"You dare question her competence?" Adir says in a 'menacing' baby-voice, flipping Laela upright and dangling her above the ground so she can grasp at Sakura's face instead. "You shall be punished!"
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
"Oh no!" Laela grabs at Sakura's nose and plops a hand down over her eye. The dryad pretends to be completely helpless under the tiny assault. "No, have mercy. I'll never doubt you again!" The baby just giggles at her parents' antics.
"Only this time, woman!" 'Laela' says grumpily, being jiggled around all the while. "Cross me and perish!" The last word or two is caught by a laugh. The stag lowers Laela a little, practically giggling. "We're just gonna be those super-embarrassing parents, aren't we?"
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
Sakura laughs and kisses Laela on the forehead. "What would ever make you say a thing like that?" She asks with a little grin on her face. It's probably unavoidable.
"And there's not a thing you can do about it!" Adir says, spinning Laela around and beaming at her. He slings his arm under her and holds the baby up, kissing her tiny cheek. "Get used to us, kiddo. You got seventeen years yet."
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
Laela tries to gnaw at Adir's face, managing to get drool all over his cheek. Sakura laughs. "I can't tell if she's giving you a kiss or trying to get away from you."
"It's totally a kiss. All the dryads love me," Adir attests, holding onto Laela's back with his other hand. "So, howsabout later today we take Maggie out for a spin?"
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
Sakura looks over at the pigasi (spelling probably wrong). "Sure." She agrees, chuckling and shaking her head a little. "Something tells me it'll be an interesting trip."
Laela seems content to lie against Adir peacefully. That is, until she suddenly spits up over Adir. At least there isn't a lot, but still.
"Well--" Adir begins, shortly before he gets the poor baby's vomit all over his chin and shoulder. It's a small blessing that the spit-up wasn't any higher. He looks shocked, then revolted, then mildly amused in one short moment. "It's, uh, gotta happen to every parent sometime... ewww." He holds Laela out away from him, just in case she's got more in the tank. Hopefully she's not too upset. "Ooookay. I am gonna go get cleaned up. Can you take her for a minute?"
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
Sakura laughs uproariously at them. "Poor Adir, that's why I keep a towel over my shoulder when I burp her. I bet spinning her set her off." Sakura takes Laela. The baby doesn't look all that happy, but thankfully she doesn't seem like she's going to start crying. "Grab the baby bag when you come back out."
Jon, while generally fairly mellow despite his ribbing, seems to sober up a bit. "Yeah. Yeah, you could say that ma'am," he says, giving that up at least. "I mean, I put a year of my life into teachin' him, I should hope I got some respect out've it."
Adir, meanwhile, is nudged. He flushes a little, though his darker skin makes it less visible. The stag grins. "I didn't know, man! Everybody kept callin' em fireflies..."
[At the Barbeque]
The sorceress nods before she get's back to her food, focusing on finishing it now instead of continue the discussion.
Out at the far tree line, Sarget gradually emerages and walks toward the deck. By now, the treant has a somewhat noticeable bulge in his trunk.
Sakura gives Laela a kiss on the top of the head and then moves over to Adir's side. She waves at Sarget. "Oh, and now that everyone's here, we have some news." She looks at Cessie and mouths 'act surprised'. "The first thing is, I'm pregnant again! And, well, so is Sarget."
"That's what I said," Adir says to Harnel. Well, not exact words persay, but it was in the same vein.
"Well congratulations, Missus Frescot, but I can't say I'm surprised," Jon says with a grin. Good news all around, then. "That bit about your, ah, treant does surprise me though. You're, what... gettin' a sister?"
[Pre-Gathering]
"You got it," Adir says, hurrying inside to get their things. He cleans himself up rigorously, which takes a couple minutes, before returning with the baby-bag sans his shirt. That was a good shirt, too! "Did you expect that to happen?" He questions, smiling. She certainly got a kick out of it when it did.
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
Having well passed the level of 'I don't really have anything to add,' this conversation has slipped smoothly from 'I don't know anything more on this topic' to 'Wait... wait... what?'
She's just kind of quiet and wishing that she knew more about dryads so that she knew how any of this was possible.
Sakura sets about retrieving some wipes from the bag. "Are you accusing me of planning for Laela to throw up on you?" Sakura asks amusedly. "I only wish I thought of that."
"Well you certainly enjoyed it," Adir says poutily, wiggling his eyebrows at her just moments later. "That reminds me... should I get more baby stuff? For your sister, I mean?"
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
"I don't think we need it. Not baby stuff I mean." Sakura pauses in cleaning up Laela to look back at Sarget. "About how big was I when I was born?"
"Hrm... You were very similar to a four or five year old child." The treant says.
"Yeah. We should get some stuff for her, though. Like something to wear maybe? We can take her out to get some proper clothes after she's born, but she should probably have something before that."
"Something to wear. Arright. I'm all over it," Adir says, though he seems a little nervous about this to be honest. A four or five year old? Already? She may as well be one of their kids, considering all the things they'll have to teach her. "So... how does that work? Is she walking, talking, y'know, all that good stuff?"
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
"Yep, walking and talking. She'll have to stay around Sarget of course, but since he's put up with me this long I'm sure it won't be a problem." Sakura says with a little laugh. It doesn't occur to her just how much of a responsibility having her new sister around will be. She just to excited to worry.
"I'm a little confused on the dynamics myself," Jon says, looking at the treant in the backyard.
Adir has little comment in that department. He hardly understands it.
[Pre-Gathering]
"I... how? How does she even..." Adir really shouldn't have thought too hard about it.
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
"I swear, sometimes I think stuff from our world is weirder than the Nexus," Adir says, picking up the now-clean Laela and bouncing her in the crook of his elbow. "It's a shame Laela didn't pop out talking. I'm sure she'd have lots to say." Thinking on it, that'd be really weird. His amused attitude turns a bit unsettled.
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
Sakura laughs when his expression shifts. She can guess what he was thinking. "It's probably a good thing she didn't. Besides, what are we good for if we're not teaching her these things? Isn't that right, Laela?" Sakura tickles under her chin, but the baby is having none of it. She sqirms in Adir's arm and whines discontentedly. "I think someone might need a nap."
Sakura lies in bed, whether after a nap or just sleeping in late. She's feeling a bit ill this morning, but she's glad that it hasn't been as bad as her first pregnancy. That doesn't mean she feels like getting up just yet, but she wants to see to Laela.
Adir? Can you bring Laela to our room? It sure is handy being able to communicate with Adir like that. Who needs to get up when you have a husband.
While she waits, the dryad pulls the covers off to look down at her body. This is familiar. Adir's already commented on her larger breasts, of course. And she's put on even more weight on her hips. She wonders how Cessie managed to deal with that so easily. Oh well, it'll be fine enough after the baby's born. Most important now is the small swell in her stomach. She smiles gently and trails her fingers over her skin.
"I think you're right," Adir says, picking up the baby bag and slinging it over his free shoulder. He grins at Laela. "C'mon, back to bed with you."
[Later]
Uh, sure honey, Adir complies, sounding pleased. She'll hear him on the stairs, then in the nursery. He comes 'round the side of the bed a moment later, right before offering her the sleeping baby. "Feeling okay?" He whispers, slipping onto the bed on his knee.
__________________ The (somewhat) overdue avatar of Adir, my FFRP character, was done by Gulaghar. Thanks!
Spoiler
In a dream I found a place
of rotting meat and eldritch grace
and looked upon his primordial face
and from my thoughts could not erase
that sense of time that sense of space
and my heart the darkness did embrace.
-Johanna Stokes
Sakura smiles warmly at Adir and Laela and follows them inside to put the baby down for a nap.
[Later]
Sakura props herself up with a few pillows and takes Laela from him. "Not too bad. Little bit sick." She pushes the the flowers from Laela's forehead and plants a kiss there.