Laurel was the first visitor, arriving exactly one week after the birth, at which point Ranon allowed them to see their baby.
"Ough, the sll!" Laurel protested when Hazel changed Ashlyn’s diapers. "How can a small baby shit so much?"
Laurel had never handled a newborn, because when she t with Carl, he had already been potty trained; thus, she didn’t need to deal with this kind of stuff.
"Go away, Laurel, if you will only badmouth my baby." Hazel threw the dirty diaper towards Laurel; of course, it had been folded neatly and was put into a plastic bag so the poop wouldn’t scatter on the floor, or else Renna would chew her out for her childish behavior.
"Hazel!" Laurel didn’t have a good reflex, so the dirty diaper brushed her hand, and she beca hysterical. "Ah! It’s gross!"
Hazel chuckled when she saw Laurel rush to the toilet, but the smile on her face faded almost imdiately when nobody saw her. She changed Ashlyn’s diapers without any emotion. It looked thodical, the sa way you changed your clothes.
However, her gaze softened and the smile returned when Laurel ca back after washing her hands.
"Are you done? Co, give my dirty niece." Laurel stretched out her arms to get Ashlyn.
"She is not dirty," Hazel protested, but she handed over Ashlyn. "You should co with sothing. How can you co empty-handed?"
Hazel sat down and stared at the baby in Laurel’s arms. Even though their relationship couldn’t be said to be on good terms, Hazel could see how Laurel adored Ashlyn.
She wondered why she couldn’t feel the sa.
She wanted to, but sothing held her back. She didn’t want to get too close to her daughter and beco emotionally attached to her.
"Who said I ca empty-handed?" Laurel raised her brows, while Ashlyn wriggled in her arms because she was uncomfortable. Laurel wasn’t used to holding a newborn, so the baby was in discomfort. "I bring toys with ."
"What toy?" Hazel looked at her. She was certain Laurel only ca holding a small, expensive purse of hers, but she brought nothing else. "You only brought your ugly self here."
Hearing that, Laurel was shocked. "I am way older than you; how could you talk to like that?"
"Serves you right for calling my daughter dirty."
Laurel was more than a decade older than Hazel, but as River, she was six years younger than her.
"The toys are downstairs; I can’t bring them all here."
"Them all?" Hazel repeated her words.
She had a bad feeling about it, and she was right; when she went down to check what kind of toys Laurel had bought for Ashlyn when she walked her back to her car, Hazel’s temper flared.
"Which toy store have you robbed?!’’
anwhile, Laurel just chuckled as she waved her hands. She bought the toys for her niece, but aside from that, she did it to piss Hazel off, too.
"I want to buy her a car toy, but she can’t drive yet."
"Don’t buy her anything!"
Seeing the number of toys in the lobby that Laurel had bought gave Hazel a headache.
The next day, it was Logan and her father who ca to visit. Both of them bought toys and clothes for the baby. Good thing Hazel didn’t go crazy buying the baby’s stuff, because she got them a lot.
Logan liked Ashlyn and attempted to take her back ho.
"Good, you can change her diapers too. She peed like a broken faucet." She then genuinely inford him. "She poops well, too."
That statent was enough to make Logan drop the idea of taking Ashlyn with him. "I will take her when she is already potty trained."
"Well, let’s see if she likes you enough to go out with you."
"Oh, he will love so much more than your cold husband."
What Logan said reminded Hazel of Michael. There was a ti when he said the sa thing, too.
anwhile, Greyson didn’t speak much, but he held Ashlyn all the ti, and Logan had to argue with him to carry her.
"Can we talk?" Greyson asked Hazel when he finally handed over the baby to Logan.
However, despite fussing over her, Logan didn’t know how to hold a newborn, so he put her down on the sofa and cooed at her.
"Sure." Hazel nodded. She knew Greyson would want to say sothing.
Both of them then walked towards the balcony, the last place they had a conversation. It was sunset out there; the sky had turned into a golden color, and it was beautiful.
Hazel was used to staying out here around this hour to enjoy the view.
"Congratulations." Greyson looked sincere when he said that; he walked towards the railing and leaned against it, watching the sunset. "I am sure you will be a good mother, and I hope you will have a smooth-sailing marriage."
"Thank you." Hazel sat down on her favorite chair. Her stomach was a little bit bloated after giving birth.
"I am glad you are fine," Greyson said again. He seed to look for the right words to say to get his point across.
"You an I could die on the operating table?" Hazel’s reply was curt; she didn’t even try to make it easy for Greyson. She watched how he grimaced, but Hazel couldn’t care less.
There were a lot of things in her mind to think about aside from accommodating his feelings.
"Has Ranon treated you well?"
"Better than the Roses." She was well aware that she was being snappy, but Greyson made it hard to like him.
Greyson pressed his lips. If it were in the past, he would have shouted at Hazel for giving him an attitude, but he was here to make ands with his daughter.
"Can we put the past behind us?"
"Sure." Hazel nodded. It was very easy; it didn’t sound convincing, as if she were mocking her father.
"Hazel, you have beco a mother now." He lowered his head. "You should understand a little bit."
"Now that I am a mother, I don’t even understand why you did that to ." Hazel felt disconnected from her daughter, but it didn’t an she would neglect her. She wouldn’t do what Arthur had done to Hazel to Ashlyn.
"You are not grieving, Hazel. Everyone faced grief differently."
Hazel squinted her eyes dangerously. "Do you wish for to die, and Ranon will treat our daughter the way you treated ?"
Even if she died, Ranon would still love Ashlyn. She could see it in his eyes, how much he adored his daughter.
Moreover, the thing between them was not even that serious. This sham marriage would end soon. She only needed ti to recuperate and then deal with the legal proceedings.
"Even if I had died during childbirth, Ranon would never turn into soone like you." Hazel was a hundred percent certain about that.
Greyson didn’t know how to relay what he ant, while Hazel was not in the right mind and mood to understand him.
"I know." Greyson nodded. He looked exhausted. "That’s not what I ant." He didn’t want to talk about this further because he knew he would say the wrong thing, and it would upset Hazel even more. "Can I still co to see Ashlyn?"
"As long as you treat her well..."
***
"Tired?" Ranon asked when he had just put Ashlyn in her crib.
"Hm." Hazel lay down on her stomach. She moaned softly when Ranon started massaging her back. It felt very nice. He gave the right pressure on the right place.
"Hungry?"
"If you keep feeding , I will have a hard ti losing weight."
"You are breastfeeding Ashlyn; why do you need to lose weight?" She just gave birth a little over a week ago, but was she already thinking of losing weight?
They didn’t make a huge celebration for Ashlyn, as they didn’t like unnecessary attention, and more so, the baby had not yet understood either.
Therefore, they were planning a family dinner with both families next week. Just thinking about it was already exhausting for Hazel. Imagining the Leightons and the Roses in the sa place was overwhelming.
She would skip the entire thing if she could.
"Don’t sleep yet; you need to pump." Ranon kissed her forehead and shook her body gently to wake her up, because she was so close to falling asleep. It was very comfortable after all.
Ranon was very involved with their daughter. Aside from the tasks he couldn’t do, such as feeding the baby, he would take care of the rest.
Oftentis, he would be the one who woke up in the middle of the night and ward the milk. That was why it was crucial to have enough stock for Ashlyn.
’I have a lot of spare ti; you can go back to sleep.’ That was what Ranon said when Hazel woke up with him.
"Ugh, I feel like a cow." Hazel rubbed her eyes while Ranon prepared everything for her. But sohow she beca a little bit self-aware because Ranon was there.
It was rather embarrassing for Hazel to do it in front of him.
Thankfully, Ashlyn needed his attention, as she needed to be changed; thus, Ranon had sothing else to do.
"Oh, right..." Hazel started a conversation. "About the divorce... What story will we co up with?"
Ranon had his back facing Hazel, so she didn’t see how he stopped his movent for a brief second upon hearing her question.
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