.
.
"She won't stop crying!" Morioka said, coming up to Sakurai as he closed the door. Her hair was wild and the shirt she was wearing was covered in sweat stains and spit-up, and Sakurai could see two wet spots from where her breasts were leaking. "I fed her, I burped her, I tried swaddling her, I sang to her, I don't know what I'm doing and I'm a horrible mother!" She was bouncing the baby manically.
"Here, let me," Sakurai said, and Morioka started sobbing hysterically. He took the baby and bounced her over his shoulder.
"I didn't cook!" Morioka sobbed hysterically. "I didn't clean and I haven't done laundry-"
"It's okay," Sakurai said, and he showed her the plastic bags he got from the convenience store. "I got you a pork cutlet bowl. I'll take the baby while you eat."
Morioka sniffed. "But-"
"I've got her. After dinner you should take a shower and go to sleep," Sakurai said.
Morioka wrung her hands. "She needs to nurse in three hours."
"We have formula. Don't worry, I've got her."
"You need to make sure you wake me," Morioka said.
"Don't worry," Sakurai said, gently. "I've got her."
Morioka sniffed, then nodded. "Okay," she said. Her eyes watered. "I'm sorry for being such a horrible mother!"
"You're fine, you're just tired."
Sakurai watched as Morioka shuffled miserably to the table, holding a donut-shaped cushion, which she used to sit on while she ate on the floor.
xXx
.
Morioka passed out almost as soon as her head hit the pillow, so Sakurai spent the evening playing with the baby. Three hours came and went, and Sakurai poked his head into the bedroom to see that Morioka was still sleeping. The baby whimpered. Sakurai bounced her on his hip and went to the kitchen, holding her like a football while he prepared a bottle of formula.
"We're going to sleep here tonight," Sakurai said. He swaddled the baby and put her in her bassinet, rolling her to the couch. "Mama is tired so Daddy will feed you bottles tonight."
The baby breathed. Sakurai stroked her temple, quietly.
xXx
.
He was sleeping on the couch when he heard Morioka screaming.
"Moriko!" Sakurai lurched off the couch and sprinted to the bedroom, where Morioka was screaming. Throwing open the door, he saw her clawing at her shirt, shrieking.
"My boobs!" Morioka screamed. "Oh god, Yuta! My boobs!"
"What?" Sakurai said, and he saw her breasts were hard and throbbing.
"I need to nurse! How long was I sleeping?"
"Twelve hours?" Sakurai said, bewildered, as Morioka flailed around the bedroom.
"My pump, my pump, where's my pump?!" Morioka sobbed."I'm too full of milk! I can't lower my arms!"
"Um, I think...here!" Sakurai said, and he pulled it from the corner.
Sakurai rushed toward her, practically tripping over himself as he grabbed the tubing and the suction cups. "Where's the harness?" he asked. Morioka cried harder. "I'm sorry, I can't find the harness-"
"It hurts," she cried, and Sakurai did a quick calculation, then shoved the cups over her breasts.
He flipped on the pump. The familiar whirring sound came on, and the bottles started filling with milk.
"Are you okay?" he asked. Morioka nodded, wiping her eyes and catching her breath. Her breasts emptied quickly as he kept holding the containers.
"I'm so sorry," Sakurai said. "I didn't know this would happen, I should have waked you."
"That's okay," Morioka said, and she sniffed. She ducked her head and started laughing softly.
"What is it?" Sakurai asked. Morioka shook her head.
"I was just remembering how nervous I was when I visited your apartment," Morioka said. And then,
"Just the thought of you seeing my underwear in the dryer was embarrassing, I never thought I'd be sitting here shirtless while you held suction cups over my boobs."