Chapter Text
Crymini opened her eyes and sat up groggily in bed. She had so much trouble sleeping last night. Her body just didn't feel like sleeping, so she watched YouTube on her phone. She ended up falling asleep at six in the morning. She looked at her phone and saw that it was eleven in the morning.
"Oh fuck..." she grumbled. She then saw a reminder on her notifications. It read:
"Daily Chores from Husk & Angel"
- Fold laundry
- Load or unload dishwasher
- Sweep the kitchen floor
"Double fuck..."
Crymini sped downstairs to the laundry room.
Angel pushed open the front doors with a loud groan. He hadn’t worked such a hard shift at Val’s in a long time. It was shoot after shoot for fourteen hours with no breaks in between. He felt tired, sore, hungry and filthy, and all he wanted to do was relax.
Angel looked around and noticed that Crymini was nowhere to be seen. She was normally up by now, but he didn’t think too much of it since he figured the hyena was probably finishing up her chores. He headed upstairs to his room to take a shower.
Meanwhile, Crymini heard the front doors open and felt her heart pound. She then calmed down once she heard Angel walk upstairs. This bought her enough time to finish one chore.
A few minutes later, Crymini was halfway through with folding the clothes when she spotted Angel (having finished his shower and dressed in comfy pink longue clothes) walking in with his hamper of clothes.
"Oh shit..." she swallowed. She was in big trouble now.
The spider demon spotted Crymini and smiled tiredly.
“Hey, Mini. Ya almost done with your chores?” Angel asked.
"Uh... uh... well, I..." Crymini stammered. She was sweating bullets and her stomach was tightening up at this point.
Angel raised a brow. “Well, are you almost done?”
Crymini gulped. She knew that if she lied, she'd be in bigger trouble than she probably was. So, she slowly shook her head.
"I... I just started..." she confessed.
In hindsight, Angel knew it wasn’t a big deal; he forgot to do things all the time. However, his current exhaustion was clouding his lack of judgement, and he found himself shaking his head and sighing loudly.
“It’s eleven o’clock, Crymini! What have you been doing this entire time?”
"Uh... well... I slept in late, but I didn't mean to," Crymini tried to explain. "I swear, I didn't sleep good last night."
“I don’t wanna hear your excuses, young lady!” Angel cut in harshly as he slammed his hamper down. “You need to start being more responsible. Honestly, how hard is to do a few chores each morning?”
Crymini looked down at the floor. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, along with sobs threatening to escape her throat. Not only did she feel like she was going to cry, but she also felt her headspace drop. She wouldn't really care when she was big. She would even sometimes argue with Angel or Husk. However, she was becoming little due to the insomnia she had, along with the guilt she was feeling. She didn't mean to make her mama upset.
"I'm sorry..." Crymini quivered.
Angel scoffed. “Sorry doesn’t always cut it. You aren’t allowed to do anything else until those chores are done. Do you understand me, missy?”
Crymini immediately started wailing. She couldn't move from where she was standing. She was shaking like a leaf as she sobbed. As soon as he picked up on the hyena's crying, Angel backed off and his expression immediately softened. He could hear his heart breaking in two. God, what had he done?
“Mini, baby…” he spoke softly.
"I'm sorry! I really wanted to get the chores done," Crymini choked up.
“I know you did, sweetie,” Angel cupped her face and immediately thumbed away the hyena’s tears. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry I was so harsh with you. It’s really not a big deal.”
Angel gently scooped Crymini up. She immediately buried her head onto his shoulder. He started to gently sway with her and rub her back to help her calm down. Tears burned at the backs of the spider demon’s eyes. He felt horrible for making Crymini so upset.
“Shhh-shhh. It’s okay, Princess. Mommy's got you.”
Crymini continued crying in her mama's arms. She even started coughing.
“Oh, I know. Mama’s just so mean, isn’t he?” Angel crooned. He knew Crymini was clearly regressed, but he wasn’t sure how young or old she was. Nonetheless, he headed to the living room. He began to root around in the side drawer next to one of the couches for one of her pacifiers. He picked up a pink one with the words "Mama’s Little Girl" on it in cursive font before offering it to the fussy baby.
“How about a paci? Would that help?”
Crymini looked up from her hiding spot. She then teared up again as she babbled sadly.
"'m so'y...." the hyena hiccuped.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for, baby,” Angel assured as he rubbed her back. “Mama overreacted.”
He held out her pacifier to her once again.
Crymini opened her mouth and let Angel pop the soother in.
“There’s my good girl,” Angel kissed her cheek. “Should we get you changed and have some snuggles?”
Crymini whined. She felt that she didn't deserve any hugs after making Mama angry.
Angel could tell what his baby was thinking, and on instinct he held her closer and guided her head to rest on his shoulder. He then began to pat her bottom.
“Baby girl, I promise you deserve all the cuddles in the world. I'm sorry I yelled at you, baby," Angel apologized as he kissed the top of Crymini's head. "That wasn't very nice of me."
He then pressed several more kisses to her face.
Crymini sniffled and hiccuped through her paci as Angel wiped her tears away. Her cries were subsiding.
“You’re doing such a good job calming down. I’m very proud to you.” Angel softly praised. “Let’s go get changed and then we can cuddle.”
Crymini snuggled in Angel's embraced as he carried her upstairs.
Angel reached Crymini’s nursery and laid her down on the changing table before strapping her in. He kissed her forehead before beginning to undress her so he could get her in a diaper and fresh clothes.
Crymini, beginning to feel better, looked up at Angel and cooed as she reached her arms out to him. He took her hands and repeatedly kissed them, playfully going "Mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah!"
The hyena started started giggling.
“Let's get you dressed, lovely,” Angel said as he tickled her tummy. He looked around for a soft toy for her to hold, and his eyes settled on Ace, a stuffed bunny with a heart patch on his belly. Using his upper arms to fasten a diaper around Crymini’s waist, he used his lower set to grab the plush toy. He then handed it to her and tapped her pacifier playfully. “Who is that, hmm? What’s his name?”
"Abababa," the hyena chirped.
“Yes, that’s Ace!” Angel praised as he snapped the crotch of a onesie he picked out together, followed by a pair of soft baby sweatpants. He then grabbed a pacifier clip and attached it to the front of her onesie before doing the same with her paci.
“Such a smart girl I have!” He cooed, then smiled when the baby yawned. She rubbed her eyes as she sleepily cooed behind her pacifier. Her stomach also began to growl.
“I guess I have a sleepy and hungry one too,” Angel chuckled as he scooped her up and settled her on his hip. “Let’s get you a bottle and then it’ll be naptime.”
"Hun'ry," Crymini babbled.
Angel gave her a gentle bounce. “I know you are, sweetie. Mama’s gonna get you a bottle.”
He held the baby closer as he left the room and began to walk down the stairs the lobby.
Angel's stomach also started growling.
"Mama hun'ry," Crymini stated as she pointed at Angel's belly.
“Yeah, I’m hungry too,” Angel nodded. “I’ll get something to eat later though. You’re more important.”
"'Ou too."
He nuzzled her. “I’ll have a snack while I feed you your bottle. How’s that sound?”
Crymini rested her head on Angel's shoulder as they made their way downstairs.
Angel reached the kitchen and set out to prepare a bottle. While it warmed up, he quickly made himself a snack plate of meat, cheese and crackers. He picked up a cracker and held it out to Crymini. She took it and began nibbling on it.
“Is that yummy?” Angel asked her. The hyena responded with a nod. He kissed her cheek and took the bottle out of the before offering her a piece of cheese.
“Your bottle is ready, sweet girl.”
Angel took Crymini back upstairs to the nursery while she ate the cheese in her hand.
Once in the room, Angel turned off the overhead light and switched on her nightlight. He also turned on her white noise machine. He then grabbed Crymini's baby blanket and sat down on the rocking chair.
"B'an'ie," Crymini said.
“Yes, here’s your blankie,” Angel handed it to her and shifted her so she was being cradled in his arms. He then guided the nipple of the bottle into her mouth.
Crymini cooed through the bottle as she started drinking. Angel started to rock back and forth as he fed her.
The past half hour began to run through Angel's mind. He promised himself that he wasn’t going to be like Valentino, especially when he and Husk took Crymini under their wings (literally for the cat). He felt guilty for letting his exhaustion and emotions get the best of him. He would talk to her about it when she was out of her headspace so she could understand, but right now he knew Crymini needed comfort.
“Mommy loves you. Did you know that?”
Crymini reached out her hand and placed it on top of Angel's. He kissed her forehead and reached over to pop a slice of turkey into his mouth, still holding the bottle.
Once the bottle was empty, Crymini began to fuss.
Angel made a sympathetic noise as he stroked her cheek. “Sweetie, the milk's all gone. You drank it all.”
Angel gently lifted Crymini up and placed her on his shoulder. He began to firmly pat her back.
Crymini continued to whimper and whine, reaching for the empty bottle.
"Baby, it's empty," Angel cooed. “Think you can give me a burp?”
Crymini buried her head in Angel's shoulder as he continued to pat her back. After a minute, she let out a few burps.
“There we go. Good job!” Angel praised as he nuzzled her cheek. “You ready to have night-night now?”
Crymini nodded as she rubbed her eyes. Angel grabbed the pacifier that was hanging from her onesie and popped it in her mouth. He then wrapped the baby blanket around her. He shifted Crymini to have her facing him.
“Mommy's gonna sing his baby a little song,” Angel explained as he propped her up on his legs. He then cleared his throat and began to sing an Italian lullaby that he remembered from his childhood. Crymini's eyes were drooping. She let out a big yawn, which caused her pacifier to fall out of her mouth. Angel popped the soother back in before she could start fussing again.
Starting to sing another song, he guided Crymini's head to have her rest on his shoulder as he gently patted her bottom. He hoped she would fall asleep soon, but he figured it might take a while due to her being so upset earlier.
A few minutes passed and Crymini fell asleep. Angel kissed the side of her head and gently stood up. He carefully walked over to the crib and laid her down. He then tucked her in and kissed her forehead.
Angel began to yawn himself. He quietly closed the door behind him and went to his room to take a nap. Once he got there, Fat Nuggets walked over to him from his pet bed.
“Hey, Nuggsie,” Angel cooed as he stooped down to scratch the pig behind the ears. The spider laid down on his bed and got underneath the covers. He turned on the baby monitor so he could listen when Crymini woke up in an hour or two. He finally closed his eyes and went to sleep.