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“Your grandmother wants what?” Jill asked, blinking as she held their three-month-old son, Dante, in her arms. He was mostly looking at Jill, but sometimes he would look over at Carlos. He was more of a mama’s boy, but he loved his papa.
“She wants Dante to play baby Jesus,” Carlos said as he took Dante from her. Salem came over and rubbed against his legs. Salem was a great big sister to Dante and loved him. That had been a relief since she heard some cats didn’t like babies.
However, Salem still preferred Jill and Carlos strongly.
“Why would he play baby Jesus?” Jill asked. “Dante is a baby.”
“So was Jesus,” Carlos said, rocking their son. Dante let out a coo and smiled at Carlos who then tickled his stomach. Dante laughed. Jill loved his laugh. It was so adorable.
“Yes, but…” Jill sighed. She was about to say that she had never heard of such a thing as an actual baby playing Jesus, but maybe she had. She hadn’t gone to a nativity scene in so long. Years before she moved to Raccoon City. She might have gone to one when she had been in foster care for awhile, but she wasn’t sure.
That had been years ago. Decades. When she had still been a child.
Dante kept giggling.
“I thought that maybe they would use dolls instead,” Jill said since that was a lot easier than a real baby.
“Yeah, I imagine some do,” Carlos said as he patted Dante on the back. “But not all do.”
Jill gave him a look. “Who would watch Dante during this?”
She had a feeling she knew what he was going to say and she didn’t approve of it. She had heard how young Mary was when she had Jesus in the Bible, and she didn’t want someone that young watching her little boy.
Even though nothing had happened to Dante and everything had been wonderful recently, she was still always worried. She was going to therapy and that was helping with her… issues with her past, but that didn’t mean she still didn’t worry about Dante.
Sometimes she was terrified someone was going to take him away. She sometimes had nightmares that something would be wrong with him too. After all she used to have the T-Virus in her system and had been experimented on for years. Yes, the BSAA, doctors, and other people had said that she was normal now, but she still worried.
They also said that Dante was a perfectly normal baby, but that didn’t stop her concern. Maybe there was something that they couldn’t see or find. She was terrified of that possibility.
But each day where he was normal and healthy, she felt a little bit better.
“I know what you’re thinking, but they’re not going to have a thirteen-year-old watch him, Super Cop.”
Jill sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
“I can be there,” Carlos said as he reached out and touched Jill’s face. His touch was warm like it almost always was and she moved closer to him. “Or you can. One of us will be near even if we’re not in it.”
Dante let out a fussing noise and looked at Jill. He probably would want to be fed soon. However, when she ruffled his hair, he smiled again. Dante was so adorable. He looked very much like Carlos, but had her eyes.
“We’re not going to leave him alone, Super Cop. I would never leave Dante alone with a teenager when he is this little,” Carlos said and then he kissed Dante on the forehead. He really was a good father. Jill had heard some men refused to change diapers and barely ever did anything for their baby, but Carlos really did do half the work.
Not that she would have allowed him not to. She wasn’t going to put up with that, especially after all she had gone through.
Jill took Dante away from Carlos and rocked him softly. He was starting to fuss more.
“If you don’t want him to do this, though, it’s fine,” Carlos said and he put his arm around her. “I know you’re worried about Dante.”
Jill nodded and looked down at her little boy. He was the best gift she could ever have gotten. She hadn’t been one of those girls who had always wanted kids, but she hadn’t not wanted them. After all that had happened, she had given up that she would ever have any.
“This is important to your grandmother. Your abuela?” Jill asked as she adjusted Dante and walked over to get him a bottle. She offered it to Dante who started drinking right away. He always looked so satisfied when he was eating.
Carlos nodded. “Yes, but if it doesn’t work for you then I’ll make her understand, Jill.”
Jill paused and adjusted Dante again. Some of Carlos’s family had recently moved up here and they were all very kind and understanding. She hadn’t actually even met them until she was pregnant with Dante, but they still had taken her in as if she had always been a member. They were compassionate when it came to her past as well and never asked nosy questions.
This was the least that she could do for them.
“No, it’s fine, but I’m going to be there the whole time,” Jill said, and she wasn’t going to let anything happen to her precious little Dante.
“You can do that,” Carlos said. “One of us should be there with him.”
Jill nodded and smiled down at Dante.
***
Jill still didn’t understand why a real baby had to be used for this though, even when the night came and she was bundling Dante up. At first Jill thought the church lady running it would say something about how Dante had to wear clothes appropriate for Bethlehem in ancient times but when she had started talking about outfits like that, she had glared at her and she had stopped.
There was no way that Jill was going to have her baby freeze. It was somewhat cold tonight and if it got too much colder, she would take Dante away and they would have to use a doll instead.
“He is very adorable,” the woman said. Her name was… Sarah.
“Thank you,” Jill said.
“He will be the perfect baby,” Sarah said. “He acts like he never gets upset.”
Jill wished that was the case. Dante got upset plenty. He still wasn’t sleeping through the night, even though he was a lot better than he used to be. He cried plenty. There was a chance that he would tonight and then Jill would have to step in. She had met the teenage girl and boy who were playing Mary and Joseph, but she wasn’t about to have them calm Dante down. No, Jill would ruin their little performance if Dante got upset.
“Hopefully he won’t get too fussy tonight,” Jill said as she put Dante’s jacket on him. He looked so small in his jacket, even though he had grown so much since he had been born. “But if he is then I’ll be nearby.”
“You don’t have to stay nearby, Mrs. Oliveira,” Sarah said.
“Carlos and I aren’t married yet,” Jill said, and she wasn’t going to change her last name when they did. “And I want to stay near my son.”
The woman stared at her, but then nodded. Jill didn’t know if she was judging her for not being married, but Jill didn’t care. She had more important things to worry about than something like that. After about thirty minutes, they went outside. They had put together a little stable and even a place for Dante to lay, but Jill didn’t like that place.
“One of you should hold him,” Jill said to the teenagers. The boy ended up taking him and smiling at him. This was fine, but she would stay nearby.
And she did just that. It was going well at first. Dante was fine with strangers holding him and the boy was good with him. He knew the way to hold him and even made Dante laugh and smile. The girl was less interested but that was fine. A couple times, he got fussy, but then Jill would go over and she managed to calm him down either by feeding him or changing his diaper.
If he got too tired though this would be over.
They did have a short break when he took a nap, but eventually Dante might tire of this.
But Jill would let it continue until he did.
Things continued to go well. At least until she saw someone. Instantly her blood ran cold. Wesker…. It looked just like him, but it was impossible. It couldn’t be. He had the blond hair and the sunglasses and was wearing all black and just the vibe, but it couldn’t be. It couldn’t be.
She ran over to her baby and grabbed him from Joseph. Dante let out a cry.
And that was when she realized the man didn’t look that much like Wesker at all. Her eyes had been playing tricks on her. Of course, he was dead. He would never return. She would never see that homicidal asshole again.
And he would never hurt her baby.
“I’m sorry,” Jill said as Dante started to cry harder.
There was no recovering from that. Dante was upset and it was getting late anyway. But before she could take him away, Carlos showed up with Claire, Leon, Alyssa, and Cindy. Cindy and Claire cooed when they saw Dante and Claire went over to him. Leon just didn’t appear interested and was shaking his phone maybe for work. Alyssa looked at Dante as if he was infected with the T-Virus.
Carlos smiled and took Dante from Jill.
“Is my little man upset? What’s wrong, Super Cop Jr.?” Carlos asked.
“He’s…” She paused and then she decided she would go into what happened with him later. No point in bringing it up now. Leon, Cindy, and Alyssa had never met Wesker, even though Alyssa and Leon both knew about him. “He’s just getting tired. We should go.”
“Sounds good,” Carlos said. He kissed Dante on the forehead and then Jill on the lips.
They walked together to the parking lot after that and Dante calmed down a bit. Jill and Carlos decided that the others could hold him if they wanted. Cindy and Claire wanted to. Claire spent a lot of time around Dante. She was like an aunt to him just like how Chris was like an uncle. Leon held Dante for a short time and then Jill was given back Dante. She looked at Alyssa.
“I’m not holding him,” Alyssa said. “Babies… aren’t my thing.”
“It’s fine,” Jill said. She already knew that about Alyssa. She hadn’t even seen Dante much, even though Jill still saw Alyssa fairly often.
“I’m glad that you’re happy, Jill. I really am, but having a baby… that sounds more terrifying than anything. Even being around them alone would be… unsettling,” Alyssa said.
Leon looked up from his phone. “Didn’t you survive Raccoon City?”
“I stand by what I said,” Alyssa said. “Babies are terrifying. More so than that speedo freak tyrant I fought.”
“Speedo tyrant?” Claire asked.
“I can’t imagine that. I mean…” Carlos said.
“You don’t want to imagine that,” Jill said, since she was worried he would try to imagine the Nemesis in one. That thought… that was truly scary.
“Babies are still scarier,” Alyssa said.
Jill and Carlos said goodbye to the others and they got in their car. He reached over and touched her arm. “What really happened back there? Dante seems okay.”
“Yes, he’s fine,” Jill said with a sigh as she put her seatbelt on and then took his hand. “It was more me.”
“What happened?” Carlos asked. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Jill looked at him. She really was grateful for him and Dante. There was still recovering to do and the world was still a horrible life, but at least now her world was getting a little better.