March 16, 1181
"Yes, yes," Mona cooed as little Telvar attempted a rudimentary kiss to her nose. "Auntie's nose is much bigger than your cute little one. Auntie's nose is as big as your face!"From her seat on the couch, Anna offered a strained grimace. Mona's nose wasn't anything to be ashamed of, though certainly it was much larger than Telvar's--but that wasn't the problem. Mona, so far as Anna knew, had no insecurities about her nose or any other part of her body. Anna's discomfort came instead from 'Auntie'. Not that she had any problem with Mona taking the title at this point in their friendship, but she had noticed that Mona was careful not to attach a first name, and she understood why. Regardless of whether Telvar could understand, it couldn't have been in good taste to lie to an infant, but he couldn't know the truth, not when he'd soon be a risk for letting it slip. 'Auntie' could not be 'Auntie Mona'.
It would be many years before Anna's son would know his mother's name."I think he knows your nose isn't that big..."
"Does he have a concept of 'big' yet? As far as he knows, I'm just moving my mouth and making funny sounds." Mona lowered Telvar to her elbow and rocked back and forth with a bounce. "Do you like the funny sounds? Yes, you do. Yes, you do!"Anna sighed. Perhaps she was looking too far forward. For now, she'd try to focus on her relief over Mona being apparently much more of a baby person than she ever would have guessed. "He does seem quite smitten with you."
"Pity he's not a couple decades older, then." Mona kissed the baby's brow, then held him out toward Anna; she rose to her feet and stepped forth to reclaim him. "Sorry, Telvar, but I've already got a fake suitor."
"Oh, don't tell me you're still playing stupid mind games with Zareth.""I'll stop if he does." Now that was something she could still expect of Mona--that eagerness to present reminders that no, she wasn't so mature after all. "Besides, it's his fault. Just because he has his own place now doesn't mean he can just stop visiting."
"Um... yes it does?"
"Regardless, it's still rude. And selfish! And what problem does he have with me anyway?" Telvar whimpered. Anna could relate. For all Mona knew, Zareth could have had a problem with any one of them. Or none of them! He was of an age where being his own man was a priority, after all. "Did I do something to offend him at some point?"
No, but I suppose it's possible you did something to annoy him. But she didn't say it. Mona was still a princess, after all. Besides, someone had knocked on the door; Anna didn't recognize the hand, but apparently Mona did. "Speak of the devil. It's about time you came back!"
"And I'm not here to linger," he muttered gruffly as he slipped inside, shutting the door behind him. Anna's eyes narrowed. If he wasn't here to linger, then why on earth had he come all the way up to the nursery? So much for hoping he was above Mona's half-imagined contests. "You're lucky I chose today to check up on my sister, or else no one could have warned you while Adrius is stalling."
"Stalling what?"
"Your brother."
Telvar whined again, fidgeting beneath his blanket. Anna muttered a few soft nothings into his ear, trying to calm herself as well as him. Mona, pointless non-revenge forgotten, took to studying her hands. "Well. Shit."
"Indeed." In some stoic desperation to look at anyone else, Zareth peered past Mona to Anna and her baby. He seemed calmer than she suspected he actually was, and he was probably thinking the same of her. "Adrius has him in the study. When I return, I'll give Adrius an excuse to leave; that will be your opportunity to explain yourself, and you'd better take it, because it won't be long before my sister hears of his presence and wants to introduce herself, though I'll try to hold her off as long as I can. Got it?"Mona nodded. Zareth paid Anna a parting glance, strong but not without worry, then slipped an arm around Mona's waist and whisked her out of the room.
That was when Telvar started to cry."It's all right, love," Anna soothed, landing a series of kisses to his head between words. "We'll be all right. Auntie will take care of it."
He wailed. She wasn't sure if she believed herself any more strongly.
NEXT CHAPTER:
5 comments:
Telvar grows up to be crazy handsome and I really hope we eventually get to the point in time where you all get to see that.
Awww, it never occured to me that little Telvar can't won't know his mother's real name until he's grown enough to keep the secret. :( That's sad. Though of course I can understand it. Still sad.
On the other hand: Mona and Zareth! Jeeez! When will you finally get a grip?
Searle seems amused there. I'm going to take that as a good sign! *wipes brow*
It is sad, isn't it? It didn't actually occur to me until I was writing the post. Poor little guy. Poor Anna too. :(
Mona and Zareth do need to wake up and smell the coffee. Or, more like they both have, but they're both too stubborn to do anything about it. But who knows, maybe it's only a matter of time. ;)
Heheh... is Searle's amusement necessarily a good thing? ;) I guess we'll see.
Well ... as far as Telvar knowing his mother's real name ... the only name he'll need for her for a good few years yet will be Mama, right? So in a way, he will know her real name. ;)
And who knows -- with Searle-the-no-longer-dying smiling like that, this whole secret business might be over before Telvar is even able to get "Mama" out!
Mona and Telvar were really cute together, and Anna seems to be happy except for the slight snag caused by Searle-the-no-longer-dying's presence. I bet Adrius is over the moon. And even Deividra must be a little happy? So things in that family seem to be going well, yay!
I am also very pleased to know that Sim-Ann breeds well. Oh yes. Very pleased. ;)
That is true. She'll be "Mama" for a while yet, then "Mother" for the rest of his life. ;)
Secret business over? It's certainly possible. I guess we'll see...
Yeah, this household is pretty happy at the moment. Anna and Adrius are both smitten with their son. Devidra is also quite pleased, even though she probably can't believe she's old enough to be a grandma.
She breeds very well! Given Anja Jager's age, I'm hoping it'll be a few years yet, but I'm looking forward to seeing Telvar's Albionese half-siblings. :)
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