Love Me Tender (W. Axl Rose) (Izzy Stradlin)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Rolling over in bed, I breathed in deeply as Axl's arm wraps securely around my waist. His hot breath fanning the back of my head, wasn't the greatest feeling but it didn't bother me all too much. Suddenly, out of nowhere I could hear Nathaniel gurgle and seconds later it was as if he spoke. I wasn't sure whether I was hearing things, so I opened my eyes and stared ahead. I was almost positive Axl heard it as well. "What did he say?" Axl whispers to me, he sounded hungover. Whether he was or wasn't, I didn't know for sure.

"I don't know." I answer just as quietly. As if on cue, Nathaniel spoke again, this time it was louder and more fluent; as fluent as a baby could get.

"Mumma." Was all I heard. Now this had Axl and I to instantly sit up in bed. Over in the cot, holding onto the small poles of the cot railing, Nathaniel stood. At first it looked like he was dancing as he held onto a pole with each hand.

"Did he say what I think he said?" Axl says aloud.

"I think he did." I beamed before throwing myself out of bed and walking over to Nathaniel.

"Hey baby, what did you say?" I ask pulling him out of the cot. Nathaniel gripped onto my top and before long, with a cheeky smile, he shakes his head. Looking Nathaniel over for a moment, I turned around so he could be seen by Axl and vice versa.

"Dadda." Nathaniel says before reaching out towards Axl. I was melting on the inside, Nathaniel, he was talking!

"His first word! Was momma! Now he's calling me dadda!" Axl says with a prideful expression. "He called me dadda." He than repeats before removing himself from the bed. He looked like he was about to cry now, the happiness and emotion was clearly getting to him. Handing Nathaniel to Axl, I couldn't help but stare at the pair of them. Axl kissed Nathaniel's head and shortly afterwards, Nathaniel began to play with Axl's hair. The moment was in no doubt, was perfect. Nathaniel had finally spoke for the first time. Surprising us with not one, but two words. A couple of tears managed to sneak into my eyes, it was all so surreal. I couldn't believe it! Axl beamed back at me, his eyes glowing and for once, he was emotional in a blissful way.

Taking one last glance at the scene in front of me, I took off to the bathroom. Standing in front of the sink, where the mirror was, I looked into my reflection. My eyes were tired and filled of tears, clear dark bags circled my drained blue eyes. I looked terrible, looked worse than what I felt. I bit my lip and turned on the cold water tap, about to wash my face. Once the cool water hit my face, I could instantly feel myself wake up just an inch more. I patted my face down and headed back towards the bedroom, to where Axl and Nathaniel were once prior. Exiting the bedroom, I walked into the lounge room of the hotel room to where Axl had Nathaniel on his left leg. His left arm around Nathaniel securely as he fed him with a baby spoon.

"What's for breakfast?" I ask, taking a seat beside Axl, admiringly.

"Pear and banana. Seriously Eth, I don't know how you feed him this shit. It tastes like ass." He looks at me with a cringe.

"Well, it's not for you to eat. It is baby food you know." I laugh. "And well, that's a worry, you know the taste of arse." This had Axl giving me a bashful look, he looked me in the eye for a moment before turning back to Nathaniel.

"Well, if you've ever been with a chick with not the greatest of hygiene, eating her out, all you will taste is ass." He explains. I was embarrassed hearing him say something as such, my cheeks went bright red and quite frankly I didn't know how to reply.

"Okay." I murmur in return.

"Don't worry babe, you've got a fine taste." He winks back at me. This comment had my entire face heat up, I was already red enough, let alone to be told this to embarrass me even more.