After Razor left him that morning, Feral rose to take a shower. The hot water felt good and woke him up more. After checking on Elora and finding her blissfully asleep, he made his way to the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast.
He turned on the stove and began to scramble some eggs while putting toast in the toaster. His mind went back to what Razor had told him. He still found it unbelievable that the SWAT Kat had willingly stayed at his side all night, did his household chores, fed and changed Elora and even did that embarrassing personal chore for him.
It just felt all wrong but he couldn't deny how much welcome sleep he'd gotten. He couldn't believe how tired he had been nor how groggy. It took everything he had to even climb out of bed to go to the bathroom. It was unpleasant to say the least and Razor assured him this was just the beginning. He could only cringe at that thought as he served up his breakfast.
He hurriedly cleaned up, grabbed his milk and plate then made for the living room. He flicked the TV on and sighed as he settled into his comfortable recliner, eating his food slowly while watching the news. It felt decidedly odd being home during a work day. He'd only just finished eating when a loud cry from the bedroom told him his little darling was awake.
Setting his plate down he made for the bedroom. Walking around the bed, he reached the bassinet and lifted out his wailing daughter. Cooing and swaying with her in his arms, he made for the changing table. She'd wet through her clothes again and, giving a passing thought to poorly made diapers, he pulled everything off her, cleaned her up then redressed her.
By now she was fairly shrieking angrily at him. Sighing and folding his ears down in self defense, he paused at his dresser long enough to pull out a breast pad then hurriedly made for the living room.
Getting settled in his recliner again, he bounced his irate daughter, trying to calm her down while he opened the light shirt he was wearing and popped the snap on his bra to allow his nipple to be exposed. Tossing the wet pad onto the coffee table, he brought Elora to his breast and spent the next five minutes coaxing her to eat rather than continue to throw a tantrum. Using the techniques Razor had shown him he finally succeeded in getting her to settle down and nurse.
Sighing again (he was doing that a lot he noted), he went back to watching TV. Some fifteen minutes later, he noticed the urgent activity at his breast had ceased. Glancing down, he saw she had fallen asleep, a drop of milk on her tiny lip. He tenderly lifted her to his shoulder and tapped her back to release any bubbles. She didn't burp, only sighed and nuzzled his neck. He laid her down beside him a moment while he slipped a new pad in his bra and snapped it back up, not bothering to close his shirt.
He picked her back up and carried her to the bedroom, laying her sleeping form in her bed. Yawning and stretching, he returned to the living room and collected his plates. He flicked the TV off then walked to the kitchen to lay his dishes in the sink, stood there trying to decide if he wanted to wash them but finally realized he was just to tired so made his way back to bed to catch some more sleep.
As his eyes closed and sleep began to roll over him, he remembered Razor said T-Bone was taking over tonight. He wondered how he and that arrogant tom were going to get along or would he even be aware of him being there. He yawned hugely and let the thought go for now.
For the rest of the day, he moved through a haze of feeding, changing, sleeping, over and over again till the sun began to fall below the horizon. By then he was dragging his tail and could barely keep his eyes open long enough to make himself a meal. He'd just fed Elora again and wanted nothing more than to go to bed but his stomach was growling loudly and he knew it would keep him from sleeping and skipping meals wasn't good for milk production.
He shuffled tirededly to the kitchen and pulled together some meat, veggies, and potatoes and tossed them in a skillet. As the food cooked, he felt his eyelids dragging shut. Feral didn't know how long he'd been literally sleeping on his feet when he startled awake as finger suddenly and gently took the spoon he had been holding from his paw. He blinked in shock as he realized he could smell something burning, looking down he saw he'd burned his dinner.
"Let me just dump this and make you something else." Rumbled a voice he never expected to hear in his apartment.
Trying to wake himself enough to see clearly, Feral beheld the burly shape of T-Bone as the tom pushed him to a seat then began to move around the kitchen making another meal and turning on fans to clear the smoky air. Feral couldn't do anything but gape at the tom and cough. His addled brain finally remembered Razor had said his partner would be taking over his care tonight and here he was.
As the kitchen air cleared of the smell of burning food, T-Bone finished making a hot sandwich and deposited it and a tall glass of milk before the exhausted dark tom.
"Here, eat up before you fall face first to the table." He said gruffly, his voice sounding mildly amused and sympathetic at the same time.
Feeling like a robot, Feral picked up the sandwich and ate mechanically. He was just too tired to even taste the food. He gave up trying to keep his eyes open as it took too much effort just to eat so it wasn't surprising he nearly knocked his milk over reaching for it blindly, but T-Bone caught it and gently placed it in his paw.
In this fashion, he finally finished his meal then felt the tabby help him to his feet and guide him to his bedroom. As they nearly reached the door, a wail greeted them.
"Do you need to use the bathroom?" T-Bone asked, ignoring the wail for the moment.
Feral blinked and thought a moment then nodded. The big SWAT Kat helped him to the bathroom then left him to do his business while he took care of Elora. When Feral managed to stumble back into the bedroom, T-Bone was cradling Elora, cooing at her while he waited for the dark tom to reach the bed and lay down.
Halfway there, Feral paused trying to think what he needed, turning to the dresser to retrieve a pad then going to the bed to lay down with a groan. He released the flap on his left breast and felt Elora being lowered into his arms. Soon she was nursing and he was drifting to sleep.
He never felt Elora being lifted from him, his bra being snapped up again nor his covers being pulled over him.
T-Bone shook his head as he gently burped the tiny kitten then laid her in her bassinet. He stared down at her for a long moment. It was hard to believe Feral had given birth to this little beauty.
As for the stiff-necked tom, he was very glad he'd arrived when he did... Feral had nearly burned down his kitchen, falling asleep the way he had, over his cooking food. Poor guy, he was like a walking zombie.
It was going to be a long night but it would be worth it. No matter how he felt about the arrogant tom, he admired him for doing something truly incredible and having the courage to keep his daughter and raise her despite how difficult that was going to be as a single parent and in such a dangerous career field.
Sighing, he slipped from the bedroom and went to the kitchen to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen.
He quickly fell into an easy but tiring routine of taking care of Elora and Feral's needs through the night as well as doing any minor housework that needed doing.
The smelliest job was dumping the diaper pail. He had to slip out of Feral's apartment without being observed, go down to the basement and dump the trash bag then slip back upstairs and into the apartment once more. He also had to do the laundry, all those tiny clothes were a nightmare of making sure he didn't lose one in the washer or dryer. Razor had done the main laundry, consisting of Feral's uniforms, linens and towels, yesterday so he was left with his least favorite chore...ironing.
Finding the ironing board and iron, he set it up in the living room so he could watch TV while he did his work. In very little time, he finished and hung up the freshly pressed clothes just in time to take care of Elora again.
By the time dawn peeked through the curtains, T-Bone was ready to crash. He would stay until Elora woke again which should be in another two hours then wake Feral, fix him breakfast and leave for home.
If Feral was behaving like the walking dead, he and Razor would be nearly the same by week's end. He sighed and shook his head, well they did volunteer so he would just suck it up and exist on long catnaps for awhile.
Some two and a half hours later, he was placing Elora back in her bed while Feral was trying to wake up enough to rise. T-Bone eyed him critically to see if the dark tom was going to be able to get to his feet then sighed mentally in relief when Feral lurched to his feet and stumbled his way to the bathroom, soon the shower was heard. Giving a huge yawn and stretch, T-Bone headed for the kitchen and very quickly had a nutritious breakfast made by the time a more awake tom walked in.
"Sit, eat!" The tabby ordered the dark tom brusquely, setting a plate and tall glass of milk on the table.
Feral eyed the SWAT Kat warily but did as he was told and sat down at the table. The food was good and he was tucking in with gusto, surprised at how hungry he was.
"Nursing Elora will make you far hungrier than you're used to. Don't ignore it and ensure you eat plenty. Now isn't the time to worry about your waistline. That's all my mother could think about after my sister was born, bout drove my father crazy." T-Bone said knowingly.
"I don't think I'll be as concerned about that as much as trying to stay awake." Feral said ruefully, finishing his food and pushing the plate away.
T-Bone came over and whisked the dishes to the sink and began to wash them. "Yeah, I can imagine. That will take some time as your body recovers from giving birth and having surgery. Listen to your body and don't try to tough it out, now isn't the time for it."
Feral stared at T-Bone's back as the SWAT Kat busied himself setting the kitchen to rights. It just felt so weird to have both of these vigilantes puttering around his home and helping him during this trying time of adjustment being a mother. He really didn't know how to react to this and was just too darn tired to analyze it much anyway.
"By the way, I washed Elora's clothes and put them away as well as ironed your uniforms...took out the trash as well. Shouldn't be much for Razor to do on his shift unless you'd like your bedding changed." T-Bone interrupted Feral's internal musing.
The dark tom looked up in surprise as he noted the SWAT Kat was done and was preparing to leave. He had been so out of it he hadn't even noticed. He was stunned to hear what the big tom had accomplished for him the evening before.
"Uh, thanks...I..."
T-Bone just waved off Feral's attempt to thank him and gave the Commander a friendly slap on the back.
"Don't worry about it. Just rest, take care of Elora and eat. That's all your responsibilities are for right now. Razor will be in tonight. Take it slow and rest. See you in a couple of days." T-Bone promised then left the room. Moments later, Feral heard his door open then close. He was alone for the day.