I tore off the lid and buried my face in the cloud of powdered milk. I choked and sputtered, coughed out as much as I managed to get down my throat. Tommy kept crying. I crawled my way back to the couch and tried to calm him down, but he wasn't having it. The closer I got the better he smelled though. Sweet, milk-fed, pink skin so soft. I could feel great gobs of saliva run down my lips, felt them mix with the powder into a sticky paste. I wrapped my boney hands around his tiny body. To pick him up. To calm him down, just…just to calm him down a little.
Audry came home around noon the next day. She looked haggard but opened the door with a smile on her face and a box of pizza in her hand. I met her in the entryway. Her mother had made it through the worst of it. They'd even managed to have a chat before she left. She asked how Tommy was and why there was white stuff all over my shirt. I laughed and explained that the kid could eat, had to make him some new formula. He'd gone down right after lunch.
“Speaking of lunch…” She held up the pizza and opened it up. Supreme, my favorite. “Hungry?” I felt my lips pull back in a smile.
“No,” I told her. “I'm finally full.
