nico. She was a complicated case, that was for sure. She looked around the room, trying to figure out what Nico could want, when she saw something poking out from behind a pillow on the other side of the couch where Nico had slept. A little brown paw. "Nico, do you want your bunny? Is that why you're upset?" She asked, looking down at Nico, who was nodding furiously. She reached over and picked him up, tucking him into Nico's waiting grabby hands. "There we go, all better now," she cooed, pressing a few soft kisses to Nico's forehead as she settled.

Nico hugged Mol tight to her chest and tilted her head back a bit to nuzzle Raina's jaw with her nose.

Raina's skin erupted into goosebumps and she smiled, giving Nico another squeeze. She'd had no idea how affectionate little Nico was, but she was over the moon. There was just something different about snuggling with a little. They were often desperate for closeness in a way other people weren't and Raina lived for it. It'd been so long since she held someone like this and she prayed it would never end.

Nico grunted her pleasure as Raina ran a hand through her hair again. Her eyes opened briefly to look up at Raina, who was gently tracing the features of Nico's face with her fingertip. She giggled and closed them again when Raina paused to place a quick kiss onto the button of Nico's pacifier.

Raina beamed. This was what she'd been waiting on for the last 24 hours: a happy, cuddly little Nico. The bottle had worked exactly as planned and Raina couldn't have been more thrilled. Nico was fully into headspace and Raina had every intention of keeping her there for as long as she could.

Nico, despite having only woken up hours ago, was yawning every few minutes. She dropped her pacifier each time, but Raina was quick to grab it and replace it before it could be missed.

By the 4th time, Raina was turning off the movie. "Come on, love. Let's go have a nap, hm? We were up awfully late," she said as she readjusted Nico to sit up a bit.