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 Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2005 2:11 am
Dear Diary,
So its Phaerna Rachel now, I guess. Yeande's spent the last few days acquainting herself with her...no, I'm sorry....OUR new daughter. Hell, I don't know if I'm ever going to get used to saying that. I'm not even trying to be difficult either, I just honestly have a hard time wrapping my mind around it. A couple of months ago, we had Zhane and we had decided that was it. Last month, she springs THIS on me. Now, poof, I have two kids.
I guess the sooner I come to terms with the idea that I have no control in this marriage, the sooner I'll adjust. I'm just thankful Zhane's adjusting to the upheaval well. It would be extremely aggravating to not only have to deal with Yeande holing herself up with the new baby but also deal with an angsting toddler.
....Toddlers DON'T angst, do they...? Hell, I hope not.
~T
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Posted: Sat Oct 01, 2005 5:16 am
It was his first day alone with the new baby. It, of course, hadn't been by choice but since when did HE get a choice in matters anymore? Yeande, after having spent a couple of days becoming acquainted with Phaerna had decided it was now Talon's turn and had arrived that morning to take Zhane and leave the infant drow-nymph in his care.
Despite his misgivings on general principle, Talon supposed he couldn't really say anything outwardly -bad- about the little girl. She was quiet, she only cried when she needed something, and generally she seemed very withdrawn. Yeande had said that she'd been that way since arriving and that it was just part of her personality. Well, at least it wasn't just him, then...
The adoption papers had been signed and everything had been made legal as of yesterday afternoon. Yeande had brought him along to the clinic to sign the papers that had required his signature and...well...that had been that. Phaerna was, by law, now his and Yeande's daughter.
It just seemed so very...strange. With Zhane there had been a bit of familiarity. He'd look at him and he could see both himself and Yeande mingled within one tiny being. Phaerna was completely foreign to him. Cute, unquestionably, but foreign. He could not get past the idea that he was holding someone else's baby and while both the staff at Maban Mabwysaid and Yeande had assured him that this was a perfectly normal step when adopting, he wondered if he might be the exception.
It always takes a bit of getting used to. Knowing another woman carried your baby, seeing another woman birth your baby...its simply ingrained in you to immediately recognize it as her baby and not yours. After a month or two, that feeling will start to go away. By the time she's old enough to start calling you daddy, you won't even think about it anymore. It will be like she's always been there.
They had, of course, told him the same thing about Zhane at the GMFC and he'd yet to reach that point. He could remember very well what it had been like before Zhane had been born and, while he was not sorry they'd had a son, there were things that he missed. Namely, sleeping in.
In the crib, Phaerna shifted slightly and turned onto her stomach to resume sleeping, one tiny fist pressed to her mouth.
That is my daughter. Talon told himself pointedly from where he was keeping watch in the rocking chair. He heard it, understood it, but still didn't embrace it. It was hell being such a skeptic, it really was. He sat in silence for several moments more, watching as she continued to sleep before deciding it might be safe to leave as he eased himself out of the chair and padded quietly toward the nursery door. No sooner had he reached the threshold than a soft whimper floated up from the crib behind him. Wincing, he turned to see Phaerna, eyes wide and upset, watching him leave frightfully.
"I'm just going to go lay down for awhile." he told her, as though she might understand. The whimper became fussing. "Come on...." he implored, leaning against the door and groaning. "I was JUST starting to get on a decent sleep schedule again..." The fussing became crying. Sighing, he slunk back into the room, reminding himself again and again not to be angry. Babies didn't know any better, after all. Fishing Phaerna out of the crib, he sat in the rocking chair with her, waiting as her cries slowly ebbed away into silence once more. Another few moments and she was dropping off again. Good.
Waiting until he was more-or-less certain she was asleep, Talon carefully stood and deposited her back into the crib before sitting down again. They were back to square one, it seemed. As he moved to get up again, the infant's eyes fluttered open, not closing until he sat back down. She seemed to be able to sense when she was about to be left alone and didn't care for it much. Perhaps it had something to do with Morwena's sudden departure a few days ago. No, not perhaps, he was certain that was it. Kids could be a lot more perceptive than they were given credit for.
Resigning himself to the idea that he would be parked here for the duration of Phaerna's nap, Talon sighed and reached for one of the many books that he and Yeande often read to Zhane now before bedtime. The one he'd happened to pick up was the dull, but homey classic "Home For A Bunny".
Opening it, he scanned the first page.
In the Spring a bunny came down the road.
He was going to find a home of his own.
A home for a bunny,
A home of his own,
Under a rock,
Under a stone,
Under a log,
Or under the ground.
Where would a bunny find a home?
Talon did not reach page two and, if he had remained awake long enough, would have been thrilled to know that he had just discovered an effective cure for insomnia.
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Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 11:49 pm
Talon was awoken from his slumber by the shrill sound of crying. It was not Phaerna's normal "I'm lonely" cry which usually signified that Zhane had crept out to the bathroom for a moment, this was the sort of cry parents dreaded. It was the "I am in trouble and dear christ you'd better drop what you're doing and come help me now" sort of crying.
And so, he did exactly that. Throwing back the sheets, Talon half-ran half-stumbled toward the nursery. Zhane met him at the door, eyes wide and pointing at the crib as his father brushed past him, slapping at the lightswitch as he went.
Phaerna's cheeks were flushed, her eyes tearful and, much to her father's puzzlement, it seemed she had vastly outgrown the pajamas he'd placed her in before going to bed for the night. They clung to her like a second skin, restricting her movement and digging into her wrists...no wonder she was crying!
Moving quickly, Talon removed her from the too-small clothes and wrapped her in her crib's blanket. Almost immediately, Phaerna ceased crying, clutching the hem of the blanket around herself as her wails tapered off to whimpering sniffles.
"What happened...?" Talon asked, the adrenaline starting to wear off now that he was satisfied that she was okay. He looked to Zhane, as though he expected an answer from his toddler son who simply blinked up at him with a deer-in-the-headlights stare. Sighing, he scooped his adopted daughter out of the crib, grunting a bit at her weight. She'd been so tiny, now she was easily about as big as her brother...
The drow nymph looked up at him with her fathomless green eyes, blinking slowly, and seeming just as confused as her father was. It...didn't make any sense. How was it that he'd put a days-old infant to bed and just now rescued a toddler from her much-too-small pajamas? He knew kids grew quickly, but jesus!
"Iz okee...?" Zhane inquired, sitting on the edge of his bed.
"I think so..." Talon replied, eyeing Phae oddly. "But I think also that someone's going to the doctor in the morning."
"No!! No shotz!" Zhane cried, grabbing his blankets and ducking beneath them.
"Not you..." Talon grumbled, checking Phaerna over one last time for any other signs of damage. Aside from the dark purplish bands her clothing seams had pressed into her flesh that were already fading, he saw nothing.
Except, perhaps, for the tips of her now-larger wings, where the fiery orange-red had washed out to a faded blue-gray.
WOULD a doctor even know what the hell had caused this? Probably not...even in a place like Gaia where the population was so diverse, the medical practicioners were fairly useless in all matters except those that were of the human variety. But, he supposed it was still worth a try.
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:14 am
"I see nothing abnormal, Mister Faust." the pediatrician said after a brief examination of the young girl on the table who was huddled over and clutching her plush mouse tightly. She didn't like this place...the table was cold, the air smelled bad, and this man was funny-looking.
"Nothing abnormal except that she sprouted up from an infant overnight and tore out of her sleeper." Talon retorted. "How can you not find that strange?"
"Mister Faust...did it occur to you that perhaps the clothing you've been dressing her in may have been too small?"
No, that hadn't occurred to Talon, because frankly, it was not true. He could very distinctly remember bundling Phaerna into her sleeper the night before and it had not even been a snug fit. She was a small baby.
"Look, I know what I saw, okay?" Talon sighed. "I put an infant down to bed and woke up to a toddler."
"Well, some parents will agree they seem to spring up overnight." the doctor said, turning his attention away from Talon to give Phaerna a big smile. She stared up at him with her fathomless green eyes and frowned a bit.
"What about this, then?" Talonfaust pried, pointing to the edge of her wing where the color had begun to drain away. "What is this? Some sort of infection?"
"No, not an infection." the doctor assured him. "Not an injury of any sort, it just looks to be the way its colored."
"Well it WASN'T colored like that when I laid her down." he growled.
"Mm." he began to scribble on his clipboard in leiu of an actual answer. When he was done, he looked at Talon levelly. "I've checked her very thoroughly. The only thing remotely wrong with her are the irritations on her wrists and ankles from the pajamas and otherwise, what you have here is a healthy little girl."
"So you're telling me that you look at dragons, demons, angels and whatever-the-hell else comes down the pipe whenever it has the sniffles, but a case of spontaneous growth is just completely foreign to you?"
"No, not completely foreign, just very unlikely." the doctor explained. "Did you have any other concerns?"
"You mean ones that you won't try to insist are my own negligence?" Talon snorted. The doctor kept a straight face. "No." he said at last. "Nothing."
"Good!" he replied, brightening his tone. "Then my receptionist will take care of you up front." Saying so, he reached into a glass jar on the countertop and produced a Donald Duck-shaped grape lollipop and handed it to Phaerna. When she recoiled from it, he set it gently beside her on the examination table. "I COULD, however, refer you to a child psychologist, if you like...she seems a bit arrested in her social skills."
Talon narrowed his eyes at him, already going about the motions of getting Phaerna redressed so that they could leave. 'Mind your own damn business' those eyes said and the doctor seemed to take the hint, excusing himself without a further word.
"God, I can't wait until you can talk." Talon remarked to his adopted daughter, finishing doing up her buttons and scooping her into his arms to head back to the waiting room. "At least then I'll know what's going on with you without having to deal with quacks like this..."
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:27 am
Dear Diary,
Its been a busy week and I've decided that budget pediatricians are pretty ******** useless. I'd take Phae to see the same doctor that Zhane does, except for the fact that since she wasn't born through the GMFC, she's not covered by their offered health benefits.
So no, instead she gets Doctor Muller who tells me with a smile that she's perfectly A-ok and that I should start paying more attention to her....I mean, really, he talked to me like I've just been sitting there with a thumb up my a** and not caring about her. Yes, Doctor, I really sat there for twenty minutes going to the bother of cramming my daughter into an infant's sleeper and made her sleep in it because I was too much of a lazy ******** to go out and buy her clothes that fit.
CHRIST.
I really shouldn't be as angry as I am since he probably deals with all manner of trash that come in with kids with black eyes and broken arms insisting they had nothing to do with them, but it doesn't mean I have to like it either.
Getting to the point, Phaerna has grown. She is now a toddler. It was sudden, unexpected, and to tell the truth, a bit startling. I guess tomorrow we're going shopping so that OTHER people don't start to think I make a hobby out of forcing my kids to wear clothes that are too small....
Jerk...
~T
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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2005 3:36 am
Dear Diary,
I really wish he would stop yelling. Gods, he's been going on about Phaerna and the doctor he had to deal with all evening. While I think that her growth rate is a bit worrisome, I'm not going to fret myself into an early grave over it. We know nothing, after all, about how quickly nymphs are meant to grow and this may be perfectly normal for her.
I'm moreso concerned about how shy she is. Its going to make making friends very hard on her and Zhane, who is also growing quickly, can't be there to protect her all of the time. Neither can Talon or myself.
For now, I'm going to simply hope things sort themselves out over the next few days and that Talon stops making such a big deal out of them and making them harder on the rest of us. We'll go shopping this weekend.
Yeande
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Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 6:32 pm
It had been a seemingly-endless winter. When you had one child who wouldn't stop poking his nose into things in the name of curiousity and another that jumped at shadows who you had to convince the snow was NOT a flurry of bugs, it tended to wear your nerves ragged.
Talon sat sprawled on the couch in the midst of a sunbeam, the tip of his tail twitching pensively. In most cases, things could not be better. He was learning to enjoy his new job, it netted them more than enough money to exist on, and he still had plenty of time to spend with his kids and wife.
On the downside, however, the entire household had acquired a nasty case of cabin fever. Yeande had practically burst from the house as soon as the soil was thawed enough to dig in to begin planting bulbs, Zhane had been harrassing them at every opportunity to take him on hikes and such, and Phaerna....well, he couldn't really complain about Phaerna. She was behaving herself rather well.
He turned his head slightly, watching as the little drow nymph quietly sat on the carpet, poring over one of her picture books in silence, examining each page with terrible concentration before turning to the next. She was so careful and quiet about her presense, that unless you looked for her, you didn't even know she was there.
"Phae?" he said quietly, making her jolt and look up at him with wide eyes. "You want to go to the park?" She blinked slowly, the wings on her back giving a faint flutter as though she was heavily considering this. Talon, in spite of himself, smiled a bit.
Yeande had been going on about taking her to a child psychologist for her social anxiety, but as far as he was concerned, it wasn't an issue. What was wrong with being shy, after all? With any luck, she'd keep it up until she was well into her adult years and he would never have to worry about the dating demon rearing its head under his roof.
Stretching, he got up from the couch and approached her as she continued to goggle up at him. She no longer cringed when her parents approached her, and THAT was something, at least...
As he bent to scoop her up, she absently grabbed the leg of her mouse plushie to take along with her. "At this hour," he continued "everybody's going to be eating dinner, so nobody will even be around to bother us. It'll just be you, me, and a couple of squirrels, what do you think?"
"Nyah..." she murmured noncommittedly, not sure if she liked the idea of squirrels or not as he fumbled his keys out of his pocket
"Where ya going?" Zhane inquired, poking his head around the corner, summoned by the jingling of car keys.
"The park. Your sister looks like she could use some fresh air."
"COOL! Can I come??" he asked, already grabbing for his jacket off of the stairs.
"If you promise not to run off again, then yes." Talon sighed. "I'm not fishing you out of another drainage ditch."
Phaerna's eyes flicked back and forth between her father and her brother as they spoke, breaking a smile as Zhane trotted up in his jacket and reaching for him. Talon surrendered her as she clung to her older brother like a koala and opened the front door to let the children outside.
"Can I sit in front?" Zhane asked, grunting a bit to readjust Phaerna in his arms. He didn't mind playing taxi for his sister, but she was so danged heavy!
"No. I need you to stay in the back and make sure she doesn't try to Houdini her way out of her carseat again." Talon replied, tapping a button on the keychain to unlock the car.
"What if we both sat in front?" Zhane tried. "She's almost big enough to not need a carseat anyway!"
"So I can get pulled over by a cop trying to meet his quota? I don't think so." his father replied, jerking a thumb toward the back seat as he opened the driver's door.
"You're no fun." Zhane pouted, opening the back door and hefting Phaerna into her car seat.
"Neither are tickets. One day you'll learn that and hopefully not while you're under MY insurance plan."
Phaerna held still as she was buckled in and waited for Zhane to climb over her and slam the car door behind him. She didn't mind sitting in the back as long as someone was back there with her...but when everybody else was up front, it just felt so LONELY back here. That had been the only reason she'd tried to escape...
As the car's engine ground and then caught, she began to absently chew the ear of her mouse plush, hoping that wherever they were going was not too terribly noisy.
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Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:13 pm
What had begun as a trip to the park, had quickly taken on a more ominous tone. Talon, Phaerna, and Zhane had been there no less than an hour before Talon's cel phone had buzzed in his jacket pocket. A deep rumbling voice had informed him that he or Yeande ought to come to Maban Mabwysiad at their earliest convenience and to bring Phaerna.
That it was part of their new "policy". Something about the man's voice had made Talon uneasy, but the number had checked out as matching the one he'd kept in his directory for MM, and so he'd told the strange voice that he'd be right over.
"Howcome we've gotta go HERE?" Zhane complained as his father pulled the car along the curb and put it in park.
"I don't know. They want to see your sister."
Phaerna looked up from playing with her mouse plushie inquisitively. Usually when 'sister' was mentioned in Zhane's presense, they were talking about her. The black-haired ijiou hesitated and then unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the car, circling around back to unstrap Phae and pick her up.
"Maybe its her real parents and they want her back." Zhane suggested, making the bottom drop out of Talon's stomach.
"Don't say things like that." he growled.
"But what if it is??" Zhane pressed, not understanding that what he was saying could be taken as being very hurtful.
Talon's lips thinned to a bloodless white line as he looked at Phaerna and the little drow nymph gazed steadfastly back at him with green eyes that matched his own, despite not being a blood-relation. They wouldn't take her back, would they? Not now...not after all of this time.
Phae cracked a smile and he had to look away.
"Just...we'll see, okay? I'm sure its nothing." Talon assured his son as the three of them entered the MM building.
Unlike most days, when the building seemed to house such an eerie silence, the adoption agency was now filled with sound... Many sounds, actually. There were four small children seated in the middle of the floor playing with a pile of multi-colored wooden blocks. The one with thick, chestnut hair seemed to be in 'control' of the situation, directing who would put which block where. The girl who, from the looks of it, must have been Skye's daughter, was ignoring him completely... As were the two identical boys who were happily gnawing on blocks while black wings fluttered against their heads.
Seated on the floor not far from them was the dragoness who, upon hearing the door open, quickly scrambled to her feet. "Talon... Hello! I'm glad to see you." Her voice sounded quite cheerful despite the over-abundance of brattlings on her floor... And despite the rather large man in the black suit who stood not far behind her looking as intimidating as possible. "And Phae and Zhane as well... My, they've both grown."
"Hi Miss Skye!" Zhane waved and then quickly had his attention drawn to the children playing on the floor. It had been awhile since he'd played with any kids other than his sister...every time they went by the GMFC and looked in, the place seemed deserted these days. He stood, watching them, his tail twitching as they played with the blocks. Little kids were neat. They weren't all uppity about things like older kids and adults were.
Phaerna, as was her custom when dealing with anyone who was not her mom, dad, or brother, promptly buried her face in Talon's chest and tried to make herself as small as possible to hide.
"Nice to see you too." Talon nodded once respectfully, trying pointedly NOT to look at the hulking gorilla of a man that stood nearby. "I...got a call not too long ago from someone over here. They said they needed me to bring Phae..." He was inwardly praying that it was not The Human Wall that had summoned them.
The little boy who seemed to be 'in charge' turned at the sound of Zhane's voice, brow furrowing slightly. The soft feathers of his wings fluffed with a bit of distaste but a quick glare from his mother set him playing with the blocks peacefully once more.
The little girl with the fiery hair and the pretty blue eyes offered a sheepish smile to the Zhane while waving tiny fingers. "P'ay?" Her words were still a bit hard to come by and, sometimes, harder to understand... But it should have been understood easily enough when she held up a block. Maybe he could make something better than her brother could.
"Yes... A call..." She coughed, letting the toe of her slipper-like shoe dig into the carpet. "Actually, before we go any further, I'd like to apologize for that. It... Appears that, upon opening this adoption agency there were a few... Legal technicalities that we... Overlooked." Her eyes narrowed as a snort-like laugh came from the muscular man leaning against the wall. "It seem as if those who govern this section of Gaia saw it fit to have a social worker step in to oversee our work... See to it that everything is legit and that the children are being cared for." Her brow furrowed slightly, eyes drifting down as she continued. "It also seems as if a few of our adoptive parents have been improperly caring for their children..."
Talon's wings tensed a bit on his back, hoping it was not being implied that he wasn't properly taking care of Zhane and Phaerna. "I see..." he nodded, finally daring to look at the larger suited man. Now that he was here, there wasn't much to do except wait to see what they wanted to speak to him about.
Zhane lit up immediately at the invitation and approached the small group, dropping to his knees among them. "Okay!" he said brightly. "What're you building?" he asked whoever cared to try and answer.
Knowing well that she wasn't the best mother in the world, she herself wasn't completely comfortable woth the massive man standing not far off. Granted, she didn't trust many men as of late anyways... But this brute was supposed to work with children? If anything, Talon should have seen the fit she threw when the man first arrived.
"I think he just wants to ask a few questions. I've assured him that most of our parents are good, responsible people and, if they aren't, then their spouses or significant others are..." She laughed, trying to break a bit of the tension. "If you wouldn't mind just stepping into my office, we'll get this over and done with as quickly as possible..." Her voice dropped low as she leaned in towards Talon. "Between you and I, we became a great deal more picky when it came to applicants after the first batch... And it's that first batch that we had the issues with. I'm sure everything will go well and, if it doesn't, I'll bash him on the head while you run."
"Cass'le." The little girl spoke once more, letting a soft smile slip into place on rosie lips. Yes, she was definately her mother's daughter... There would be no question about that. "Li' s--st'ory." She nodded. A fairytale castle... Like the one in the story the big man who reminded her of the big guy in armor that they saw in town had told them.
The eldest of the three boys, her brother, ignored them both, trying to gather as many blocks as he could for his own building purposes. The twins, clad in tacky rainbow and cloud pajamas, continued their gnawing for the moment, content to chew... And drool.
"A castle, huh? Like the one in Sleeping Beauty? Or like the one in Rapunzel with the BIG tower?" He was accustomed to making small talk with kids by now and had hashed out the role of "big brother" pretty well for himself.
Talon's ears perked to catch all of what she'd said, but it was somewhat comforting to know that she didn't like this man either. At least it erased the idea that they were ganging up on him. And that he might lose Phaerna over it. "Sounds like a plan," he nodded, holding Phaerna just a little tighter. "Sorry you've been having issues, by the way. Were people really just..." his eyes wandered to the kids playing on the floor. "...leaving?"
"Rrrrora." She nodded, nose scrunching slightly as she struggled with her 'r' sounds. "N'ba'd fae'rrr'ies." No, no bad fairies. There was no need for a bad fairy of any sort when her brother was around. She liked the story the best at the end... With the good fairies... And the color changing dress.
The twins seemed to take intrest in the 'building' now, but only slightly, eyeing the larger boy with wide eyes. The wings on the sides of their head fell still as they watched on with great curiosity.
She paused their conversation for a moment as another man entered the room. This one, with soft waves of blonde hair and innocent blue eyes, was clearly not a threat. No, he would keep an eye on the little ones while they were having their 'meeting'. He was good with children and Skye trusted him with her twins so she saw no reason why she shouldn't trust him with someone elses as well.
Once she was certain that her children's 'guardian' was watching them she turned back to Talon with a nod. "Yes. According to Barty (short for Bartleby, my twins had a field-day with that), at least, who found those two on one of his first checks this morning..." She shook her head slowly and sighed, leading him towards her office with the large male bringing up the rear. "I really don't understand... People come here wanting children and..." It was too much for her to continue, at least without getting frustrated.
"No bad fairies, gotcha." Zhane smiled, reaching out to place a block on the castle and help them build it. It was actually pretty good, considering how young they were...probably wouldn't be in danger of toppling over until it got a bit higher. "You guys are all visiting at once, huh?" He didn't seem to notice as his father and sister were led off by Skye and the stranger in the suit as supervision was taken over by Barty.
"They see it in the movies, I guess...parents taking care of a rambunctious kid and they think its all sunshine and rainbows. It isn't." Talon tried to keep a tone of bitterness out of his voice as he reminded himself that he had NOT wanted children in the beginning and had been buffalloed every step of the way by his wife.
Zhane and Phae had grown on him, though, thankfully. He barely remembered what life was like without them these days. Phae dared to draw her eyes away from her daddy's shirt just enough to peer at the adults taking her into a strange room in this strange place. Her wings began to shake a bit on her shoulders, as she wondered what they planned on doing.
This wasn't another doctor's office, was it? She wasn't going to get a SHOT, was she??
"Mam broug't'us." The little boy with the darker hair and the feathered wings spoke up finally, reguarding the others with a cool, green gaze. Something about him seemed... Off. As if there was something more than just a sweet, innocent child sitting there.
The little girl who had been talking to Zhane simply nodded in agreement. "Mam broug'us... An'... Bar-tee-bee brough'tem." She gestured with tiny hands towards the other, younger set of twins. She didn't know their names... But Mam did. They were quiet... Didn't even talk yet.
The two boys in question blinked at the same time, lowering the blocks from their mouths. They couldn't remember ever being in this place before... But the blocks were good and the strange-lady and stranger-man seemed nice enough.
He snorted softly, shutting the door behind them after everyone entered the cozy office. It was unlike most offices, complete with a couch and a large, reclining chair... Right along with a desk and a refriderator as well as a microwave that seemed as if it had never been used before. "That's exactly what it is. Seen too many cases of it lately. Luckily, seems like most of the adoptive parents from this place check out... Most of them."
Skye rolled her eyes before taking a seat on her desk... Then, after recieving an over-the-sunglasses look from Barty, she hopped down, taking a seat behind the desk. "Make yourself comfortable, Talon. Anything I can get for you?" She glanced down to the little girl who was shaking like the leaves her coloration matched. "... Or for her? A lolipop or something?"
Zhane quirked a brow at this, not really understanding what they'd said, but he nodded regardless. Sounded like someone named Mam had brought them here. Did one lady really take care of all of them at once? That must've been a busy household... deciding to change the subject, he turned back to the subject of the castle being built "Too bad there's no little figures, huh? It would be cool to put a knight down here guarding the door and maybe a princess up in the tower there..."
Talon awkwardly took a seat on the edge of the couch, Phaerna clinging to his chest as though for dear life. There was no way she was getting handed off to one of the two strangers for shots or other doctor stuff. If they wanted her, they'd have to pry her off.
"I think we're okay..." he told her, looking down at his adopted daughter's clenched state. "Sorry, she gets like this around people she doesn't know very well. We tried leaving her and Zhane with a babysitter one night while we went out....never again." he sighed, recalling the babysitter's constant and frantic calls to his cel phone about how Phaerna would not come out from behind the couch until he and Yeande had given up on having a peaceful evening out and had come home to rectify matters.
"Mam sa's I'ma prin'sess." She nodded, smiling that odd, Skye-like smile... A smile that seemed to broaden as she heard the laughter from the blonde-haired male who was sitting nearby keeping an eye on the little playgroup. "Bu'... No k'nig'its. Draaaagons." She nodded once more, letting her wings fan out behind her as she did, fluttering them happily.
The fluttering of her wings caught the attention of the pale-haired twins whose head-wings began to flutter as an instant result. They giggled, clearly entertained.
"No, it's alright." The large man nodded as he pulled out a clip-board, flipping through the first few pages slowly. "Her mother was a nymph, right? Then it's a good thing she shows such trust in you as her parent. Those sort... Tricky." He nodded, marking a few things down on the paper. "Tell me a bit about yourself... The family at home, other children..."
She attempted to lean over her desk and peer at the paper, quite curious as to what his 'notes' said, if anything. Her nose scrunched when it was pulled out of her view.
"Really? I'm a dragon too! ...well...kinda..." Zhane said, fluttering his own purple-and-blue wings. It was nice to find something in common. "Mom and Dad don't really know what they are, but they look like dragons." That, actually, was something that annoyed him...that neither his mom nor dad knew what they were and that neither of them really seemed to care to find out, either. HE wanted to know...
Talon cleared his throat, feeling like a fly under a microscope as he straightened up a bit, his small wings flaring a bit as though trying unsuccessfully to give him an air of authority. "Well..." he began. "....I live with my wife, Yeande, Phaerna obviously, and you saw Zhane in the waiting room. I work on a radio show from about seven till ten every night with weekends off, Yeande is a stay-at-home mom and is a big fan of gardening..."
He was shooting in the dark, here, not really knowing what the man wanted to hear. "Zhane is our biological son...he and Phae are very close, actually. Ever since they were babies. Somewhere along the line, he had a growth spurt before she did, though..."
"Keif's'a d'agon too." She nodded happily while admiring his wings. Hers were like that... Alot like that, with bluish purple for the main part, almost black in some places. Of course, the webbing from her wings was a silvery blue in color. That seemed to match her far better than the dark wings. "Rrr'ian's'only haf." Yes, her twin was only 'part dragon'. He only had a tail... And fluffy wings.
He snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. As far as he was concerned, he was more of a dragon than his sister would ever be. She was too nice. Not at all like the big, mean dragons in stories... The stories that his mother had insisted that Doe'kitty wasn't allowed to read them, but had anyways.
... ... ...
"Biological kid, eh?" He nodded, almost as if in approval of some sort. "And they get along?" Repeat, repeat, repeat. "Good. Very good. We get alot of households that have biological kids that don't get along too well with the others. Makes 'em feel like their being replaced, so I've been told."
He glanced down at his sheet for a moment, letting his eyes drift towards the dragon-lady before they shifted back to the man and his daughter. "Seems like Ms. Starrfyre's actually done her job well with settling that wee one with you. A mother who loves gardening for a plant-life nymph."
It was her turn to snort now, eyes narrowing slightly. "Don't sound so suprised. Told you we made at least least a few good decisions."
"Lots of dragons, it seems like..." Zhane smiled at the little girl. Man, if these kids were here all of the time, he'd have to come back more often. He'd forgotten how much fun it was to simply sit and play as he placed another two blocks on the structure. "Did you ever see that movie The Reluctant Dragon?" he asked. He'd only seen it himself recently on Disney.
Talon's hold on Phaerna loosed just a bit when it began to sound as though they didn't intend on labelling him an unfit father. "Yeande adopted her when Zhane was still very small because of that very thing. The doctor said she couldn't have any more kids because of the strain it put on her body, so she looked into this place. She didn't exactly TELL me at the time, but...we worked things out."
"S'cuz of Mam." She nodded. Her Mam was a dragon... And that meant that her kids were dragons too. "Nope." She said that word quite clearly, almost as if it were one that she'd practiced saying before. "S'goo' moofee?"
Bored with their conversation, Rian stood up, towering over their castle. From the looks of things, he almost seemed as if he was going to kick it over... But he didn't. No, not yet, at least.
... ... ...
"Women." He shook his head, ignoring the look from Skye... The look that said if he spoke of 'women' in that way once more she'd toss him out of her office and out of her adoption agency, even if he was a good foot taller than she was (a good foot wider as well). "Well, from the sounds of things you're doing a fine job. Only one more thing you can expect from me before I'm out of your hair for a good while... Gonna have to set up a house visit."
"Well, *I* liked it..." Zhane began, his eye turning warily to Rian, waiting to see if he'd kick over the castle or not. "Aw c'mon, don't do that..." he urged the young boy. They could just rebuild it if he kicked it over, but it would probably upset the other kids to have it knocked down, regardless. And he wasn't very good with crying kids...at least there was an adult there to see what was going on, though so nobody could blame him if everybody suddenly burst into wailing.
... ... ...
Talon blinked forcibly. "A house visit." he repeated. "I....okay. I guess. I'll need to tell Yeande, though." It wasn't as though they lived in a slum...as far as he was concerned, they were actually doing okay for themselves all things considered, they'd just never actually had company over. He hadn't even invited Karma over to see the new house and didn't exactly intend to.
He glared down at the older boy for a good, long moment before storming off, crawling up onto the couch to sulk. He'd just ignore the rest of them... And get back at his sister for it later.
She scrunched her nose slightly, half tempted to stick his tongue out at her brother... But she didn't. "I'll ask Mam 'bou' it." She nodded at Zhane. If he liked it then it had to be pretty good. Afterall, he seemed.. What was that word? 'Cool' enough?
... ... ...
"You pick the date and time and I'll be there... No suprise visits. Don't think you need one of those." He nodded before looking to Skye. "Now... Some of these other parents..."
She stood up, moving towards the door in order to open it. "You leave my good parents alone... Go pick on someone your own size... Like the Jolly Green. Or Leon. Talon, you're free to go now." She smiled before mouthing 'Run, I'll hold him back.'
Talon did not need further prompting as he stood, adjusting his grip on Phaerna as he did so. "I'll call once we agree on a time. Thanks" he said, before gratefully leaving the office, happy to be able to -breathe- again. As nice as the office was, there was simply not enough room in it for two normal people and The Hulk.
That hadn't been so bad, he decided....well, 'not bad' meaning Phaerna hadn't been taken away and his head hadn't ended up squashed. For now, though, all he wanted was to go home as he strode out toward the waiting room.
"Zhane? C'mon, we're leaving." he called to his son.
"Aww, already?" he complained. He was having fun! Giving a sigh, he turned to the little girl. "I gotta go now, I'll try and come back sometime, though."
"Zhane..." Talon said, a tone of warning creeping into his voice.
"Com-ing!" he called back, hopping to his feet and racing off after his dad.
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Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 11:20 pm
Dear Diary,
He wants to come to our house. OUR house. That huge manwall wants to come in here and critique the way we live, how we raise our kids and the rest of it. Yeande says I'm making a big deal out of nothing, but how am I SUPPOSED to feel?
I understand why they're doing it since apparantly a bunch of parents just went AWOL out of nowhere, but this guy makes me feel like I owe a favor to the mob or something. I didn't even catch his name.
Apparantly we're inviting him over after dinner next week sometime...great.
--T
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Posted: Wed Jul 05, 2006 3:19 pm
Phaerna awoke to a tightness in her chest and winced as she turned over (or tried to) in her youth bed. The pajamas which, when she'd gone to bed had been fine, were now constricted painfully around her torso and legs, squeezing the breath out of her.
The young girl began to panic, but then forced herself to remain calm....this had happened once before, hadn't it...? She needed to get to mommy and daddy. They'd know what to do. They could help.
Wriggling to the edge of her mattress, the drow nymph attempted to stand.
riiiiiiiippp!
Phae winced at the purring noise of fabric tearing along its seam. She'd....RIPPED her pajamas!! Daddy was going to be so angry! Tears stung her eyes as she struggled to her feet, scurrying out of her room, her footsteps accompanied by smaller rips, pops, and tears that only made her cry harder.
She seemed to stand outside of the closed bedroom door for hours before finally wrapping her hand around the knob and gently letting herself into the room.
"Mommy...?" she whispered. Nothing. "Daddy...?"
There was the sound of someone stirring under covers in the darkness and then fumbling before the bedside lamp snapped on.
Yeande blinked owlishly, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the sudden shock of light before squinting at her daughter.
"Mmn...what's wrong, Phae?" she inquired, sleep still heavy in her voice.
"Mommy, I...." Phaerna began, having momentarily forgotten the fact her clothes were gripping her like a vice, so worried was she about having ruined them. ".....I ripped my pajamas...." she sniffled, wiping her nose as tears coursed down her cheeks.
"How did you rip your--" Yeande began and then trailed off, actually -seeing- Phae. She was bigger. Certainly not the toddler she and Talon had put to bed a few hours earlier. "Honey, what happened?"
As though some inner dam finally broke, Phae dissolved into sobs, jolting Talon awake as he sat up in a muzzed fit.
"What? What happened??" he demanded. Yeande only shook her head faintly, gesturing in Phae's direction as she struggled out of the tangle of blankets to comfort their daughter.
Talon watched her go and then blinked at Phae's tattered pajamas clinging to her much-larger frame. He silently contemplated this a moment and then pointed at Yeande.
"This is exactly what happened last time!" he declared, as though he'd been waiting months to be proven right when Phae had transitioned from infant to toddler in a matter of hours. "Everybody acted like I was overreacting, but this--"
"Shut up, Talon." Yeande interrupted, stroking Phae's hair and trying to calm her. He nearly pressed the issue further, but then quieted himself. Getting into an argument with his wife while Phae was sobbing was likely not the best move to make. It had taken her this long to finally trust them all, the last thing he needed was to be the reason for any setbacks.
"I'll get the scissors." he sighed, grabbing for his robe on the bedpost and shrugging into it.
"Am I in trouble?" Phaerna whimpered, looking from her mother to her father as he lumbered out of the room, still not quite awake.
"Shhh... no, sweetheart..." Yeande murmured, hugging her close. "It wasn't your fault."
"But--but my pajamas...!!"
"We'll get you some of your brother's pajamas to wear until tomorrow morning and then we'll go buy you some new clothes, okay?"
Phaerna blinked, surprised it had been that simple with no yelling or punishment or anything.
"...okay..." she reluctantly agreed as Talon returned, scissors in-hand.
"All right..." he said, stifling a yawn as he knelt to begin snipping the much-too-small clothes away. Bit by bit, what had once been pajamas fell to the floor in a litter of scraps. Phaerna stood obediantly still, not wanting to be knicked with the scissors as the horrible crushing feeling alleviated itself.
"Yeande, look at this." Talon said, making his wife's earfins perk a bit as she leaned over to see what he was talking about. Where once Phae's wings had been an angry autumn red like her mother's had been, they were now through-and-through a deep azure color.
"What do you think it means?" she wondered aloud, extending a finger to gently trace one of the many veins in the opalescent butterfly-like wings.
"Beats me..." he shrugged, continuing his work. "Genetic, maybe." Their talk went straight over Phae's head as she listened, but didn't understand what was being discussed. What did genetic mean?
"Let's go see what Zhane's got in the laundry room you can borrow." Yeande said after the last of the pajamas had been snipped away, reflexively moving to pick her up and immediately finding it problematic due to her larger size and weight. Instead, she settled for taking Phaerna by the hand and gently leading her into the hallway.
Once again, things had changed under their roof.
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