In Need of a Nanny

Xanadu Weyr - Siebith's Weyrbarn

Covered in rough, weathered wood, aged by the weather and the sun, the irregular grayed clapboards outside of this weyrbarn lend the place has a rustic, masculine charm. White shutters and window boxes overflowing with brightly-hued tangles of flowers on the lower windows and flowering vines twine about the supports for the porch overhang add a feminine touch, softening the stark stone steps leading to it.

The worn stone floor of Siebith's area is just inside the large sliding door. The living area of the weyrbarn has an open, airy layout gives the utilitarian, bachelor-like plain white-washed walls and simple hardwood floors a sense of wide open spaces. A sturdy mahogany-toned table with chairs that somehow manage to match despite their variety accent the earthy, wooden tones of the kitchenette. The same dark reddish hues are in the door at the far side of the barn, as well as in the low-slung coffee table in front of the plush, worn couch. Dusky sea-blue rugs are scattered here and there. Dark golden curtains hang on either side of the many windows and partition off the loft up above, led to by a black wrought iron set of ladder-like stairs. Lilies arranged in glass vases on the tables provide a crisp of white counterpoint to the dark wood tones.

A new addition, the bedroom has walls of the same plain white, but the floors are made of newer wood, still shiny with polish. A four-poster bed of the same red mahogany takes up the most of one wall of the small space, a blue-and-cream linen coverlet spread on the wide mattress. A set of wooden bureaus take up the bulk of the wall opposite while another wall has been painted upon in the very center with a seascape mural, its crisp blue waters and sandy shores. The final wall is graced by a feminine-looking writing desk stacked with papers and bedecked with knick-knacks. Over the bed, a set of stained-glass windows allows golden-brown light mingled with white whorls and blue haze to shine into the room with the rising of the sun, though both panes are able to be unlocked and swung wide to accept lake breezes.


It's several hours past dinner when Thea returns to the weyrbarn after Seryth's finally finished clutching. She's still pink-cheeked flushed with the heat of that place, the walk here having done little to cool her. Her dark hair hangs in limp about her shoulders and sticks with sweat-damp tendrils on her forehead and neck. That she doesn't have Marella and Muir with her when she enters is witness to the fact that she came straight here. That the nursery doesn't keep children overnight has her steps quickening to see if by any chance they are here. And if they are, if their father is still sane.

D'had was out on sweeps for quite awhile having only arrived back in time to catch the end of dinner at the caverns. The less he has to cook the better after all. Marella and Muir have since been picked up from the nursery and it’s screaming from them both that's liabel to alert Thea to her proximity to the weyrbarn - not to mention the fact that the twins are indeed at home. D'had on the other hand, has no idea what to do with them other than look completely overwhelmed as he tries to rock their hammocks in a likely futile attempt to calm at least one.

Thea hears the racket when she's quite a ways away from the weyrbarn and so those last steps to home are run rather than walked, which doesn't help her overheated self to cool one bit. Once inside, it's a quick look swept around, the door pulled closed behind her at the same time and she's moving all in one fluid motion to those hammocks. "Oh, Donn. Sorry, sorry." She leans to touch her lips to his, her hair swings forward for a moment, brushing his face and then she lifts Muir, hefts him to one arm, curls the other about Marella and scoops her up too and then just stands there looking at her weyrmate while they scream stereo-style right in her ears.

D'had glances towards the door as it closes. The shutting either being louder than the opening, or simply giving him time to notice that it had been open. "Thank Faranth," is all he manages before that brush of lips. Once she has them in arm however it gives him a chance to think, even if they are still screaming. At least now he doesn't have to worry quite so much on how to quiet them. She can do that. She's good at that. "Not your fault, just glad you're back."

They're growing quickly - the armsfull of them both at once will soon be too much - and are at the moment, thanks to what Thea's just been through with Seryth. As her face cools, and that sands-heated flush fades, she's pale and dazed. Dampening Seryth pain, the heat of the sands has sapped her strength, which might be why she's just standing there letting them cry in her ears. They are quieting now that they feel human contact. Her eyes shut and she's trying for patience. "A little help here?"

D'had blinks. "Oh, um, sorry," he replies awkwardly. His movement to take whichever one she's willing to give up to him just as awkward. It takes a bit, but he does manage to get the one in place in his arms though his unease with the holding doesn't exactly subside. "So, when's your ma getting here?" Straight to the point isn't he.

The look Thea gives him is exasperation mingled with gratitude, "Thanks." It's muttered through whitened lips as she turns towards the couch, snagging a clean towel off of a folded pile, flicks it open with one hand as she walks and drapes it over both her shoulder and the babe. Marella's cries stop immediately - she was hungry, poor thing. At the couch Thea turns to face her weyrmate, flashing him an unreadable look as she sinks down onto the couch and leans back, closing her eyes wearily. "The clutching went fine, thanks for asking." His question about her mother, for the moment, left unanswered.

See! There was nothing he could have done about their crying. At least Marella's that is, Muir he's still fighting with as he follows her to the couch to find a seat for himself. Less walking with baby means less chance of dropping baby. "I was gonna ask," once he thought to, it just wasn't the foremost thought in his head at the moment. "Glad it did though.."

Holding Muir is helping quiet the lad, though, which -might- have reduced the decibel level in the first place. Poor Siebith, where has he gone to escape the noise - if he could even? "Didn't the nanny give you my note? I left some bottles with formula in the cooler." Thea opens her eyes after a moment giving him perplexed sort of look. "Is it really that hard, Mr. Search and Rescue?" Oh, not sarcasm, just a great deal of bewilderment. As for the clutching, "It… hurt. Seryth's pain."

D'had blinks. Bottles? "No…" There was no mention of those. Not that he would know what to do with them if there had been. He's still not sure what to do, but at least it’s quieter now. "What? That's different." It is! "I'm sorry babe, if I coulda been there with you I woulda."

"You've not been trained to re-hydrate babes when rescued from a fire?" Thea just sighs, shaking her head while her lips quirk in a fond smile, "You're hopeless, you know that?” As for the nanny in the nursery, she mutters, "I'll have a word with -her- tomorrow." Because the nanny should have shown him something. "It's alright, Donn. Seryth said Siebith mentioned an unscheduled sweep." Curious, she lifts a brow, "Anything amiss out there?" Marella is asleep and her limp form is drawn from under that towel. "Trade?" Muir is still fussing, so she might not need to twist his arm to do so.

D'had snorts. "I do the rescuing, not the healing," he points out. So he does have his share of lessons in the latter, but he still doesn't do babies. Besides, those rescued from said hypothetical fire are in danger of said fire and likely not his. "Everything checked out," he assures as to that sweep. "Sure," though agreeing to trade and actually making the swap is the easier of the two.

"I see," Thea answers with amusement rippling in her voice. "Donn," more seriously as they trade, "Can't you try to learn some of this? Two. Well…" They're wearing her out! "If something ever happens to me…" Muir is tucked under that towel and his fussing stops as Marella's did. Ah sweet silence!!! His sister, well she sleeps sweetly in her daddy's arms, round baby cheeks still flushed a fading pink from crying. "Can you?" She nods towards the sling hammocks across the room.

See now. With one it wasn't a problem. With one he didn't need to learn anything. With two… Well like she said, its a different story. "Can try…" D'had replies, uncertain to the extreme in what he's promising her here. But don't dare say that! "Ain't nothin' gonna happen to you."

In his reasoning maybe. One or two, it makes little difference to Thea except that she's just… more tired. Her shoulder rolls in a shrug, disturbing Muir who sets up a wail. "Shh, shh now." She's learning as she goes, surely he can? At least that's what her look says as she smiles at his dubious reply. "Gonna have to." She pauses as if steeling herself for his response. "My ma won't be here for a few days."

D'had blanches at that, and just as he was about to stand to go lay Marella down. Good thing he hadn't gotten up just yet. "Days..?" he repeats. Surely he didn't hear that right. "You're going to be staying here until she does." She had better say yes to that one at least. He'll try to learn, but he can't learn everything overnight.

Thea's lips remain sealed. She nods in the direction of the sling hammocks. "Please?" She really doesn't want Marella awakened and with D'had blanching like that… Muir meanwhile is kicking his feet gently in quiet bliss and mmming all happy now that -someone- knows how to meet his needs. "It's really not so hard, Donn." Her eyes move from him to the baby beds. Hint-hint. Marella. Bed. Now, please?

D'had blinks. First at baby girl in his arms, then towards the baby beds following her glance. Oh. Right. He nods once, standing to cross the room and put Marella to sleep - or in her bed being that she's already sleeping. He stands there a moment, watching her sleep before he pulls himself away and back to Thea and Muir. "I'll try," he assures, placing a kiss on top of her head before sinking down beside her. "Least I can't get them confused?" Now if they were both of the same sex there'd be no saving him.

Thea watches him walk with her precious daughter, but surprisingly there's not a bit of tension in that following gaze. No, it's full of tender pride and trust in him, a look he may catch if he looks up suddenly from watching Marella sleep. Muir, meanwhile, like the boy he is, has inhaled his meal and finishes with a tiny, satisfied burp. Thea's lashes lift, but yeah, she really can't meet D'had's eyes - all she glimpses is his chin as he kisses her still-damp hair. She flashes a soft smile at him as he settles, one hand re-buttoning her dress top. Muir is unveiled, the towel set aside and upon the sleeping boy's face is a smirk in miniature of his daddy's. At least one male in this place gets to go to sleep happy? "Just… get them to smile." Because, yep, he probably can get them confused.

"I'll try," D'had replies, wrapping an arm across Thea's shoulders in that suave, 'I'm not doing anything' sort of way. "But maybe you could show me those bottle things tomorrow?" Eating really is one of their first priorities after all.

Thea is all too aware of that oh-so-nonchalantly placed arm. If he's looking for ways to keep her here… "Donn. Seryth's asleep, but I should get back…" And yes, she means tonight, although she makes no move to do so. Her eyes move from his, to his mouth and back in a teasing manner, "Oh? Can show you tonight if you want…" A slow smile follows this while Muir sleeps on, blissfully unaware that he's going to face a rough tomorrow likely.

D'had frowns, pouting just doesn't suit him. "But she's asleep…" She just said that. Why does she have to go already. About those bottles though, "But they're asleep…" he points out the obvious, his free hand giving a generalized gesture at the two of them. Color him confused.

“Because she could wake up?" Like duh. But no, Thea doesn't have that expression on her face. She's regretful, but firm. "She needs me." That frown of his is, of course eyed with a wince, but she's determined. And yes, they're asleep. "It's not hard, Donn. You warm them in a pan of hot water, and stick the nipple in their mouth. They'll do the rest." Really now. How hard can that be? She rises, carries Muir to his bed and steps back to the couch. "You'll be fine until morning."

D'had sighs, he will let her go but it's reluctantly at best. "We need you too," he's not trying to make her feel bad for leaving them, he's just making a point. "Doesn't sound that bad…" But she has no idea the things that could go wrong in that short process she just explained.

Perhaps Thea doesn't, but oddly, she trusts him and thus far, he has proved that trust is not ill-founded. A long breath, regretful sigh for having to go is blown out and with it relief that he's not turning sullen and grouchy. She smiles serenely as she sinks back down to the couch beside him. "I'll make quick trips to help out," she assures him, snuggling in and giving him a hug for his understanding. "And you do know where to find me." Perhaps ignorance is bliss? "My ma got held up. Hold matters. She'll be here in a sevenday or so."

"We'll make due," D'had assures. Somehow he'll find a way to make it work. She might end up with another woman in the weyr, but he'll make it work somehow. Wait. Sevenday or so? She expects him to make due that long on his own? That hug she offers is returned even as his lips seek out hers for a tender, yet passionate kiss.

She'd better not find another woman in the weyr! He's likely never seen her angry… "Oh? How so?" His sudden assurance in the face of all his protests has her quirking a brow, perplexed. "Donn, what have you-?" She so wants to know just how he's planning on that, but right now? She hasn't been kissed like this for, oh… three months now. Perhaps it's the new-mother thing and he's been looking at her differently? But she is still the same person! She was poised to rise from the couch, but now? Now she's melting into that with a sigh.

Well, there were babies (are babies) and lack of sleep and… there were factors. That never changed the way he felt. Not really. She shouldn't need to worry about a woman, he'll be good, though there might be a Hali. "Shh…" D'had murmurs, breaking only long enough for a breath enough to say that much as he pulls her closer. He just needed quiet?

But Thea has missed it regardless of the reasons. When he lifts his mouth from hers to murmur, she draws a breath, "I should get my stuff-" His arms pull her unyielding to him, her protest dying on her lips and she's not trying all that hard to go pack, either. Touching the mind of Seryth and finding her still asleep helps, but that sense of responsibility and duty lingers even if it is getting harder to think as his mouth moves on hers. It's a really nice good night kiss, right? At least -she's- lost in it as her hands slip under his shirt, slide up his back. Perhaps he won't mind so horribly when she goes…

D'had will mind, but maybe, just maybe, if he plays his cards right he'll keep her long enough so that when she does go he's asleep…

It's entirely possible the man knows how to play cards very well, for when the grey light of dawn lightens the weyrbarn, it finds Thea still there, twined about him in their bed sound asleep and the twins have, thankfully slept through as well. Seryth must have slept remarkably well, for she has not reached to awaken her rider with agitated thoughts and thus D’had has gained a reprieve for one more day at least. When he wakes? He'll find her there snuggled in contentment and as yet unaware he's managed to sidetrack her so easily. And perhaps he won't mind so much that she's there to help get him and the twins started with the day.

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