RP:Visiting The New Parents

Summary: Pilar and Cassy come by to see the twins after they are born. Babies are a handful, but the two lovely ladies brought gifts of stuffed animals and food stuffs (for the parents). Alvina and Hudson are very grateful to have some time with other adults. Speaking in baby sounds is not an option.

Frostmaw Fort, Barracks

Hudson and Alvina have been taking full advantage of the healers in Frostmaw, in the fort. No matter how many times they were told handling babies is exhausting, they weren’t ready for how exhausting it truly was. Their sleep schedule is a mess and their children are known to howl at all hours of the night…one baby wakes up, screeches, and wakes up not only half the fort but the other baby and Alvina. It’s been one of those days, when Alvina flops down into a rocking chair (provided by the gracious healers) and holds both Luna and Harper as they prattle on between screaming and whimpering quietly. They were tired. Hudson and Alvina are tired. Everyone is tired. End of story. Luna is burping, making bubbles with her spit and concentrating very hard on something all at the same time. Harper was almost asleep. “Hudson, can you….” Alvina starts to whisper, waking Harper (who shrieks in aggravation) and startling Luna to the point she spits up all over Alvina’s hair. You would think she’d learned how to tie it back by now. “Hudson…” Alvina whines, feeling a bit like the fussy children she’s holding. “Can you juggle these offspring so I can rinse my hair….?”

Pilar had been getting used to her new leg while Alvina and Hudson were getting used to having kids. Today, she had gone shopping, and was on her way to the new parents' quarters. Under one arm was a crutch. Under the other, a large bag. Behind her, Cassy followed along with a large bag of her own. Upon reaching the door. Pilar knocked. "Hello? Miss Alvina? Mr. Hudson?"

Hudson is in charge of everything that's very disgusting, that's how the division of labor has mostly gone. Alvina is literally food so he's pretty much relegated to constantly laundering cloth diapers. Which sucks, he has wondered aloud more than once if maybe there's a diaper pickup/dropoff service available when they're back at home. He has been fantasizing about this, this... Uber for diapers. He's freshly back from laundering now, and after hanging up everything in the bathroom, along the shower curtain, has been engaging in some old fashioned alchemy - yes, he is good for some things - which is to say he's been directing a stream of hot wind at the diapers to dry them. This usually takes fifteen minutes and a certain amount of concentration but he still manages to flip through a sports magazine while doing it. Alvina's voice summons him from the other room and he takes a break, putting down the magazine to go see what it is now. Can't a man dry diapers in peace these days, damn. Oh, Luna's barfed in her hair again. He pries her off of Alvina. "Yoooouuuu're disgusting," he says, in the tone of a game show host announcing a prize, and he wipes her face with the towel that is used for wiping baby vomit all day, err'day. He parks her on the mattress, on her stomach, and puts a colorful baby toy in front of her. "Time to work out. Do you even lift, bro," he taunts her before relieving Alvina of Harper. Alvina's just gone into the bathroom when Pilar knocks. "Hey, come in, Alvina'll be back in a second," he calls out to the woman, glancing down immediately after as a wetness hits his arm; Harper has unleashed an enormous string of drool. "Have a seat, good to see you again," he invites her to sit on the rocking chair that's covered in baby stuff. Not really other options!

Alvina sighs when Hudson picks up Luna. Is he calling mom or baby disgusting? Both apply presently. She runs off before hearing the door, and runs back into the room with wet hair on one side to be greeted by Pilar and Cassy. “H-hey there! Please! Welcome, have a seat!” She tries to push all the baby items out of the chairs and off surfaces, it’s a bit of a mess in here. Thankfully it does not stink, beyond the rag Hudson just used to clean Luna’s face. Alvina’s hair is leaving little droplets of water on the floor, she reaches for a rag on the bed and tries to dab it dry…but it’s the same rag Hudson cleaned Luna’s face with like two seconds ago. She makes a face, ugh, this is never ending. “Just a second,” She smiles, before running off to the bathroom to rinse her hair AGAIN and come back with an actual clean towel around her hair this time. Like a normal person. Gods help her. “How are you two? How is your leg? It looks like you’re walking well!!” The bard didn’t want to brag but it also looks like it’s a damn fine leg to boot. She pats herself on the back secretly for the fine job.

Pilar gave the couple a sympathetic smile. "Thank you, but I'm fine. I think you two need a seat more than me." She looked at the babies. She still seemed sad, but her eyes brightened a bit at the sight of the newborns. "They're beautiful," she said. Pilar hobbled further into the room, Cassy following behind. Pilar placed her bag on the chair, carefully leaning her crutch against it, and with both hands opened the bag. Within were two large stuffed animals, a frostmare and a mammoth. They were obviously made for giant babies, they were so big. Hopefully they were tough, too. "I hope the girls like these. What are their names?"

Hudson wipes his drooled-upon hand on his pants. It's fine. Worse bodily fluids have soiled his clothes in recent times. "Me and Little H are good here, you can sit, seriously," he tells Pilar. Then comes Alvina, brushing the chair clean of baby stuff, before he can do it. Bless her. He opens his mouth to warn her about the barf soiled rag but she moves too quickly and it's too late. He winces for her, and then winces at Pilar, when it becomes apparent to all that Alvina's smeared baby barf in her hair. Again. He moves Luna's toy around so that she remains engaged with the task at hand and doesn't start spontaneously wailing, can they get to the part where he's going to like, kid gymnastic meets, because right now baby exercises are lame as all hell. Harper is tugging as hard as she can on the sleeve of his shirt, trying to put it into her mouth. Hudson is aware of this but mostly watching, with appreciation, as Pilar and Cassy take out toys that are obviously meant for children. "You guys didn't have to do that, that's really kind, thank you," he says. "Your leg does look great," he adds, before straightening the drooling child in his arms and making introductions. "This is Harper. Luna's on the bed. Alvina, do you see Harper's giraffe?" Because otherwise his sleeve is going to be covered in baby drool.

Alvina approaches the stuffed animals with the cutest image in her mind of the babies curled atop these plush creatures sleeping. She has to remind herself, actively, that babies are not cats and do not sleep on things just because they are warm and soft. Mostly. She's grinning while she searches through one of the small baby beds for Harper's Giraffe. "Thank you so much! That's so nice..." It's clearly still a little moist from the last time she played with it, because it makes a wet *spleh* sound when she squeezes it to hand it off to Hudson. Bleh. Babies were sometimes gross. Alvina took this free handed moment to hug Pilar and Cassy, thankful for their visit. "Do you want to hold one?" She asks, promptly going to pick up Luna, even though she's in the middle of trying to get the best baby abs possible. Luna squeaks happily, when her mother comes into view, and grabs at her wet hair and tugs. The bard tries to maintain a look of love and enjoyment. At least her hair was still clean. She waves the little rattle at Luna instead, waiting for the babie's chubby hands to take it. She has no interest in anything besides chewing on mom's hair. Aria is curled up on a very high shelf, watching this scene unfold with sharp yellow eyes. She'd learned in the first couple days not to get close to those two or her tail would get yanked.

Pilar and Cassy smiled at the babies. "Beautiful names," Cassy said, and Pilar nodded. Alvina's smile was infectious. They were so glad the parents liked the toys! "You're very welcome," Pilar said, just as Alvina came to hug them. It was a cumbersome hug, since Cassy was still holding a large bag in her hands, but they made do. Pilar' gasped softly when Alvina offered to let her hold one. "I... Really? You'd let me hold your child? I... I'd love to!" Cassy put the bag down where Luna had just been and untied the top, tugging it down. Inside was a large basket, filled with flowers, fruit, and even a couple boxes of chocolates. "We thought you guys deserved something, too," Cassy said. "I hope you like it..." Pilar smiled, then moved the stuffed animals so she could sit down. Couldn't hold a baby with a crutch under her arm.

Hudson watches Alvina with great interest, accepting the giraffe like they're racers in a relay and it's the baton. Harper makes a gurgling noise that can be mistaken for joy, and immediately sets upon gumming the piss out of the thing while creepily making eye contact with Pilar. "Sort of would seem threatening if it weren't a baby doing it," Hudson remarks dryly, turning his attention back to Luna and Alvina, the former of whom is being handed off to Pilar. "Really, thank you. You guys didn't have to do all this," he says, eyeing the basket with increasing interest. Alvina's a little sensitive about her figure right now - and before Pilar's RPer puts him right in the garbage, for the record Hudson is plenty supportive - and Hudson suspects she will pass on the chocolates, which means he's gonna get to eat them. (Oh hell yes.) "She likes to chew on hair so watch yourself," he adds, because Luna's getting a certain determined gleam in her eye. Is it weird, hanging out with kids and being lesbians? He doesn't know. Harper is waving the drool-slathered giraffe at him now, and hoists her up higher so that she can better wave it in his face, since that's what she wants. "Wow. It's amazing, the giraffe is amazing," he tells her, and she promptly sneezes directly into his mouth while he's speaking. Just mid-sentence, achoo, bam. "Ugh, dude," down she goes again, out of range for a repeat performance. Hudson exchanges looks with the adult women in the room - literally everyone but him. "Would you like to hold her, beware she's sneezing?" he asks Cassy.

While Alvina is primarily being friendly by asking Pilar and Cassy if they want to hold the babies, it’s also nice to see other people hold them. As a parent, you can lose perspective when you handle them. They are noisy; they are gross; they are indifferent to your suffering. They squirm and don’t like you most of the time, unless they do and then you feel like you have some superpower no one told you about. So Luna lies in Pilar’s arms, happy and squirming, making faces and trying to swim through the air if Pilar holds out in front of her. Some people do this. Alvina doesn’t judge baby holding techniques, unless it looks too dangerous. Obviously, if Pilar tried to hold Luna by her chubby baby leg, she’d be nervous…but she trusts the vampire not to do that. No one does that, right?? Hudson is handing Harper (the troublemaker of the two) to Cassy, but even Harper appears to behave while these strange women hold them. Alvina shots Hudson a look that says ‘why aren’t they this good for us??’ but she’s also smiling. This was way too much, for them to bring stuffed animals and fruit. Heck no to that chocolate though, should Hudson even eat it? Isn’t he technically a dog? Oh well, babies don’t need chocolate and neither does momma. “We are just happy for the company. Baby conversation is a little lacked and we are kind of sick of each other, really.” She is still smiling at Hudson, this is a joke. She loves him, it’s sickeningly clear on her face that she loves him. Gross. And then Harper sneezes in his mouth and she bursts out laughing to the point she actually doubles over for a second, before waving the rattle over Luna, so she doesn’t try any funny business.

Pilar took Luna and cradled her expertly. She had held babies before, her younger siblings, her nieces and nephews. Cassy looked a little more apprehensive, but copied Pilar's technique well. Both women smiled down at the infants fondly, and Pilar began to get a little misty-eyed. "They really are beautiful..." she murmured. Cassy looked at her and frowned. "You alright?" Pilar smiled at her. "Fine... just missing my family a bit..." Cassy nodded in understanding.

Hudson seizes the moment to toss some dirty laundry into the hamper and collect milk bottles that need rinsing. There is always some little task like this, and while ordinarily he'd leave matters of the house to Alvina - it looks clean 'enough' being the mantra - there's just too much right now. Even if he has a much higher tolerance for mess, they're still hitting it easily with these kids. (And maybe he's been domesticated a little.) With all of the constant labor involved with having children, it's no wonder he hasn't been the most consistent in shaving his face, that's just of lesser importance, and he was already pretty bad about it. He notices the slight emotion bubbling to the surface between the two women. "No pressure," he jokes to Cassy, trying to lighten the mood. "They seem cute now, but they're both poop factories, I'm pretty sure it's recreation for them." He moves over to Alvina, and, putting an arm around her, he kisses her on the side of the head in a sort of automatic, tired parent fashion. He also covertly touches her on the butt because he hasn't in awhile and it ranks among his top 10 favorite things to do. "It's nice being here with them, the fort's been great, but really looking forward to getting home and having the nanny and establishing a routine. It's a little crazy now. I kind of hate people who only have one baby," ...he catches a look from Alvina and shrugs, "...slackers."

Alvina laughs at Hudson's declaration that anyone with less than two babies was somehow slacking. "Clearly." Everything else he's doing is ignored because she's sore and too tired to move much. Even when she smiles, she looks like she could fall asleep. Or maybe it's easier to say she has bags under her eyes from lack thereof. Either way, Hudson is fine, how cute, she'll pretend he just wants to hold her for a second and then Luna begins to grab at Pilar's clothes and she has to break away from Baby daddy to keep Luna from what she thinks is about to happen. "Sorry, just a second," She tells Pilar as she hoists the baby up on to her shoulder from Pilar's arms on the bed. "Hudson, throw me that rag." She yells, and hopefully he does because Luna is throwing up again on Alvina's shirt (and hair). Damn it. This is exactly what Hudson meant. Little factories of liquids, with no regard for company. "Good save!" She cheers, patting the baby's back carefully, rag on her shoulder to catch all spit up that occurs. "We just fed her, so it's normal." She reassures Pilar, who doesn't look the least bit phased. "You know, You and Cassy should come baby sit for us sometime. I'm sure the girls would like to see you, once we get settled in the house we are moving to. It's in Larket, so it's not too far off."

Pilar blinked as the baby pawed at her, and then suddenly the baby was gone. And throwing up on Mommy. Aw. So precious. Cassy looked down suspiciously at Harper, as if she was planning to do the same to her. Pilar smiled at Alvina's invitation. "I can't speak for Cassy, but I would love to. I used to watch over my nieces and nephews all the time..." Cassy walked over to Pilar and bent down, kissing her cheek as Pilar wiped her eyes. "I'd love to, too," Cassy said, "but I don't know a thing about babies. I'd basically be useless." A thought occurred to Pilar. "Oh! You mentioned music before, Alvina. If you'd have me, I'd like to play with you, sometime. We'd... need to find a piano, but..." Cassy shifted Harper in her arms and said, "Did you still want to pick up guitar?" Pilar chuckled. "Yes, but I wouldn't want to make anyone listen to me while I learn."

Hudson likewise recognizes the signs of incipient barf, and looks to Alvina, who surges into action, is already there. He underhand pitches her the rag, she puts it in The Position. Maybe Pilar thinks this little eruption is precious, but Hudson and Alvina do not and are like seasoned infantry in dealing with this at this point. Did you know -- the sole purpose of this rag is to catch barf? Hudson must wash this rag and its clones (there of course is more than one) at least once a day. Along with all the diapers that have literal poop in them. "Good teamwork," says Hudson, once it becomes clear that he and Alvina adequately covered. "That's a great idea about the babysitting," he chimes in with Alvina. "We could leave you instructions," he's very supportive. And why shouldn't he be. Babies are all-consuming. He's a man, he's starved for non-daddy time with Alvina. And insofar as their friends and free baby sitting goes, only Alvina's friends can be trusted to babysit their children -- his friends are too sketchy/irresponsible/Valrae. As it seems Pilar and Cassy are now on their way out and just squaring away this jam session, he relieves Cassy of Harper. His daughter hides her face against his chest, chewing on the neck of his shirt. Not sure if she's going to vomit directly down there or what, it wouldn't be the first repulsive thing to happen today but he's going to monitor the situation.

Alvina puts Luna down in her crib / box and throws the rag into the growing pile of laundry to do. Already. Literally seconds after Hudson did it. Babies suck. But Pilar's talking about music and Alvina's lights up. "I think there's a piano in the Rynvale theater...we should practice there." It would be old, dusty, unless someone else had been using it in her absence. " I've always wanted to write a play with another bard. We should do that sometime!! What can you play? Piano...? And Guitar?" She looks at Hudson as he pulls Harper back from Cassy, and then Cassy as she kisses Pilar. "Aww" She says, she's unable to stop herself. Quickly she averts her gaze and pretends to study the crib, that Luna is squirming in. "Let me give you the address, so you can visit!" A piece of parchment and a quill comes off the nearby desk and she scribbles something down.

Pilar and Cassy blushed. Pilar grabbed her crutch and got to her feet. "I'm learning guitar, yes... Or planning to. I need one to practice on, first. As for plays, I've... never thought about writing one. It... it might be fun." She took the address from Alvina and offered a smile. "I'll be in touch. If you need anything from me, anything at all, please, send word. I owe you that much at least."

Hudson hovers, with Harper, over Luna in her crib. He's not a part of this exchange, not being a bard and all, so he busies himself trying to talk in a low tone to his daughters in the hopes of encouraging them to remain calm and/or go to sleep. It's a likely outcome, because they'd just eaten not that long ago. Please gods let them go to sleep, he's thinking. Just a little peace and quiet. Some higher power seems to have heard his prayer, or at least the natural course of baby feeding time takes hold, and he ends up depositing Harper in her crib too. Alvina and Pilar have exchanged their address by now. "Thank you again for the gifts," he addresses Pilar and Cassy.

Alvina nods. "Yes, I promise I will be. You two take it easy tonight. Thanks again for the stuffed animals, they are so precious. And the basket. It was very thoughtful." The bard hugs both Cassy and Pilar in turn, before stepping back beside Hudson to await their departure. Once they are gone, the babies sleep soundly. Mom curls up in bed, ignoring all the work still left to do and tries to get some shut eye herself. Maybe if she's lucky, Dad will join her in some well deserved shut eye.