There should be a law against feeling this fat and useless, Piper had already decided. Her bump was now so big she needed help tying her shoes, which was embarrassing enough without also needing to know wherever she went which was the quickest route to the bathroom in case the baby started to play football with her woefully abused bladder.
Still, at 38 weeks, she didn't have long to go, so the midwives kept telling her. This time was supposed to be all about relaxing and taking time for herself to store up her energy, but what with one thing and another, Piper just hadn't allowed herself to do that. Even now, when she was supposed to be putting her feet up and resting, she was still writing out thank you cards for everyone who had attended the wedding in September.
She had a feeling Ollie had gone out today just to get away from her, which she supposed was fair enough. Between the whining about her weight and the frankly alarming shortness of her temper, Piper was on the verge of considering her husband a saint for his patience with her. It was thanks to Ollie, after all, that the little loft apartment was baby-ready, although they had already agreed that decorating the spare room for the peanut was going to wait until after the birth. Stressing out papa was not on Piper's list of things to do, however often it made it to number one on her list of things done.
She sighed softly, watching the nib of her fountain pen smooth its way across the blank card balanced on the upper curve of her bump. "Dear Katt ....True love stories never have endings. We just wanted to say THANK YOU for being part of a very special day for us. We hope you enjoyed the wedding as much as we did! ....With love and thanks -"
"Aw, gibbon poop!"
On the couch, three heads looked up - Malamute, parrot, and Piper - all eyes trained in the direction of the kitchen in varying states of confusion and amusement, from whence the original exclamation had originated. Kaylee offered the three of them a cheerful smile, hastily removing her minor disaster from their eyes before Piper could stress herself out over the state of her saucepan.
The elder of the Terror Twins had been wracking her brains to think of something she could do to help Ollie and Piper prepare for the coming of the new baby for the past month or so. A throwaway comment by Brynne on how she'd found it impossible to make time to cook anything decent to eat while Lilah was a newborn had given Kaylee a plan, which had quickly escalated into a scheme of monumental proportions. She had decided she was going to cook a shedload of meals in portions that the soon-to-be parents could freeze down and heat up whenever they needed to.
Piper had been startled that morning when, barely minutes after Ollie had disappeared out through the door, Kaylee had let herself in, loaded down with fresh groceries, and proceeded to take over the kitchen in her usual whirlwind of ridiculous good humor. The younger girl had all but forced Ollie's wife to sit down and keep out of her way, and within an hour, all sorts of delicious smells had begin circulating around the loft.
Kaylee had even gone so far as to use a substantial amount of her precious pay-packet - and Correy's - to buy a small freezer unit that fit snugly on the kitchen countertop, tucked into a corner and out of the way, that was even now happily humming itself down to optimum temperature, ready to receive the growing pile of tupperware boxes set beside it.
"Are you sure I can't help you with anything?" Piper asked from the couch, absent-mindedly scratching Loki's ears as the Malamute nudged at her belly with his nose. On the back of the couch, Poppy - Ollie's African Grey parrot - was busily picking fluff out of Piper's dark hair with her beak, both animals fully in with Kaylee's plan of keeping the heavily pregnant woman sat still for more than ten minutes.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely positive," Kaylee insisted, nodding as she scraped the only slightly burnt sauce from the bottom of the saucepan, adding a generous shake of cumin to disguise the charcoal flavor. "Seriously, I'm almost done. And then I'll clean up and make you tea, and I'll be outta here before Ollie even pulls up outside."
Piper couldn't help laughing at that. She knew her husband; he'd guess the minute he walked in who it was who had been in their loft. No one else who came 'round rearranged the cookware and crockery the way Kaylee did. All the same, she was incredibly grateful to the younger girl for doing all this. How on earth did you repay someone who was so determined to be helpful she came around and cooked your meals for the next two months on her day off"
"Okay, you got chicken stew, chilli, bolognase, steamed veggies, stroganoff, risotto, coupla casseroles, and a leek and ham pie," Kaylee reeled off a few minutes later as she scribbled these down on labels, stuck haphazardly onto the corresponding tupperware boxes. "And there's a box or three of rice and pasta in the cupboards, too. Think that'll help you guys out a bit?"
Piper stared at her, utterly gobsmacked. "How in heaven's name did you manage to make all that in -" she checked her watch - "four and a half hours?"
Kaylee grinned at her, wiping down the surfaces she had used. The pans were soaking in the sink for now, and yes, the kettle was boiling away happily next to a teapot that was just waiting for hot water to be added. "Hey, I'm all kindsa magic," she teased, shaking her head. "S'just practise - since I've been workin' in town, I'm doing these long hours and I'm so sleepy when I get home, it's either make something quick or go hungry."
"You have to teach me your pie recipe," Piper told her, chuckling softly. "And at least let me buy you something as a thank you. This is amazing, Kaylee."
"I claim first rights as babysitter of choice, that's all," the younger girl laughed impishly, dropping the cloth into the sink and wiping her hands on her apron. "You got all the details worked out for the whole pop goes the weasel thing?"
Piper sighed quietly, shaking her head. "Most of it," she admitted. "Alannah says I have to go to Riverview, but she'll be with us all the way. What we haven't worked out is how to muffle the magic once the baby's out - all that keeps it from declaring its presence to the world right now is the tattoo on my back."
"Huh." Leaning forward onto the newly cleaned countertop, Kaylee cupped her chin in her hand, eyeing her cousin's wife thoughtfully. "Thought about going to see that Colleen Fenner woman' She's supposed to be real good at babies, 'specially magic ones."
Piper's brows rose, her interest piqued by this previously unknown snippet of information. "Do you think she would be able to help us?" she asked Kaylee hopefully. "I know it's a terribly unfair thing to do to the child, but neither of us have any magical ability. We need to somehow bind this little one's powers until he/she/it is old enough not to attract attention with it."
She carefully was not mentioning the worrying thought that the baby's father was likely to track his son or daughter by means of their magical link, and keeping her child out of the hands of the Fae who had fathered it was her number one concern right now. She didn't know how much Ollie had told his family, but Piper wasn't taking any chances. Kaylee had a tendency to shoot her mouth off when she was drunk.
"Well, sure, there's gotta be a way to do that," Kaylee nodded, oblivious to what she wasn't being told as she poured the tea into a pair of mugs. "And if anyone's gonna know about it, it'll be her. She's had, like, fifty babies herself!"
Laughing, Piper gave Loki a shove off the couch as Kaylee came over, curling up in a corner and allowing the big dog to come back and squeeze himself into the warm space left between the women. It was a surprisingly comfortable fit, and not just physically. For someone who had yet to make many true friends here in Rhy'Din, at least Piper had settled into the Granger family without mishap. Here was for hoping that the baby would have even half her luck.
Still, at 38 weeks, she didn't have long to go, so the midwives kept telling her. This time was supposed to be all about relaxing and taking time for herself to store up her energy, but what with one thing and another, Piper just hadn't allowed herself to do that. Even now, when she was supposed to be putting her feet up and resting, she was still writing out thank you cards for everyone who had attended the wedding in September.
She had a feeling Ollie had gone out today just to get away from her, which she supposed was fair enough. Between the whining about her weight and the frankly alarming shortness of her temper, Piper was on the verge of considering her husband a saint for his patience with her. It was thanks to Ollie, after all, that the little loft apartment was baby-ready, although they had already agreed that decorating the spare room for the peanut was going to wait until after the birth. Stressing out papa was not on Piper's list of things to do, however often it made it to number one on her list of things done.
She sighed softly, watching the nib of her fountain pen smooth its way across the blank card balanced on the upper curve of her bump. "Dear Katt ....True love stories never have endings. We just wanted to say THANK YOU for being part of a very special day for us. We hope you enjoyed the wedding as much as we did! ....With love and thanks -"
"Aw, gibbon poop!"
On the couch, three heads looked up - Malamute, parrot, and Piper - all eyes trained in the direction of the kitchen in varying states of confusion and amusement, from whence the original exclamation had originated. Kaylee offered the three of them a cheerful smile, hastily removing her minor disaster from their eyes before Piper could stress herself out over the state of her saucepan.
The elder of the Terror Twins had been wracking her brains to think of something she could do to help Ollie and Piper prepare for the coming of the new baby for the past month or so. A throwaway comment by Brynne on how she'd found it impossible to make time to cook anything decent to eat while Lilah was a newborn had given Kaylee a plan, which had quickly escalated into a scheme of monumental proportions. She had decided she was going to cook a shedload of meals in portions that the soon-to-be parents could freeze down and heat up whenever they needed to.
Piper had been startled that morning when, barely minutes after Ollie had disappeared out through the door, Kaylee had let herself in, loaded down with fresh groceries, and proceeded to take over the kitchen in her usual whirlwind of ridiculous good humor. The younger girl had all but forced Ollie's wife to sit down and keep out of her way, and within an hour, all sorts of delicious smells had begin circulating around the loft.
Kaylee had even gone so far as to use a substantial amount of her precious pay-packet - and Correy's - to buy a small freezer unit that fit snugly on the kitchen countertop, tucked into a corner and out of the way, that was even now happily humming itself down to optimum temperature, ready to receive the growing pile of tupperware boxes set beside it.
"Are you sure I can't help you with anything?" Piper asked from the couch, absent-mindedly scratching Loki's ears as the Malamute nudged at her belly with his nose. On the back of the couch, Poppy - Ollie's African Grey parrot - was busily picking fluff out of Piper's dark hair with her beak, both animals fully in with Kaylee's plan of keeping the heavily pregnant woman sat still for more than ten minutes.
"Oh, yeah, absolutely positive," Kaylee insisted, nodding as she scraped the only slightly burnt sauce from the bottom of the saucepan, adding a generous shake of cumin to disguise the charcoal flavor. "Seriously, I'm almost done. And then I'll clean up and make you tea, and I'll be outta here before Ollie even pulls up outside."
Piper couldn't help laughing at that. She knew her husband; he'd guess the minute he walked in who it was who had been in their loft. No one else who came 'round rearranged the cookware and crockery the way Kaylee did. All the same, she was incredibly grateful to the younger girl for doing all this. How on earth did you repay someone who was so determined to be helpful she came around and cooked your meals for the next two months on her day off"
"Okay, you got chicken stew, chilli, bolognase, steamed veggies, stroganoff, risotto, coupla casseroles, and a leek and ham pie," Kaylee reeled off a few minutes later as she scribbled these down on labels, stuck haphazardly onto the corresponding tupperware boxes. "And there's a box or three of rice and pasta in the cupboards, too. Think that'll help you guys out a bit?"
Piper stared at her, utterly gobsmacked. "How in heaven's name did you manage to make all that in -" she checked her watch - "four and a half hours?"
Kaylee grinned at her, wiping down the surfaces she had used. The pans were soaking in the sink for now, and yes, the kettle was boiling away happily next to a teapot that was just waiting for hot water to be added. "Hey, I'm all kindsa magic," she teased, shaking her head. "S'just practise - since I've been workin' in town, I'm doing these long hours and I'm so sleepy when I get home, it's either make something quick or go hungry."
"You have to teach me your pie recipe," Piper told her, chuckling softly. "And at least let me buy you something as a thank you. This is amazing, Kaylee."
"I claim first rights as babysitter of choice, that's all," the younger girl laughed impishly, dropping the cloth into the sink and wiping her hands on her apron. "You got all the details worked out for the whole pop goes the weasel thing?"
Piper sighed quietly, shaking her head. "Most of it," she admitted. "Alannah says I have to go to Riverview, but she'll be with us all the way. What we haven't worked out is how to muffle the magic once the baby's out - all that keeps it from declaring its presence to the world right now is the tattoo on my back."
"Huh." Leaning forward onto the newly cleaned countertop, Kaylee cupped her chin in her hand, eyeing her cousin's wife thoughtfully. "Thought about going to see that Colleen Fenner woman' She's supposed to be real good at babies, 'specially magic ones."
Piper's brows rose, her interest piqued by this previously unknown snippet of information. "Do you think she would be able to help us?" she asked Kaylee hopefully. "I know it's a terribly unfair thing to do to the child, but neither of us have any magical ability. We need to somehow bind this little one's powers until he/she/it is old enough not to attract attention with it."
She carefully was not mentioning the worrying thought that the baby's father was likely to track his son or daughter by means of their magical link, and keeping her child out of the hands of the Fae who had fathered it was her number one concern right now. She didn't know how much Ollie had told his family, but Piper wasn't taking any chances. Kaylee had a tendency to shoot her mouth off when she was drunk.
"Well, sure, there's gotta be a way to do that," Kaylee nodded, oblivious to what she wasn't being told as she poured the tea into a pair of mugs. "And if anyone's gonna know about it, it'll be her. She's had, like, fifty babies herself!"
Laughing, Piper gave Loki a shove off the couch as Kaylee came over, curling up in a corner and allowing the big dog to come back and squeeze himself into the warm space left between the women. It was a surprisingly comfortable fit, and not just physically. For someone who had yet to make many true friends here in Rhy'Din, at least Piper had settled into the Granger family without mishap. Here was for hoping that the baby would have even half her luck.