The first month back home was a nightmare.
JJ would cry nonstop. Half the time, they couldn't figure out why. The other half, thankfully, was simple. He would always be ridiculously hungry, meaning Dina had to feed him basically every hour so she never got any decent sleep. She hardly had any time to eat food herself since she was practically glued to him.
Ellie tried.
No matter how many times she read the 'Baby Book Guide' or 'New Parent 101 Book Guide' or 'How to feed babies and change diapers!' she tried so hard to take care of him but the moment JJ was away from Dina's arms, he would know and would cry until he was back in her arms. They tried tricking him into Ellie's arms, it took at least two weeks to do so and it sort of worked… until it didn't and they'd be right back at square one.
Needless to say, Dina was exhausted.
"Okay, this is not a false alarm, he's asleep!" Ellie whispered before pulling away from his pillowy nook on the couch. She then cautiously walked toward Dina before continuing in a soft voice. "It's your time for a nap babe, I'll go make us a snack for later."
The dark bags under Dina's eyes were oddly adorable despite how much of a mess her face looked. "You sure El? You've been up all night and morning."
Well, the same went for both of them.
"Yeah, positive." Ellie quickly replied with equally deep bags under her eyes. She was tired but she knew Dina had it worse with the aftermath that came with birth and JJ's needs. Her fiancé was the one waking up every hour or so to breastfeed their son since he refused to feed off a bottle so the least she could do was take care of them both when she could.
"I'll uh, pick some of the veggies in the garden and make us a salad. You could use some nutrients."
"Okay." Dina's voice sounded weak and that made Ellie frown. "I'll take a quick one then, let me know if you need me."
"I will." She wouldn't. "C'mon, let's get you in bed."
Ellie promptly helped Dina up the stairs and once she was tucked in, she gave a soft peck on the cheek before leaving her alone. As she made her way quietly down the stairs, she quickly heard Dina's soft snoring which gave her some comfort. She then walked back into the living room before peeking at JJ. He was still sleeping fortunately and with that in mind, Ellie snuck her way out before tending to their garden.
She ended up grabbing a basket off to the side before squatting next to one of the soil beds. She then started picking some cherry tomatoes before heading over to the lettuce patch and plucking one from the soil. After that, she dung around for a shallot and then picked a few banana peppers before calling it good and heading over for the water hose. Once she rinsed them down, she made her way back inside to the kitchen before glancing at JJ again.
It was a miracle that he was still asleep so Ellie let out a breath of relief before quietly grabbing the cutting board and knife. She nervously chopped the vegetables one at a time at the slowest pace possible. She refused to make any noise and by the time everything was chopped and in a large, wooden mixing bowl, she awkwardly opened the fridge before pulling out a sweet onion dressing. She lightly poured some in before tossing the salad and munching on some tomatoes. Once incorporated, she set some in a small bowl for Dina and one for herself.
After that, she grabbed a fork and stabbed her salad with low energy. She promptly shoved the food in her mouth before munching away. She managed to eat about half of it when a soft cry made her face freeze. A groan immediately left her mouth before she set down her bowl and walked over to their crying son.
"Hey, hey hey hey…" She cooed before scooping him up from his toasty bundle of warmth. "Don't cry, shh shh, your mama is napping so not too loud okay? What's wrong buddy?" She bounced him up and down before kissing his pudgy face. "You want more milk? Did you go potty?"
His crying only grew louder and the moment she heard Dina's call for her, she silently cursed to herself. "Fuck."
"Ellie…?" Dina's voice was as hoarse and groggy as ever. "Is he up again?"
Sighing again, Ellie patted his back before sniffing a stench. "Yeah, he's up. Just need a quick change of diaper, that's all. You can go back to sleep."
Sure enough, Dina still came downstairs while rubbing her eyes. "Here, hand him over, I'll do it."
"You barely slept, I can do it, babe."
"Ellie…" Dina started in a serious voice. "I'll do it. You need a nap. You haven't slept at all in the past twenty-four hours."
Okay, she may have done all their house chores and various other necessities all within a day. Yesterday just happened to be the worst because everything they had put off since they were too tired, bit them in the ass. Namely the dishes and the mountain load of laundry. The number of shirts she had to wash was basically… both of their entire wardrobe combined. Dina had to change her shirt at least two times a day because her milk would accidentally stain her shirt and when she ran out, she'd use Ellie's shirts. Topping that frustration with hourly breastfeeding, it was obvious who had it worse.
"But—"
"Don't even start," Dina said, cutting her off with a tired voice before rubbing Ellie's cheek with her thumb and grabbing JJ from her arms. "Go finish your salad and take a nap."
Ellie just let out a deep sigh as she ignored the heavy, buggy feeling in her eyes. "Okay okay, fine." She then walked back to the kitchen to grab her bowl. "You better eat yours too when you're done changing him."
Dina gave her a small smile as she went over to the changing room. "I will just go to bed once you're done, babe."
A slight disgruntled huff left Ellie's lips as she shoved another bite of salad into her mouth. She munched away and by the time she was done, she set it down in the sink before dragging her ass up the stairs and flopping down onto their bed. She then knocked out the moment she shut her eyes.
xXx
Dina was in the middle of giving JJ some kisses as she danced around with him in the living room. She chuckled at his big and round cheeks as he made some noises before finally glancing upstairs and calling out to her fiancé. "Ellie, can you go water the plants for me? I have to feed JJ soon before he gets too fussy."
"Yeah, just give me a second!" Ellie shouted back as she did the do. "I'm taking a shit right now."
That immediately made Dina snort before laughing out loud. She then patted JJ's back as she made her way over to the couch and cooed at her baby. "Are you hungry baby?" Her son only made some weird noises and a few "baa baa" and "boo boo" huffs before Dina took a seat. "Yeah? You're hungry?" She cooed again in a sweet voice before getting him comfy and settled in her arms.
Ellie finally came down the stairs before heading outside. "Alright, I'll be back."
"Okay," Dina then started unbuttoning her shirt before adjusting her hold on JJ. She then carefully guided her son to her nipple before patiently waiting for him to feed.
After a few minutes, Ellie was done with her chore before coming back inside, and once in, the moment she laid eyes on Dina, she let out a deep sigh. "I am too gay for this."
Dina blinked before looking up at Ellie with a curious smile. "What? What'd you just say?"
She just sighed before shaking her head. "Nothing."
"Oh? But I could have sworn you said you were 'too gay for this' and by this," she teased before glancing down at her bare chest with their son feeding away on her left nipple. "You mean breastfeeding?"
A huge smile covered Ellie's face as she walked closer while playfully running her tongue across her upper lip. "Hey," she then eyed Dina's breasts before finally resting her hand next to Dina's side on the couch. "Not my fault your tits look great."
Chuckling at that, Dina held eye contact with her fiancé as she licked her lips. "I know."
The smile on Ellie's face never left as she leaned in closer while blatantly staring at her right breast, ignoring an innocent JJ who was drinking some milk. "They're definitely bigger."
"Hmm, I wonder why?" Dina joked back as she kept her eyes attached to Ellie's.
"And your nipples are quite something too."
They had grown a little in size and were darker than usual for obvious reasons. Dina laughed this time with a slight shake of her head before glancing down at JJ. He finally detached his mouth from her nipple before smacking his lips together and letting out this little grunt, signaling he was done. That's when Ellie reached forward to grab him.
"Here, let me."
Her fiancé handed him off to her and once Ellie had him situated on her chest, she started patting his back while bouncing up and down to get him to burp. "Did you have a good meal bubba?" She made some kissy noises before glancing at Dina wiping her breast with a towel.
Of course, Dina happened to look up and make eye contact with her. "What? You want some?"
"Of what?" She cocked an eyebrow, "Your breast milk?"
"I mean, with the way you've been staring at my boobs these past weeks, I'm surprised you haven't asked."
Ellie scoffed. "Babe, please, that's gross."
"Like you've never sucked on your mom's tits before."
At that comment, she just shrugged nonchalantly. "Beats me, orphan, remember? I could have or could not have, hell if I know."
"Right."
JJ finally burped and Ellie gave him a few short praises with some more kissy noises. As the two of them swayed around with each other, Dina couldn't help but notice Ellie glancing at her breasts again. Her face only flattened as she shot Ellie a look.
"Ellie, you're staring again."
Her eyes flicked up. "What? I can't help it. We haven't had sex in like…" She looked up to do some mental math before giving up and guessing. "Two months?"
Dina was purposely taking her sweet time buttoning up her shirt. "Hmm, has it been that long?"
"Apparently." Ellie shrugged her shoulders again before eyeing her exposed chest.
Shaking her head, Dina finally stood up and her nipples were hardly covered by her shirt. "Well, I'm just gonna put it out there, I'm fine now so when we do have sex again, I won't be opposed if you want a taste, and spoiler, you'd love it."
There was something so smug about her voice that made Ellie scoff. "Babe, you are not telling me to suck your tits."
Shrugging with a dismissive yet flirtatious smile, Dina finally buttoned up the last button. "I am not telling you to do that but just saying, my body's all yours, milk and all."
Rolling her eyes, Ellie shot her a baffled look. "Dina, I am not drinking your freakin' milk!"
She gave her an innocent shrug with a chuckle. "If you say so."
xXx
A sharp cry made Ellie twitch awake. Dina stirred as well and they both shifted around before forcing their eyes open. JJ was crying out loud which made Ellie sigh before sitting up. Dina just grumbled before shifting around.
"Want me to get it?"
"No, it's okay. I got it," Ellie rubbed her eyes before picking him up. "You got him yesterday so I'll do it." She then climbed out of bed before bouncing him up and down. "God, we need a better system or we're both gonna keel over."
Dina sighed as she shifted in bed. "We can talk about it later when the sun's up…" She then let out a big yawn before mumbling in a hoarse voice. "Maybe we can… do rotations or something…"
"Yeah, that sounds good." Ellie gave JJ a quick kiss before quickly heading downstairs.
As much as she loved their baby and tried their best to be good, no, decent parents, who the fuck were they kidding? They sucked and barely knew what they were doing. Not to mention they were still working out kinks for a healthy routine between feeding and sleeping. Albeit, feeding had gotten a little easier because Talia was kind enough to give them a breast pump. That meant that Ellie could help a bit when it came to feeding their son (after some protest with the bottle of course). Even if Dina still did the majority of it, she still appreciated the help and break.
A decent night's sleep was still the problem.
Once Ellie was inside their kitchen, she grabbed a pot and warmed up some water. She then pulled out a bottle of Dina's milk from the fridge before shaking it aimlessly. As she did so, her eyes were closed shut as she tried soothing her crying son. "Shh shh shh… JJ it's okay baby. Just let me warm up your milk for you…"
By the time the water was warm enough, Ellie put the bottle in and after a few minutes, she pulled it out before checking the temperature. Her son was only crying even louder by the second before she called it good and went over to the couch. "Here you go bubba, I got your favorite."
Ellie then cradled him comfortably in her arms before raising the bottle to his lips. He was still crying nonstop as he kept on pushing away the bottle with his little fingers.
"Yeah yeah yeah, I know buddy." Ellie cooed as she rocked JJ side-to-side before shaking his milk bottle in an appetizing way. "Mama's boobs are better but she needs some rest okay?" She then sunk into the couch before holding him snugly against her chest and trying again. "C'mon potato, eat up. It's still her milk so it's the good stuff you little turd."
He whined and thrashed for a while before finally giving in and sucking the bottle.
"Good boy…"
Ellie watched him eat with a tired smile before squeezing his chubby leg lightly.
"You're lookin' more and more like your dad huh?" The thought of Jesse made her frown. She ended up taking a deep breath before blinking away her tears. "It'd be better if you take after your mama as you grow. She's hotter."
JJ was paying no mind to her words, drinking his milk away. Ellie ended up sighing softly again before shutting her eyes. They were burning and were dry as shit as if they had been left out in the desert for weeks. By the time JJ finished drinking all of his milk, Ellie set down the empty bottle on the table. She then sat JJ up before patting his back.
"Was it good?"
He babbled a little before hugging Ellie.
"Yeah? Mama's got the best milk huh?"
Eventually, he burped before snuggling into Ellie's neck. She just sighed in relief that he wasn't fussy anymore. She then thought about climbing back into bed but then this couch was just ridiculously cushiony and well, just perfect for her tired ass. She ended up leaning back and closing her eyes.
"Just for five minutes…"
When morning came, Dina came down the stairs slightly confused. She was wondering where her family had gone off to when she woke up this morning but the moment she found them on the couch, her heart swooned. She quickly grabbed a blanket before draping it over her fiancé and son. She then brushed away a strand of hair from Ellie's face before leaning down to kiss her cheek and kissing JJ's head.
"Slept tight, love you two the most."
xXx
"Hey, El, I'm going to go pick out some veggies and go out on a hunt," Dina announced as she set the last dish on the drying rack.
Ellie quickly glanced at Dina as she waved around a toy block in front of JJ's face. "You sure you don't want me to do it?"
"It's okay, I got it." She reassured as she wiped her hands with a towel, "I could use some exercise and fresh air."
"Alright, be safe then babe."
"I will."
At that last word, Dina grabbed their hunting rifle before taking off. Once she was out and about, Ellie turned back to face JJ before speaking in a sweet voice.
"Alright, where were we?"
Ellie went back to playing around with JJ when everything quickly went wrong. Out of nowhere, he started crying, which wasn't bad at first, but then he wouldn't stop and it got worse by the second. Her eardrums were about to burst from how unhappy her son was for whatever reason.
"What's wrong buddy? Why are you crying?"
She picked him up before patting his back and bouncing him up and down. He fed not too long ago just before Dina left so that shouldn't have been the problem. He didn't stink either so he probably didn't need to go and she was giving him attention so why on earth was he crying?
His wailing and crying grew worse and he kept going at it nonstop which made Ellie panic because this was the first time her fiancé wasn't here to help. He would usually calm down when Dina bounced him up and down when he was extra fussy but alas, she wasn't here.
"Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck, what do I do?"
She tried bouncing him up and down while patting his back.
"What's wrong? It's okay buddy, don't cry JJ."
His cries grew only worse and Ellie didn't know why.
"Shit shit shit, what do I do, what do I do?"
That's when she saw her guitar out of the corner of her eyes. For some reason, Ellie started walking toward it. Nothing was working anyway so why not? She quickly set him down in the chair across from her, picking up her guitar off its stand, and sitting across from JJ with it on her lap. She began strumming the strings, playing some light and soft music for JJ. By some miracle, JJ's cries thankfully grew softer and softer until eventually, he started giggling before staring at her with his big eyes.
A warm smile of relief washed over Ellie.
"Urgh thank god…"
JJ started clapping his hands for some reason, making Ellie's heart soar.
"Aw just like your mama huh? You like hearing me play?"
He giggled again and Ellie just melted.
"Alright, I can't let down a new fan now can I?"
Ellie started humming as she strummed the strings before singing in a soft voice. She started off with her favorite song, followed by the one she wrote for Dina, and then one she did on the spot for JJ. She hasn't had the time to officially write something for him but she wanted to so this was a start. She ended up getting lost in her thoughts and tunes before her fiancé came back.
Dina blinked the moment she saw Ellie and JJ and shot them a look before laughing and asking, "Ellie, what are you doing?"
She just caught her eyes before chuckling softly. "Serenading our baby?"
The smile on her face wouldn't leave. "Okay?"
"What, he was crying like crazy and wouldn't stop! Nothing was working and then I saw my guitar so why not?" She then jutted her lips before looking at him. "Isn't that right JJ? You liked my songs."
JJ laughed again as kicked around his little arms and legs.
"Hey, I didn't say anything…" Dina walked over before kissing Ellie's cheek. "I just thought it was cute."
Ellie just rolled her eyes before kissing her back. "How'd it go?"
"Mmh, got a rabbit."
"Nice," she then set down her guitar. "Want me to prepare it?"
That's when JJ immediately started crying again. Dina shot him a look before laughing, "I think your audience wants an encore."
"Gosh, so needy." Ellie joked before picking up her guitar again. "Just like his mama."
"Hey."
A snort left her lips as Ellie started playing again however, instead of responding, she started singing again. Dina just rolled her eyes before walking out to the back.
"I'll be back in a sec."
Her fiancé just smiled with a nod as she settled down their baby's crying with another song.