Shrieking

The little raptor is less than an hour old, and the squawking coming from it seems unreal. Owen had no clue something that tiny could be so loud. He also didn't realize it apparently never stops. His sister and brother have had kids—which he never remembers being this loud—but he'd be damned if he was around for more than a few minutes. Those cries got to him, and he booked it from the room.

Owen bites his lip as he moves to the door. He has an idea of what to do, but he's surprised that InGen is so ill-prepared. As soon as he's out the door, the squawking morphs into a high-pitched shriek he's sure will shatter windows. It's at that moment a nurse decides to materialize from down the sterile hallway.

"She performed exactly how we expected her to," the auburn-haired nurse says over the screaming and hands Owen a brown lumpy package. "Now that she is responsive to you, you will need to feed her."

He doesn't quite understand the performance comment, but Owen imagines that will be explained in time. The brown paper package in his hand draws his attention because it's chilly and seems a bit gooey on the inside.

His brow raises as he looks at her. "What's in here?"

"Chicken," she replies. "All organic, free-range, sliced chicken breast. Now, you need to return to that room before she drives all the staff mad with her screeching."

"Yes, ma'am." Owen gives a nod and walks back into the room. With a wince, he looks at the raptor.

Her head is thrown back, jaw wide open with shriek after shriek comes from it. Her fragile little body quakes and shudders with each breath. He sees her tiny nose twitch. Suddenly her maw snaps shut, and those bright, yellow eyes are on him.

There's a certain clarifying moment Owen has in which he realizes she was crying for him. He assumes that's what the nurse was talking about when she mentioned performance. They wanted to make sure she imprinted on him.

When the raptor's stomach jolts, Owen's body tenses. By the time he reaches the incubator, her stomach has jolted again and a 'iccup' has left her little jaws. His head turns slightly to the side as there's another jolt and 'iccup!'. The right side of his lips twitches upward.

She's worked herself into hiccups.

It isn't long before she's squawking at him again, but he's smiling as her cries are interrupted by 'iccup!' Owen places the package on the corner of the incubator.

"All that crying and look where it got ya." Opening the package, he pulls a piece out a glossy pink and white chicken. He dangles it above her snout. "I didn't go far. And you're going to have to deal with me leaving. I have no intentions of staying in here."

Instead of eating it, she continues her squawking-hiccups leaving him a bit confused. He tries to place it in her open squawking mouth, but after she almost chokes on it with a hiccup, he realizes that isn't a good idea.

Placing the chicken back in the package, he wraps it up as another plan comes to mind.

Taking a deep breath, Owen flexes his fingers and tries to get his mind straight. He's the trainer. He's an employee. He's contracted for two years. His job is not to form a bond with the raptors. He'd already named the six eggs "spelling alphabet" accordingly.

On all accounts, her name should be Beta.

He intended for it to be Beta, but he slipped. He took one look at her—at those gorgeous blue markings—and something deep in him just knew her name was Blue. Even though she was only born a short time ago, he can't bring himself to change her name. He swears he'll do better with the others. This one is a novelty.

That's all.

With that in mind, Owen reaches in and gently picks up his hungry gir—no, the hungry raptor who is swaddled in a brown blanket with blue and pink polka dots his mother sent.

While his mom doesn't approve of his job, she's attempting to mend the burned bridges with this blanket meant for his…mission.

"Come here, Blue." Sighing, he supports her head and cradles her against his body which earns him a soft whine. He listens for the tell-tale 'iccup!' but she seems to have calmed. "So, you just need a little TLC? I can't provide that. Not good at it."

Once she's snug and begins squawking again in his arms, he looks at the chicken package. How is he supposed to hold her and pick that up? His lips purse as he realizes that parents do it every day. But he's not a parent. No.

He's the trainer.

His brow furrows. The more he looks at it the more he figures it shouldn't be too hard to pick up the chicken while the raptor is in his arms. He was—is?—in the Navy after all. This should be a cakewalk.

After several arm adjustments, he manages to hold the little raptor with one arm and lift the package with the other. Smiling at his accomplishment, his moment of glory is quickly snuffed out when he realizes there's nowhere comfy to sit. The hard plastic chair is definitely not an option, so he opts for the floor.

Slowly, Owen lets himself slide down the wall before finally snuggling into the corner. The little raptor is still squawking as he juggles her again and opens the package with one hand. Pulling a strip of chicken, he holds it to her snout.

With yellow eyes glued to him, her white teeth show how razor sharp they are as she bites into the piece and rips it off. Owen's impressed as she quickly downs the first piece. He's careful not to get his fingers near those daggers as he's sure that would hurt. There's no way he's willing to risk a bite, so by the time he finishes feeding her, he's left with a pile of tiny pieces.

A large yawn comes from her tiny mouth. Tired, heavy-lidded eyes continue to gaze at him which is surprising. To her, apparently, there's been nothing but him in this big, wide world.

As he slowly rocks her, she yawns again, and he finds himself yawning as well. It's been a long, eventful day with her hatching.

At some point, Owen begins to hum, and he knows the song in the back of his mind. He can't quite place it as the hour grows late. He doesn't care to as he sees she's finally fallen asleep. He sighs and slowly returns her to the incubator. Thankfully, she doesn't stir. Good, now he can get some sleep as well.

Greetings, lovelies, I hope you enjoyed! I would consider it AU/UA. Also, while the entire raptor pack and friends are in this, it should be just a cute story about mainly Owen and Blue.

This is a stand-alone, BUT IS compliant with my other story. If I added this in the other story, it would slow it down.

Please do me a favor and let me know what you think. If you see an error, let me know. Good or bad, it lets me know how I'm doing. I'm also looking for ideas when it comes to things parents struggle with when it comes to kids. If you have anything you'd like to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do!

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