Topic: Of Babies and Bloody Noses

Piper Granger

Date: 2017-10-19 10:19 EST
Sleepovers were always fun when you were very nearly six years old. They weren't quite so much fun when you were two, but if you share them with your big sister, they're all right. But nothing compares with going home ....or in this case, Daddy coming to pick you up and take you both to the hospital to see Mummy and the new baby. Lyneth squeezed Dylan's hand cheerfully.

"....and then Daddy woke me up, and you was there, Dyl!" she finished regaling her little brother with the story of his birth. "Only Mummy didn't want to go squit on the floor this time, so that's why she's here."

Des bit back a laugh at Lyneth's retelling of the story of her little brother's birth. It was difficult to appear stern when he was feeling amused, rather than annoyed. "I don't think he really needs to hear about that part, Lynnie," he remarked, knowing Piper would be mortified to hear her daughter describing Dylan's birth in such vivid terms.

"At least she was at home," Lyneth protested, grinning at her little brother. "When I was borned, Mummy was in the market and she didn't have time to go home!"

Dylan gasped in shock, clinging to both their hands as they moved toward the antenatal ward together. "Baby in a bag?" he asked, big eyes wide.

The mention of Lyneth's birth brought a small frown to Desmond's face. He hadn't witnessed that particular event because at the time he hadn't even known Rhy'Din existed. Every little reminder that he wasn't really Lyneth's birth father made his heart ache. Despite that, he was a father to her in every other way that really counted, and yet, every reminder that he wasn't her father by blood pricked at him a little. "It's better this way. Safer," Desmond remarked, more to himself than to his children, adopted and otherwise.

"They didn't put me in a bag, silly," Lyneth beamed at her little brother. "But that would of been funny! Daddy, can we put this baby in a bag?" She lifted her bright, turquoise eyes to Des, full of hope to be able to do something utterly ridiculous to her new little sister.

"I don't think the baby would like that," he replied, trying not to take Lyneth's question too seriously, but one could never tell with her sometimes. "But we could put you in a bag!" he countered, reaching down to tweak her nose. "I'll put you both in a bag and carry you around on my back like Santa Claus. How about that?" he teased.

"Yeah!" Lyneth was only too happy to agree to this, giggling as Dylan jumped up and down between them excitedly. "And put Dyl inna stockin' on Chris'mas Steve with a big ribbon on his head!"

Desmond had to chuckle at the ridiculousness of that. There was a comedian in every family - or almost every family - and Lyneth was definitely theirs. "Okay, okay, before you both get too carried away, we have to use our indoor voices because there are babies and mommys trying to sleep. Let's all see if we can be as quiet as mice, okay?" he said, touching a finger to his lips with a hushed, "Shhh."

"Oooh." Dylan's eyes went wide at the thought of that, although he[ wasn't the problem. "Lots an' lots?" he asked hopefully.

Next to him, Lyneth had clapped a hand over her mouth, even though she was bursting to keep talking at her usual volume. She knew better than to push her luck, especially when it wasn't just her family she was prodding.

It wasn't so hard to be as quiet as a mouse, when their father was joining in the fun. He crept along on tippy toes, hand-in-hand with Lyneth on one side of him and Dylan on the other as they moved past room after room, until they finally reached the one where their mother was resting with their new baby sister. Glancing from one child to the other, he reminded them with another, "Shhh," before knocking quietly on the door to announce their arrival and peek his head inside.

"Mu- mmm!" Lyneth slapped her hand over her own mouth again. To her credit, she was trying to be quiet, and for someone as natural exuberant as she was, it was a big ask.

Dylan didn't bother waiting to see if he could go in - the door was open enough to Des to peek through, and he could fit through that gap. So the toddler abandoned his father's hand to push into the room and accelerate across to bounce off the bed to the tune of Piper's soft laughter.

"I could have sworn I didn't say come in," she said cheerfully, leaning down to haul the small boy up onto the bed with her. "Shall we let the others in?"

The little boy nodded excitedly. "C'mon!"

Now that they were in Piper's room, they didn't need to be as quiet as they had been in the hallway, but Desmond found it amusing to see just how long the children could remain quiet. "After you," he told Lyneth with a grin, as he pushed the door open for her.

Still holding her mouth shut, Lyneth scuttled into the room, scrambling up awkwardly onto the bed to pounce Piper and Dylan. Only Des saw the wince as Lynnie's knee hit a sore spot; Piper was a past master at hiding physical pain from their children by now.

"Easy, guys. Mummy just had a baby," Des reminded them both, knowing how much they had missed her and wanted their hugs and snuggles. As for himself, he let the door close behind him and strode over to peek on the newest addition to the family, currently sleeping peacefully in a bassinet nearby.

"Ooh ..." Lyneth pulled back quickly, inadvertently planting her knee in the same place as she did so. Piper laughed helplessly - it was that or cry, and she refused to cry in front of her kids.

"Did it hurt lots, Mummy?" Piper smiled, stroking her hand against Lyneth's cheek as she cuddled Dylan. "It hurts when the baby comes out," she said gently. "But not for very long. But it does take a long time for me to heal up, so I'm going to be sore and tired for a long time."

Desmond had missed Lyneth's infancy, and though he'd been there for Dylan's, there was something about having a baby girl that made him feel all warm and gooey inside. As he peeked down at their new daughter, he thought she was probably as close as she could come to an angel. "How long has she been sleeping?" he asked, not wanting to disturb her just yet.

"About two hours," Piper assured him, her smile bright as she settled the older pair in her arms. It didn't surprise her that Dylan was silent for his cuddles, nor that he was eyeing the bassinet like a bomb about to go off. This was his first experience of not being the baby anymore, after all. "She'll wake up pretty soon, I think. Might as well get your cuddle in quick."

Lyneth giggled next to her. "Is she pretty?"

"Why don't you come and take a look?" Desmond suggested, though he was already reaching into the bassinet to carefully pick the newborn up and cradle her in his arms. By now, he was an expert at this, careful not to wake her, but only cuddle her close.

Piper Granger

Date: 2017-10-19 10:20 EST
"Go on," Piper encouraged Lyneth with a smile, giving her a nudge even as she wrapped Dylan up in a warm hug.

Lyneth crawled down to the end of the bed to get a proper look at her little sister, kneeling up to examine the sleeping baby. "She's so small," she whispered in awe. "Dyl was bigger."

Dylan was the one who was going to need special cuddles from his mother anyway, as Lyneth had been through this once already. Neither child needed to fear being replaced or loved any less now that they had a baby sister, but Dylan might feel otherwise. "Dyl's a boy," Desmond pointed out, though he wasn't sure if that really mattered. He leaned down a little so that Lyneth could get a good look at her new baby sister. Even though they were really only half sisters, there was a definite resemblance, but where Lyneth had brown hair, her baby sister had black. "See why we can't just put her in a bag now?" he asked, though he knew Lyneth was a lot wiser than she seemed.

Lyneth snorted with laughter, shaking her head. "No bags for the baby," she insisted, reaching out to very gently stroke her fingertip along her little sister's button nose. "She's got hair like Mummy's, Dyl, all black and shiny. And teeny, weeny finkles, too!" She tilted her head back, looking hopefully up at Des. "Can I cuddle her with you?"

"Of course, you can," Desmond agreed, settling himself carefully on the end of the bed. "You remember how to cross your arms like a cradle?" he asked, intending to settle the newborn in Lyneth's arms with him close by in case she had any trouble. It was a sign of trust that he was allowing her to hold her newborn sister, but he knew Lyneth was not quite the child she so often seemed.

Wriggling down onto her backside, Lyneth applied herself to the cradle-arms, though there was no way the baby would fit in the tiny span she created. "Like this?" she asked.

"A little bit wider, Lynnie," Piper suggested. "She can lie on your legs while you support her head."

Des waited until Lyneth had the proper form, before moving to hand off the newborn. "Ready?" he asked as he carefully laid the as yet unnamed infant into his big sister's arms. He remained close by, just in case, and adjusted Lyneth's arms just a little to make sure the baby's head was supported.

Nodding, Lynnie braced herself, beaming as her baby sister was lowered carefully into her arms. As Piper had predicted, the majority of the little one's weight was on her big sister's legs, her wobbly head and neck supported in the crook of Lyneth's elbow as she wrapped her other arm over the baby's tummy. "She's so heavy," she exclaimed in a whisper, looking up at Des delightedly.

"That's because you're little, too. To me, she's as light as a feather," he explained, smiling encouragingly at their eldest daughter. Even if she wasn't of his blood, she was still the apple of his eye, and no matter how many children he and Piper might end up with, Lyneth would always hold a special place in his heart. "I wish I'd known you when you were that little," he said quietly, for her ears alone.

She cuddled into his side, very careful not to jostle the sleeping newborn in her arms. "You knewed me when it really mattered," the little girl assured him softly. "You didn't have to love me, and you did. That makes you more specialer than any other daddy ever."

"I will always love you," Des assured her, sliding an arm around her and leaning in to touch a kiss to the top of her head. There was a time when he and Piper had been afraid how Lyneth might react to having a baby brother or sister, but that fear was long past. Now, it was Dylan's reaction they worried about, knowing they had to ensure the little boy didn't feel left out or overshadowed by the new baby. "Would you like to meet your new baby sister, Dyl?" he asked as he glanced toward the boy, still cuddled against Piper's side.

The little boy shook his head stubbornly. Piper met Des' eyes with a faint smile, bending her head to whisper into the toddler's ear. He perked up, his eyes widening as he looked up at her. "Jus' me?"

She nodded. "Just you," she agreed. "And you get to tell Daddy and Lynnie, and always be the first person who knew."

"Knew what?" Lyneth demanded predictably.

Desmond arched a brow, unsure what it was that Piper had whispered into the little boy's ear, but trusting her implicitly. There were times when she was so much better with the children than he was, as if it was inherent in her makeup. He always struggled and worried whether he was doing the right thing, but Piper just seemed to trust to her instincts.

To be fair, Piper had been virtually a single mother from the moment Lyneth was born, and the struggle of having to deal with a real Fae in her home while she was trying to protect her daughter had taught her to trust her instincts more than most people learned to. She smiled at Des reassuringly, letting Dylan go as the toddler crawled off her lap to go and inspect his little sister over Lyneth's shoulder. "What do you think, Dyl?" Piper asked. "Does it suit her?"

He considered the baby for a long moment. "Yes."

It seemed to dawn on Desmond finally what Piper and Dylan were up to. They discussed a few potential names but had not settled on anything definite, deciding at last to wait until she was born to see what name fit her. Piper was giving their son the opportunity to have a say in his sister's naming by letting him decide whether whatever name she'd suggested fit her or not. He only looked between the two of them, wondering what name it was she had suggested, and awaited an explanation.

Piper's face lit up in a bright smile. They'd already promised to let Lyneth have final approval on the second name, since she'd given Dylan his name, so with any luck, this wouldn't cause any arguments. "Are you going to tell them, sweetie?" she asked the toddler, her smile widening to a grin as Dylan thumped down onto his backside to play with the baby's fingers.

"Baby got name," the little boy informed his father and sister with an offensively cheerful grin. "Umeela."

Desmond wasn't sure he heard his son right at first. Umeela was hardly a name, until he realized what it was he was actually trying to say: Amelia - a name that had once belonged to his mother. He smiled, touched by the thought that she would want to name their daughter for a woman she had never met but who had meant so much to him. "Amelia," he echoed quietly, looking to Lyneth for approval. "What do you think, Lynnie?"

Lyneth's face brightened as Des repeated the name. "That's a real pretty name, Dyl," she praised her little brother without thinking. She was a very good big sister, after all. "I like it. And it kind of fits the name what I liked off Daddy's list for middle names, too."

"What name is that?" Des asked, knowing Lyneth had a few favorites of her own. He was feeling agreeable, so long as it wasn't anything too weird, turning to Piper and mouthing a silent, "Thank you." He knew she had decided on his mother's name to honor the woman who had meant so much to him; a woman she had never met.

Piper Granger

Date: 2017-10-19 10:20 EST
Piper's smile softened at his silent thanks. She'd known, as soon as Lyneth had mentioned they were having a baby girl, what their new daughter's name would be. It had been a struggle to keep it a secret, but she'd wanted to make sure that the children were with them when she told Des about it. It just happened to have come about now, that was all.

"Wren," Lyneth announced, looking back down at the newly-named Amelia. "Amelia Wren sounds nice, doesn't it?"

"Amelia Wren," Desmond repeated, letting the name roll off his tongue. "I like it," he said. Not only was she being named for his mother, but she had another name all her own, too. "Our little bird," he mused aloud, choosing to use the word "our", rather than "my", as she belonged to all of them.

"Twit-twit," Dylan muttered on Lyneth's shoulder, dancing the baby's hand from side to side in time with his slightly cheeky approval.

Lyneth snickered loudly, tilting her head to touch her temple to his as Piper laughed her soft laugh, deeply pleased that all her little family seemed so happy with the new arrival.

Desmond chuckled, too, at Dylan's sound-making, smiling proudly at the way both children were embracing their new baby sister and the easy and obvious affection shared between Lyneth and her little brother. It was only a matter of time before little Amelia was toddling around after them, in hopes of keeping up. "Shall we keep her?" he asked both children with a bit of a grin.

"We can't put her back, Daddy," Lyneth pointed out, her own smile huge as she looked up at him. "She won't not fit no more."

"And that, of course, is the only reason not to put her back," Piper drawled in amusement.

Dylan, on the other hand, was scowling at his big sister. "Umeela stay," he insisted. "Mine."

They couldn't have asked for a better answer than that. Desmond chuckled. "No, of course, we can't put her back. I think three is a good number. The Three Musketeers!" he declared, tapping a gentle finger to each child's nose, starting with Lyneth and ending with Amelia, "One, Two Three!"

"There's four musky-weirs, Daddy," Lyneth informed him mischievously, glancing over her shoulder as Dylan abandoned her side to go and curl into Piper's lap once again, his thumb tucked securely in his mouth. "And Mummy doesn't has another one in there."

"But they started out with three," Desmond pointed out, not really wanting to get into a debate about it. He didn't even bother to correct her pronunciation, which he'd bet was done on purpose because she so enjoyed playing cute. He had no complaints - he wanted their half-Fae daughter to have as normal a childhood as possible, mispronunciations and all. "We could always declare Loki the fourth," he suggested, assuming Knip was too mature for such silliness.

"Or maybe Tiernan," Piper suggested. The sable-haired Mummy was hugging Dylan close; the toddler had enjoyed his sleepover, but he really wanted everything back the way it had been before he'd gone to the beach with Lynnie. Some small people just couldn't cope with being away from Mummy and Daddy for very long, and that was fine.

"Even better!" Desmond replied, feeling a little sheepish for almost forgetting Lyneth's elder half-brother by a different mother, but the same Fae father. "Maybe they'll come visit now that there's a new member of the family for them to meet."

"Maybe they're waiting until we're all home again to come and see us," Piper suggested, stroking her fingers through Dylan's soft hair. "What do you think, Lynnie?"

Lyneth considered this for a moment. "I think Mia's gettin' really heavy."

"Mia?" Desmond echoed with a slow blink, before realizing she was referring to the newborn in her arms. So, she had a nickname already, of which he approved with a warm smile. "Would you like me to take her, then?"

She nodded, her shoulders rising as though she was attempting to hand him her little sister. Her arms didn't move at all, though - little Amelia was definitely pinning her down. "Yes please, Daddy."

He didn't want to assume anything or reach for the baby, until Lyneth was truly ready to give her up. Half-Fae or not, Lyneth was still in part just a little girl with a little girl's needs. "Do you remember when Dyl was this small?" he asked as he carefully scooped little "Mia" up into his much larger arms.

"Wasn'," Dylan objected from his own cuddle, reluctantly giving up a little space as Lyneth crawled back to hug her arms around Piper's waist.

"You was," Lynnie informed her brother. "Teeny and small and loud."

"He was loud, wasn't he?" Des remarked with a chuckle. So far, he hadn't been privvy to hearing Amelia's screech for food or attention, but from the uproar she'd made upon being born, she seemed to have a pretty healthy set of lungs. "And now you're as quiet as a mouse," he further teased his young son.

Dylan grinned, happy to be the center of attention. It was going to take a while for him to get used to having a baby around, that was for sure. "I is shushy," he agreed, around the obstacle of his thumb.

Piper chuckled, gently removing said thumb from his mouth.

"I told them they had to be quiet as mice while we're at the hospital," Desmond explained with a chuckle, as he settled himself in a chair, little Amelia in his arms. He knew the quiet would only last so long - until she was hungry and demanding her mother's attention again.

"And they're doing so well at that," Piper praised the children fondly. She wasn't used to having them attached on both sides of her, but it was something she thought she was going to have to get used to, at least for a while.

Lyneth grinned cheerfully. "I can be quiet," she promised. "And not yell and stuff."

"We're going to have to practice being quiet a little bit when Mummy and Mia come home, too," Desmond told them both. He also knew they'd want the baby to get used to the normal activity at home, too, and not shelter her from it too much.

"All the time?" Dylan asked uncertainly, glancing between his parents. He was a quiet boy, but even quiet boys like to be rowdy little monsters from time to time.

"No, of course not!" Desmond replied with a chuckle. "Mostly when Mummy or the baby are sleeping. They'll be sleeping a lot in the beginning, but once the baby gets a little bigger, she won't sleep as much," he tried to explain. "Remember when Dyl slept all the time?" he asked, looking to Lyneth.

Piper Granger

Date: 2017-10-19 10:21 EST
Lyneth considered this for a moment. "Yeah," she said finally. "And we had to be quiet when we was in the same room, but not if we was in a different room or in the garden. S'not so bad, Dyl, promise."

Dylan chewed on his lower lip as he looked at his sister. "We c'n still play?"

"Or course you can still play, silly!" Des assured the little boy. "Tell you what ....Mummy and Mia have to stay in the hospital one more night. How about we play a game when we get home tonight before baths and bed?" he suggested. "And maybe pizza for dinner."

Dylan tilted his head back to look at Piper mournfully for a long moment. She bit her lip as she smiled. "And maybe Daddy will let you and Lynnie sleep in his bed with him just for tonight," she suggested, kissing the tip of his nose.

Des chuckled at Piper's suggestion. "The keyword there is sleep," he remarked, unsure how much sleeping would be going on if the kids shared his bed, but it was only one night.

"An', an' you home again?" Dylan asked Piper hopefully.

She smiled fondly. "Tomorrow, sweetheart," she promised him. "Me and Amelia will be coming home tomorrow."

Lyneth grinned. "We can help Daddy choose dinner and stuff, Dyl, it'll be cool," she enthused.

"One more night and then Mummy and the new baby will be home," Des promised, echoing Piper, barring any unforeseen problems between now and then. "How did you like your stay with Aunt Midget and Uncle Moonbeam?" he asked, as he adjusted his cradling of the littlest member of the family.

Dylan offered up a warm giggle. "Loony got wet and went brrrr!" he declared, offering up a passable imitation of the Belgian shepherd shaking her fur dry.

Lyneth laughed with him. "All over Nicky!" she added with a shriek of laughter that woke Amelia with a start.

Desmond chuckled, even as baby Amelia stirred in his arms. "Uh oh. It seems someone else wants to add her two cents," he said, looking down at the tiny bundle in his arms. "Shh, it's all right. Just your overly-rambunctious siblings getting excited," he soothed her in a soft voice.

"Oh, is she awaked, Daddy?" Lyneth asked excitedly, as though she didn't know she was responsible for the faint complaints coming from Des' arms.

Piper chuckled to herself, letting her eldest crawl back over to Des once again.

"See for yourself," Des replied, turning a little so that Lyneth could get a better look at her baby sister now that her eyes were open. He knew this was the calm before the storm that would come when Amelia loudly demanded her dinner.

Bright blue eyes gazed with unfocused grumps up at Lynnie as she peered down at her baby sister, giggling at the put-out expression she got back. "She's all grumpy," she laughed, plunking down onto her backside next to Des.

"That's because a certain someone woke her up," he said, nudging Lyneth with an arm to indicate who that someone was, but from the look on his face, it didn't seem he was angry. If anything, he was amused.

"I didn't," Lyneth objected, screwing up her face as Amelia started to mewl, chewing at her own fingers in complaint.

Dylan's little face suddenly grew very worried. "Umeela's cryin'! Make her stop!"

"I'm only teasing," he assured Lyneth, leaning over to kiss her forehead in hopes of reassuring her. "She was bound to wake up sooner or later. She's probably just getting hungry. What do you say, Mummy' Do you want to do the honors or shall I?"

"Oh, you can have the honor, Daddy," Piper told him in amusement, bending her head to whisper loudly to Dylan. "And she can spit up all over him for once!"

As the toddler giggled, Lyneth grinned, reaching for the little bottle that was just out of her reach.

"Can you hand me that bottle there, Lynnie?" Desmond asked, not quite noticing that the bottle was just out of reach of the little girl. "Dyl, can you hand me that burp cloth over there?" he asked with a nod of his head toward a small folded cloth on the table nearby.

"Don't fall off, Lynnie," Piper warned her daughter, bracing herself to lift Dylan over to grab the cloth off the table and replace him on the bed so he could provide his end of the deal.

Desmond could just have easily gotten up and retrieved the items himself, but he wanted the children to feel useful and part of this whole new baby thing. "Would either of you like to feed your baby sister?" he asked them.

Dylan shook his head vehemently, just at the moment when Lyneth overbalanced and took a headfirst tumble off the bed.

"Lynnie!" Piper lurched forward, only just missing as her eldest crashed into the floor. A bloodied nose wasn't going to kill her, but now they had two daughters in tears.

Desmond went to Lyneth's rescue, not only startled but worried for their oldest daughter. "Lynnie, are you okay?" he asked, as he crouched down beside her and helped her up with one arm, while juggling the baby in the other.

With blood streaming from her nose, Lyneth was, understandably, in floods of tears. She'd had a few tumbles, but never straight onto her face before now.

Piper bit her lip to avoid an inappropriate smile. "Dyl, why don't you help Daddy feed Amelia, and I'll make sure Lynnie's all right?" she suggested to the worried toddler on her lap.

"You shouldn't be moving around, Pip," Desmond interjected. "Why don't you and Dylan feed Amelia and I'll take care of Lyneth," he suggested, moving to hand Piper the baby so he could focus on Lyneth's poor nose.

"Or we could do it that way, yes," Piper agreed, taking Amelia into her arms as she sat back. "C'mon, Dyl ....put the cloth on my shoulder and you can help me feed Mia."

"But ....Lynnie ..." The toddler hesitated, deeply upset eyes turning to where Lyneth had pressed her bloody face against Des' chest as she bawled.

"She'll be okay, Dyl. Promise," Des assured his young son before turning his attention to Lyneth, one arm going around her. "Come on, Princess. Let's take a look at your nose, shall we?" he asked, scooping her up in his arms and starting toward the bathroom.

"See? Daddy's got her, sweetheart," Piper assured the little boy, tucking him against her side as Amelia complained. "And we've got this one to deal with."

As Dylan reluctantly turned his attention to his little sister, Lyneth clung to Des, trying very hard not to cry but just not quite able to stop. That fall hurt.

Piper Granger

Date: 2017-10-19 10:22 EST
Once he reached the bathroom, Des closed the door behind them, just in case Lyneth wanted to cry without her mother or little brother seeing. He set her down on the edge of the sink so he could take a look. "Let's have a look, shall we?" he asked, the epitome of calm, despite Lyneth's apparent distress. This was her first bloody nose, but it probably wouldn't be her last.

Thankfully it was just a bloody nose. Nothing was broken, and although her upper lip was swollen, it hadn't split with the impact of being squashed against her teeth. Yet while a part of Lyneth was full-grown, she was still a little girl a few weeks from her sixth birthday, and fright and pain were a big incentive for the tears that were streaming down her face as she clung to her Daddy.

"Shh," he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone, as he gently rubbed her back to calm her down and console her. "It's okay. It was just an accident," he told her further. "Let's clean it up and see if we can get it to stop bleeding, okay?" he asked her gently. He knew there was a grown-up inside her somewhere, but it seemed she was becoming more and more like an ordinary little girl as the days went on.

If Des had any doubt how much she loved and trusted him, there was no room for it in this moment. Lynnie needed her Daddy, and he was it, forcing herself to be brave because he asked her to be, lifting her head to sniffle back her tears. One hand rose cautiously to prod at her sore nose, urging another loud whimper to emerge. "It hurts, Daddy."

"I know, sweetheart. It's gonna be sore for a day or two, but then it should be okay. Let's get it cleaned up and then I'll make an ice pack for you. That should help it feel better, okay?" he asked, smiling as reassuring as he could. Dealing with accidents was part of a parent's job, but they'd been lucky so far.

She nodded, mewling a little as she made the distinct effort to stop crying, reassured by how calm he was. And Des thought Piper was better at this than he was" He should take another look at his little Fae and how much she was leaning on him to do everything a father should do.

"Your little brother is worried about you," he told her, as he took up a washcloth and ran it under some warm water before turning to very carefully dab at her nose. It probably looked a lot worse than it was, even though her blood had soaked through his shirt.

She let out a shuddering breath, summoning up a half-hearted shadow of her usual smile as he gently cleaned up her face. "W-will I has a special scar, like what you has?" she asked, one hand gently touching his shirt over the mark left behind by his gunshot wound from a few years before.

"No, baby. No scar. You're gonna be as good as new. Promise," he assured her, wincing a little inside at the mention of that scar. Not because the memory of it bothered him anymore, but he didn't want her to ever have to suffer through anything like that. Even a bloody nose was too much, but that was a normal part of growing up, and Lyneth's childhood had been anything but normal so far. "See?" he asked, once he had most of the blood cleaned up. "It's not even bleeding anymore."

"Feels big and hot and cold," she complained, but at least she wasn't crying anymore, twisting on her perch at the sink to inspect her face in the mirror. She scrunched her nose, and whimpered. "Ow."

"Want me to kiss it?" he asked, with a soft smile, just for her. "Can't promise it will make it all better though," he told her honestly. If there was one thing he and Lyneth shared, it was honesty. He had never lied to her, never seen any reason to lie to her, and he wasn't going to start now. "Getting hurt is all part of growing up, you know. I can't even count how many bloody noses I had when I was your age," he added. "Your Uncle Jason and I used to get into some pretty bad fights sometimes with the other kids in the neighborhood."

"Daddy kisses always make things better," she informed him, twisting back to offer up her swollen little face to be kissed. She might have a glorious bruise for a few days, but she hadn't done any serious damage. She was lucky; if she'd gone down any heavier, she might have cracked her skull. "Why did you fight?" she asked curiously. "Only Uncle Jason's a pleeseman now, and you a lorry-er."

He very carefully, very tenderly touched a kiss to the very tip of her nose, putting no pressure on that nose before pulling away to gently brush any leftover tears from her face. "Better?" he asked, frowning a little at her question. "We grew up in kind of a rough neighborhood," he explained. "My father ..." He sighed, unsure how much he should tell her. She was only six, and had never really asked why he never talked about his father; only his mother. "He wasn't around very much. Your Grandma's name was Amelia. Did you know that?"

"Your daddy was Uncle Jon's daddy," Lyneth told him sagely. "And Auntie Vicki says Uncle Jon's daddy was a poo." And knowing Vicki, she had probably used those exact words, too. Lyneth lifted her arms, silently demanding a hug. "I seed pictures of Gramma 'Meelia," she assured him. "You showeded me, and she was real pretty."

He had to chuckle a little at that. It was easy to imagine Vicki using those very words. "She's right. He was a poo. But it doesn't matter anymore. You know why?" he asked, as he circled his arms around her to draw her close. He only smiled at her assessment of his mother - her grandmother.

She shook her head, cuddling in as he hugged her. "Why's it not matter?" she asked, always happy to learn more about her human family. Des never talked about his father; this was a whole new arena of information for her, and now the subject had been broached, she wouldn't be afraid to ask in future.

"Because I have you now. And your mother and Dylan and Mia and everyone else," he said, not wanting to list each and every member of the family who meant something to him. "It's why I came here, you know ....to Rhy'Din. Because of my father, but it doesn't matter anymore because I found something way better, and you're one of those somethings," he told her in a quiet voice as he held her close. He had told her that he loved her often enough, but never before had he mentioned his father or the reason that had first brought him to Rhy'Din.

"Like ....what we has is better than what we doesn't has?" The little girl language was getting worse, but Lyneth only did it at very specific times. When her parents needed her to be a child, she was the most child-like child they could ask for.

"Something like that, yes. I wouldn't trade my life here with you and our family for anything in the world. Not for anything, Lyneth," he repeated, just so she knew that he meant it. "Now, what do you say we rejoin your brother, before he gets too worried?" he asked, that paternal smile back on his face.

"Do I look all puffy and ick?" she asked worriedly, more concerned now about upsetting her little brother than the fact that her face was throbbing a bit. "Only Dyl doesn't like blood and stuff, and he might frow up on Mia."

Desmond chuckled. "No, he won't throw up. You look a little puffy, but not too bad. The ice pack will help take the puffiness away and make it feel better." He brushed some of her hair away from her face, smiling softly, proudly even of his brave little Fae daughter. "I'm very proud of you, you know. You're the bestest big sister Dylan could ask for."

Piper Granger

Date: 2017-10-19 10:23 EST
She giggled, a little bit shy in the face of honest praise without an accompanying tease. "You're just sayin' that 'cos I bleeded on you," she pointed out impishly. "'Sides, I'm Dyl's only big sister. So there."

"Point taken," Desmond said, though that wasn't quite what he'd meant. He kissed her cheek once more before moving to his feet and opening the door. "Why don't you go join them, and I'll make you an ice pack?" he asked, seeing no reason for her to wait for him here.

"Mmm'kay," she conceded, pausing to make sure she really wasn't going to cry again. Little fingers prodded carefully at her nose and lip, more fascinated than in pain now. "My lip feels all big and smooshed," she informed Des confidently, wiggling her hands to be set down on the floor from her perch.

Des smiled as he set her on her feet. "There will be no lasting damage. I promise," he assured her. "Dylan will probably think it's cool," he added, of her first real boo-boo.

"Now I'm not bleedin' everywhere," she agreed, turning resolutely toward the door. She hesitated, one little hand rising to touch his. "You are comin' too, aren't you, Daddy?"

"Yep, I'm right behind you," he assured her, lifting her hand to press it to his lips before letting go. He turned to grab a clean towel so that he could make good on his promise to make her an ice pack, using a little ice from the pitcher of water on a table near Piper's bed.

Reassured, Lyneth puttered out into the hospital room, grinning at her little brother as Dylan immediately switched his attention from their little sister to her.

"All better now, sweetheart?" Piper asked her eldest.

Lyneth nodded, pulling a chair carefully to the edge of the bed to allow herself to climb up safely. "Daddy maked the bleedin' stop, and he said a nice pack'll make it all better."

"An ice pack," Desmond corrected with a chuckle as he filed out of the bathroom behind Lyneth. There were a few telltale signs of the traumatic event on his shirt - both blood and tears - but he was more concerned with Lyneth's lip than his shirt.

"That's what I said," the precocious little girl declared, sitting herself down on the bed. Dylan abandoned Piper and the baby to crawl over to his big sister and hug her, gone silent in his concern over all the blood and crying.

Des smiled as he noticed Dylan's concern and the way the little boy was crawling over to give his sister a hug. "She'll be okay, Dyl. Accidents happen," he said as he fished a little ice out of the pitcher and wrapped it up in a towel. "Put this on your nose for a little while, and it will help the swelling go down," he instructed Lyneth as he handed her the ice pack.

One small hand detached itself from Dylan so Lyneth could take the little ice pack, hesitantly placing it against her sore nose. She made a face at Des. "That hurts more, Daddy," she accused mildly.

Piper chuckled softly. "You're all right," she told the little girl, raising the baby onto her shoulder to burp her.

"You don't have to keep it on if you don't want to, but it will help it feel better later," Desmond assured her, leaving the decision up to her. "So, I guess Twister is out for tonight," he said with a teasing grin, as he pulled up a chair, since there were already too many people crowded onto Piper's bed.

"Can we make a blanket fort?" Lyneth asked hopefully, one arm still hugging around Dylan's neck as he leaned on her. The excitement of the new baby had been lost in the excitement of dangerous injury, it seemed.

Piper chuckled. "Not on Daddy's bed, you can't."

"We can make one on the floor," Desmond suggested. And that way they wouldn't risk anyone falling off the bed either. He glanced to Piper and the new baby, itching to get his hands on her again. "May I?"

Piper laughed, more than happy to hand Amelia off to him once more as she wiped the spit up from the baby's mouth and offered her up. "I would never prevent you," she promised fondly. "I'm a little bit jealous," she added, looking at the children. "You're going to have a blanket fort, and we just have this bed."

"Want to trade places?" Des teased, as he took baby Amelia in his arms and lay her over a shoulder to see if he could get any more burps out of her. At least, Piper wouldn't have to share her bed with two small wiggly children.

Piper tossed him the cloth to protect his shoulder. Blood was one thing; milky spit-up was quite another. "We can have another blanket fort when I'm well enough to crawl around again," she promised, carefully not answering that question.

Dylan brightened at this thought. "Wiv L'ki, an' Knip?"

"Better be a big blanket," Desmond muttered with a smirk, as he caught the cloth and shifted Amelia a moment so that he could tuck it beneath her and over his shoulder.

"We have that enormous air mattress, too," Piper pointed out, deliberately making the plans for his evening with the children even more elaborate with an innocent grin.

"Ooooh," was Lyneth's slightly muffled contribution. "An, an' the marshmallows, Daddy, please?"

Desmond groaned as Piper's suggestion made things more complicated for him, but it was followed by another chuckle at Lyneth's question. They might as well get it out of their systems all at once because both their parents were going to be zombies for at least the next few weeks. "On one condition ..." he started.

"We will go sleeps," Dylan interrupted hastily. Anything that made Lynnie go "oooh" was worth fighting for, in his opinion. His big sister had the best ideas.

"Well, yeah, there's that, but ....Lynnie, do you remember when Dylan was born" Remember how tired Mummy and I were all the time?" he asked, hoping she only had good memories about that period of time.

The little Fae nodded. "And I helped with Dyl and the aminals," she added, patting her little brother on the head as he giggled. "'Cos Mummy's all tired 'cos of pushing the baby out through her bum, and Daddy's tired 'cos of the baby waking up in the night for weeks and weeks."

Not Piper's bum exactly, but Desmond wasn't going to get into that discussion right now. "Mmhm," he murmured in reply. "Do you think you can do that again and maybe show Dyl how he can help, too?" he asked, as Amelia let out a quiet burp.

"Dyl can feed Loki, 'cos he's good at that," she suggested.

The toddler at her side perked up with surprised delight. "Me an' L'ki?" he asked hopefully, his eyes turning to their parents, wide and eager. Knip might have chosen Lyneth, but Loki and Dylan were close to inseparable these days.

"Sounds like a plan," Des said, looking to Dylan with a warm smile for his little boy. "Think you can do that, Dyl? It would be a big help," he said. Even if Dylan spilled half the food on the floor, it would, at the very least, teach him some responsibility and Oisin would be there to clean up any leftover messes.

"I think it sounds like a fantastic idea," Piper agreed warmly, pleased to see the little boy beam so happily at the thought of being given responsibility for her dog. "Loki's a good boy, too - he won't try to wind you up like some Kneazles I can name." She met Lyneth's innocent grin and held it until Lynnie dissolved into giggles.

Orchard House was a busy place already, full of love and laughter; children, pets, fairies, and Fae creatures. Adding one more child to the mix was only going to make it that much more busy, but Desmond couldn't think of any place else he'd rather be than right there with his family. He looked around at the four of them, each one in turn - from Piper to Lyneth to Dylan to baby Amelia on his shoulder- and couldn't help but smile. Crazy or not, he couldn't be happier.

And this time around, there was no lingering cloud of threat to mar this happiness. This time, they could enjoy being a family right from the start. Not a bad way to begin.