This was such a hard piece to find an artist for. It was an idea that was in the making for a while and it depicts a very real problem for many mothers out there: they cannot breastfeed their kids. The milk is there. It wants to be let down so bad that it hurts and is sore. However, it just... won't... happen. No matter how hard the baby tries, no matter how much pumping you do, no matter how much the husband offers to 'help' - the milk just won't come. You feel like a failure of a mother. A failure of a parent. Breastfeeding should be simple. Just have the baby latch on and your breasts and body do the rest, but it won't. You feel like you're at fault here, like something you're doing is wrong and if you just did it right, you could feed your baby and bond closer with them - but all you get is a fussy baby, sore breasts and a feeling of helplessness to provide even the simplest thing for your child. This is devastating. It was devastating and it took an insane amount of time to get over it. You came to hate the bottle and everything it represented about your failures, but there was no other way you were going to keep your babies alive.

So, it was almost cathartic in a way to finally get this piece made, to rationalize and put up as an image this struggle for many moms out there. Poor Taylor would be the recipient of this horrible experience, but it was a way of getting these feelings out there through my characters. It was also to showcase the love between Taylor and Jake and how he supports her no matter what - a loving husband that doesn't see this as a shortcoming and helps guide her through this turmoil. Now, being all doom and gloom would not make this a pleasant comic to view and so we needed a small story arc ending in humor. That's when the concept of Ahya being all 'momma-bird' and doing her part to help feed their kids came in. To Ahya, she's just helping out Taylor and making sure their children got the sustenance they needed - albeit in a way messier fashion. All in all, family bath time is always a good thing, right? Taylor needed the rinse anyway!

Art Done by: Skelly-Doll - DA Account: https://www.deviantart.com/skelly-doll