It'll Come Naturally

Being a wife is one thing but, being a mother is another. Adjusting to a new lifestyle was incredibly difficult for Leena but, together with her husband Kevin, she could manage. Now, they were a family of three, having a new born son as an addition to the family. Leena, Kevin, and their son were in the bedroom, preparing themselves to end the day. She cradled their son as he placed a kiss on her cheek and a kiss on their son's forehead. The infant smiled and chuckled. "Good evening," she beamed.

"Good evening," he responded and then looked at their son. "Good evening to you, too."

She faced her husband. "Go take a shower. I'll prepare us some food."

"That'd be great." He then took the towel on the bed and headed towards the bathroom.

When Leena saw Kevin enter the bathroom, it was only then she pulled down the top of her blouse, and started to breastfeed their son. She sighed, her cheeks slightly pink. "No matter how long it has been, I still can't get used to doing this in front of him." She looked at her son and then the bathroom door. Her gaze shifted often on those two. She could not help but feel as if, she had not been doing the whole 'mother' thing correctly.

Leena then carried her son out of the bedroom and headed over to the dining area. She placed her son at a cradle and smiled. "Wait here for a bit, okay? Mommy's just going to cook something for daddy."

As if the baby understood, he smiled sleepily in response. Leena then walked her way to the kitchen and started to whip up a basic meal. She set the table up and placed the dishes she cooked at the center of the table. She served herself some food on her plate and then took her son from the cradle and cradled him. She sat herself down and started to eat.

Amidst eating, Leena was often interrupted by her own baby being playful in her arms. The baby would kick his legs and often pulled on his mother's clothes tightly, as if demanding for attention. She could not be angry at the baby. She looked at him with soft eyes as she beamed. "You'd grow up to be a playful, naughty boy, Richard. I'm sure," she said.

Inside the bathroom, there stood Kevin in front of the mirror and held his shoulder. He let out a long sigh and slowly started to remove his shirt carefully, but despite his slow and careful actions, his shoulder started to throb, immediately getting Kevin to wince with every movement and effort he made to remove his top.

He then stepped inside the shower and let the water soak his body. He stood still and his eyes were glued to the tiles. The water dripped from the tips of his hair.

'I should tell her. I know I should but... I just don't want her to worry. She already has a lot on her plate...' Kevin closed his eyes. 'I don't want to lie to her.'

After he had bathed, he stepped out of the shower, dried himself with a towel and wrapped himself with it as well. He saw the clothes Leena had prepared for him at a dry place in the bathroom, but he chose to ignore it and left the bathroom with just a towel covering his body.

He took a deep breath and finally, he made his way to the dining area where she was.

Leena could hear Kevin's footsteps approach the dining area, so she turned. "I cooked you some-" Leena's eyes widened at the sight of Kevin. She immediately placed down her baby at the cradle, fast asleep, and rushed to his side, worry painted all over her face. She saw his shoulder patched with a gauze. "Your shoulder! What happened, Kevin?! Why are you hurt?!"

Kevin placed a finger against her lips and hushed her. He then smiled. "I'm okay. Don't worry." Kevin looked around, and started to whisper, "So, where's Richard?" Kevin's eyes then fell back to Leena, "Is he asleep again? Have you taken him to the crib?"

"Yeah. He got so full that he fell asleep." Leena hurried back to the dining area. She took their son out of the crib and cradled him in her arms as she walked back to their bedroom while Kevin followed. As Leena reached the bedroom, she then slowly placed their son down in the crib. "He's obedient and he seldom cries, too." She turned to look at Kevin and said, "Mom said you were obedient as well when you were a baby." She turned to look at Kevin and beamed. "You know, newborn babies usually cry a lot and their parents can't sleep well. I'm happy Richard isn't like that."

She rushed out of the bedroom for a brief moment, and came back with another towel in hand. She handed it over to Kevin. He grinned as he took the towel and started to dry his hair. "Are you praising me?"

Leena's expression grew blue, as she crossed her arms. "Don't try to change the subject, Kevin. Tell me how you got that wound on your shoulder. Moreover, have you gone to the hospital?" Kevin stopped drying his hair and let the towel rest on his neck. He sighed, "So close..."

He looked at his shoulder and then to her. "A bullet just grazed me so it's nothing big. It'll heal in a couple of days." Ever since his return back from his job, his body was hit with exhaustion. He hadn't had a decent sleep. All he wanted to do now was just rest up. Leena looked at Kevin, concerned. "Are you sure you don't need to replace the dressing? I-I mean, you got your wound wet. Wouldn't that be bad?" It was only then Leena got to look at Kevin's body fully. His body was covered in scars, all in varying sizes as well. Her heart ached as she looked at him.

It was this that Kevin wanted to avoid that painful look that she had on her face. It hurt him as well. Kevin took a step forward and placed a kiss on her cheek. "No need. It's just the gauze that got wet. I'll have it replaced tomorrow back in the army base." He then walked over to the crib, leaned over, and kissed his son's cheek softly.

Leena could sense that Kevin was extremely exhausted and figured that he might not want to eat anything now, so she wrapped her arms around his body and said, "Why don't you head to bed? It's getting late, after all. It's already 2AM." Kevin turned his body to face Leena. "Don't we have to keep an eye on Richard?" She smiled as she saw how Kevin was worried for Richard.

"No, we don't have to. He doesn't usually wake up until 6 in the morning." When Leena and Kevin looked at their son, Richard had a smile etched on his face. Kevin couldn't help but wonder if he was having a pleasant dream.

Kevin then decided to take the offer. "Looking at how Richard's fast asleep made me want to sleep, too." "Sure. But, put some clothes on, okay? I don't want you to catch a cold." Leena smiled.

Kevin playfully rolled his eyes and just took her hand and led her to the bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed while she went inside the bathroom to take the clothes she had prepared for him.00000