24
938 Words
"Francesca..."
She was already halfway to the door, and she didn't turn back.
"I should probably go after her," Jonas stood up and Sawyer's heart raced as he realized he was going to be left alone with the baby.
"You can't do that."
"Do you want her to tell them about your personal life?"
Sawyer looked down at Saga, then back up to Jonas.
"Please don't leave me alone with her for too long. I don't know what the hell I'm doing."
"Neither do I," Jonas shrugged, "but she just ate; she'll be fine."
He ran after Francesca, and Sawyer was left standing in the middle of Karoline's living room with the baby in his arms.
He smiled at her, then felt ridiculous about it because the newborn wasn't exactly going to smile back.
He stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do next, before he finally sat down on the couch.
He cradled her in his arms with her little head resting against his chest, and he stared at the wall opposite him.
What was he supposed to do with her now?
When he looked down at her he saw that her eyes were still open, but he was afraid to move her in case it made her cry.
He tried to get a handle on everything that had happened over the past couple of days, but it was all just a jumble of emotions in his head. The last thing he had needed was a baby to deal with.
She made a mewling noise and he stroked her back, trying to soothe her before she got fussy. Her tiny body was warm against his and he could feel her heart beating.
When she made another noise he smiled and stroked her pure white hair.
He didn't think he would ever get used to the sight of her - the unusual amber shade of her eyes was familiar enough, but combined with her hair she looked extraordinary.
She was only wearing a diaper - the weather was warm enough that she didn't need any more than that, but he knew it was because they still didn't have any clothes for her.
He stroked her back again and sighed, trying not to get frustrated at his sister for the fact she hadn't prepared at all for the baby when she had been superstitious and she couldn't have predicted the girl would look so distinctive that taking her anywhere would be impossible.
"It's not like we can get stuff delivered here... or take you out to get things..."she made another noise again, as if she was responding to him, and he looked down at her and smiled. "Yeah, we'll figure something out."
He held Saga to his chest with one hand and fumbled in his pocket to pull out his phone with the other, before realizing he didn't actually know what time his sister had left to be able to figure our how long she had been gone.
It didn't matter anyway - he knew that his sister wouldn't stay away from the baby for long, and she was back within a couple of minutes.
"You should go home," Francesca reached out to take Saga back, but Sawyer was hesitant to move.
"Is something wrong?"
"No...they just think it would be better to handle these things separately. Jonas is talking to his nephew about what we need for the baby right now, and they're going to come over here after that. They'll be over to speak to you later."
He took a deep breath, and stroked the baby's back without making a move to give her back to her mother.
"Are you going to tell me why you ran off like that?"
She raised her eyebrow and sat down next to her brother.
"I could ask you the same thing, Nathan. Why did you run away and cut me off the way you did?"
"We needed to get away from everything. Elizabeth needed to figure herself out without people judging her."
"And you had to go to the considerable effort it must have taken to make yourselves completely untraceable?"
Sawyer noticed the way his sister's eyes were sparkling, and realized she had seen the way he was holding Saga as an opportunity to ask him the questions he had been trying to avoid.
"Fuck..." she narrowed her eyes slightly and he shook his head, "that's why you were so eager to get me to speak to Selene and Valo about staying here, isn't it? You want to make sure I don't leave again."
"You think very highly of yourself."
Sawyer passed Saga back to Francesca and stood up.
"You're not denying it, though."
"No," she looked him squarely in the eyes, "I'm not denying it. I need you here; we need you here."
"Well...Elizabeth needs me over there right now."
"I'm being serious."
Sawyer shrugged and walked over to the door.
"So am I. She's not been in Heat for over a year...I'm guessing it won't be easy for her."
"I'm sure she'll cope. If she doesn't, she can always..."
"...no. She's not doing anything to mess with her body again, Francesca."
He snapped defensively and Francesca raised her eyebrow at the outburst.
"Duly noted, but I was going to say she can always go out into the forest and explore her new territory. It might be nice for her to get to know the place if you're going to be settling down here."
"We're not leaving; whether we settle down or not is an entirely different matter."
"But you want to, don't you?" she asked with a smirk.
- Writer
