March 27, 2011

In Which Sparron Loses Faith in the Magic of Couch Forts

March 3, 1173

"--and I don't care if you weren't expecting it for another week! I don't care if you weren't expecting it for another month! Even you're not dense enough to think that the date the midwife gives is more than an educated guess; when she starts looking like she could burst any minute, then you're on alert, you hear me?"

His eyes wide and his form trembling, Ietrin nodded. He and Sparron had returned about ten minutes prior, and Sparron's father had spent the better part of the time between then and now cursing his son-in-law for his tardiness. Not that Sparron could blame him--hell, he might have chewed Ietrin out himself on the ride over here if only his anxiety had allowed him to speak.

And really, it had been a relief to find his father furious. The alternative would have been finding him heartbroken.

In some miraculous surge of intuition, Ietrin seemed to pick up on this too. "Are Jeda and the baby all right?"

"They're fine." Sparron watched as his father's fist wavered at his side. He'd always been a stoic man, but everything was going to hell and the stress was taking its toll on him. He had a sickly wife and a miserable daughter and a disgusting pervert of a son, and almost losing both Jeda and her baby must have been more than enough to push him over the edge. "It was looking grim for a while, but Arydath managed to save them both. Now, we're going to go in there and see them, and you'd better be the best damn husband and father the world has ever seen. I don't want you so much as thinking about your whore and your bastard while you're in there, you got that?"

Ietrin sighed. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Sparron's father turned around and started down the corridor, the muted prince at his heels. Sparron waited until they had both turned the corner, then rose from his chair and followed. He was an uncle. His sister was alive, and her baby was alive. He would have his words with Ietrin later, and his father would have even more, but for now, Jeda and her baby were all that mattered.

His father opened Jeda's bedroom door and led the way inside. "Ladies."

"Darling," replied Sparron's stepmother, whose feet he could see on the bed beside Jeda's. "They're just cleaning up the baby in the next room. They won't be much longer."

"Very well." His father stepped toward the bed and placed his hand on one of the bedposts, eyes on Jeda. It was a shame to see her sweet self so tired and sweaty and likely in some lingering pain, but at least she was alive. "How are you feeling, angel?"

"All right," she answered, giving him a quick smile before locking eyes with Sparron. There was something odd about her expression--something rather melancholy, almost mournful, not the sort of face he would have expected to see on a new mother. Nobody else seemed to notice this; perhaps there was something to be said about the bond between twins after all.

"Jeda..."

If new fathers and new grandfathers hadn't taken precedence over new uncles, he would have crawled onto that bed and hugged her. He would have brushed back her hair, kissed her brow, promised that he'd make everything better. He would have done as he had when they were children and she'd needed cheering up, taken her by the hand and dragged her to the sitting room. They would have built a fort out of the couch cushions and retreated inside as if they'd created a whole new world and no one else could see or hear anything that happened within. He would have held her close and listened as she told him everything.

But they weren't children anymore. They were both grown and married and miserable. The most magical of couch forts could not have helped either of them--not anymore.

"You'll feel better soon," their stepmother did her best to reassure her, though Sparron doubted it would work. "Everything will be all right now."

Jeda didn't say anything. She just sat there, head to the board and hands to her still-swollen stomach, subdued and bitter like the sky awaiting the storm. She was far gone, beyond comfort. Never before had she looked so lost, not even when their parents had sat them down and told them what had happened to their mother. At least then he had been able to console her. At least then he'd known what was wrong.

"Jed--"

"Well, look who's here!"

The door to the adjoining nursery had flung open, a grim Lady Arydath and a calculating Camaline at the heels of Leara, who held in her arms the newest addition to the family. The baby had the same violet eyes as its father and aunts, and its wispy hair was the same sunny blond as Jeda's own. "Congratulations, Brother--or should I call you 'Papa'?"

A grin on his face as he locked eyes with the infant, Ietrin hurried over from the bedside. Behind Leara, Camaline reached back to shut the door, then exchanged a quick glance with Sparron. It was nice to know he wasn't the only one who sensed something amiss. Arydath too seemed rather grave, and Sparron's father had raised an eyebrow--but now that the baby was in the room, Jeda seemed to have vanished from Ietrin's mind. "Aww, the poor thing's so small."

"It was an early birth," his sister reminded him as she held the baby out for him to see. "Don't worry too much, though. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Back on the bed, Jeda winced. Camaline bit her lips and Arydath crossed her arms. Sparron's father glared at the back of Ietrin's head as if waiting for a reason to grab him by the scruff of the neck and throw him out the window. Ietrin's smile froze to a pained grimace as his eyes cracked and crumbled like shattered glass.

"Um... 'she'?"

NEXT CHAPTER:

16 comments:

Van said...

Watch this space and the rest of my blogs for an announcement tomorrow ;)

(Baby's name is Medea, by the way.)

Chene303 said...

'Now, we're going to go in there and see them, and you'd better be the best damn husband and father the world has ever seen....
Ietrin sighed. "Yes, sir." Damn right 'Yes, Sir'! Literally the words that came out of my mouth when I read this!

I knew it was girl, it would be too easy if it was a boy and this story is the Sim version of a Soap Opera. Nothing's easy! lol
Plus: Not a fan of the name.... just saying... I mean it's kinda like placing crazy on the baby.

Anonymous said...

Damn! We missed most of Octavius's rant. I'm sure it would have been good!

And oh boy. I had a feeling it would be a she when the baby's gender was persistently unnamed. Not that I'm against this development! Ietrin deserves to have the wink knocked out of his sails. And the stuffing knocked out of him, but enough about that.

I have to say, Sparron brought tears to my eyes here ... his reminiscing about couch forts, and always being able to make things better for Jeda. And his thoughts about himself. Poor kid!

... And now my iPod is playing "Poker Face" -- kind of a Sparron song, maybe? A little bit?

Oh, well. Let's hope that baby Medea skipped out on the family mental instability. And let's hope for a baby Geneva someday! Geneva was made of win, even if few people recognize it. She deserves a legion of grandkids named after her, like Celina and Alina are going to get!

Van said...

Chene: Ietrin seems to go into Soldier-Mode when Octavius is around.

It was probably kind of obvious that it was going to be a girl, just because Ietrin was dead-set on a boy.

The name doesn't necessarily translate into the crazy. I just figured there weren't any living Medeas running around, so the name was fair game :P

Morgaine: Oh, it probably was--I'm not sure if Sparron got to appreciate it, though :S

I kind of regret not going more into Sparron and Jeda's relationship when they were younger, since I always imagined they had a fairly interesting one, and they were the first pair of twins in Naroni. But they did have some sweet times.

And if Sparron wasn't in the pit of self-hatred last time we saw him, I think he's there or close now :( And he seems to think that his father knows about Searle on some level too (for the record, Octavius is still very much in the dark there). Too bad therapy is such a recent invention :(

Heheh. "Poker Face" could sort of be a Sparron song :P

Between Ietrin and Leara, I can pretty much guarantee that there will be a Baby Geneva at some point--although Roderick probably would have been furious if his first granddaughter had been named Geneva :S

Ann said...

Oh dear! I guessed the baby might be a girl before and Ietrin certainly deserves the lesson, but I hope Jeda and the baby won't be suffering for it. :( I'm very afraid that they will though, for the way everyone is acting here.

I'm glad this one was a Sparron POV. We haven't seen much of him sans Searle lately and it's good to get a look into his head without Searle around, just for comparison. But poor poor baby! I want to give him a big hug. :(

Van said...

Yeah, everyone did seem to be expecting that he'd make a big deal of it, or at least went on alert with Ietrin's reaction :S

I can't imagine Ietrin will give the baby much grief--even he's not that ridiculous--but Jeda's probably fair game in his mind :(

Also, note that Roderick and Laralita are strangely absent. They might have popped in at some point before Ietrin and Sparron got back, then left because it was "just a girl" >:(

It was a bit refreshing to write a Sparron post that had next to nothing to do with Searle, and I'll admit that was part of the reason I chose to make this one from Sparron's POV. Kid's depression and self-loathing seems to be leaking into every aspect of his life, though :(

Epi said...

Poor Jeda. Now she can't just freeze out Ietrin as he has no heir yet. I do hope people don't make nasty comparisons to Ellona having a boy and Jeda having a girl. Poor girl has suffered enough!

Van said...

Yeah, and add that to the fact that he's relatively infertile, but everyone will continue to assume that she's the one with the problem :S

I wonder how under-wraps Ietrin and Ellona are. It seems like the nobility knows, but I wonder if the lower classes are talking. Maybe another meeting of the gentleman at Seoth's inn would be helpful.

Joseph said...

And breathe.... Aaah that's better.

Finally had time to read this. I don't know what's worse, wondering what happened when you haven't updated or wondering what happened when I haven't got time to read your updates.

I love Ietrin's reaction there. Although I do feel that this baby is a bit doomed with a name like Medea *shudder*

Good lord. The speed of your updates really put me to shame. I still haven't posted after a week and you post nearly every day! (not that I'm complaining)

Thank you for keeping Jeda alive. I know yuo said there was to be a death this year and I'm glad she wasn't it. (or is she? No, wait. Don't answer that)

Gladly anticipating your next update.

Van said...

Jeda's safe for now. I have two deaths coming up this year, but neither are too significant. Both will probably be mentioned in passing, though.

I've actually been thinking about the new little princess's character for quite some time now and I can almost assure you that she'll be nothing like her namesake ;)

Thanks Joseph :)

S.B. said...

This is so sad. I loved the couch fort memory, too: it was particularly bittersweet. Poor Jeda. Poor Sparron. And why does he think Octavius knows about Searle? That surprised me.

I like the name Medea despite the loony mythological character. It's a very pretty name.

And it would be a girl. What an world when the birth of a lovely baby girl is reason for despair...

Van said...

That would just be Sparron's paranoia rearing its ugly head again :( Octavius definitely doesn't know about Searle.

Fortunately, the only person really despairing is Ietrin. The rest of them wouldn't be so tense here if not for his reaction, I think. Plus, they're both young and they have plenty of time to have a son, even considering that Ietrin seems to have some pretty slow swimmers.

Thanks Beth :)

The Lunar Fox said...

I knew it would be a girl. Ietrin was just too sure that he had his heir. Of course he'd be wrong!

Oh poor Jeda. And everyone else in the room (except Leara) who picked up on the issue.

And I think I find myself loving Sparron a little bit more with each update. Especially this one with the way he thinks of Jeda and the couch forts and what he'd do now to make her feel better. Just... awww.

Van said...

The way he was so sure it would be a boy was rather suspicious :S

I'm glad you liked Sparron here, because I just posted another piece with him and he isn't exactly likable there. For all his self-hatred and forced detachment, though, he does have a good heart and he does care about his sister.

Penelope said...

Oh! That couch cushion memory was just heartbreaking. It is good to be reminded, now and again, that Sparron is not entirely callous to the emotional well-being of the people that he cares about. *cough*

Also, he seems to think that Octavius knows that he is a homosexual. What has given him that impression?

Ietrin is so useless. Uselessness must be hereditary.

Van said...

Sparron can be thoughtful if he's not consciously trying not to be.

Octavius has absolutely no idea that Sparron is a homosexual and has done nothing to hint that he might. This is more symptomatic of Sparron's constant, overblown paranoia than anything else :(

Ietrin is pretty useless. Hopefully whoever succeeds him manages to avoid that :S