Irreplaceable

Part 2: Late night babble

Mr. Dracule wasn't showing any emotion when they had agreed to have her and little Zoro move there. She didn't know what to think but didn't feel like confronting him about it either. Maybe someday if they got any closer.

The drive from the apartment to his house had been silent. She hadn't taken much, only the necessities. She planned to gather her strength first, then sell what she could, toss what they wouldn't need, before bringing the rest back with them. But right now the wound of her husbands sudden death was too fresh. She didn't want to go through his items.

Mr. Dracule offered to pay the rent for the apartment so she wouldn't run out of time. She declined. She had enough time to work things through and having a deadline was good. She wouldn't be able to put it off for too long.
And she didn't want to depend too much on his kindness. Or maybe he was atoning for being absent so much. Either way it didn't matter, because she couldn't bring herself to care.

- "Here we are," mr. Dracule reached his hand towards her, "This is your key. Go open the door while I carry your bags."

It was a large modern house on the good part of the town. The part of town where rich people lived. Her husband had taken her there once in hopes of catching his father. There was only a note on the locked door to his study:

"Don't know when returning.
Call me if needed. D.M."

Perona opened the door leaving it wide open. With Zoro safely sleeping in his carrier, she toured the house sweetly murmuring to him even if he wasn't listening to his mother.
- "This is our home now. Daddy grew up here," she choked, "Here's his bedroom, but we'll be in the guest bedroom. We'll have our own bathroom. And there's plenty of room for you to play."

She went to the kitchen. It was clean and modern. It actually looked freshly renovated. Everywhere was oddly clean and bright. Just one room had been left untouched.

- "I had a crew of people clean up and renovate the house before you came," mr. Dracule walked into the room holding a bag. "The rest is in your room but this bag has the things meant to be in the kitchen, right?"
- "Thank you, mr. Dracule" she said before looking into the bag. The man was richer than she imagined. Or he took loans like crazy. Neither seemed like a good option.

- "You can call me Mihawk. We're going to be living together so I think it's better to start using first names straight away... I can call you Perona, yes?" he added hesitantly.
- "Yes, makes sense. Can't be strangers with a baby in the house," Perona stiffened a bit and felt gross for letting Zoro be cared by someone practically a stranger. She grabbed the milk formula. It had been hard to start breastfeeding and now the extra stress of her husbands passing had completely stopped her lactation. Zoro hated the formula, but he also had a sensitive stomach so options for feeding him were sparse.

Mihawk was leaning by the door and when Perona turned her back to him, he took a step towards Zoros cradle, giving him a closer look. He felt a bit relieved to see the child so calm and healthy compared to his mother. Hopefully such a cruel event wouldn't affect him much. He then went by Perona to observe on how to prepare the formula.

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Zoro babbled happily trying to reach for the red evening clouds. He was laying on a blanket Perona had set for him. It was nice and warm and the backyard was lush with plants of all sorts.

- "Maybe Mr Drac- Mihawk does gardening," she thought, "no, he probably hired a gardener."

Zoro kicked the air ferociously. He let out drool bubbles, which Perona quickly wiped off.
- "Don't work too hard," she said to him, earning a few happy squeals.

Peronas face darkened.

How could he be so happy? Babble and play, like his father hadn't just died. Don't babies care about the people around them? Happy as long as they're fed and clean?