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Chapter 95
Ari P.O.V
I smiled happily as Paddy, Luce, Faith and Mark all but barged into the room, practically bouncing.
"Shh! Liora's asleep." I said quietly. That made them quiet instantly. "Shut the door and sit down." I said. Cari and Logan had left a while ago to catch a flight to Alaska, where they were having their honeymoon. Mam and Zoe were in the café downstairs, getting some food. The hospital would provide me with food, but no one else, so they had to get their own.
"What have you decided to call her?" Luce asked.
"Liora." Victor answered.
"That's an unusual name. Very nice mind." Faith commented.
Liora stirred, and opened her eyes. "Hello, sleepy head." I cooed at her. "There are some more people here to see you." She just blinked up at me.
"Alright, who want's to hold her first?" I asked.
"I will." Paddy said.
"Ok, come over here then, and I'll pass her over." I said.
Paddy did so, and I handed him Liora. Liora sniffed for a second, before starting to cry, like she had with every stranger she'd been handed to.
"Um, I don't think she likes me." Paddy said.
"It's not that Paddy. She's just adjusting to your scent. She cried when everyone else held her too for a while. She calmed down quicker with Cari and Logan mind."
"It's probably because she could smell they were like us." Victor said.
Not long after, Liora stopped crying, and settled down in Paddy's arms, gurgling happily.
"See, Paddy, she does like you." I said, smiling.
Paddy smiled at me, and then back down at Liora. "I guess she does like me." He said.
Soon after, Liora was passed to Luce. She started to cry again, but quieted down after a while. It was the same with everyone, except Mark. She just kept crying when it came to Mark.
"Did I pinch her or something? What did I do?" Mark asked.
"Maybe it's you she doesn't like." Paddy laughed.
"Or she's had enough of being handed round." I suggested.
"Pass her here." Victor said. Mark handed Liora to Victor, and Victor brought her close to his chest. She immediately stopped crying.
"Yep, she doesn't like you Mark." Paddy laughed.
"She'll get used to you." I said. "Maybe she'd just had enough and wanted to be back with either me or Victor."
"I hope that's what it was." Mark said.
"We brought presents!" Faith said, and she delved into her large bag, and pulled out several clothes, baby grows, dresses, hats, and also some toys, such as a stuffed cat and a bear.
"Aw, thanks guys. They're great, really." I said.
"Thanks." Victor said, nodding.
"Some of the clothes are for later months, so you already have something. And the hats are big enough to either fit over her ears, or have holes cut out of them to show her ears. I imagine that if she's anything like her mother she'd not like her ears covered."
"No she doesn't. She throws a fit if we try to put a hat on her now. She stood for the one hat, but wouldn't let us put it back on."
"Several hours old, and already proudly displaying her mutation." Victor chuckled. "We'll need to cut holes in all the baby grows for her tail."
"I'll be able to do that. I've been altering all my trousers for near three years now. I should be able to manage several baby grows." I said.
I looked at Liora, and noticed that Victor was running the back of one of his fingers down her cheek. Liora reached up, and one of her tiny hands wrapped round Victor's finger. I grabbed the camera from the bedside table, and quickly snapped a shot of the image. Liora's mouth formed an 'O' as she yawned.
"Aww, it's been a long day, hasn't it?" I cooed.
Suddenly there was a loud ringing. It startled Liora, and caused her to start crying.
"It's my phone." Victor growled.
"Give her here, and answer it quick- the ring tone may be to shrill for her ears. They'll be very sensitive." I said, holding my arms out for her.
"Shit, I didn't think a phone ringing could be painful to our cub." he said, handing her over to me quickly, and then grabbing his phone from his pocket, and answering it. "This had better be good." He growled. He was silent for a minute, listening to whoever was on the other end, while I shushed and calmed our crying cub. "You have bad timing to just be checking in Mort. Yeah the cub's arrived. A girl- Liora. I know I didn't call you to tell you Mort, I've been making sure Arianwen and Liora are alright, I would have gotten round to it. You can tell Magneto she is a mutant and an obvious one at that. She takes after her mother in that aspect."
I raised an eyebrow at him. He smirked at me as he continued his conversation with Mort, before hanging up.
"Well?" I asked.
"Magneto's offered us a place to stay at Genosia. He seems to be under the impression that Liora here needs the protection of the entire Brotherhood."
"Well, it's a nice offer." I said.
"And it's always there apparently. He seems to like the fact that she's a born mutant, and didn't just develop her abilities later on."
"I take it that she's one of the first then?" Faith asked.
"Born mutants? Yeah. There aren't many at all. I actually don't know of any. I'm not saying Liora's the first, but she's one of them." Victor answered, proudly.
The door opened, and mam and Zoe came back in, followed closely by a bouncing Autumn and a laughing James.
"Auntie Ari! Uncle Vic!" She said, smiling.
"Hey Autumn. I take it you've come to see your baby cousin?" I said, smiling, as she jumped up onto the bed next to me and Victor.
"Yes! What's her name?"
"Liora." I said. "Come a bit closer so you can see her properly."
Autumn crawled forward, and peered into the blankets. "She's sooo cute!" Autumn said. "She looks like the both of you."
"She does, doesn't she?" I replied, laughing lightly.
Liora began crying again, and Autumn jumped back. "I didn't do anything, honest!"
"Don't worry, she's just hungry I think. It's how she lets people know that she needs something because she cant talk." I said. With that said, I adjusted my clothing, and started feeding her for the second time. "There, see, she's quiet now. She was just hungry. It wasn't anything you did." I reassured my niece.
She sighed in relief. "I'm glad I didn't hurt her. I wouldn't want to do that. When can I play with her?"
"Not for a while. At least, not like you play with your friends. She cant even sit up yet." I said.
Autumn seemed to pout a little, but accepted the fact. I smiled at her, and she began to chatter excitedly once more.
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