Mark kept crying as Emma offered him a pacifier and tbe bottle, rocked him in her arms, took his puke-soaked clothes off, changed his diaper and tried to massage him in case his tummy hurt. The thought of his Mommy dating, maybe falling in love and a new partner entering his life terrified him way too much to calm down.
He barely noticed that Emma sat down on her living room couch with him and took her soiled shirt off. But then, he smelled milk and found himself facing a breast that was clearly not his Mommy's. but triggered an instinct - he latched on and began to suckle, and suddenly he felt almost as if Mommy was here nursing him. As he drank Emma's milk, he calmed down and relaxed, closing his eyes and imagining he was at home. "All better now, Marky?" Emma said softly. In the background, Mark heard Leona fussing. "I think she wants some too", Joe said. "OK, give me that pillow." Emma replied and Mark was carefully shifted around without letting go of the nipple. When he opened his eyes, he saw Leona drinking from the other breast. To his surprise, there was no anger or discontent in her face. She looked at him with her eyes wide open, then reached out and placed her left arm on his back, making her parents go "Aww!"
"Wow, I didn't think this would work so well. He's almost falling asleep. But I guess I'd rather not tell Jesse about this." Emma said after a while.
"Does it feel awkward?" Joe asked. "Not really, but she might freak out, especially as I didn't ask her." "Even though you did it to heroically save her date?" Joe gave his girlfriend a peck on the lips.
Mark actually fell asleep in Emma's arms. As Mommy had promised, he woke up at home the next morning.