Chapter 104 - Little Games Profusely apologizing to Jerry every thirty seconds, I carried my baby up to the nursery and set her down ("
Careful, sweetie, careful!") very carefully. She didn't lie quietly in the crib, instead wriggling and holding her little arms up.
That night, a silent ghost came up into the nursery and turned on the light. With a teleporting network complete, the immortals could leave their rooms at will, which was once a week for Ambrosia. But Mama came up to the nursery to say hello to her grandchild.
Jerry is absolutely over the moon, he's wanted a baby for so long! I don't k now how he can keep himself busy in there all day without forcing himself or Liya to drop from exhaustion, but my beary can pull it off!
He turns on the baby swing every two hours and spends those two hours singing and talking to her. Frankly, it's very adorable. I've never seen him so bright green.
One would think that while Jerry rocked with Nataliya, I would be taking her skydiving or boating in the ocean. In truth, it's just the opposite: I love to sit with her in my lap and just watch her bright pink aura flicker and glow and smile.
At other times, I take her for walks in the stroller I ordered custom from the store. (
Author's Note: This is why I shouldn't download fifty of Chuckles' Patterns at once! Guess how many I used in this stroller.)
Sometimes, with my characteristic parenting style, I forget how late it is when we're halfway to the graveyard! Jerry went ballistic the time I brought her home in the spaceship.
I pointed out that we've teleported together from the living room to the nursery every day without incident, at which point Jerry decided that we talk about it in the morning. I think Liya likes teleporting--I know I do! There are so many beautiful colors and crackling blue fire.
The first time I went back to work, I was thinking about my baby even as I patrolled the space surrounding the world checking for extraterrestrial technology. The moment I got home, I ran up to the nursery and said hello to Liya before falling into bed to sleep for fourteen hours.
Each of the elders came up at some point to say hello. Grandpa Nick stayed in the nursery the entire time, cuddling "Bree." We knew that being in the basement would make them all go a little senile, but it was still a shock to go into the nursery and see my grandmother's grandfather think he was talking to his daughter.
Grandma Serena just cooked and cooked for hours on end, wanting to make sure we would never need to rely on less-than-five-star meals. We assured her that if we ran out of food we could always live on birthday cakes.
Grandma Bree told me that Grandma Kara was such a cheerful little toddler, but a quiet child and rebellious teenager, so I shouldn't even start trying to shape my baby's room until she was at least a teenager.
Grandma Kara just looked at the baby, and remembered how her baby had been her release from a loveless marriage. With Iris Bianca, her dynasty responsibilities had lifted and she was free to be with Bianca.
Mama put Nataliya in the swing, and for a moment she seemed just a little bit brighter, even though she is still walking around in her old work clothes. Then she thought about how Daddy should have been here to see his grandchild and went back to almost-black purple, then teleported down to her cell without any further conversation.
"
Watcher," I called into the mirror in the bedroom, "
what did you mean about the other half? How I can I help you find the light version of Azokka? The opposite of Thana Azokka?"
There was no answer, no face, just unsteady colors waving around.
I finally decided to give up on trying to figure out cryptic messages and instead concentrate on living in the moment. With Jerry, while Nataliya sleeps above, watched over by five elders.
"
Do you know what she meant about the light half?" Nicholas asked.
"
Yes," the other four answered in unison.
"
Good, I thought I was the only one. Should we tell them?"
"
We're not allowed to," Bree admonished. "
That's why we're down here."
"
Thana Azokka wants us to succeed, but she also enjoys her little games," Serena said quietly. She rarely spoke at these meetings, being tired much of the time, but she had been connected to the Watcher's mind for so long that she knew her better than anyone else.
In due time, I carried my baby to the cake. I was so excited to see what she looked like--not that it mattered to me either way, but we wanted to see who she resembled the most.
We were considering not showing toddler wardrobes, but hers is so adorable that we simply must! Isn't she just adorable?
We included a larger picture of her as a toddler, so you can compare it to the following.
I know you all (*cough* Hallucination *cough*) are wondering if Nataliya is a clone of myself or my mother, so here's a photo of me as a toddler.
And Mama.
