Chapter 23

Sebastian 

Sebastian is woken up the next morning by a loud banging noise coming from the bathroom. “Ouch!” someone yelps.

He gets up and rushes into the bathroom, where Skye is on the floor. “Skye!” he says, alarmed, “Are you okay?”

“I’m o…okay,” she answers, “I think I h…hurt my a…ankle.”

“What were you doing? You aren’t supposed to be up by yourself anyway!”

“I had to go to the b…bathroom!”

“You should’ve woken me up! Angela could’ve helped you!”

“I’m s…sorry, I d…didn’t t…think a…about t…that. I t…thought it would be o…okay.”

He shakes his head. “Let me help you up. I’m going to have Angela look at your ankle.”

“O…okay.” She slowly stands up and her leg buckles from beneath her. “Ow!”

Sebastian sighs and gently picks her up, carrying her back to the hospital bed. Once she’s settled on the bed, he mindlinks Angela. “Angela,” he says, “could you come to Skye’s room?”

“Yes, of course,” Angela responds, “Why?”

“She went to the bathroom by herself and took a fall. I think her ankle is sprained.”

“I’ll be there soon.”

Skye begins to fidget around in the bed, obviously uncomfortable. “Skylar,” Sebastian says, “stop moving around some much. You’re going to hurt yourself again.”

Angela comes into the room, where Sebastian is gently scolding Skye. “Skylar,” she says, “let me look at your ankle.” Skye moves her leg to where Angela can see it. “Ooh, ouch, that’s definitely sprained. Were you able to put any weight on it?”

“She wasn’t,” Sebastian answers, “her leg buckled when she tried to.”

Angela sighs. “I’m going to wrap your ankle.”

“W…will I still be a…able to go home?”

“Yes, as long as your ankle doesn’t worsen.”

“So r…rest?”

“Yes, rest. I’ll go and get your discharge papers.” She leaves the room.

Silas and Celeste begin to fuss. Skye looks startled. “Skye?” Sebastian says, “What do I do?”

“Give them to me. T…they’re probably hungry a…again.”

Sebastian carefully gives Skye Silas and then Celeste. Skye awkwardly lowers her gown and begins to feed them both. “Skylar? Is it okay for you to feed them at the same time?”

Skye looks unsure. “I d…don’t know.” She looks frantically around the room “I d…didn’t t…think about t…that! I…this…t…this is h…how I f…fed G…Gray and T…Theo!”

“Skye, it’s okay, we can ask Angela when she gets back.” This doesn’t help as much as he thought it would. “Skylar, it’s okay!”

Angela comes running into the room. “What the hell is going on?” she asks. She sees that Skye is feeding the twins. “Oh, they’re eating well, that’s good.” Skye lets out a whimper, her uncertainty and fear finally coming to a head. Angela sets the discharge paper onto the bedside table. “Honey, what’s wrong?” She shakes her head, unable to answer. Angela turns to Sebastian. “What’s going on?”

“Is it okay for her to breastfeed both at the same time?” he blurts out.

“That’s fine, one may need more than the other though.” She looks back at Skye. “If that happens, don’t worry too much. Babies each have their own personalities, so if things differ a bit between them, that’s okay.”

“O…okay,” Skye whispers.

Angela sits down on bed. “Honey, it’s okay.”

“I’m s…scared. I d…don’t k…know what I’m d…doing!”

“Sweetheart, that’s normal. Look at Gray and Theo. They’re thriving. You’ve done well with them.”

Skye simply begins to cry, her emotions from the years of abuse and having to raise her boys on her own finally coming out.

Angela rubs her back. “Shh, you’re safe. You’re home now. We’ll keep you and your children safe, okay?”

“O…o…okay,” she manages to sniffle out.

“Now, Sebastian is going to sign these release papers and then you and your babies can go home.” Skye nods as she continues to cry.

Sebastian quickly signs the papers and hands them to Angela. “Come on, Skylar,” he says softly, “let’s go home.”

“H…home,” she murmurs.

Skye

When they arrive home, Sebastian mindlinks Alice and tells her, “Alice, we’re home. Could you come out and help Skye into the house? She fell and sprained her ankle before we left.”

“Of course, alpha,” Alice responds. A few minutes later, Alice comes outside. “Skylar, let’s get you inside.” She helps Skye out of the car and they slowly hobble towards the house. Sebastian follows them, carrying the twins in their carseats.

Gray and Theo are waiting in the living room. “Mama!” they cry out, as soon as their mother walks through the door.

“Hello,” she answers softly, “I’m h…home.”

“Where babies, mama?” Theo asks.

S…Sebby’s bring them in.” As if on queue, Sebastian comes into the room and gently places the twins down.

The boys run over and peek at their siblings. “Mama,” Gray wonders, “why they small?”

Skye smiles at him. “You w…were that s…small too w…when you and your b…brother were born.”

Gray’s eyes widen. “Really?”

She nods. “Mama?” Theo asks, “What their names?”

“S…Silas and C…Celeste.”

“They look like mama.”

“They d…do.”

“Mama, hold them?”

“You want to hold t…them?” Gray and Theo nod. “O…okay, sit down on the c…couch.” They climb onto the couch and wait.

Skye carefully gives Gray Silas and Theo Celeste. “Ah, small!” Gray exclaims, excitedly.

“Y…yes, they are small.” A few minutes pass and Silas and Celeste begin to fuss.

“Mama!” Theo yells, distressed.

“Er, S…Sebby, could you…”

“I got it,” Sebastian answers. He walks over to Gray and Theo and carefully takes Silas and Celeste from them. “Here.” He gives the twins to Skye.

Skye begins to breastfeed them again. Gray and Theo watch in astonishment. “Mama?” Gray questions, “What you doing?”

“I’m f…feeding them,” Skye answers.

“What they eating?”

“Milk.”

“I want”

“No, G…Gray. Silas and C…Celeste need it more.” Gray begins to throw a tantrum. “G…Gray, please! C…calm d…down!”

Silas and Celeste start to fuss, while Skye is feeding them. Skye looks helplessly around the room. “Gray. Theo why don’t we go and play?” Sebastian asks.

“Don’t wanna!” Gray shouts, “want milk too!”

“We can go and get milk from the kitchen.”

“No! Want milk from mama!”

Sebastian picks Gray up and carries him out the room. “Want milk too!” Theo shouts, before running after them.

A few minutes later, Charlotte comes into the room. “Skylar,” she asks, “are you okay?”

Skye looks at her, her face pale. “I d…don’t know,” she answers, “he’s n…never b…been like that b…before.”

“It’s normal behavior for a boy of his age. He’s in a safe environment now, so it may happen more often.”

“O…oh, I d…didn’t know t…that.”

“That’s okay, parenthood is all about learning.”

“How do…how do I calm him down?”

“A lot of patience, if you aren’t able to calm him down, he’ll eventually tire himself out and stop.”

Skye looks back and forth from Silas and Celeste, who are still breastfeeding, and Charlotte, who seems worried. “C…Charlotte?” she whispers.

“What is it, sweetheart?”

“I…is it a…always s…stressful?”

“Parenthood?” Skye nods, “No, it’s not. It’s filled with up and downs, happiness, angry, stress, fatigue.”

She sighs. “O…okay, t…that’s good.”

“Yes, it is. Skylar, don’t forget that you have Sebastian and me too. We’ll help you when we’re able to.”

“R…really?”

“Yes, really. You tell me if Sebastian does anything stupid. I’ll whack some sense into him.”

Skye lets out a nervous laugh. “I w…will.”