Ashley felt a little embarrassed about Emily seeing her being breastfed, but she wasn't entirely in control of herself right now. Her stomach was demanding more breastmilk, and Ashley continued to swallow the sweet, warm milk that trickled into her mouth, feeling like she couldn't get enough.
Lizzie, on the other side of Julia, seemed to have had enough, however. She pulled back and looked at Ashley curiously. Possibly she had never seen anyone else get breastfed.
"Ashley likes your milk, mommy!" Lizzie said with wonder.
"She does! Are you sure you've had enough, sweetie?" Julia asked.
Lizzie nodded. Ashley could hear pleasantries coming from the hall and knew it would only be a few seconds until Emily came into the kitchen. She had the vague desire to pull back like Lizzie had, but she simply couldn't. When Ashley was being fed, her body was firmly in control. The instinctive urge to keep suc-king was powerful, and her body wanted more breastmilk. So it was that Ashley continued to be fed from Julia's breast as Emily walked into the room.
"Emmy!" Lizzie said enthusiastically.
"Hi, Lizzie! And I'd say hi to Ashley too, except she seems a little busy." Emily said, her voice thick with amusement.
"Can you take her, Em?" Julia said, motioning to Lizzie on her lap.
Ashley couldn't see much from where she was, but she saw Emily pick Lizzie up from Julia's lap beside her. The milk from Julia's breast was running low, which meant that Ashley thought that Julia might end the feeding. But after Julia pulled Ashley off her left breast, she simply switched Ashley over to her right breast, the one that Lizzie had been fed from. Once more, Ashley's body was in control as she immediately began suc-kling again. Any embarrassment Ashley felt about Emily watching her was completely irrelevant to her body, which only cared about getting more milk.
"She really likes that, huh?" Emily said from behind Ashley.
"She really does. I'm going to have to talk to my doctor about starting up lactation again." Helena said.
Ashley could do nothing more than continue to suc-kle from Julia's breast as the women at the table began to talk among themselves. Even Lizzie got in on the conversation. Meanwhile, Ashley could neither speak nor see anything other than the D-cup breast that was continuing to deposit sweet milk into her insistently suc-kling mouth. The only thing Ashley could do was hope that her stomach would be full soon.
Ashley had to endure several more minutes of helpless suc-kling before Julia pulled Ashley off of her breast. Julia quickly popped her pacifier back in before handing Ashley back to her mother. For the first time today, Ashley could see Emily, who had gotten a very entertaining look at Ashley already. Emily was wearing a sky blue halter top and a daringly short skirt. She was regarding Ashley with a look that said that she was never going to forget the sight of Ashley suc-kling from her mother's breast like a helpless baby. To make matters worse, Ashley had wet herself once again. The flowers in the front of her exposed Pampers were blooming, and Emily knew exactly what that meant.
Despite her sense of keen embarrassment, Ashley was feeling tired now. She always napped after lunch, and her full stomach was causing her eyelids to drop. Helena, being aware of the time, stood up from the table with Ashley in her arms.
"The birthday girl needs her nap, I think. Wave bye-bye to everyone, honey." Helena instructed her.
"See you in a little bit, cutie!" Emily said, waving at Ashley.
Ashley obediently waved back at Emily and Lizzie. Her mother carried her from the kitchen and upstairs to her room. By the time Helena had deposited her in her crib, Ashley was practically asleep already. The last memory she had before falling asleep was her mother settling a blanket over her. Helena kissed the top of her head before raising the sides of Ashley's crib. She smiled at her daughter before leaving to rejoin the conversation in the kitchen.