Chapter 7: Raising a baby
"Hmm… it's awfully quiet in there."
Black Hat thought as he walked toward the lab. Fluggie just returned from the hospital a week ago, but he gave her a few more days to rest until she's fully in condition of working. Normally, he would hear various noises in her lab, such as the sound of thrilling, hammering and stuff falling… But now, like he mentioned, it was unusually silent in there. Did she take another day off?
"Fluggie, are you in there?" Black Hat asked as he knocked on the door, but he got no answer from inside. He knocked again, and decided to open anyway since he there was no reply once again.
Sighing, he turned the doorknob and opened the door…
… before he was greeted by a loud shout.
"What the-" He covered his ears, if he had any, and looked inside.
He could see that Fluggie was very busy, not because she was working on the invention but because she was a very hard time calming her baby down, whose crying was so loud that it spread through the entire mansion. It was just the sound of a baby crying, so he wondered why it startled him so much. Was it because he had never heard such sound before?
But the most important question was, how come he didn't hear Ryan crying when he was outside?
"Mommy's here, mommy's here… Don't cry Ryan, don't cry…" Fluggie said as she cradled Ryan in her arms, trying her best to make him stop crying. Unfortunately, she didn't succeed and he kept crying. Fluggie still hadn't been aware that Black Hat was standing there yet, since her back was facing him. She was trying so hard, and he sighed.
He was about to speak up, or even offer some help to stop the obnoxious noise, when something else was heard.
Hush, little baby, don't say a word.
Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird
Fluggie sang out a lullaby to her baby, and Ryan immediately stopped crying, leaving space for her singing to spread though the room.
And if that mockingbird won't sing,
Mama's gonna buy you a diamond ring
And if that diamond ring turns brass,
Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass
Black Hat was… speechless, because this was the first time he'd ever heard her singing. Well, to be completely honest, he had overheard her singing during work before, but he couldn't really hear much because most of the times, she was just humming or singing really quietly. This was the first time he had heard her sing so clearly, and it was… a beautiful sight. She gazed dearly down to her son as she gently cradled him. Every word she sang out sounded like a calming and beautiful melody to him, soothing everything down peacefully.
Soon, Ryan closed his eyes and fell into a deep sleep. Sighing in relief, she put him back into his rib and cradled it. She then turned around and that was when she finally realized that her boss was standing there and had witnessed the entire thing.
"J- Jefecito?!" She asked surprisingly. "W- What are you doing here?!"
"To check on your work, of course." He said calmly, although he was still amazed by what he had just seen.
"How l- long you've been s- standing there?"
"The whole time."
Her face burnt up a little, realizing what he said meant. He had heard her singing, which was one of the last things she would ever want.
"I didn't know you can sing, Fluggie."
She didn't answer, still embarrassed.
"Anyway…" He fisted his hand in front of his mouth and coughed, breaking the silent between them. "How's your work?"
"I've already drawn out the ideas, and now I'm gathering some parts for it."
"Good." He said and was about to leave, but stopped when he remembered something. "Oh, and Fluggie?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Why didn't I hear your son's crying from outside? He's pretty loud, you know."
"Ah, that's because I've soundproofed the room, sir." She explained. "At first I planned to just soundproof my room, but I then realized that in order to look after Ryan, I have to take him to the lab as well, so I decided to soundproof it as well. Beside, I'm sure that you don't like hearing baby crying, right?"
There was a long pause before he answered.
"Yes."
"Good morning, sir."
Black Hat looked up from his coffee mug and saw Fluggie walking into the kitchen with a five-month-old Ryan in her arms. She sat down onto a seat across from his at the table and he eyed her for a while before returning his gaze back to his mug and took a sip from it.
"Aroo." 5.0.5 greeted her, turning his eyes away from the pan.
"Good morning to you too, 5.0.5."
"Morning…" Demencia yawned as she took a seat next to Fluggie. "I stayed up so late last night, and now I'm tired…"
"Well, that's what you get for annoying me at midnight." The demon said, not looking at her.
"Hey! You lying there doesn't mean you were asleep!"
"A-ga, a-ga…" A plate of freshly cooked pancake was placed on the table in front of Fluggie by 5.0.5 and Ryan babbled as he watched the steam emitting from it.
Noticing Ryan, Demencia turned around. "Hi there, little one!"
Ryan could have liked it… if Demencia didn't show her sharp teeth and lean extremely close to his face.
"Waaaahhhh!"
"Demencia!" Fluggie scolded, holding her son tightly to her. "I told you not to scare him like that!"
"Uh… I'm sorry…" The lizard girl scratched the back of her neck, confused about what she did to scare the baby.
Fluggie ignored her and proceeded to calm him down. The blue bear, who was still standing next to her, looked at Ryan with concern before extending one paw toward Ryan. The baby boy was still crying until he saw the fluffy blue fur in front of him and touched it. Holding the bear's paw, he giggled.
"Oh…?" Demencia stared at the two.
"It seems that Ryan likes 5.0.5." Fluggie said as Ryan played with the blue bear. "Well, I'm happy that he has a friend now."
Black Hat was silent throughout the entire time. He thought to himself a lot and still wasn't able to answer the questions that were running in his mind. Fluggie, she was just his employee and a poor single mother who was cruelly left alone by her ex. Ryan, he wasn't his blood child or related to him in any way. He was just his employee's child who was a result of an accident.
He wasn't someone Fluggie would love or a father to Ryan.
Yet he still cared for them…
And he just couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Okay, time to sleep, Ryan."
The nine-month-old Ryan yawned tiredly as his mother put him into his crib. Today, he played with 5.0.5 all day, and thanks to that Fluggie had a lot of work done. Now, it was nighttime and he was indeed very exhausted.
Gently putting him down, Fluggie cradled the crib. Just after a few seconds, he was fast asleep. But just when she was about to leave, she heard him saying something very quietly.
"Ma…"
"Hmm…?" She said, returning her gaze back to him.
"Ma…"
"Are you seeing something in your dream, Ryan?" She smiled as she looked down at him.
"Ma… Mama…"
Fluggie froze in place.
She couldn't believe her ears anymore.
Ryan just said his first word, in his sleep. 'Mama'.
She couldn't hold back her tears. Of course, they said that babies would say their first words around this age, but… she was unable to hold back the emotion overwhelming her. Even without his father to enjoy this wonderful moment, she still felt so happy of being a mother hearing her son calling her 'Mama' for the first time.
"Ryan…" She said between her sobbing. "I promise… I promise that I will take care of you… always…"
"Crap, I'm five minutes late!"
Fluggie said as she ran upstairs. Black Hat asked her to meet him at his office at seven o'clock this evening, but she forgot about that until she was one minute late. She knew her boss too well. Only thirty seconds late, and you know you're screwed. But five minutes late? Oh, she was so done.
Slamming the door open, she huffed. "I- I'm here, B- Black Hat sir!"
"Take a seat, Fluggie."
Her eyes widened in surprise.
He did not punish her for being late?
"Um… are you okay, sir?"
"What?" He said as he intertwining his fingers in front of his face and his elbows rested on his desk. "Do I look like I'm not okay?"
"O- Of course not, sir!" She stuttered. "It's just… uh…"
"Did you bring the blueprints of that new invention?" He said, cutting her off.
"Yes! They're right here, sir!"
"Good. Now come here and explain how it works for me."
She stepped forward, feeling that with every step she took, his gaze on her seemed to get more serious and scarier. Shaking, she sat down onto the seat across from his at the desk.
Throughout the discussion, she noticed her boss's strange behavior. Usually, when they were talking over a new invention, Black Hat would have tons of questions ready for her and he would constantly said things like "This isn't evil enough!" But today, he seemed… extremely quiet. He agreed to almost everything she told him, expect for a few times he asked her about a part. She didn't know that it was a good thing, because when her boss showed unusual behaviors, it was usually a bad sign. A very bad one, to be exact.
She was relief when she found out that the discussion was over.
"Um… that's all for now."
He didn't say anything.
"I- I'll take my leave now. I'll tell you i- if there're some new updates."
He only nodded, allowing her to leave her seat. She stood still in her place for a good few seconds before slowly making her way toward the doors. But as her hand was merely inches away from the doorknob…
"Yike!"
She was startled when a click was heard after a snap of the fingers, meaning that the doors were locked.
"Doctor Fluggie Slys…"
Holding firmly onto the blueprints, she slowly turned her head back in fear as she heard him calling her full name.
"Calling you here for a discussion is just an excuse."
He rose himself up from his seat.
"We need to talk, about something else."
To be continued...
