October 20, 2010

In Which Adonis Is Shown How He Loves

January 15, 1170

"Well," Adonis muttered to the infant as he glanced through the window and watched Ceidrid and Evaleith and young Adwyn set off toward their house, "I suppose it's just you and me now."

The baby's hand balled into a tiny fist. Adonis shook his head; an hour old and already his little girl had a sense of humor. Maybe that would help somewhat.

Then again, maybe not. Sev wouldn't even be three for another month, but it seemed as though an eternity had passed since Adonis had last had to take care of a baby. He had nothing against babies--hell, he'd had five before this one--but he did feel a bit awkward around them. It seemed to Adonis that babies were akin to felines; they were constantly staring, constantly sleeping, and you could never tell what they were thinking. At least they were cute.

This one was no exception. She was a little small, but according to Arydath, not to the point where they should be worried. A soft brown fuzz covered her tiny head and she was staring up at him with Avine's doe-like eyes--or were they his own eyes? They were close enough in hue that it was difficult to tell.

The baby sneezed. Adonis raised lifted her to his shoulder and gently rubbed her back. "You all right, pretty girl? Want to go see Mama?"

The brown eyes widened; Adonis laughed, then kissed the baby on the cheek. "I know it's a scary sight, but you're just going to have to get used to Papa's nose. Most of your siblings weren't lucky enough to avoid it, so you'll probably have it yourself one day."

The little girl began to wail. A little insulted, he took to lightly bouncing her up and down, hoping that the motion would calm her; it only half-worked. Was his nose really that ugly? "Aw, sweetheart, I was just joking; maybe you'll get your mama's nose."

The cries continued, but they seemed a little softer--and most fortunately so, seeing as Avine was probably asleep in the next room. He still wasn't quite sure whether he loved his second wife or not, or if he would at some point; he was comfortable around her and fond of her as a friend, but he had yet to sense any trace of that elusive spark. Certainly it was not what he'd felt for Honora, though he didn't think it right to compare the two. He's spent Avine's pregnancy in mingled anticipation and dread; he'd wanted to think that he would love Avine's children just as much as he loved Honora's, but what if--somehow, for some horrible reason--he couldn't?

Looking at his daughter now, however, he realized it had been needless to worry. He'd only known her for an hour, but he already loved her just as much as his other children, and in the same way he loved his other children--not for their mothers, but for their own dear little selves.

He continued to massage her back until her cries subsided. "There's a good baby," he breathed as she coughed up a bit of spit onto his shoulder. "You must be hungry. Maybe we should go see if Mama's awake."

NEXT CHAPTER:

3 comments:

Van said...

Sorry about the fluff chapter, but I figured it might be a nice way to kick off the new Naroni decade.

Looking at my outline, 1170 will be a pretty care-free year. No major tragedies until November.

Also, does anyone mind if I update here again tomorrow instead of Orbis Umbra? I only ask because tomorrow is Naroni's second birthday. Holy shit, have I actually been doing this for two years?!

In the same vein, does anyone have any suggestions for any little extra things I could do for the occasion? Not that I'd necessarily finish them on time :S

...

Anyway, since there was a substantial jump between this chapter and the last, I might as well outline a few events that may be of interest to some of you:

-Roderick has been having some success in finding husbands for all those noblewomen Severin dismissed. In the last few months of 1169, two of them ended up marrying two of Alina's brothers (namely the oldest, who has been a widower since Summer 1168, and the second-youngest, who is a notorious womanizer). A couple more are set to marry over the course of this year.

-Two more babies were born in the time between last post and this post. Danthia had her baby, a son named Primus, near the end of October. Alsina had a daughter, Celina, in the middle of December.

Anonymous said...

Aww, baby Alina is so CUTE!! Those eyes! If I saw those eyes on a real baby, I don't know if I'd be able to restrain myself from kissing/cuddling making a general nuisance of myself.

And silly Adonis, worrying he wouldn't love the baby so much. It's his baby, of course he'll love her. It kind of sucks that he doesn't feel for Avine what he felt for Honora, but ... that's life. I guess (as well as I can guess without having Avine's input) that right now it's about comfort and companionship and help raising the kids. Maybe love will come later.

And happy early birthday to Naroni!! *blows party noisemaker*

Van said...

The relationship is definitely about companionship right now. They got married only a couple of months after meeting, so they didn't really have time to fall in love--they just had similar wants and needs, and they got along, so they figured "Why not?"

And of course, just because they aren't in love now doesn't mean they won't ever be :)

Thanks Morgaine :)