Eric Slingby tended to one of his latest wounds in the bathroom one evening. The nuns had burned him with hot wax for not paying attention in church again. The seventeen year old was tired of being treated like a kid; he was almost legally an adult and wanted to be considered as such.
After running cold water over his burnt wrist, he headed back to the common room to await the rest of his punishment. The nuns asked him to empty the trashcans from the cafeteria and then head to his room for the night.
Eric walked out back and muttered under his breath "I'll show them, just wait until I turn eighteen and then really let them know what I really want to say." He was just about to toss his first garbage bag into the dumpster when he heard cries coming from inside the bin.
The blonde looked inside to discover a baby girl lying wrapped up in a blanket atop the garbage. Eric felt his mouth drop slightly as he reached in and picked up the wailing child. Immediately, the infant opened her eyes and looked at him, which resulted in her crying to become silent. "You're so small," he said to her as he stroked her face with a finger.
She giggled and grabbed ahold of him with her hand. "I'll call you Natalia," Eric decided as he carried her back to the orphanage.
When the nuns saw the baby they demanded "Eric Slingby, where did you find that child?"
"She was out in the dumpster and I plan to take care of her," Eric stated as he looked down at Natalia.
"Nonsense, you don't know the first thing about taking care of yourself, much less a baby," one of the nuns replied.
"I will take care of her," Eric defended. "I'll show all of you bitches just how well I can raise her."
The blonde then walked to his room and locked the door. He lie Natalia down on the bed and walked over to a shelf to retrieve some water. When he looked back at Natalia, she was sitting up all by herself. This confused Eric, because she looked so small. He decided to take her to the orphanage doctor.
After he checked her, Eric learned that Natalia was already a year and a half old, but she showed signs of premature birth which would explain why she was so small. "I would suggest giving her this," the doctor said as he handed Eric bottles of baby food.
"But she's still so young," Eric reminded.
"Natalia is showing signs of developing advancements. How this is happening from a premature baby I do not know, but in the next few days she will want to begin eating food," the doctor explained.
Eric took Natalia back to his room and began to feed her. He watched as she took the bottle and held it while looking up at him. The baby girl sucked up the milk quickly and Eric could tell that she hadn't eaten in a while.