Room for an Aubert... or Two?

[Caitrin de Archer]

Caitrin couldn’t keep her eyes off the babe in her arms, as the boy kept shifting and making the odd little grunting noises every now and again. She was just completely transfixed by the little one. He was hers and Griff’s son. A son. However much Caitrin tried to pretend that her families values didn’t matter to r, they did in some respects. She felt quite proud that she had produced a son on the first try. It wasn’t that her daughter was any less loved of course but every noblewoman knew that their main duty was to give their husband a son to carry on their line. Caitrin knew Griff wasn’t as bothered about the male line as some noble families might have been. They had just wanted a healthy baby, and now they had two. She still felt quite proud though that she had given him a son, though he was a little preoccupied with their daughter at the moment. “What else do you expect her to do?” She asked, after all Esmae was little more than an hour old, she was hardly capable of doing much. “She might want feeding, or just some attention.” Caitrin pointed out, though if Esmae did want feeding then she would have to do something, because it was hardly anything Griff could sort out.

As Griff spoke, asking the little baby whether she preferred Griffina, Caitrin rolled her eyes at him. She’d never even heard of that name before, and was perfectly certain that he had made it up. Well, at least he wasn’t insisting both his son and daughter were name Griff. It was something he really wouldn’t put past him. “It suits her.” Caitrin agreed with a wide smile. Esmae was a pretty name, and she was sure that the little girl would live up to it utterly and completely. Caitrin then smoothed a finger over her sons small foot, which had popped out from under his blankets. “Arthur and Esmae.” She looked up at her husband, a tired smile forming on her lips. “What a pair they’ll make.” Caitrin was sure any child of hers and Griff’s would certainly make an impact on society. That was if they took after their parents in even the slightest respect. She found herself pulling another face at her husband as he spoke. Griff had a habit of bringing his ego into most things, but it was one of the things she loved him for. After all, his ego just about matched her pride. “Well, its not like this happens everyday is it?” She asked Griff with a small grin at her lips.

Caitrin could see Arthur was starting to fall asleep in her arms, so she hugged him tightly to her chest, and began to shift across the bed. Perhaps she should try to put Arthur in the crib, he wasn’t making a fuss to be fed, he just looked tired. Caitrin had no idea what to do, but she supposed if she put him down for a sleep then if he needed anything else she could just fetch him again. The baby’s eyes were drooping and she moved so she could push herself out of the bed slowly. She was still in an incredible amount of pain, and her chemise would need changing before bed. Urgh. She just wanted some sleep. “We’ve already tired this one out.” She informed her husband with a soft smile, and finally stood up; Arthur now completely drowsy in her arms. Though Caitrin expected it to be quite easy to get to her feet, she hadn’t realised how much pain she would still be in, so her movements were slow and taken with care. Though she finally reached the crib they’d had made, and placed her now sleeping son within in. Caitrin didn’t move for a few moments, and looked over the crib, amazed that this baby was only an hour old. “How is Esmae? Is she tired, or is she still just staring at you?” Caitrin shuffled back to the bed, and sat back, watching Griff and their daughter. She didn’t want to intrude on that moment with him, because she knew how worried and unsure he had been about becoming a parent. So she wanted him to enjoy these first few moments, because she knew that he would make a fantastic father.

[Griff Aubert]

What was he expecting? Griff had thought it was quite obvious that he didn't know what to expect at all. He hadn't expected to be this scared, he hadn't expected to be unnerved by a newborn baby and he certainly hadn't expected to be this happy, or to feel so much love not only for his children, but for Caitrin as well. Esmae and Arthur seemed to have done the impossible - they'd made him feel like he was falling in love with her all over again. He sat there watching her, the smile not leaving his lips. She looked so happy, so at ease with everything, like it was all coming naturally to her whereas he had no idea what he was doing, or what he was meant to do and was just going to sit here and wait for her to inform him. But it didn't matter - the nerves and the worry and the fright, they were all still there, but they were in the periphery. It was just Caitrin and Esmae and Arthur, that was all that mattered.

At his wife's words he looked down at Esmae, "Is that what you want? Attention?" She shifted slightly so he took this to mean yes. "You're going to be demanding little thing, aren't you?" No doubt she would end up with an ego to equal either of her parent's. Arthur probably would too...what had they let themselves in for? The panic was coming back. He was going to have to look after this child, and Arthur, and bring them up to be suitable human beings and hope that they turned out better than him. He didn't know how to raise a child! He didn't even know the basics. How did he know when they wanted something? And, having established that they wanted something, how did he tell what? What if they wanted feeding and Caitrin wasn't there? Oh this was a disaster. They'd only been alive ten minutes at best and already he was failing at being a father.

Caitrin was right, this didn't happen every day, but there was no reason why that prevented his ego getting its daily outing - besides, it if weren't for his ego, and a certain amount of stalking, they wouldn't both be sat here. Without his ego he wouldn't have tried his luck with her, he wouldn't have fallen in love and he certainly wouldn't be as happy as this. She should, therefore, appreciate his ego. After all, it was the source of her current happiness too. "Well technically, children are born every day," he pointed out, "But not ones nearly so impressive as these two."

Griff watched her as she started shifting across the bed, about to ask whether she needed any help - not that he could provide much with Esmae in his arms, and she'd probably refuse any aid anyway. So Arthur was a fan of sleep? Good lad. He'd do well for himself. Griff watched her putting him down, a sense of pride at his son, who seemed to already be taking after his father. He'd have him seducing women in no time, of that he was certain. But for now his attention was on his conscious child, who had found something far more interesting to stare than him, although he couldn't quite work out what that was. She was just staring into the distance. Maybe she'd noticed Caitrin moving and was trying to see where her mother had gone, well, if she understood the concept of "mother" yet. "She seems alright..." Griff replied, not entirely convinced whether that was true or not. "How can you tell?"

[Caitrin de Archer]

Somehow Caitrin had expected to be a little more, well, scared and completely unsure of what she was doing. For now at least she felt quite at ease, and quite content with Arthur in her arms. Maybe it was just because she was quite tired, or maybe because the enormity of this hadn’t settled in just yet, well, whatever it was Caitrin Aubert decided to enjoy this moment with her family. Both Arthur and Esmae were going to be so, so loved. Caitrin was certain of that fact. She just found herself staring at Arthur, as he snuggled into his blankets. It felt so strange to think she had pictured this moment so many times over the last few months, yet she had never expected for both her and Griff to be holding a baby. They had only been expecting one baby, yet here they were, with their little miracles. It was still quite surreal that she wasn’t pregnant anymore, and that this was the result of nine months of pain and lack of comfort. It was all worth it, just for this moment, and the fact that both babies were healthy and comfortable. She cuddled Arthur against her chest, and as she looked up she saw Griff was staring at her. Her warm smile stayed on her lips, though she flushed a little unnaturally, “What?” She asked curiously, wondering why he was staring at her, because it was her, and not their son.

Caitrin had no doubt that Esmae would be a demanding child in some ways, that was if she took after her mother. Caitrin had been quite impressed that Esmae had inherited her red hair, and time would tell if she had inherited her looks as well. Jesu, it would like having a miniature version of herself. Only Esmae would be so much better than her, she wouldn’t grow up with all her insecurities, and her naivety and issues. No, Esmae would be loved, as would Arthur, and she was so sure they would make them so proud. She wanted to give her children everything, and make sure they had such a wonderful childhood. Caitrin just smiled at her husband, as he tried to figure out just what their daughter wanted. Even though Griff might not think it, he did look quite natural with their daughter in his arms, she couldn’t help but just smile at him. This wonderful man, her husband, without whom she wouldn’t have had their children, or this perfect moment. She really did love Griff, she always had, even if it had taken her a while to admit it to herself.

Looking back at Griff as he spoke, she just felt pride at his words. No, no other children who had been born could ever be as impressive as their children. There was nothing in the world which could make her think differently. She doubted even a Royal birth could be as impressive in her opinion as her own children, she could be as proud as she wanted, because they were hers and Griff’s children, so her ego was justified in this respect. “I doubt even a Royal birth could outshine them.” She said, pride outlining her words and she looked back at Arthur as he settled into his crib. She had been expecting him to protest at the change of scenery, but he settled into his first sleep rather well. The birth had apparently tired him out as much as it had tired his mother out.

As Caitrin shuffled back into the bed, she pulled a shawl around her shoulders and rejoined her husbands side. She wasn’t quite sure on how to answer him, because she didn’t know how to tell whether the children needed anything. They hadn’t needed anything yet, but she hoped at least she would know if they would want feeding or changing, “Well, she isn’t crying, so I think she’s ok.” Caitrin reasoned out, and brushed a finger over Esmae’s cheek. The baby shifted in her blankets, and stared up at her parents as Caitrin looked over Griff’s shoulder at their daughter. She was just so beautiful, “And you know what?” She turned to Griff now, and brushed two fingers over his cheek slowly, “You haven’t dropped her yet.” Her lips caressed into a grin, as dropping the children had been one of her husbands main fears over the past few months. Caitrin used her fingers to shift Griff’s chin, so she could kiss his lips slowly, and tenderly, before returning her attentions back to her daughter, who was slowly yawning, and curling up in her blankets.

[Griff Aubert]

Caitrin blushed, which was something she didn't do, and so it made Griff smile all the more. He really was the luckiest man in the world, and was certain he would never know what he had done in order to deserve such happiness, to deserve Caitrin and Esmae and Arthur, but here he was. An hour or so ago he'd been sat outside the room, a horrendous wreck on his own, convinced something awful was going to happen to either Caitrin or, as he had though then, the baby. Gwaine had managed to reassure him a little, but it was only now that he felt at ease. This was his family and he was going to protect them no matter what.

He realised he hadn't actually answered Caitrin's question, and now he was the embarrassed one. "Nothing," he lied, averting his gaze. He would have been happy to stop there, but for some reason he looked up at Caitrin again and couldn't stop himself from continuing. "I was just thinking about how perfect everything is, about how perfect you are." Having suitably embarrassed himself, he looked down at Esmae again who was apparantly so bored by him she'd fallen asleep. How charming his daughter was - she'd clearly inherited that from her mother. The small child wriggled slightly in his arms, so of course Griff's immediate thought was that he'd drop her and everything would go horrendously wrong, and of course he was overreacting. He didn't drop her, he just shifted so he was holding her against himself with one arm, his other free so he could run a finger down her cheek. "You musn't tell them that," Griff replied, a smirk on his lips, "Otherwise they'll end up with egos as big as ours."

Caitrin's words weren't the most comforting, not that much would have that effect on him at present. "She's unconscious, Cait." Therefore it wasn't surprising she wasn't crying, and it also wasn't a reflection on his parenting skills - such as they were at the moment. However, it seemed Caitrin's shuffling had disturbed Esmae, and while Griff was enjoying the loser proximity, Esmae didn't appear to share this opinion. If he didn't know any better he'd say she was glaring. Oh Jesu, it was already like having an adolescent.

Griff would have admitted that he'd already been in a position to drop her, but Caitrin was kissing him and somehow such an admittance didn't seem nearly as important. She had a habit of doing that; he'd have all these thoughts flying about in his head, and then she'd kiss him and nothing would be important anymore apart from her. Unfortunately, he soon found himself back in the world of panic and worry. "Yes well, all in good time..."

[Caitrin de Archer]

Needless to say, Caitrin didn’t believe Griff as he simply answered her question with ‘nothing.’ She frowned at him, but couldn’t keep up that state for too long. Caitrin was just simply too happy at the moment to even be mock annoyed, or put out, by her husband. It turned out she had no reason to even be mock annoyed at Griff, and she blushed again as he called her perfect. She wasn’t really used to him making her blush, perhaps it was just because she was tired, or maybe because now she truly believed those words. This was perfection. It was the family they had wanted, and that they had fought to have. It hadn’t been an easy path to get here, but now she just wanted to enjoy this moment with her family. “I couldn’t be as perfect without you by my side, Griff.” She reassured him, even though a part of her was telling her that this was just polishing his ego, she felt like he really needed her to tell him things like that once in a while. He might go around preaching he knew everything, and that he was perfect, but that didn’t mean he believed it, and it was something she had learnt long ago about Griff.

Caitrin smirked as Griff spoke about their children’s egos. They were destined to have large egos no matter what, as they had them as parents, so it would be impossible for it to be otherwise. She chuckled a little and shrugged, “They’ll end up with massive egos anyway.” Caitrin commented with a shrug, there was of course plenty of time to discover what kind of people their children would become. This was just the start of that path, “But I agree, we won’t tell them. Mainly as I doubt the royal couple would happy if one of them repeated that.” She giggled a little at the image, though she knew Arthur would take such things in good jest, she didn’t really know the Queen very well at all, so she was unsure to how she would take such a statement.

Somehow Caitrin felt like she was already losing this battle. She just wanted Griff to feel like he was doing something right, and that he was going to make an absolutely fantastic father no matter what. The only problem was that Griff couldn’t quite see this point of view yet, and she doubted that anything she was going to say would make that much of a difference. She had been trying for months to calm him down with no avail. Perhaps this was something he was going to have to live before he would admit he was actually getting this right, “The point still stands, she must be comfortable if she is sleeping.” Caitrin kissed Griff’s cheek and cupped his other with her hand, “You’re worrying too much.” Really Caitrin should have been worrying more, or at least she assumed she should, but at the moment she just felt calm; though that could be explained by the lack of sleep.

Somehow Caitrin resisted the urge to roll her eyes at her husband, “You aren’t going to drop either of them.” She said rather firmly, and would have elaborated on that point but something else had already grabbed her attention. There was a soft whimpering coming from the crib, and Caitrin was almost caught mid though as she pushed herself off the bed, and slowly walked over to where Arthur was lying. The baby was wriggling round and was softly whimpering to himself. She carefully lifted him out of the crib and her head was already starting to panic. Right, it was fine, babies cried all the time, she just needed to know how to make him stop. She retreated back to the bed, wincing slightly as she did; the bruising from the birth was still aching. Awkwardly at first, Caitrin began to rock Arthur, but that didn’t really help much, even though it began to feel quite natural. She could only guess that he was hungry. Right. She looked at Griff and bit her lip, “I think he’s hungry.” Was all she could think to say. Jesu, she almost felt nervous about this. Loosening her chemise fastenings at the top with one hand, Caitrin pulled the gown down a little, and helped to guide Arthur onto her so he could feed. The sensation was just, strange; she hadn’t expected it to hurt a little, but she had been right. Her son was hungry. Looking back to Griff, she frowned, “I feel like a cow.” She complained, but found her lips quickly turned into a quick giggle, “At least you don’t have to worry about this as well.”